LinkedIn, Aim, Digg, Myspace, Squidoo, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit express some holiday cheer!

It’s now November and Christmas is just 52 days away. Gift shopping, turkey feasting, and snow shoveling (Hope I don’t jinx it!) seem to occupy the top of your to-do list, and tweeting and posting may not be such a priority. Anyone who engages in social media, either personally or professionally, knows that it’s one of those tasks you know you have dedicate time to, but when things get crazy busy with work projects and personal schedules, it’s what usually gets pushed aside. Here are a few basic tips to keep in mind that will make sure your Klout score doesn’t suffer during one of the busiest times of the year.

1. Start now and plan ahead

Take a cue from department stores that are already playing Christmas songs and selling holiday decor. Start thinking about what topics you should be blogging, posting, and tweeting about now so, when you have to leave work early for that holiday party, you’re covered. Tools like HootSuite and Crowdbooster allow you to schedule tweets and Facebook posts to be published at a future, predetermined time which is really useful when you’re out on vacation or just plain swamped.

2. Be timely and newsworthy

The risk you encounter when you schedule tweets and posts is that your content may be stale (or as Eric would say, “So nine minutes ago!”) by the time it gets pushed out. For your content to stay relevant, don’t just say what happened, but include your take on it. Don’t tweet “It’s 52 days till Christmas,” but say “Tips for tweeting your Christmas countdown.” This is where your brand’s voice comes in giving your content added value.

3. Go mobile

If you haven’t already, definitely get access to your social platforms on your smart phone. Some of you might be thinking that this is a given, but just this week, I’ve encountered a few people who work in the online media field who don’t have Twitter and Facebook apps on their phone. Enough said.

4. Keep your audience top of mind

It’s important to remind yourself when generating content, that your audience is in the same boat. They’re also as busy as you, if not more, and you have a smaller window of opportunity to engage them. Echoing number 2, be smart about when and what you tweet. If you know that most of your audience tend to comment on Facebook during their lunch break, then concentrate your Facebook activity at that time. Crowdbooster has a useful feature that gives you suggested times on when you should tweet and Facebook post based on previous clicks, replies, and shares on your content.

5. Get in the holiday spirit

One “perk” of this busy season is since there is a lot going on, there’s more to talk about. Do your coworkers decorate their offices? (Yes, Danielle, I’m talking about you.) Is your company holding a holiday marketing campaign, sale, promotion or the like? These all make for good ideas for blogging, posting, and tweeting. Tis’ the season to be jolly after all.

These simple and somewhat logical tips do not only apply to the holiday season and can be quite helpful if practiced throughout the year. Just based on my informal research, people rarely follow all of the above which can save you a lot of time and maybe even your sanity. If you have any other tips in mind, please do share!