Should your B2B digital and social marketing take a break over the Christmas holidays?
During the Christmas holiday at the end of 2019, LinkedIn engagement across Europe fell by 27%. Understandable really, as we all focused on opening presents and getting an overly-elaborate lunch onto the table.
The surprising figure is that over that same period click-through rates increased by 30%. So while there were fewer people scrolling through LinkedIn, they were far more likely to engage with posts.
It might seem a bit sad that many of us are online while we’re supposed to be spending time with the family. But in some ways, it’s understandable. Even this year, when many people have been working from home, we can still be very busy in Teams meetings and Zoom calls. Or trying to manage projects from a distance. It’s only during down-time that we can really engage with online content.
Further LinkedIn research that shows 73% of B2B decision makers research products during the evening – and 52% at weekends. In a constantly-on world, sometimes you need to find a bit of breathing space to take in information and make decisions.
Marketers often face a dilemma about posting to social media during holiday seasons. You don’t want to look like a bunch of relentless workaholics. And it can be nice to have a bit of a break from posting yourself. On the other hand, if people are out there browsing online and open to learning more, it’s an important opportunity to make connections.
Another important point that LinkedIn makes is that if you are paying for campaigns, your cost-per-click (CPC) will also drop over the Christmas period. And if your competitors aren’t posting, you also gain a greater share of voice.
So Rocket Content’s advice is to keep posting over the Christmas period. This is a particularly good time to think about promoting big bits of content, such as Guides or White Papers – when people have more time to read them. So re-use that content and create some snappy LinkedIn and Twitter posts to draw people to your website.
If you don’t want to be tied to posting every day when you’re taking a break, try something like Hootsuite. A limited free account will allow you to schedule on 3 social profiles (e.g. one Twitter account; one LinkedIn account; one Facebook account). And you can schedule 30 messages in one go.
That should see you nicely over the Christmas period without having to lift a finger. Which will give you more time to help with the washing up after lunch…