From Turkey Day to the next Tuesday, Thanksgiving is a full out retail blitz, and if you aren’t on your game, you can easily get lost in the shuffle on Black Friday! Cleveland websites will be working over time, just as hard as the employees in the stores, to keep up with the demand. Market research firm Criteo pointed out that online retail sales grew 18% in 2017, and total online sales ended up ringing the virtual register to the tune of $7.9 billion dollars! That’s a whole lot of Amazon Echos and Nintendo Switch units!
So now that we’ve established how important it is to be part of the Black Friday movement, the question is how do we use social media to capitalize on the rush? There are so many other people with the same idea- how do you make your Black Friday social media campaign stand out? There are some simple ways to capitalize on the technology of social media and the genius inner-marketer inside all of us, without breaking the bank when it comes to your budget.
Here are 5 things you can do to dominate Black Friday in Cleveland using your social media accounts:
Brand appropriately for the holiday!
Change your header image and your profile picture to match your campaign for Black Friday. It has to stand out- make it look differently than your social media normally looks so people notice that something special is happening. Remember that it’s okay to use holiday colors and themes as long as you incorporate some standard elements of your brand too. Keep your logo visible and try to use your fonts if they are “iconic”, but don’t be afraid to use new colors and concepts in your branding.
Get a theme going and use it to your advantage for the holiday.
Chubbies is a brand that sells undergarments for men and women, so their branding for last year centered around the term “Thighber Monday”, which was accompanied by some funny videos and the offer of a free pair of undies sent out every hour on the hour. The theme was on point for the brand, and tied in well with the Black Friday rush. Find a way to tie in your brand with something memorable that people will remember.
Stress the urgency.
You have to let your customers know that you mean it. You need to act now or these deals are gone. Some companies have elected to use the old “we are cheaper all year round” approach, but consumers and their wallets are clear: If you give them a deal during that holiday rush, they will respond by emptying their pocketbooks!
Make it an event.
Facebook is still the largest social media network in the world and it’s really not that close. One of the things that Facebook enables you to do better than anyone else is create events. Invite all of your followers to a special event, whether it’s online or in your store. People want to feel included. Giving an invite to a Black Friday event in Cleveland makes it real, plus when people accept your invite it will create a calendar invite for them, so you’ll be on their mind all weekend long!
Use your blog to provide good content.
Use your blog to help build up your reputation as a resource for your clients. Put together a holiday buying guide around your industry. Think about ways you can supply info as a resource to show that you want to do more than sell to them, you want to be their guide through the holiday madness. Inform them as part of the build up to your event, so that way they are educated enough to know that they should come to you when it’s time to buy because you are the Cleveland experts at what you do and what you sell!
Black Friday planning shouldn’t start in November. You don’t want to wait until it’s too late to put together your online strategy for the busiest time of the year. Company 119 wants to help you come up with a great way to make the most of your social media accounts around the holidays, but it’s already time to think past that and look into next year. Don’t wait another day. Start planning for next year by contacting the team that Cleveland trusts for web design, social media and marketing automation: Company 119. Contact us today to get started!
