The Eid season is once again upon us, and retail and restaurant owners and operators must take advantage of the additional spending that consumers will be doing during this time. The continued growth of smart phone and social media users means that you must focus some of these weeks’ marketing efforts using social media.
The good news is that the possibilities are endless and will cost you very little. You just need to put your imagination and creativity to work! Appoint one person in your operation — preferably
someone with an eye for photography — to take on this task, as it is much less confusing when there is only one person managing the social media
content.
Here are a few ideas you can incorporate in
your tentative marketing strategy for the coming week:
1. Eid Branding:
Incorporate an Eid theme to your existing social media branding to get your followers in the Eid spirit.
2. Show, don’t tell:
Bring your communications to life with photos and videos. Use photos of new merchandise that just arrived, a picture of your signature dishes or even of your kitchen, warehouse, office or place of business. You can even share a video of your staff and employees thanking your customers and wishing them a happy Eid.
3. Introduce the team:
Who are the people your customers, or clients have or will come in contact with? Introduce them to your community, in this way, people/customers can relate to them when they visit your store!
4. Involve your customers:
Let their voices come through, either by sharing their tips for using your products or picking their favorite dish or service that you offer, or by suggesting their own gift ideas from your restaurant. Capture this information on video, or with a quick photo and a caption that includes their thoughts.
5. Have fun:
Get in the Eid spirit! You definitely have multicultural and multinational staff. Have each one share how they celebrate Eid with their families according to their culture!
• Bilal Hallab (@bilalhallab) is general manager and head social business strategist of The Social Clinic, a social business consultancy based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, covering the Middle East that offers social media HR, governance, engagement, strategy, analytics, training, workshops, design and development services.
