New research from intelligence experts Experian Hitwise suggests brands should be optimising their social media strategy now to make the most of the Christmas period.
The research highlighted that social media usage is usually at its highest in the final quarter of the year, with peaks in October and December.
“December is always the biggest month of the year for social media usage, but our seasonal trend data shows that October is the second busiest month of the year,” commented James Murray, Marketing Research Analyst at Experian Hitwise. “Brands need to start capitalising on this traffic and increased usage now in order to ensure that the impact of their social interaction will carry through to the crucial Christmas sales period.”
Facebook bounces back to account for 52% of all visits to social networking sites, after suffering a dip in July and August. Having consistently been the fastest growing social network, YouTube lost market share for the first time last month. Twitter also experienced a slight fall of market share from 3.87% to 3.40%. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter remain the top three social networking sites.
“The important message for brands is to understand the seasonality of visits to their sector, which can have a significant influence on traffic. Timing and careful social media planning can determine the success or failure of a campaign. We know that social traffic is going to account for a greater proportion of Internet usage as we get closer to Christmas, but October is a key month ahead of the December rush and those brands which can lay the ground work now will benefit later in the winter season” said James Murray.
