Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are expected to increase by more than 10 percent this holiday, and predominantly from just mobile shopping alone. Where better than social media to grab smartphone-savvy consumers’ attention.
We’ve put together five steps to ensure your limited-edition deals make a splash in the sea of social media this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
While planning your social media strategy, it’s always good to start with your profiles. Coordinate your social media accounts to ensure all profile pictures, banners, bios, descriptions and links are updated to advertise your Cyber Monday and Black Friday promotions.
It’s important to update your bio or call-to-action button to include a direct link to your dedicated Black Friday or Cyber Monday landing page. Consider pinning a tweet or Facebook post announcing the best deal at the top of your timeline to ensure you are grabbing customers attention.
Most shoppers have a natural sense of urgency during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but that doesn’t mean you can’t inject some fear of missing out into your social media campaigns. A great way to do this is by sprinkling time related words throughout your content. Words such as “today” or “shop now” trigger consumers to act fast before something runs out of stock. Of course, don’t overdo it. Consumers can quickly become immune to the sense of urgency, moderation is key to success.
Other examples of time-related words to weave into your content and call to action buttons include:
Hurry
Limited-time offer
Instant savings
Save today
Limited number available
Don’t miss this
Today only
Picking gifts for friends and family is always challenging. You can make it easier for your customers by creating a series of gift guides aimed at different segments of your target audience.
Publish these guides on your own blog, or as social media graphics, and promote them using paid Facebook ads that reach specific audience segments.
Do some hashtag research before you plan your social media campaign. This will help you understand the mood and interest of your target audience, and you can plan your social media posts accordingly.
While major Black Friday and Cyber Monday have some obvious hashtags (#cybermonday, #cybermondaysales, #blackfridaydeals, etc.), it’s worth finding out what other trending hashtags you can use in your posts. For instance, searches for #giftsforher, #giftsforhim and #christmasgifts rise significantly during the holiday sales season.
Choose hashtags that are relevant to your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and use them in every social media post promoting your sales.
In the fast-paced world of social media, timing is everything. A well-timed post can be the difference between creating social media magic and an ecommerce marketing ploy that falls on deaf ears.
When you are preparing a Black Friday or Cyber Monday campaign, it’s always good to start early, plan your campaign, and create and schedule your social media posts well in advance.
There are many tools for social media scheduling out there, and many benefits as well. When all your content is created at once, your design and messaging will be consistent and you can schedule your posts at times that best reach your target audience.
Roll Out Your Content
Now that you have your social plan in place, you can begin to roll out your content. Be sure to regularly assess how your social media content is resonating with customers.
Lastly, don’t forget that while discounts and deals are a big part of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, shoppers still value the overall customer experience—and your social media presence is an important part of that. Be sure to follow along with us at Good Commerce for more tips and tricks as we enter the holiday season!