Social media is one of the best channels to engage with your target market and promote your ecommerce store’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Regardless if you are allocating budget to paid ads on social media, an organic social media strategy should be a part of your 2020 Black Friday and Cyber Monday plan. If done right, your social channels can create a buzz around your promotions going into the holiday shopping season.
1. Use Popular Hashtags in all of your Posts
Hashtags are a way to connect your social media posts to a theme or specific topic. They are used for search purposes, so think of them like keywords you would optimize for search engines. When using hashtags, follow these best practices:
- Always start with the # symbol
- Don’t use any spaces, punctuation or special characters, only numbers and letters are included
- Add the recommended hashtags if it is relevant to your post
- Keep them short and relevant, don’t try to include too many words strung together
- Do your research, search similar products you offer and see what popular hashtags are used most often
Use the top trending hashtags hashtags for your shopping holiday posts: #cybermonday #cybermondaysales #cybermondaydeals #shopsmall #blackfriday #blackfridaysales #blackfridaydeals #lightningdeals #cyberweek #sale #deals. Also include industry, product niche or differentiators for more targeted hashtags, like: #cybermondayskincare #blackownedbusiness #blackfridayoutdoorsales.
Download the Ecommerce Merchant's Guide to a Goal-Crushing Black Friday Cyber Monday
2. Update your Social Profiles
Your social profiles should reflect the deals you have to offer but are also a direct communication channel to your customer. Try the following tips to make the most of your social presence:
- Update all of your social banners to highlight your BFCM offerings
- Change your call-to-action buttons and profile URL links to direct to your BFCM landing page
- If you have the bandwidth, turn on messaging so you can engage with customers and answer their questions as they arrive
- Make sure you link your social profiles on your website, emails and email signatures. With the influx in purchases, you have a larger audience of potential followers
For more tips, check out our post on the ecommerce basics for social media.
3. Draft your Posts
The deals you are offering will dictate your social media posts and ads. Entice your audience by highlighting your blanket deals that run all weekend and tease your lightning deals that may not be live yet. Be sure to post weeks before, teasing your upcoming deals.
Make sure you use an image for each post and create a set of images that all have the same theme to give continuity to your BFCM posts. Canva is a great free tool to design social posts with hundreds of templates you can customize. They have 53 Cyber Monday templates and 56 Black Friday templates that you can customize with your brand and products.
4. Stay Organized
Use a social media scheduler so you can draft and schedule your posts ahead of time. This way you can plan out your promotional posts so you don’t have to worry about social media while you are in the holiday rush. These tools can save you a ton of time and most have a free subscription or a free trial. Check out Hootsuite, Later and Social Pilot for social media scheduling.
There are also ecommerce platform apps that can help boost your social game.
- Post from your product page directly to social with Post Studio
- Growave offers review and loyalty programs utilizing social
- Carro helps you find influencers who already love your brand and help connect you with other Shopify stores for mutually beneficial collaborations.
5. Get Creative
Your target audience’s social feeds are going to be cluttered the entire cyber week. Instead of just posting your deals, get creative with your posts, like:
- Save the date prior to Black Friday Cyber Monday
- Instagram takeover by a relevant influencer
- Future discounts for liking, sharing, commenting etc.
- Virtual scavenger hunt on your website for a prize/discount code
- Going fast posts of popular items almost out of stock
For more promotional ideas, check out our post 8 Ways to Promote Your Store’s Black Friday Cyber Monday Deals.
