The December / January shutdown can be the perfect time to connect with existing clients — and potential 2020 clients — because, due to the downtime, there's a higher than normal chance that they'll actually consume and engage with your company's digital marketing content.

Think longer, more in-depth blog posts that speak to your customer niche. Most importantly, during the holiday shutdown, you should be thinking about your 2020 strategy and then implementing it in the New Year.

If you're not thinking about it in December, then you're going to have to think about it in January, which means it's only going to be implemented in February. December is when your target clients are more likely to be doing research; it's when they have the time to figure out problems that their businesses are facing, or explore solutions that can boost their business. And that's where another opportunity comes in.

1. Use your free time over the holidays

People wrongly assume that no one is doing any work over December. They're not at the office, sure, but they're on social media. If there's something that someone wants to implement in the year to come — maybe it's a new role, service-offering, or vertical — when better to plan it than then?

It's perfect for a content marketing strategy because these particular individuals would probably look at LinkedIn, or they would look at social media channels they wouldn't ordinarily look at during the day because they're not overloaded by email.

Are they going to troll through your company's social media pages? Not necessarily. But you can still use social platforms to actively market your business.

2. Don't let your content go on holiday

When it comes to social media, you don't want your content to also take annual leave. People are otherwise going to move onto the next thing, so it still needs to be front and centre.

Crucially, you need a social media content plan going into the shutdown season. A lot of it depends on what industry you're in, but think about what content or posts are going to get the most engagement while everyone's off on holidays.

How do you ensure that your content is engaging so that people are actively re-tweeting, sharing and converting into hot leads? There's no magic formula, unfortunately. But the easiest way to do this is to look at the metrics of past posts. This will point you in the right direction.

3. Post on social media 

Yes, it's December, but making an effort to connect with your client base, especially on social media, will pay off. Social media is an enabler of getting your content out there, and it's a really great way to keep your business top of mind, even during the downtime.

No matter the platform, or time of year, you should always ask these four questions before you post:
  1. Who are you talking to?
  2. Why are you talking to them?
  3. Is it relevant?
  4. Will it resonate?
People who are serious about their jobs can't turn it off. They reset for a week and then the next week they start thinking about their business and the year to come. Otherwise, they'll get left behind.

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