Last year, U.S. Black Friday sales increased by a whopping 22% compared to the year prior and Black Friday 2021 is predicted to be another year of record breaking. Here are 5 tips for pulling sales from social platforms and preparing for what’s ahead.
1. Know Your Audience & Where They Spend Their Time.
This may be a given, but knowing your audience is going to need to be one of your main priorities. Check out your company’s metrics and formulate a plan of action to decide how your paid advertisement budget will be spent across social media platforms. Consider which platform your business is currently performing well on and your audiences’ age to decide what your time and energy will be put into.
2. Bring Attention to the Goods.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year so have some fun with this one. Give your social pages a good refresh. Change up the graphics to advertise your sales in a fun way that demands the attention of the viewer. Be sure to change all profile photos and any banners.
Draw new customers in by using the hashtags such as #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday. Data from Facebook from February to May 2020, show that clicks on searches for local businesses increased globally by 23%. Appeal to this audience by using hashtags such as #ShopSmall , #SupportSmallBusiness , #ShopLocal and #SupportLocal.
Take advantage of story posts and create a buzz around freebies, giveaways, and collaborations. Create a countdown to keep your audience at the edge of their seats.
3. Creative Content Ideas
You know the deal. Media planning and content creation are critical parts of this game. Before the big day consider the following post ideas:
Micro Influencer / influencer collaborations
If you’re looking to expand your reach (who isn’t?) and gather some great user generated content, this is what you want to be doing. Seeing your product being rocked by a familiar face is a great way for your audience to get excited and obtain trust in your business.
Gift Guides
Make the best use of the situation by providing holiday shoppers with a quality gift guide. Kill two birds with one stone by crushing the algorithm by filling your feed with a variety of media types and also giving viewers examples of ways to present your product as a gift.
Holiday Graphics
Create holiday themed graphics and imagery to go along with your promotions and general social content during the holiday season. Professional-quality creatives peak consumer interest and increase conversions, if you are not confident in your creative abilities; hiring a marketing agency may be the right decision for your business.
4. Direct Message Customer Service
Black Friday weekend provides and increased number of sales and with that comes an increase in the need for fast and efficient customer service.
It has become very common for online shoppers to seek communication via facebook messenger or instagram DMs. Have a staff member readily available during the holiday shopping season to respond to direct messages. When replying to your customers it is in your best interest to be e quick, kind and compassionate when resolving any and all issues.
Take advantage of the direct message conversation to prompt them for a review of your service, ask them to follow you on all your accounts, or sign up for your email list for future promotions!
5. Capture New Customer Connections
Give Reason to Return
Plan ahead and reap the benefits of this influx in visitors. Do anything and everything you can to get them coming back for more. Create a multitude of ways to obtain as many customer emails as possible. You can do this by having:
- host giveaways on social media accounts to gain followers
- fill your stories with promotion information and easy access to purchase with swipe up links
- add a landing page as your bio website link
- send a welcome message to new followers and provide them with holiday sale information
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to drive sales from your social media accounts this holiday season!