Social media’s role in holiday marketing

Do you intensify your social media messaging during the holidays?

New data suggest one in every three holiday shoppers is affected by your online efforts.

Sprout Social looked at the inbound and outbound messaging of 15 brands across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Here’s are a few highlights:

This holiday season, 3,140 social media messages are expected to be sent to the average retail brand.

One-third of consumers say their gift buying is directly affected by social media engagement.

Thirty percent of people will post about a gift on social media.

Data suggest holiday-related shares, posts, messages and outreach will continue to climb in the coming years.

From Sprout:

This is particularly important for retailers with large social audience. Since follower count often correlates with message volume, enterprise retailers can expect a record-breaking season on social.

Here’s insight for brand managers seeking to spread holiday cheer through social media:

What you should expect

Online customer inquiries are the modern equivalent of letters to Santa. Instead of elves, though, brand managers are responsible for sending helpful responses.

From Sprout: