3 Ways Social Media Can Make Black Friday Bearable
The world is split into 2 types of people, those who partake in Black Friday and those who don’t. It’s a very clear-cut line; some people want to grab a bargain and are seemingly happy to sacrifice morals and self-respect in the process, while the rest of us sit back and spare a thought for those unfortunate people who happen to be working in retail during the most absurd season.
Fortunately a third option is now on the horizon, an option for those among us who do in-fact want a piece of the action, but value our limbs and the comfort of our own homes to actually go out to claim it. Fortunately, Cyber Monday is on the up.
A recent Nielsen survey claims that there has been a 2% drop in the number of people who went shopping on Black Friday this year compared to last, whilst Cyber Monday participators are up 5%. Who can blame them, why dress for battle when you can leisurely sift through deals and bargains from the comfort of your own smartphone? So to make life just that little bit easier, we’ve come up with 3 helpful tips that will keep you ahead of the game using just your social media presence.
1 – Follow Your Fav Brand on Social Media
First thing’s first, make sure you follow any brand or shop you’re interested in purchasing from a good few days before Cyber Monday. Lots of the bigger shops tap into their tech savvy market by offering exclusive deals via social media and so you’ll want to have your bases covered by following them on as many outlets as possible.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are essential but Pinterest, Depop and Ebay shouldn’t be overlooked either. In the lead up to the Black Friday weekend, a lot of consumer social media accounts will be heavily laying down visual advertising with teasing posts previewing what will soon be on offer.
2 – Hashtags
Next you’ll want to keep a lookout for the latest Cyber Monday hashtags. These will be shared across many different social media forums. While it’s good to have your eyes on the prize and keep your hashtag searches specific to your shopping list, for example, ‘#cybermonday #iphone6’, searches such as #deals, #coupons, #travel, #theatre, #sports #tickets, when preceded by the #cybermonday hashtag could also snag you some great finds.
3 – Apps
The third piece of prep you’ll need to address are the Apps. In the same way that the big brands reward those who follow their online accounts, additional deals are also known to be available exclusively via mobile e-commerce. This means that consumers shopping through their mobile device via wireless broadband stand to be rewarded even more; very useful information to have if you somehow find yourself at the back of a very long queue in a very busy shop.
Whilst you’re making these downloads in the App store, it’s also worthwhile to remember that there are now an increasing number of apps created and dedicated solely to helping you through the Black Friday weekend which include survival guides, coupon codes and marketing reports galore.
By following these 3 simple steps, you’ll give yourself a much better chance of saving some serious money. After all, fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
By Aisling Lewis