Your order was made in June, and your back room has been busting at the seams for weeks. You may have even placed an ad or two in the local paper, and there are promotional signs all around. Decor is changing, and you've made the schedule to make sure you're staffed for the extended hours.
You have everything ready for the biggest shopping day of the year - Black Friday.
But are you "socially" ready? Here are 5 things to add to your mix to get the most out of Black Friday and your customers!
Create a Hashtag: You should already have your own hashtag but, if not, get it done before you sit down for turkey and stuffing. Make it short and simple and include your business name—for instance, #ShopAtlantic or #ShopatKristens. You should be using this all over the place in your social media and, wherever it makes sense, in your traditional media.
Strike a Pose: Encourage your customers to take and share pictures while they're shopping in your store. I'm not saying you have to be as elaborate as Target , but you can easily set up your own version of "pose and post" in your store. If you're a clothing store, put it near the dressing rooms where people are already “glamming it up!” You can put it near the front or near the register... just make it visible and clear what it's there for! Have your customers post to their (and YOUR) social networks, and use your custom hashtag so you can find it. Give out giftcards or trinkets from your store for the best pictures.
Check-in Specials: While I'm not a big fan of the new app from Foursquare, Swarm, there are some who do use it, and it's a fantastic way to show up in the "around me" function of the app. Claiming your business and setting up specials is pretty simple and shouldn't take you too long. But you definitely want to encourage shoppers to check in with Facebook and tag your page so their friends can see where they are. Again... offer an incentive, prize, or giveaway throughout the day to those who do.
Mobile Sites: You may not be able to do this in time for Black Friday, but this is something you absolutely, positively must do over the next year. If you take a peek at your google analytics, you'll probably see that mobile visitors are probably 50% of your site traffic, and there is nothing more annoying than having to pinch to zoom in and out of a page. Plus, you're missing a huge opportunity for sales.
Make it Obvious: Have you ever walked into a store and totally would have tweeted or Instagramed that cute frame, shirt, or pair of shoes and tagged the store, but you didn't know what their social media “handles” were? Happens to me all the time. If you want your customers to get social with you, you have to give them the tools. Put out signs WITH your social media handles and addresses, your aforementioned hashtag, etc. Make it simple, and don't worry about telling them what to do with the information. Trust me, if they see the handles and the hashtag, they'll know what to do with them.
In what other ways are you using social in your retail business?
