Happy Friday!
October has arrived, and for many of us, that means cooler temps, corn mazes, and pumpkin spice! In the digital marketing world, we shift our focus to the 4th quarter and the arrival of the Holiday Gauntlet!
So for the month of October, we are going to help you design a plan to make sure you properly acknowledge the traditions and rituals of your audience, while also finishing the year strong by capitalizing on a traditionally high buying season. 
So let’s start by creating a plan.
Here are some questions I’d like you to answer:
1. Which holidays/traditions do you want to make sure to acknowledge? 
You can check out resources like this one with all the US holidays listed to help you plan out what you will (or will not) promote or observe on your social media channels.
1a. What local community events do you want to make sure to promote or support? 
Don’t just focus on federal holidays – what’s important to your community?
2. How will you design and distribute those posts via social and email? Often, people have those days off, so you need a plan for publishing while folks are away. Hootsuite or Buffer are two great auto-publishing resources for you to check out as you prepare your holiday posting strategy.
3. What are some ways to position your products and/or services that coincide or align with the upcoming holidays? An example might be Black Friday or Cyber Monday and offering a unique or special discount on those days.
4. Do you have a digital advertising budget for the upcoming high-buying season? If so, what is the amount, and how do you plan to deploy? We will discuss this in greater detail in a future eNewsletter.
5. What topics should we avoid over the next three months? Will you mention some religious holidays or try to acknowledge all? Also, the political season is upon us. Do you have a clear line in place for what is okay and not okay to post?
LocaliQ has a great deep-dive on holiday marketing strategies – check it out here.
I would suggest a meeting around the questions above and to have a clear content plan for the season we have just entered. With the upcoming US election, along with a pandemic, this is a holiday season unlike any other. It is important to have a plan in place and everyone on the same page with that plan.
For many businesses, the holiday season can determine if we finish the year strong or flat. Let’s make sure our digital marketing strategy is aligned with our audience’s interests and offer solutions from which they can truly benefit. 
Have a great weekend,
Corey