The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and the busiest shopping time of the year! Retailers and brands are competing for consumer’s attention. During this shopping season, it is vital for your company to properly communicate its key messages. One way to deliver these key messages is through social media channels. Social media provides brands and retailers the opportunity to connect directly with customers through online engagement, allowing for a more personal shopping experience.

According to Research Industry Voices, 28 percent of consumers will follow certain retailers/brands on social media to keep an eye out for sales, promotional codes and deals. Additionally, 22 percent will follow retailers/brands on social media to find out what’s popular to get ideas for gifts. This is precisely why leveraging mobile and digital marketing to the fullest extent is crucial during the holidays.

Many brands are using unique approaches through social media channels to increase sales during the holiday season. Social media campaigns included in the mix this holiday season include contests, holiday cards and social giving. Once specific company that has embraced digital assets for its holiday campaign is Target. Target combined Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram for its 2015 holiday campaign, increasing its social budget by 30 percent compared to last year.

The efforts you put forth online and on social media should be mimicked in-store as well. The growth of online shopping does not discount the in-store shopping experience. Brands still need to invest dollars on in-store employees and processes to keep shoppers happy and ensure their customer’s in-store experience is as seamless as their digital experience. With the holiday season in full swing, companies must review their online and mobile presence, launch holiday campaigns highlighting special deals and promotions through social channels and ensure all content is authentic and conveys the holiday spirit.

Zuckerberg Shares His Wealth

The same young billionaire that created the sharing social networking platform Facebook has decided to share more than a status update. Facebook’s co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, along with his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, pledged to donate 99 percent of Zuckerberg’s company shares after the birth of their daughter in late November. Facebook is currently worth $45 billion, Zuckerberg promising to give away the majority of his share during his lifetime. This extreme generosity supports their goal of advancing human potential and promoting equality.

In an open letter to their newborn girl, Maxima, Chan and Zuckerberg share their plans for The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: “Today your mother and I are committing to spend our lives doing our small part to help solve these challenges. I will continue to serve as Facebook's CEO for many, many years to come, but these issues are too important to wait until you or we are older to begin this work. By starting at a young age, we hope to see compounding benefits throughout our lives.” The initiative creates partnerships and programs focused on solving these challenges in a changing world. Initially, the main focus of these partnerships and programs will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.

Not only is the couple gaining a large amount of media attention after the release of their open letter to their newborn daughter, but they are also highlighting the efforts on a Facebook page specifically for the initiative. With over 48,000 page fans, the page lists the various partnerships they have formed and donations made since 2009. Additionally, the announcement by letter has been shared more than 187,000 times on Facebook with the majority supporters.

In the past decade, Zuckerberg and Chan have already donated more than $1.6 billion. Some of the donations include a $100 million gift to the Newark Public School System, a $25 million donation to the CDC to stop the spread of Ebola and a $120 million commitment to education in the Bay Area.

Unfortunately, some agree the generous move was still not enough to counter the user privacy violations and other negative perceptions held by various Facebook users. Although this was not the goal of Zuckerberg’s initiative, this announcement is still life affirming and will be life-changing for millions. Chan and Zuckerberg can truly make a difference with this scope of work and strong commitment to ensuring their wealth is going toward efforts to accomplish these initiatives.