Many buyers are eager to support small businesses and shop locally — but your customers need to hear from you! If you’re not using social media to improve your visibility and develop customer relationships, you should be. There are currently 4.33 billion active social media users, and those users spend an average of 2.5 hours on social channels each day. If you’re wondering how to use social media contests and campaign ideas for your retail business, we’ve got promotion ideas for you.
1). Rewards Program Promotion Ideas
Small business rewards programs provide incentives to shoppers, such as discounts and free merchandise, in exchange for following them on social media, making purchases, birthdays, and more. If you offer e-commerce, social media makes it simple for customers to access your rewards program through links to your website.
2) Brand Ambassadors
Consider creating an ambassador partnership program to promote your goods and services. Attracting bloggers and influencers with large social media followings will help boost brand awareness and increase sales. Keep in mind that well-known influencers may charge a fee for posts. Lesser-known influencers may work in exchange for goods and services.
3) Hashtag and Photo Contests
Run a hashtag or photo contest on Instagram and Twitter and get creative with it. For example, if you operate a clothing store, have customers take selfies shopping in-store or wearing their latest purchases. Ask them to follow you and share the pics on their social networks, using specified hashtags. Pick a winner at random weekly or monthly. This feed should be a regular feed on your blog and website, too, to showcase fan photos.
Keep your contests simple, and you will see more people enter. The more steps you give them, the less likely they are to enter. Cross-promote your contest on all social networks.
4) Facebook Contests
When brainstorming ideas for a Facebook contest, be sure to decide on a specific goal such as: gaining social followers, growing your email list, or increasing product sales. Use your website as a contest destination. Build a landing page with a call to action, directions, and information-gathering fields like emails. Keep in mind that Facebook does not allow business pages to solicit for likes. Be careful — they will lower your organic reach or even remove your page if it is deemed “spammy.” Facebook contests work best when you have people comment and tag users to enter or run the contest on a landing page. Be sure to follow best practices. Take a look at this article for contest guidelines.
5) Instagram Contests
Get more engagement by creating an Instagram contest. Design a graphic or photo and explain the contest and what the prize is in the post. Ask Instagram users to follow your account, like the post, and tag a specified number of friends on the social post to be eligible to win. Be sure to make it clear that Instagram is not involved in the contest.
6) Partnerships With Other Brands
Partner with a complementary brand to do a joint giveaway. This type of contest is great for leveraging a partner’s social network, especially if it is bigger than yours. It’s also great for capturing leads. Make email addresses a requirement for contest entry and create a giveaway landing page on your website. Promote the contest through blogs, email campaigns, and social media. If possible, also promote the contest with ads. You can also do this type of contest without a partner.
7) Tag-A-Friend Contests
Tag-a-friend contests can expose your brand to new people or those who may not yet follow you. Post a photo and instruct followers to tag a friend in the comment that needs the pictured item. Pick one comment at random and give the product away to the person that tagged and their friend.
Need help coming up with some creative social media promotion ideas for your business? Check out our social media services to learn more about how we can help or contact us to schedule a consultation.
