December is the only time of year where you don’t need to call the police if an overweight man dressed in red descends your chimney. Which can only mean one thing: the festive season is here.

Santa’s questionable Christmas attire aside, this is indeed the season to be merry. That means eggnog, yuletide cheer, carols, glitzy trees and, of course, presents. Lots of presents.

For brands, the holiday season is one of the best opportunities of the year to strike a chord with audiences and build on customer relationships. And what better way is there to engage with customers than on social media, which has the power to reach millions and make them feel genuinely involved in conversations. 

Brands that master social media master their bottom line.

Want proof?

 

Here are 10 holiday social media campaigns that stood out head and shoulders above the rest.

1) John Lewis, #JLChristmas

In the UK, John Lewis is seen as the OG of Christmas promotions, with their TV ads garnering legendary status. So it’s no surprise to see the retailer excel in festive social media marketing. They have a knack for tapping into consumer mindset.

Last year, they created the simple, yet effective, tag #JohnLewisChristmas. The plan? To fuse different Christmas outreach methods—photos and videos—together across their Instagram account, with every post indulging in the festive season. 

You could argue that John Lewis already had a head start over their competitors, such is the anticipation for their festive advertising. But that in itself goes to show how well the prestigious brand markets themselves during the holiday season.

John Lewis understands the emotions of Christmas, meaning they hit the right tone every time. 2017 was no different, with the JohnLewisChrstimas hashtag using simplicity to state one important message: Christmas and John Lewis go together like an Xmas tree and ball bells. 

2) UPS, #Wishesdelivered

They don’t come much bigger than UPS in the delivery world. The brand was founded in 1907 and has been delivering packages worldwide for more than one hundred years. Such a mega brand needs to make sure their festive messages is on point. 

Enter #Wishesdelivered, a festive campaign that pulls at heartstrings of audiences far and wide. Going off the moniker, “deliveries during the holidays begin with a wish”, the goal of UPS was to turn those wishes into reality. They made real people’s dreams come true, from helping reunite families at Christmas to giving a young aspiring aviator her chance to fly. The results were then documented across UPS social channels, including YouTube and Instagram. 

The campaign works so well because it creates heartfelt stories that resonate with audiences. Even if you haven’t experienced a last-minute struggle to get home to your family in time for the holidays, it’s almost certain that you can relate to the sentiment. Telling real stories about real people makes everything that much more, well, real. 

3)  WeWork, #‎wwgiftguide

Over the last few years, coworking spaces have become all the rage—and WeWork is leading the charge. WeWork currently has 471 offices in multiple countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands and many more.

Winning during the festive season as a B2B business is no easy feat, which is why WeWork should get extra kudos for their #wwgiftguide campaign. It started as an article in Creator, the WeWork magazine, where the company suggested gift ideas from WeWork member companies, and evolved into a full-on social media assault.

The stories have been shared continuously across social media accounts: suggestions included “gifts with a personal touch”, “gifts to get the party started”, “gifts for the family” and “gifts for the digital nomad”. 

The WeWork coworking office model is built on the idea of community and businesses working in the same space, championing the concepts of collaboration and generating new ideas. They managed to perfectly encapsulate the feeling of community and togetherness at Christmas time, which led to people sharing what gifts they’re buying for people during the holiday season. 

4) Starbucks, Red Cup

Coffee has been around since 1671, which is why it’s a testament to Starbucks—formed in 1971—that people connect coffee with the mega brand instantaneously. And now they have one of the most recognizable holiday campaigns. 

The Red Cup campaign initially began in 1997, long before social media. But so fierce is Starbucks following that it evolved into a fully-fledged social media movement where people share a picture of themselves holding the now iconic red cups. There is even a dedicated website, counting down to when the next iteration of cups goes live. 

To get an idea of the campaign’s success, many people don’t officially consider it the festive season until Starbucks has started selling coffee in their red cups. It just goes to show the power of UGC (user-generated content) and involving your audience in brand messaging. 

5) Mulberry, #MyTrueLoveGaveMetoMe

The fashion world is a brutal one, with brands competing to not only sell their pieces but also the concept of a lifestyle. Mulberry has managed to navigate the fashion world, keeping a balance between classic handbags and modern offerings. 

They’ve nailed their holiday marketing on social media, too. #MyTrueLoveGaveMetoMe is a visual campaign that stories new products to the backdrop of a funky, rock-n-roll Christmas. The youthful appeal of the campaign resonates with Instagram’s target audience without losing the brand’s classic following, thanks to the elegant pieces on display in the add.  

Mulberry successfully appealed to a new, younger audience while keeping their core fan base happy. They created a festive mood that appealed to across the board.   

6) Dollar Shave Club: Holiday Shave Set

Launched in 2011, Dollar Shave Club has gone from strength to strength, competing with some of the larger, more established brands in the shaving industry. By having a clever and  fun attitude to their marketing, they have managed to build their profile. 

Holiday Shave Set depicted humorous ads of “run-of-the-mill” Christmas gifts—socks, jumpers—being jealous of Dollar Shave Club gift sets. One example, shown in an Instagram video, reveals a jumper with an imprinted snowman holding a hairdryer at the snowman image, annoyed about being upstaged as a gift by Dollar Shave Club. 

Funny ads are some of the hardest to pull off, especially with people’s ideas of comedy differing so vastly. Not only was Dollar Shave Club able to create a witty campaign; it managed to poke fun holiday traditions in a light tone without being offensive.  

7) Sun-Made, #BakeItForSanta

One of the best aspects of social media is that you don’t have to be an exciting brand with a considerable reputation to utilize its strengths. Take Sun-Made, for example. The organization might be number one when it comes to selling dried grapes, but you wouldn’t necessarily put it in the same company as John Lewis, Starbucks, et al. 

Yet their holiday message was on point. They encouraged their audience to bake classic oatmeal raisin cookies by following a recipe on the Sun-Maid website using, you guessed it, Sun-Maid raisins. Once the cookie was ready to go, those doing the baking needed to post a video of the cookie on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag “BakeItForSanta”. The best entries won a KitchenAid Mixer. 

Competitions are always a good conversation starter. For brands who aren’t typically expected to make much noise (especially during the festive season), generating buzz with giveaways can be particularly helpful, as was the case for Sun-Made.

8) REI: #OptOutside

REI is a leading outdoor apparel retailer who sell products from many different brands. They have even designed their own line of award-winning gear and clothing and have over 154 locations across the US. 

Moving away from Christmas for a minute, instead focusing on Thanksgiving, REI did the unthinkable: they closed their stores, distribution centers and headquarters to give staff the day off on Black Friday, one of the busiest retail days of the year. 

The #OptOutside campaign was designed to encourage people to take a minute from the hustle and bustle side of the holiday season and get back to the tranquil surroundings of nature. Of course, it also helped that REI just so happen to be a company that sells outdoor apparel. Happy coincidence? Not even slightly. Genius marketing? 100 percent!

Now in its fourth year, REI has even encouraged other brands to get involved, who have donated money to charitable causes when people post on social media with the hashtag “OptOutside”. 

9) Hotel Tonight, #Visitdontstay

Hotel Tonight is an online travel app that partners with top-rated hotels, who in turn give them their unsold rooms. Hotel Tonight then offers those rooms to the public at the best available prices. 

The hotel and tourism industry sees a bump during the holiday season, with people going to visit, or escape from, their family. Hotel Tonight is clearly aware of the need for accommodation at Christmas time, which is why they created the #Visitdontstay campaign, suggesting that perhaps it’s better to visit your relatives but stay in a hotel. 

The campaign makes the most of social media channels, including a Facebook contest that encourages people to leave their funniest/worst holiday family stories in the comments and a Twitter conversation using #Visitdontstay. There is also online/print ads. 

It works because it plays on one of the holiday season’s most significant emotions—that we love our family, but staying with them for a few days might end up driving us crazy. 

L.L Bean, 12 Days of Puppies

There must be something about the holiday season that gets outdoor clothing companies flexing their creative muscles. L.L Bean, which was founded in 1912, took a simple concept at Christmas and blew everyone’s minds. 

Taking the 12 Days of Christmas theme, the brand successfully counted down to the big day by revealing an adorable puppy on each of the 12 days. The holidays can be stressful, what with all that present buying. So what better way to relieve them than with a bunch of the cutest puppies you ever did see? Not only that, but they featured puppies of their social media followers, asking dog owners to submit their cute pup pics.

Why did the campaign work? For this one, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist. Puppies and Christmas are enough to melt the heart of the even the most hardened person.

‘Tis the Season to be Digital

The holiday season is a time for families to come together, friends to spend time with each other and everyone to show goodwill. Brands are aware of the need to humanize themselves, and social media acts as the perfect enabler to connect with audiences far and wide. Brands that get their holiday social media marketing right will certainly believe that it’s the most wonderful time of the year.