Christmas is just around the corner, so enjoy the last of the normality before the chaos begins. With just 61 days until Christmas, here’s what to expect in social media land.
1. Christmas emotions
You may have experienced an office debate over when is an acceptable time to play Christmas music. There's always one colleague who insists on starting Christmas celebrations too early, yet others will hold off until the Christmas party.
Excitement, happiness, joy, stress or guilt: whatever the sentiment - according to Twitter you'll be sure to hear about it on social media.
2. Christmas rituals
Is there such a thing as a 'traditional Christmas'? According to Twitter, in the UK, we have certain rituals that are often talked about on social media, which fill our newsfeeds each year. Putting the tree up, switching on the Christmas lights for the first time and opening the first door of your advent calendar are some of the many Christmas traditions which contribute to the dramatic increase in the volume of tweets.
3. Christmas TV ad wars
Christmas TV ads are now an iconic part of a British Christmas and it gets competitive between the big brand retailers each year. John Lewis, Debenhams, Coca Cola, Sainsburys, Aldi, Tesco and Asda are among the brands that join the battle for the best Christmas advert while the press sit ready to speculate.
In 2016, we saw thousands of social posts using seasonal hashtags: #ManontheMoon, #RedCups, #ChristmasForSharing, #GiftFace and #HolidaysAreComing are just a few from last year. These hashtags generated a whopping total of 1 million Twitter mentions over the seasonal period alone.
This year will be no different but who will win the Christmas TV advert war? Guess we’ll have to wait and see...
4. A social shoppable Christmas
In 2015, Christmas sales were higher than the year before, with 27% of these sales taking place online. That's an 11% rise to £114 billion, according to the The IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index.
The run-up to Christmas is the best time to attract customers with annual retail shopping bonanzas including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and to appeal to last-minute shoppers on the December weekends. Online and mobile are key focus areas for retailers this year, so it's not surprising that they're looking towards social media to boost their Christmas sales.
We expect to see a continued appetite to make a financial ROI from the audience that they've grown and nurtured. This will involve more shoppable gift guides, targeted social ads, Instagram carousels, buy buttons and shoppable pins this year. There are even rumours of shoppable windows this year using iBeacon mannequins.
5. Festive live streaming
Facebook Live was popular in 2016 and we expect that people will make the most of the feature this Christmas. The holiday provides moments that are worth live streaming. Celebrities and brands are also likely to use the tool to engage their fans in a creative and personal way. 
6. Spreading cheer through Snapchat stories, filters and selfies
Most brands have recognised that they can target a younger demographic through Snapchat. It's expected that this channel will be an integral part of Christmas campaigns this year. This is an opportunity to have fun and we're hoping that Snapchat will provide us with lots of fun filters and emojis to do so. After all, what beats a personal, real-time, disappearing Christmas greeting?
7. A busy time for content creators
While most of us enjoy some time off over the festive period, for others, including content creators such as bloggers and YouTubers, it's the busiest time of the year. They have to spend the festive period managing brand partnerships, Christmas hauls, seasonal videos and parties. Most of us can spend more time scrolling through newsfeeds during the holidays, more so than usual. We, therefore, foresee lots of social media influencers and brands speaking to you directly during this time.
8. Keeping up with the Joneses on Instagram
Does anyone remember the number of Christmas dinner Instagram pictures in their feeds last year? While many spend the day battling a hangover or wrestling drinks out of Granny’s hand, others are boasting about the ultimate Christmas dinner or showing off their happy family selfies. Get ready to keep up with the Joneses on Instagram this year!
And don't forget to prepare your waistline! Instagram also lends itself to the season of indulgence. In December, we expect even more recipes, mouthwatering pictures of dinners, puddings and cocktails *drools*.
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