Now considered the single biggest sales event of the year, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail extravaganza offers a tremendous opportunity to make some money, while flexing your marketing muscles.
With more and more customers forgoing the crowds to shop online, it’s vital you prepare your business to handle some seriously enthusiastic digital bargain hunters. With savvy businesses ramping up their marketing efforts, how can you rise above the hype to create a Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing buzz?
Here are some simple tips to use for inspiration in creating a buzz around your Black Friday/Cyber Monday marketing efforts:
Black Friday and Cyber Monday Marketing
People often ask – What makes a good marketer? Is it their sales ability? Their communication skills? Or perhaps its their mastery of technology? In my opinion, the ability to create a buzz is the single thing that separates the cream of the marketing crop. Black Friday and Cyber Monday should be a slam dunk. After all, customers love a bargain. However, the sheer number of deals on offer can create so much background noise that it’s time to turn to some alternative marketing ideas.
Competitions
Some people might consider a social media competition as old hat, but they offer a way to boost online engagement, build your contact list and potentially even go viral – all for an extremely limited spend. You must offer value to customers to get them to engage with the contest. To help with this effort, consider offering an attractive product as a prize to those who retweet on Twitter or share on Facebook. Encourage participants to tag a friend if you can spare two prizes. Alternatively, why not pursue a different kind of competition to build a buzz. Poll customers on what sales to offer by creating a bracket-style contest between competing products and having them vote. Announce the results in the build-up to Black Friday
Pitch to Blogs
Bloggers are a tremendously powerful ally in your attempts to build a marketing buzz. Prepare by making a list of potential bloggers who operate in your industry. The earlier you can approach them the better. Make their job easier by presenting as complete a package as possible. Write the collateral, provide quotes and images. If they still aren’t convinced, consider offering a partnership in kind through sponsorship or even affiliate links to your site.
A Little Personality Goes a Long Way
Do you have enough leeway within your brand to have a bit of fun? If so, inject a little personality into your marketing. Don’t just post links to deals and blogs on your social, have a bit of fun with your posts. Use some puns, maybe even a visual meme or two? As long as you are staying true to your brand, there’s no harm in taking a light-hearted approach. This line of thinking can be brought forward into every facet of your marketing, covering everything from e-newsletters to blogs and even copy on your website.
Door Crashers
Every year, social media is awash with videos of customers practically stampeding over each other to secure door crasher deals at the likes of Walmart and Best Buy. Nothing builds a buzz like the prospect of a spicy deal. Work with your suppliers and identify some product lines they’d be willing to supply at a lower cost to populate these deals. Maybe it’s an older model of a product. Once you have identified your door crashers, it’s time to crank up the publicity machine and build a buzz.
Reward Loyalty
Customers who have previously shopped with you are more likely to shop with you again. Use these people as the foundation of your outreach. Offer them exclusive deals before they go live to everyone. Make them feel special by offering unique discount codes. Empowering customers to act as brand ambassadors for you via positive word of mouth is an organic and long-lasting way to generate a positive vibe for your business.
Want to Learn More?
Want to discuss your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing tactics? Reach out and we’ll be delighted to help!
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