Put Your Social Accounts On Autopilot For The Holidays

Whether you're taking some well deserved time off over the holidays or working through, you don't have to choose between switching off and staying visible. A little prep before it's tools down can keep your social media active, let your customers know what's happening and even fill your January calendar (or holiday calendar if you're working through), all with minimal effort. 

Here's how to set your social accounts to auto pilot over the holiday months. 

Batch and Schedule Content

We've already raved about why we love scheduling content in advance and what a time-saver it is, and now it's more important than ever. The best thing you can do for yourself, your team and your social accounts is to create and schedule a few posts in advance. It doesn't need to be a full content plan, but a few social posts will keep you top of mind and let your customers know what's happening.

Tip: Utilise software like Thryv to help generate content using inbuilt AI, schedule posts in advance and manage your social accounts. 

What to Post?

With the majority of the country taking some time to relax and hit the beach over the holidays, you don't need to post a lot and we recommend keeping it light, informative and friendly.

Here's some suggestions:

• Team photo or end of year wrap up
• Thank you post for your customers to show appreciation. 
• An update if your hours are changing, you're shutting down or there's a skeleton team working through to manage expectations
• A booking reminder for the new year, if you're already looking full, give your customers a heads up so they don't have to wait for your services. 

Set up an auto reply to manage expectations

We'd recommend setting up an auto reply on Facebook or Instagram. Just like you would set up an auto reply on your email, you want to set one up on your social accounts. We'd recommend setting one up on Facebook and Instagram to let your customers know if you're working through, if there's any changes to hours, if the inbox is being monitored or if there'll be a delay in coming back to them. 

Check your social ads

If you're shutting down over the holidays, you might want to hit pause on any social ads you have running. You don't want to be bringing customers in if you're not able to speak to them. Or if you still want to generate leads during this time, make your availability clear.

Check in lightly - if you want

This is more so if you're taking some time off and is entirely up to you on how you want to handle this. There's no right or wrong answer.

If you do want to check your accounts, we'd recommend setting up a system and sticking to it, like:

• Give yourself a 5-minute window every few days to check messages

• Assign one team member to be on light-duty inbox monitoring

• Simply rely on your auto-replies and enjoy the silence

And you're set! Now you're ready to hit the beach or stay on the tools. 

If you want to learn more about ways to put your business on auto pilot, get in touch to learn more about how Thryv's small business software can help your business grow.