14 Twitter Holiday Tips To Beat Your Competition

Use Twitter To Supercharge Your Holiday Sales

Twitter-FireworksIs Twitter integrated into your 2014 holiday marketing plans?

If not, there’s still time to get the most out of this real time social media platform even though Black Friday’s just around the corner.

Because over 50% of UK users turn to Twitter to discuss what they’re doing RIGHT NOW according to Nielsen. (Check out Dan Zarrella inspired tips for tweets and retweets.)

 Tweet This Twitter has 284 million monthly active users and 500 million tweets sent daily as of November 2014. It accounts for about 9% of all social media shares based on BuzzSumo and Frac.tl analysis.

32.8% of US Internet users are on Twitter, placing it significantly behind Facebook and YouTube. From purchasing perspective, 38.7% of them are between 18 and 34 years old according to NuVoodoo data.
Social Media Networks US By Age-July 2014- eMarketer-2

Exact Target analyzed over 3 million tweets sent via their platform. On average companies experienced a 43% increase in Twitter followers in 2013.  

54% of global users say that promotions they receive via Twitter motivates them to buy based on Global Web Index findings.Social Media Users Shop-Global Web Index-2014-2

Twitter users love holiday shopping according to DB5 research.

  • 81% of Twitter shoppers love holiday shopping by contrast with only 56% of non-Twitter users.
  • 24% of Twitter shoppers plan to spend $1,000+ during the holiday season by contrast with 10% of non-Twitter users.
  • Most 87% of Twitter shoppers end up getting additional items things they didn’t intend to buy.

Twitter Shoppers-2014-1

14 Twitter holiday tips

Here are 14 Twitter holiday tips to supercharge your sales this season. Twitter is a product and promotional discovery tool for many users.

  • 52% of users discovered product on Twitter that they later bought.
  • 39% use Twitter for their holiday shopping list.
  • 54% of users check Twitter to find out about products while in a retail store.
  • 54% of users say that promotions found on Twitter motivated them to buy.

Twitter Holiday Purchase Decisions

Actionable Twitter Holiday Tips:

  • Make limited time offers on Twitter. Shoppers check Twitter to find the lowest price before buying.  When creating these offers, make sure that they’re still profitable and that you’re not loosing money on these items, especially if they’re popular.
  • Create a set of holiday shopping ideas. Include photos and links to the product in each tweet. The great part of this idea is that you can adjust your promotions based on your inventory.

Twitter super charges holiday sales

In terms of holiday shopping, Twitter is the social media place to be. Holiday shopping is a process for Twitter users, with 40% starting to shop in October and 25% waiting until December based on research by Millward Brown.

  • 33% of consumers tweet for holiday shopping advice.
  • 62% of consumers tweet about a positive business experience.
  • 39% of consumers tweet about holiday purchases.

Actionable Twitter Holiday Tips:

  • Integrate tweetable content into your editorial calendar as well as your social media communications through Christmas to maximize sales. Provide useful information and help people who don’t want to deal with retail shopping.
  • Use consistent branded hashtags. The goal is to keep your brand top of mind.
  • Include your phone number and address on your Twitter profile. Make it easy for prospects to find your business or complete a sale on the phone. While this may seem obvious, many businesses miss the easy stuff, especially when the holiday pressure is on.

Every year, Twitter conversation regarding holiday shopping on key shopping days like Black Friday peaks and it’s highly correlated with sales based on data from Crimson Hexagon and The NPD Group!!! Twitter Buzz Linked To Sales -2013

Actionable Twitter Holiday Tips:

  • Engage in brand related conversation around peak shopping days. This keeps your company top of mind when people actually purchase.
  • Get employees involved on Twitter to expand the holiday conversation. Like retail, you have a greater need for employee support around the holidays. Don’t forget to educate them on your social media guidelines.

Twitter audience is mobile and on-the-go

Users swipe their screens to unlock their phones an average of 110 times a day, according to Locket data. The most active smartphone time is between 5 and 8 pm ET when the average user checks his phone 9 times per hour.  

80% of Twitter active users use mobile according to the social media platform. This should be no surprise since Twitter comes in mobile-ready 140 character snackable sound bites.  

Actionable Twitter Holiday Tips:

  • Share mobile-optimized content in your tweets. You want to ensure that your audience can read your information when and where they’re viewing Twitter.
  • Send followers to the targeted information they’re seeking. Don’t just push products. Instead provide customers with the help they want and make it easy to purchase from those entryways.

Twitter: The always on social media communications platform

Twitter interactions increase during the year, peaking in December. In part this increase is attributable to growth of Twitter as a platform but in large part it’s related to holiday and shopping chatter.

Twitter Engagement Rate By Month-2014-Exact TargetTwitter engagement is highest on Sundays although few brands or companies are present when their audience is active. Twitter Engagement By Tweets by Day of Week-Exact Target-2014-1

People are active on Twitter 24/7. Similarly, your brand must be present to interact when they’re ready to talk to you. The highest retweets are in the wee hours of the morning. This is when people are active in Europe and before going to work. Twitter Engagement By Time of Day-Exact Target-2014

Actionable Twitter Holiday Tips:

  • Be present on Twitter 24/7. Shoppers research, communicate and buy during their personal time. To maximize sales and reduce costs, be available to answer their questions when they have them. Since most companies aren’t on social media on Sundays and evenings, this can be a competitive advantage.
  • Build customer relationships beyond the sale. Being available and engaged improves your share of voice. This in turn improves your market share based on Nielsen research from 2009.

Use Twitter to showcase your products

8% of brands and company tweets contain photos Exact Target found.

  • Photo tweets attract 3.3 replies on average, almost twice the 1.7 replies for non-photo tweets
  • 9 consumers retweet a photo tweet on average, about twice the 5 retweets for non-photo tweets.

Actionable Twitter Holiday Tips:

  • Go visual for a competitive advantage. Since most brands don’t use photographs on Twitter. Stand out with images that tell your brand story.
  • Include photographs in your tweets. Don’t just push product. Provide useful images that show your audience how to use or style your product.
  • Take advantage of Twitter photographs to capture holiday shoppers. Capture eye-catching photos during this busy time of year.  Encourage your customers to share their images on Twitter with your hashtags.

Twitter can help super charge your holiday sales through real time engagement and offers.

Don’t loose sight of the fact that, like any other social media platform, it’s about interacting with prospects and customers, not pushing product and prices!!!

What’s your best Twitter holiday tip and why?

BTW, here are 27 super easy Twitter tactics to boost sales.

Happy Marketing,
Heidi Cohen


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