Falling on the 25th November, Black Friday is just around the corner…with Cyber Monday (28th November) not far behind! But If the thought of preparing your sales campaign for this mega shopping week fills you with dread, don’t fear! We’ve put together 10 simple strategies you can use to turn your social media channels in selling machines and skyrocket your sales on Black Friday and beyond!
1. Build anticipation
Christmas morning, finally getting to go to the bathroom when you’ve been holding it for ages … everything feels more special when you have to wait for it! You can use this to your advantage with your holiday sales. By starting to drip-feed breadcrumbs about your sales campaign in the lead-up, you’ll get customers practically knocking down the door to buy from you! One great way you can do this is by sharing BTS videos for working on your Black Friday offer (but, only give them a glimpse rather than revealing exactly what your plan is — you want to maintain some mystery and keep them guessing!) Or, you could create a puzzle-style grid pattern on your Instagram feed — every day revealing a new clue about what your Black Friday deal will be.
2. Reel them in!
Wanna know a Reely great way to warm up your audience and build excitement for your Black Friday sale? Make use of Instagram’s latest video feature! With Reels still being relatively new, Instagram is still rewarding early adopters for using it. This means they’re more likely to boost your reach and show your content on the ‘discover’ page’ So, you can use this to your benefit to bring in new potential customers and nurture existing leads. Try making some fun, bite-sized videos showing off your product or services. Or, post tips related to your offer — sharing the ‘what’ but not the ‘how’ to whet their appetite for the solution (aka. your product or service!) Not sure what to post on Reels without feeling silly? No worries! Check out our 10 ideas for businesses to post on Reels — no ‘pointing into the air’ required!
3. Create urgency around your offer
The beauty of flash sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday is that they usually have built-in urgency — often only available for 24 hours or less! This sense of urgency is super important for getting customers to take action and go through with the purchase. Your job here is to remind your customers of this urgency! Don’t be afraid to post multiple posts, stories and lives reminding your followers how much time is left. Using the countdown sticker in your stories is a great way to achieve this. You can create just one countdown, then post it periodically on your stories as you get closer to closing the cart.
4. Use scarcity
Urgency goes hand in hand with its good friend, scarcity! What’s the difference, you ask? Well, while urgency creates demand through a limited timeframe (aka. time is running out!), scarcity does it through offering a limited quantity. If Charlie and The Chocolate Factory taught us anything (other than not to swim in the chocolate river, no matter how delicious it may seem!), it’s that everyone wants something that’s rare — or that not many other people can have. So, make like Willy Wonka and treat your product or service like the golden ticket! Make it clear to your audience that you only own a limited amount available (whether that’s 10 or 1000) and keep them updated as that amount dwindles.
5. Use lives to address customer objections
Instagram lives are amazing for many things, from building personal connection with your audience to sharing free value through virtual workshops. But, perhaps their most valuable use during a sales campaign is as a vehicle to address customer hesitation.
6. Be proactive
Who says you have to wait for customers to come and buy from you? If you’re getting close to the wire and haven’t made quite as many sales as you’d like, there’s no reason you can’t approach potential customers! Now, of course, it’s important to do this in a way that doesn’t feel too pushy or skeezy — otherwise, you’ll likely find yourself with a one-way ticket to blocksville! One great way to do this is to send a DM to new followers thanking them for following you — and giving them an exclusive discount code for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales! Or, if you have a mailing list, you could even use a tool like BombBomb to send personal videos to those who have shown interest in your products and services. Just remember — when it comes to this strategy, the more personalised, the better. Use their name, and where possible, do your research to tailor your message to them. The last thing you want is to come off as spammy!
7. Share the love
You don’t have to go through the campaign sales period alone! Collaborating with other businesses is a great way to not only gain support and camaraderie but can also increase your reach and conversions! By shouting out each other’s sales, you can gain access to a whole new audience! The ‘support small business’ sticker is an awesome way to do this — just pop it on your Instagram stories to instantly share their last 3 posts! You could also consider doing a joint giveaway together, which we’ll delve into in the next point!
8. Run a giveaway
“Huh? How is giving something away for free supposed to help me make more sales?” you might be wondering. We know, we know — it sounds kinda counterintuitive. But, hear us out! By giving away just a handful of your product or service, you can maximise your reach in a way that could increase your sales tenfold! By asking your followers to share about your sale in order to enter, you’re exposing your offering to hundreds or even thousands of potential new customers. Just be sure to post it in the lead-up to your sale rather than during your cart open period — otherwise, nobody will buy if they’re hoping to score a freebie instead!
9. Use social proof
User-generated content will be your best friend during the sales campaign period! If you’ve already had some happy customers during the Black Friday period, shout it from the rooftops! People are way more likely to buy your product or service when they know that other people think it’s awesome, too. When your customers share about your product or service on their Instagram stories, click that handy little ‘arrow’ button to instantly reshare it on your stories, too! Also, if you’ve had payment notifications from Stripe, Paypal and Shopify rolling in, don’t be afraid to share a cheeky screenshot on your socials too. Not only will you likely motivate others, but it’s a super-effective form of social proof.
10. Use a plug-and-play strategy!
There’s no reason you have to reinvent the wheel with your sales strategy! We’ve done all the heavy lifting for with our done-for-you campaign prompts! Use Plann’s Black Friday, or Black Friday + Cyber Monday prompts for an entire done-for-you sales campaign! Head to Plann’s content prompts and insert an entire campaign, designed over both your Instagram Posts and Stories so you know exactly what to do to run a successful sale.
Ready to start planning your Black Friday social media strategy?
If you’re ready to start planning and strategizing your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, there’s no better time to get started with a free 7-day trial of Plann! Access a range of content creation tools, and strategy posting features to help you start making sales right now.
