Kohl’s, Maison Jules and H&M are among the slew of retailers sharing product style images on social media, driving interest in New Year’s Eve attire to maximize the last of sales potential from the holiday season.

Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are a few of the platforms to which brands are flocking, sharing images for outfit inspiration focused on the New Year’s theme. Maison Jules is employing a sponsored post on Instagram, while other brands such as H&M are sharing editor picks on Twitter available for purchase.

“Research from Business Insider revealed that social media increased its share of e-commerce referrals by nearly 200 percent from Q1 2014 to Q1 2015, making it a key avenue for retailers to engage with and capture potential shoppers,” said Kelly Wrather, senior manager of content at Kenshoo. “The nature of social networks inherently lends itself to consumers interacting with peers to seek recommendations, share their passions and inspirations, and for retailers, there is increased opportunity to influence sales and even drive action via social given formats that now feature specific and direct calls to action to buy.

“Special occasions, like New Year’s Eve, are a great example of this, because consumers are shopping with a particular event and intent in mind,” she said. “To garner the best results, retailers should focus on telling a visual story centered on the New Year’s Eve experience.”

Modeling on mobile
Retailers are acting as personal stylists for consumers searching for the perfect outfit to model on New Year’s Eve. Social media feeds are filled with product promotion, along with links to purchase leading up to the big party holiday.

Kohl’s shared an image on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook featuring a sparkly skirt out on display against a blue background along with a white sweater, a glitter clutch and various makeup. The retailer included a link to purchase on Facebook and Twitter, and on Instagram prompted users to follow the link in bio to purchase the outfit inspiration.

Anthropologie shared a similar image on Twitter and Instagram, showcasing a matching pair of shimmery heels and a clutch on its pages. However, Maison Jules sponsored a post on Instagram pairing a dress, cross-bodied bag and heels against a holiday-inspired background, which gives it a wider audience and an easier method of purchase as it includes a buy now button within the image.

H&M shared a post on Twitter with a picture of various holiday outfits to wear on New Year’s Eve, encouraging users to click on it for more inspiration. The retailer curated a special edition of its editor’s selected post on the H&M Web site, including a variety of looks perfect for tomorrow’s celebration.

Best practices
With every strategy there are pitfalls and best practices. Retailers need to keep certain things in mind to make sure they are getting the most out of driving sales.

“[Retailers should not] be too narrow in promotion, New Year’s Eve is about a full, head-to-toe ensemble and experience,” Ms. Wrather said. “Marketers should be sure to retarget shoppers for upsell opportunities to keep them engaged so they can complete their look; Dynamic Product Ads are a great resources to execute this and allows for both a single product or multi-product view across both desktop and mobile.

“Additionally, retailers will want to avoid overlapping audiences too much in order to not fatigue audiences or deliver conflicting messages or products,” she said.

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Commerce Daily