How to use social media to increase Black Friday sales (even for a late starter!)
Contrary to popular belief, Black Friday is not just for brick and mortar or product-based businesses. Service-based businesses can absolutely take advantage of one of the most important sales days of the year!
Hopefully, you have been marketing your brand, and services throughout the year. Many small businesses create a social media and marketing plan up to a year in advance! If you have been slacking in this area, now is the time to market like your life depends on it!
Your marketing tactics will vary depending on what platform you use.
Being that Black Friday is right around the corner, social media is going to be the fastest way to market your services and reach the maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time.
Here are a few of my social media tips to get more attention on the Black Friday sales you’re offering this season.
Show Up!
First and most important, show up! Increasing your visibility on every platform that you are on will cast a wide net and increases your chances of being seen or being seen more than once.
For example, if you are on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, you should be scheduling content on all three platforms every single day. If you prefer one platform over another, you can show up more than once a day on that platform but still make sure you are including the other platforms in your strategy. Think of the snowball method but with content.
Showing up can range from single images, status updates, carousel posts, going live, direct messaging; essentially anything that you can do to stay at the forefront of people’s minds during this holiday season. During my network marketing days, I learned that it takes at least 8-10 “touches” of someone either speaking with you or seeing your content before a sale is made. Closer to the day of a sale or launch, the quantity of content outranks the quality of the content.
Go Live!
Live streaming via Facebook or Instagram is a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. It is one of the most effective ways to gain exposure, increase visibility, and get people talking about your brand or services. For those that have a fear or are reluctant to do video (I am too!), start small. This could look like going live for 2-3 minutes to discuss a business tip.
Doing this for just a few minutes a day will build up your confidence to stay on longer and longer until eventually you can do live webinars or events.
Create a Sense of Urgency
To get potential customers excited about your service packages, write copy that conveys urgency. Creating a sense of urgency or scarcity in your Black Friday marketing encourages customers to take action. One reason why creating a sense of urgency is important is that it helps to capture attention. In a busy inbox, for example, an email that stands out and creates a sense of urgency is more likely to be noticed than an email that doesn’t.
You can encourage customers to act now rather than wait. By offering a limited-time discount or exclusive access to sale items, customers will feel compelled to take advantage of your Black Friday deals before they disappear.
So many buyers are primed to spend during this time; they’re already on the lookout for promotions from their favorite brands and businesses. It’s not too late to spread the word about your own promotion or special offer and give your audience an incentive to buy from you.
