An uptick in bright bold colours, intense graphics, and loud fonts on Instagram feeds is usually a solid indicator of Boxing Day’s early cousins: Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). These six foolproof Instagram hacks will help you be prepared for the holiday shopping season and to stay ahead of the social commerce game.
1. Do what comes naturally
Your community is already on social media. They are also already engaging with your brand, even if you don’ realize it. While you can spend hours carefully crafting a hashtag, consider: how does your customer engage? Are they tagging you in Stories or in Posts? Are they tagging your brand within a comment on a post featuring you?
Start your strategy by revising the current habits of your community, and amplify it. If they tag your brand in Stories, don’t encourage them to post a photo to their feed. Tell them to tag you in your Stories. Encourage their natural habits.
2. Share and make aware with a custom Instagram hashtag
We know: hashtags are on the way out. But stay with us: to keep better track of your BFCM campaign create a custom hashtag to use with all your posts. Not only will your posts not drown in the millions of #blackfriday #cybermonday hashtag posts, a custom hashtag will make it easier for your loyal followers to shop with you. Not interested in a one-trick pony for your community? Use a hashtag that can live on as a gifting or wishlist hashtag for use year-round. Take it one step further with a surprise and delight campaign for those who use the hashtag.
3. Excite and ignite with social video
By now you’re well aware that video content is king in the world of social media, so use that to your advantage when planning your campaign. Video is where you’ll want to focus your efforts as 1 in 3 US mobile shoppers say that they discover new brands and products through video content. Incorporate high-quality videos optimized for Instagram stories and IGTV to showcase your products and drive people to get shopping. Foursixty’s Shoppable Instagram feed supports this video content, so it will live on across your website, too.
Consider posting video testimonials from customers who’ve purchased your products before or behind-the-scenes content such as sneak peeks and unboxing. Don’t have UGC video? Fake it. Stitch together a UGC Product Gallery for a given product and share in social media and via ads.
4. Provide and inspire with gift guides
What makes your followers’ lives easier while boosting sales? Share inspiring gift guides! These are a great way to make use of UGC. Through shoppable Instagram feeds, users can simply find a wealth of information such as product pricing with a single tap.
Here are a few gift guide ideas to get you started:
- Gifts for mom
- Gifts $25 and under
- Gifts for your #mancrush
- Gifts that keep on giving
5. Promote your most popular with UGC
Your bestsellers are your bestsellers for a reason. When people love a product they often share the love on Instagram, promoting it to others in their feed. Engage with and save up the posts and stories of your followers and customers with your best-selling products and repost them to your own feed. Showing off your products in action on Instagram (and on product pages) is a surefire way to reassure undecided shoppers that your products are enjoyed by others. With our Digital Rights Management tool, you can repost with confidence.
6. Surprise and delight your followers with a promo code
Follow the theme of Thanksgiving weekend and give thanks to your loyal followers with a promo code for them to use when shopping with you. This is a sweet (and crafty) way to encourage followers to get their Black Friday Cyber Monday on with you. Bonus: you’ll generate even more sales when they share your code with their friends!
7. Start early, end late
Many online retailers start and finish their BFCM campaigns on the day of, often missing campaign sales targets and potential reach. Avoid this by starting your campaign earlier and ending later.
Why extend your sale? Your Instagram Followers will feel prepared to shop your sale when you start marketing earlier because you’re generating buzz while creating an exciting lead-up to the big day. Once other retailers retire their sales, you can surprise your followers with just one more day (or two) of exclusive deals. They’ll feel especially grateful and will likely keep you mind for next year’s shopping.
Once you have a plan with these six foolproof Instagram hacks in place you’ll be well on your way to running a smooth and successful Black Friday Cyber Monday campaign. Post sale, remember to encourage your shoppers to share their product experience to drive UGC creation.
Ready to legally leverage your UGC in social feeds and in email, and via shoppable UGC galleries on your homepage and product pages? Sign up for your Free 21-Day Trial or book a demo now.
