In the US, Black Friday comes second to Cyber Monday with shoppers spending $9 BILLION (BILLION WITH A B) online and it’s projected to be 22% higher this year. Cyber Monday alone brought in $10.8 BILLION in online sales. So where does social media fit into Black Friday?
Social media is a HUGE piece. As a marketer or a small business, it is so important to capitalize on these few days of the year. So here are 8 ways to double your Black Friday sales with social media.
There’s no ignoring the power of social media in today’s world. It is a necessary tool for any business to use, and when you’re looking at generating leads or promoting sales – its value becomes even greater!
8 Ways to Increase Sales with Social Media
- Plan Early
- Use a Gift Guide
- Utilize Instagram Shopping
- Use Links in Stories
- Partner with Influencers
- Prepare for More DMs
- Use Reels
- Invest in Ads
2019 Black Friday Stats:
— Chase Dimond | Email Marketing Nerd 📧 (@ecomchasedimond) November 20, 2020
-93.2 million buyers online
-Hit $7.4 billion in sales (all-time high)
-40% of shoppers made online purchases
-Average adult spends $400 on Black Friday
-$2.9 billion sales happened on mobile
BFCM this year will blow these numbers out of the water!
1. Plan Early and Increase Sales
As the biggest sale in e-commerce and retail, Black Friday should be thoughtfully strategized and planned accordingly. This means planning early and often. Plan your promotions, and marketing content and schedule accordingly. Will you have the same promotion for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Will you extend your sale? What will the discount be? How will you promote it? Use these questions to begin planning your BF/CM sales and promotions.
2. Create a Gift Guide Featuring Your Products
Create a traditional blog post for a gift guide then repurpose it to other places on social media. Use Instagram’s guide feature to help boost your content to your followers and others. Turn it into a story, a post, shippable collection on Instagram Shop wherever you can have it live. If you can’t create a complete gift guide with only your items create a guide with complimentary items, not competition.
3. Utilize Instagram Shopping
The easiest way to get people shopping on Instagram this Black Friday? Sell them directly through your account! Not only will Instagram reward you for leaning into their features, but creating a frictionless experience for your followers to buy directly off IG is a great way to make Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping even simpler.
4. Utilize Links in Stories to Increase Sales
Now that every account has access links in IG stories, make sure you use them! You can take advantage of this feature to drive traffic and increase your website’s conversion rate by attracting high-value customers with the intent to buy. Link product pages and sales offers during your Black Friday sales and link your email list sign-up forms leading up to Black Friday so followers can be notified of special offers. The link is stories feature is often underutilized and can easily lead to more conversions online.
5. White List with Influencers to Drive Traffic
This one is a no-brainer. If you are not already working with influencers and content creators on your regular marketing you need to be! There are 17.8 million posts under the #blackfriday. This means there are millions of posts being made around this time and you don’t want your posts to go unseen. Influencers are a great way to amplify your content to new users and users who already follow you but may not see your posts! It is a cost-effective way to get in front of more eyeballs. If you have existing relationships reach out to them for BFCM, if not send out some DMs and PR packages!
6. Prepare for an Increase of Messages
With the influx of posts, promotions, and traffic around Black Friday you should be preparing to see a potential major increase of messages. Have your most asked questions ready as templated DMs in your Instagram or notes app. Try and anticipate what your followers might ask and make it as quick and simple to answer them.
7. Use Reels To Promote Special Offers
Similar to using ‘link’ in stories, posting Instagram Reels will be rewarded by the algorithm for using new features. If you post them correctly, this can be an effective tool for pushing products and promotions with lasting power! Make sure your reel includes a hook to capture people’s attention. Keep the reels short and snappy to increase watch time and views.
8. Invest in Ads
With the thousands and thousands of posts that are going to be made more and more businesses and creators will be pouring money into ads. This is the time to put money behind your best-performing content and promotions and get in front of your ideal audience. Boosting posts, whitelisting, paid ad campaigns and SEM will be extremely important during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday sale period.
BONUS TIP: Use Pinterest to pin your most popular posts to increase sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These are the days when people can save big, so it’s important that you’re pinning things like deals or coupons in order for them to not only see what they want but also take action!
Final Thoughts
Get ready for an explosive Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, poised to be the most significant yet for eCommerce.
Don’t miss this golden opportunity to supercharge your sales. Harness the power of social media marketing as your ace in the hole, but don’t stop there. Combine it with SMS, email marketing, paid ads, and a whole arsenal of strategies. Step into the spotlight and engage both your loyal customers and potential ones with captivating content. This year, let’s turn the dial-up on fun and profits – double your sales, and make this year a record-breaking year for your business!
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