How to Create a Holiday Twitter Schedule

Chestnuts roasting on the fire, a hot cup of cocoa and softly playing music… it’s an idyllic holiday scene, but one that many marketers don’t get to enjoy because they’re too busy tweeting during the holidays.

Rather than leave your Twitter-based Christmas, New Years, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other celebrations to the last minute, we’ve got some ideas for you to help you create a holiday Twitter schedule – so you can take some much deserved rest knowing that your tweets are all queued up.

Step 1: Make a list of the celebrations

December is a big month for celebrations around the world. Make a list of the specific holidays that you’d like to acknowledge on Twitter. Try to gather some insight into what your audience celebrates, and incorporate that into the list as well.

Celebrations can range from the obvious, like Christmas, to the more personal, like your company’s office party, end-of-the-year milestones or recognizing the charitable work of your employees during the holidays.

Be sure to note the date and time, if applicable, of all of the celebrations on your list.

Step 2: Write your tweets

Now it’s time for a little creativity. Spend a few hours brainstorming the tweets that you will send to mark each date. You’ll want to keep your brand voice consistent, but also write tweets that will stand out – everyone can tweet “Merry Christmas!”, so why not add a little personality to yours?

Don’t forget to leave room for an image!

Step 3: Make your images

Since images improve engagement and reach, it’s a good idea to include them in as many tweets as you can. Once you have your holiday-themed tweets all written up, find or create images to match.

There are some neat tools out there that can help you design images if you don’t have a graphics background, such as Snappa and Pablo by Buffer. These tools enable you to choose stock photos, add text and graphics, and download in a Twitter-friendly format.

Step 4: Use a Twitter scheduling tool

If you’re already using a tool to schedule your tweets, now’s the time to open it. If not, try looking into one of the leaders in this space: HootSuite, Buffer and TweetDeck are all great choices.

With your tweets written and images created, it’s simply a matter of plugging each one into your scheduling tool and setting them to go live at the right dates and times throughout the holidays. Easy!

(Optional) Step 5: Add in the right hashtags

It’s always a good idea to do a little hashtag research if you want your tweets to earn more exposure. However, this step is optional because often the most popular hashtags surrounding a live event like a holiday aren’t apparent until the day-of.

If you are able to quickly check in on Twitter’s Trending Topics on each day that you’re celebrating and include one or two in your related tweets, you’ll earn yourself more exposure.

And that’s all it takes to set up a holiday Twitter schedule! This method works for any holiday period, so don’t limit your scheduling to December alone. Happy holidays and happy tweeting!