We’re setting you up for success this holiday season with actionable tips for leveraging all that Facebook and Instagram offer! We understand that social media is a crucial way to find and acquire new customers.
A recent study from the marketing firm, Reveal Mobile, found 36.4% of retailers plan to spend most of their holiday advertising budget on social media. Of the retailers surveyed, 41.8% listed Facebook as their advertising platform of choice.
Notably, Reveal Mobile (2018) states, “Given that Facebook owns Instagram, their combined take will earn them 59.4% of holiday digital ad spend from SMBs” (p. 3). How can you, as a retailer, make the most of every penny?
Stay Up-To-Date
One way to make sure you’re a step closer to success during the holidays is to stay up-to-date. We applaud you for starting with this blog. Social media platforms continue to unravel new ways to engage with your target audience, through both organic and paid advertising technology.
Facebook recently stepped up their game with new creative ad tools for showcasing your products to audiences. These include the expansion of text overlays, the addition of holiday-themed templates in their video creation kit, and engagement and conversion-boosting updates to their collection ads. These new tools make it easier to build immersive and personalized experiences for your audiences. Give them a try!
Facebook wasn’t alone in unleashing new, powerful ad tools to retailers. We’re kicking off Q4 with new Instagram advertising and shopping features. Did you know that 400 million people use Instagram Stories? Advertisers can now market to this audience more strategically by tagging products in stories. Plus, Instagram Stories ads are now available. They’re a low-effort way to interact with audiences since you’ll want your creatives to have a more organic feel for the best results. Take advantage of these rollouts and other Instagram shopping features to make your creative work harder for you in increasing your revenue.
Before we dive further into these juicy Facebook and Instagram tips, you’ll want to make sure you cover the don’ts of Facebook advertising. You can find those here.
Inform the Consumer
Does your audience know your brand as well as you do? They should. Dedicate time to strategic initiatives that help build your brand awareness. Our Facebook partners recommend October as a good time to start this step. They also note that building memorable ad creative helps teach your audience about your brands, products, and services. Pair this with audience segments created using the Audience Insights tool and you’re well on your way to differentiating your business from your competitors.
Follow Up
Once you’ve started to build awareness and define your target audience, find new customers by using Facebook’s lead ads. These allow you to collect contact information, like email addresses, from people who click on your ads. Use this valuable insight to keep in touch, following up with campaigns like email promotions for your products.
Bring on the Sales
According to Facebook, October to December is a crucial timeline for driving sales. Offer special perks, like a customer loyalty program, to target your current or previous customers. Use the visual aesthetics of dynamic ads to showcase your catalog. Take advantage of the Custom Audience feature to target a more specific customer base and optimize your campaigns based on their conversion paths.
Think local. This year, search experts at NetElixir predict Amazon holiday sales to grow to 40%. While this may be a daunting number for many retailers, combining social media with a localized marketing strategy can help win over your customers. Appeal to your local customers by creating promotions like free pickups, overnight shipping, and more. Showcase these special, limited time offers with video, carousel, slideshow, or Canvas ad formats.
Our 2018 holiday ecommerce forecasts also estimate mobile phones to bring in 42% of all online purchases. Drive your sales this holiday season by optimizing your Facebook ads for mobile and maintaining your Instagram presence. Local Awareness ads, as well as Messenger ads, can be a great way to target the mobile audience. These help you reach people when they’re close to one of your business locations.
For greater insight into these strategies and help to ensure your business’ holiday success on social, chat with our social team via netelixir.com/contact.
Bonus: Keep in mind that ecommerce success isn’t restricted to social media. Check out our blog on search marketing hacks for the holidays to find out how you can win customers across all search platforms.
Follow Through
Once you’ve taken advantage of these Facebook and Instagram features and won new customers, you want to make sure the success doesn’t stop at New Year’s. Turn the new customers from the holidays into loyal customers with the special targeting options available for Facebook and Instagram. You can use the Custom Audiences feature to reach customers who have purchased your products. Another aspect of a successful follow-through strategy is cross-selling your products. How? Promote similar products to those your customers recently purchased using display or carousel ads.
Need more? For the ultimate package filled with everything you need to win this 2018 holiday season, head to netelixir.com/holidays for our Holiday Readiness Kit For Retailers. The bow on top? It’s 100% free!
