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The Friday after Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season with a weekend-long palooza of mega sales and special offers, extending from Black Friday to Small Biz Saturday to Cyber Monday. Not to be outdone by the big box stores, direct sellers can partake by planning online vendor events and fun virtual shopping events for their Facebook Group members (aka VIP Customers).
Whatever you choose to do, here’s 5 easy social selling ideas to create your ultimate one-stop holiday gift shop:
1. Create A Black Friday Event On Your Business Page: This might blow your mind, but did you know events created on a page are searchable and shareable…as in getting found on Google? Yup. It’s true. Use keywords in your title – [Company Name] Black Friday Sale – add an eye-catching copyright-free graphic from Canva.com and voila!, you’re rockin’ the search engines. Before you share, take a look at your event from your phone to make sure your image and event title are mobile-friendly. Give customers a reason to click the RSVP ‘Going’ button by focusing on the total savings (Save up to $75!) in your event details vs. the cost. Include a call-to-action in the About section that helps you get more eyeballs on our posts: “Click on the 3 dots under the cover photo and set your notifications to ALL so you don’t miss the cyber sales! You’ll see all the deals when you tap the discussion tab above.” If all the Black Friday announcements are happening in your Facebook Group, then create a Facebook Event as a lead funnel to your Group. Invite everyone who wants “in” to request to join your Group for the exclusive savings and prize drawings.
2. Go Live At Virtual Parties: Nothing builds the know, like and trust factor (and encourages sales) faster than your customer seeing your smiling face in their news feed. Facebook Live creates a two-way conversation between you and your viewers, which will make your Black Friday sale stand out from all the Black Friday posts crowding the news feed and stop the scroll. So go ahead, dust off your ugly Christmas sweater, wear your light-up reindeer antlers or put on your Santa hat for a very merry money-making weekend. When you’re done broadcasting go back and edit your video for the replay viewer and don’t forget a clear call-to-action to buy, book, or do what you do.
3. Use Visuals When You Go Live: Make a few signs that explain what you’re talking about to encourage viewers to click and shop without having to hear what you’re saying. If you want to really get your viewers in a holiday shopping mood, pull your products out of a gift bag or box. Kind of like a magician. Without rabbits. And here’s a must-do Facebook Live hack if you’re going live on mobile: Due to a Facebook Live glitch, your front-facing camera does not “mirror” your images so your signs will all be backward. Not good. To fix this, you have two options: 1) Create a word doc and put your text in a text box, then flip the box. Your text will now be backward, which viewers will see as frontward. Or 2) Tap the magic wand in the corner of your screen (from iPhone) before you go live and tap the tools icon > horizontal flip. Better yet, go live via StreamYard, my favorite live-streaming platform that includes cool tools like adding comments and text onscreen.
Bonus Tip: After you go LIVE on your business page add auto-generated captions so viewers can “see” what you’re saying without turning on the sound because about 80% of viewers are watching you on silent. Eek. Imagine the results you’ll get when viewers actually know what you’re saying! Go to Creator Studio > Content Library and click on the 3 dots at the end of the post title to see the edit post option (available on a desktop computer). That’s where all the video optimization is hiding, including adding tags, closed captions, creating a video clip, and changing that wacky thumbnail.
4. Don’t Ignore Instagram Stories and Reels: Tap into the power of Facebook and Instagram Stories and take your followers behind the scenes by posting Black Friday updates throughout the day. If you’ve linked your Instagram Pro account to your Facebook Business Page you can post to both sites in one click. 500 million users use Instagram Stories every day, which means a Story can help you get your message out to the masses. For more help read this article from the Social Media Examiner blog, 4 Ways to Improve Your Instagram Stories Reach
5. Reward VIP Customers = Facebook Group Members: Repurpose samples and products that are retiring at year-end to create special prize giveaways for Group members (and customers) who shop. Prize drawing ideas include rewarding early birds (first 10 who shop by 7 AM) and lifting your sales with bonus prize drawings – or a shipping discount – for customers who spend $50, $75, $100 or more. Keep the Black Friday momentum and excitement going by using Facebook Live to pick your winners while you rock that Santa hat. Jingle all the way…to the bank. You could also offer special gifts or prize entries for Group members who share the Black Friday love by posting about your sale on their Facebook Page. Note: I don’t recommend you ask your Facebook friends if you can post your specials on their “wall.” That makes you look like a spammer to all their friends, and to your friends who see you posting the same message multiple times in the news feed.
Bonus tip: Here’s a simple test to help you get your Black Friday marketing right:
Take a look at what you’re about to post and ask yourself: Does the image look like an Ad? Does the verbiage sound like an Ad?
If the answer is yes, your post probably does not belong on Facebook.
For more Facebook social selling tips, join my VIP Group for direct sellers and get 3 free gifts: Access to my Epic Vendor Event Course, What to post on your Facebook Page to book more Facebook parties, and my Top 10 Call-To-Action Posts For Facebook Parties Learn more.
Lynn Bardowski is an award-winning entrepreneur and bestselling author of Success Secrets of a Million Dollar Party Girl. She speaks to global audiences about Direct Sales Success, Women’s Empowerment and Social Selling and is a resource for press, media and bloggers. Like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and subscribe to her YouTube channel.
