Promoting your Black Friday event on social media channels is a must, but only if you know the right way to go about it. Plus, checking which strategy works best for your particular event takes time and effort, especially when you have a limited amount of it!
We dug around to find out how stores and businesses are going about their promotions. Make sure you’re ready to show off your events and deals on social media by following these five simple tips for promoting your Black Friday event.
Tailor your deals to your audience
Not all customers are created equal. The market is saturated with Black Friday deals and fierce competition. If your customers aren’t motivated enough to take action, they will take a look at what you have to offer and then move on. Does that mean you should give up on Black Friday promotions? No way! However, it would help if you were prepared for what motivates them.
One thing that separates Black Friday from other holiday sales events is that it happens on weekends. It lasts an entire weekend: starting on Thursday evening and ending on Sunday night or maybe Monday morning for some retailers. This means people have more time to shop than during traditional sales events like Cyber Monday.
A great starting point is observing how your current customers behave over time and seeing which products they often purchase together. You can also opt to run an online survey or poll on social media and ask your followers what they want to see in the store this year.
Build anticipation
While it’s true that Black Friday is an excellent time for bargain hunters, it’s also true that it’s a perfect time for your business to make some extra cash. However, it would help if you had a solid plan in place before you start doing deals on Thanksgiving Day. Here are some of the basics you’ll want to follow:
To get a jump-start on the competition, try creating anticipation for your Black Friday deals by posting them on your social media pages at least a week before they begin. This will help you build hype and generate more interest, ultimately translating into more sales as people eagerly wait for the big day. The social media sites that are best for this would be Twitter and Facebook. Still, Pinterest and Instagram could be used to share photos or videos of your best deals with customers who can’t wait to buy them.
That said, don’t just use regular posts about sales or new products—use each social media platform to do something different and exciting. For example, if you’re having a Black Friday sale, you could post sneak peeks or little teasers of the deals that will be available during that time; this will excite people and encourage them to share their reactions with their friends, family members, and coworkers online.
Use effective imagery
Indeed, you’re writing to fill space and hold the reader’s interest. Still, you can also enjoy your readers by including fun photos and videos. Aside from being a fun way to break up the text, they also help create a better sense of anticipation for the upcoming Black Friday event. Every post, especially the one about a big sale, needs to have some exciting imagery. For example, if you’re writing about a deal involving books, include a nice picture of books. If it consists of a product or service that people may be interested in, show an image of it.
Each post is effectively a mini advertisement for a product, so follow the principles of a tremendous image-based ad when you promote your Black Friday deal. Include an attractive photo of the product that shows it as appealing enough to make someone want to buy it. Then add in some desirable copy like “Hurry! Only 12 left!” or “Only two days left!” to drive home the message that this is something people should buy now.
Post sparingly
It’s common sense: if we’re constantly bombarded with information, we’ll get numb to it. This is why trendsetters will only share a few select items at a time—they know that over-saturation will cause us to tune it out altogether.
To avoid overwhelming your audience and pushing them away without even allowing them to learn about what you’re offering, it’s best to space out your posts: make sure that most are posted at least a week apart from each other. That way, your followers won’t feel bombarded by constant advertisements and will still be aware of the deal you have going on.
Communicate
If you promote your Black Friday event on social media, be ready for the avalanche of questions that will inevitably come your way! You can’t expect people not to ask questions just because they’re posting on social media. That’s why it’s vital to ensure you’re around to answer questions because there will be a lot! People will be responding to your social media posts, looking for more information, so it’s essential to set aside time to keep track of that.
If your Black Friday event is a sale, you don’t want customers waiting until the last minute to get all the details. Therefore, present an overview of the sale and make sure you include some essential information in one of your initial posts:
Things like store hours, sale dates and start times (if different from store hours), special deals or discounts, or anything else that might be crucial for people to know about as soon as possible.
Get ahead of the curve
Whether a large retailer or a small business, staying focused on your customers throughout your social media strategy is essential. We hope the tips laid out here were helpful to you. And we’ll see you in our inbox! Message us now.
