With Black Friday & Cyber Monday quickly approaching, many brands are scrambling to kick off two of the biggest shopping events of the year. It’s an occasion that also marks the unofficial start to the Christmas holiday shopping season.

Consumers are prepared to take advantage of all the sales and promotions. In 2018, U.S. consumers spent a record $7.9 billion online, which increased 19.3% from the previous year. That’s in addition to the $6.2 billion spent on Black Friday and $3.7 billion on Thanksgiving Day for online sales. The Black Friday & Cyber Monday craze has also left an impact across Europe. UK consumers’ participation in Black Friday jumped from 19% to 54% from 2015 to 2017. Similarly, participation from German consumers jumped from 9% to 43%.

But why influencer marketing?

To capture their share of the Black Friday & Cyber Monday frenzy, brands will be stepping up their marketing efforts to attract consumers, but they may have a difficult time gaining visibility with their marketing initiatives, as: (1) online platforms, such as Facebook, are becoming increasingly cluttered with ads, (2) 615 million devices are now employing ad blockers, and (3) nearly 70% of consumers have lost trust traditional advertising.

So how will brands cut through the ever rising digital noise to stand out and reach a relevant audience?

The rise of social media has enabled peer recommendations to play a larger role in influencing purchasing decisions. In fact, it’s estimated that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from individuals, even if they don’t know them, over brands. By partnering up with content creators, brands can leverage a form of modern-day word-of-mouth marketing at scale. They can circumvent ad blockers, drive their exposure, and connect with a relevant audience using creators’ credible, authentic voices.

As you start planning your influencer marketing campaigns, it’s important that you execute your campaigns early in order to benefit from these ideas and leverage the power of influencer marketing this Black Friday & Cyber Monday. Consumers start shopping for holiday gifts as early as November, and the best creators may be booked for other campaigns.

Here are 6 ways your brand can use influencer marketing to make a splash during Black Friday & Cyber Monday!

1. Generate engaging content

You may have guidelines in place regulating how images of your product can be advertised, but working with creators and granting them creative freedom can lead to exciting content. You can collaborate with creators and utilize their creativity to create branded content with a unique twist, which can be easily reused for Black Friday & Cyber Monday newsletters, emails, and social media promotions or advertisements. 

Remember, you’ll need to plan your influencer marketing campaigns in advance to ensure you receive the Black Friday & Cyber Monday in time for your promotions!

For Black Friday, Crayola teamed up with Youtuber Zach King to create a spectacular video: A Hero Draws Near. The video demonstrates how their Crayola Color Alive Easy Animation Studio can be used in an imaginative and creative way, while inspiring consumers with gift ideas for the holiday season.

2. Utilize Instagram Stories

Consumers are turning to mobile shopping to make purchases. In fact, on Thanksgiving Day in 2018, 68% of retail site traffic came from mobile phones, and 54% of orders were placed through them. Black Friday & Cyber Monday mobile sales generated over $4 billion

To get into the mobile game, you can ask creators to publish a series of Instagram Stories to share deals and discount codes with their followers on Black Friday & Cyber Monday. They’ll be able to add swipe-up links for the products they’re featuring, so their followers can easily make online purchases as they’re watching the Stories. To ensure posts are perceived authentically, you should allow creators to select the products they’ll promote.

Last year, Gina Tricot collaborated with creators to share Stories with their Black Friday discounts. Several creators also published Instagram posts before the sales began to generate excitement and increase viewership of their Stories.

3. Share discounts & deals

You can promote your top discounts and deals with creators before Black Friday & Cyber Monday. Creators can do this by sharing sneak peeks and teasers of your different offers on their social media with their followers. You can create hourly deals that the creators can share, or they can promote unique promo codes that grant their followers early access to a selection of deals. This will help create a buzz and build anticipation around the event.

4. Offer mystery savings

You can keep your consumers engaged by rewarding a range of Black Friday discounts to those who participate in mystery saving games, such as a spin-the-wheel game that offers between 10%-50% off your items. Creators can promote the game by adding a link to a landing page with a spin wheel and directing their follows to click on it.

5. Team Up With a Charity

You can partner up with a charity and donate a percentage of the earnings you make during the big shopping events, or you can ask people to bring in something to donate to charity for a discount. Creators can help you spread the word about your support for a social cause. By doing this, you’ll be able to tap into the spirit of giving during the holidays, rather than promoting pure consumerism, and assist in building goodwill with your customers.

6. Create targeted gift guides

It may be challenging for people to purchase Christmas gifts for their friends and family. To help, creators can curate and share gift guides that feature a range of your products. By collaborating with creators in different categories, you’ll have gift guides that are aimed at audiences with different interests. You can re-distribute the guides and publish them on your blog, send them out in emails, or add them to your website.

To get a jump on the Black Friday & Cyber Monday frenzy, book a call with us to get started! We’ll help you find relevant creators and build a campaign that ensures you reach your campaign goals.

inzpire.me

inzpire.me is an influencer marketing platform that connects brands with influencers across the globe. Ready to launch a campaign? Schedule a call today!

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