Just a few years ago, if you wanted to find the best deals, you were forced to wait for the sales flyers to show up in your newspaper or mailbox. You would make a list of what you wanted and formulate your game plan. In today’s economy, businesses are using social media to promote businesses’ goods/services.
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram are being used as serious vehicles to reach consumers in a huge way to advertise great deals. Using social networking sites makes sense for businesses not only because they can reach large numbers of consumers who have decided to follow them but the businesses can also reach the consumers basically at no cost.
Using social media is a brilliant strategy because it will reach a much wider audience, an audience that will now be able to see the tremendous savings that are being obtained goods and services. Not only do stores show their deals on the social media sites but they advertise them with email campaigns as well. Research also shows that a large number of shoppers intend to use social media sites to do their holiday shopping.
One day that takes the social media by a storm is the Black Friday Sale. These days businesses are doing whatever they can to make it easier for shoppers to spend their money with them. It is becoming a more and more popular trend to offer amazing deals not only on Black Friday but for some time before and after Black Friday as well.
Getting a business ready for the biggest day of the year needs strategic planning. Some steps to follow are;
1) Create a Black Friday Marketing Plan
The trick to social media marketing is to think out your campaign from the beginning to end. Create one or two big click-worthy incentives and take the time to craft smart wording with interesting photos for your posts. Take a tip from Amazon, and schedule your Black Friday marketing blasts for a week in advance and then heavily the day before and the day of Black Friday.
2) Use What Works
If you already have a large Facebook following, then don’t experiment with Twitter or Snapchat. There is already an effective platform. However you can try new options like videos and photo albums to create interest. Add in links, click-friendly content and, if possible, connect socially with customers so their friends can see your bargains, too.
3) Buy Ads
With the ever-changing matrixes of social media platforms, it’s trickier than ever to get in front of your customers without paying. So this is the right time to purchase advertisements.
4) Go Viral
Recently, the outdoor retailer REI hit it out of the park by encouraging customers to #OptOutside – that is, shop online and spend Black Friday far away from stores. Similarly, creating a unique hashtag and using it constantly will help your brand go viral, but it’s tough. Remember that humor is the best salesperson, so if you’re having fun with your marketing, chances are your customers are, too.
5) Remember Cyber Monday
Its not only Black Friday, in recent years, Cyber Monday has become another big day for retailers. If you are set up for online sales and can be prepared for an early-morning rush, consider extending your campaign to the following week. Since most of the sales during Black Friday usually use the cyber space, get online and get selling.
By using social media, you can make this big shopping day the centerpiece of your campaign. You’ll be black in no time!