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3 Tips to Drive Sales This Holiday

Happy December! One month to go and then we’re on to the next decade! Phew. Are you ready?!

Before we ring in the New Year, let’s make sure your cash register is ringing this holiday season. Here are 3 of my favorite tips to help!

  1. Post a Story on Instagram each day. Ok, ok… Before you think I’m crazy for asking you to post to Instagram every single day during hectic December, listen up. Posting an IG Story can take you just one minute or less. Truly. Your Story doesn’t need to be super professional or polished. Just be you and share something your audience would enjoy seeing. I recommend setting a reminder alarm each day to jump on your store’s Instagram account to talk about one item you’re loving, that’s hot/trending this holiday season or, if running low on something, to create FOMO about. When posting, add your store location sticker (from Story’s Stickers section) and a hashtag sticker of your local area (for ex: #carlsbadca). Boom that’s it! Watch the daily exposure of the awesome gift items you have this holiday season.
  2. Create one video a week on Facebook. If you personally use Facebook, you know that Facebook loves video because they’re always showing video posts. Get into your customers’ feed this December by making a quick video each week. Just one! Similar to your IG Stories, you can share trending items, one-of-a-kinds, top product picks for the week, staff picks or maybe even your own weekly themed event like Wine Wednesday. These videos should be direct, connect with your perfect customer, and feature YOU! If you’re afraid to hit record or even stand in front of the camera, I want you to know you’re not alone! Many retailers feel this way. I encourage you to do it anyway. 😊 And once you do, will you share it with me?! My team and I would love to see your video (and be your biggest cheerleader)!
  3. Promote an Event or Sale with Ads. There’s a good chance you have an event and/or promotion happening this month. If so, I want you to create a Facebook Event Page with the details. Then, create 1-3 simple Instagram Stories with the event details, saving them to your phone. Next, advertise the Event Page and Instagram Stories using Ads Manager to these audiences:
    • Your Likes
    • Your Email List*
    • A Lookalike of your Likes*
    • A Lookalike of your Email List*

This tip might be confusing if you’ve never run ads before. Don’t let it overwhelm you. You can create a quick, engaging video to share the event or sale details and Boost the event on Facebook, and/or Promote on Instagram (depending on what platform you use; advertise on both if you use both). I’d use at least $25 to promote. Then put “Contact the Crystal Media team” on your calendar to either teach you Ads or completely take it off your plate in 2020! It should be a part of your daily strategy.

* You need to set this audience up first if you haven’t done so already.

Ok, now it’s your turn. Pick one item from the above and take action! My team and I are wishing you a very happy and successful December!  

 

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Stories are the New Form of Window Shopping

Gone are the days of consumers lackadaisically peeking into stores for gift inspo. Shoppers, especially during the holiday season, are demanding more convenient and seamless shopping experiences. While global eCommerce continues to grow, brick-and-mortar retail stores continue to thrive as consumers still purchase in store for two main reasons: to see products in person and for the emotional benefits. That being said, before going into stores, people are looking for gift ideas on social media. We’ve been talking about the significance of Stories, so if you’ve been waiting to get started, now’s the time!

Facebook’s 2019 Holiday Marketing Guide outlines some key statistics to keep in mind during your holiday marketing planning:

  • 69% of people find Stories on Facebook and Instagram to be a great way to discover and become familiar with new products or services.
  • 62% of people become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories.
  • More than a third of Millenials and parents said videos created by social media influencers helped them choose what to buy.
  • 48% of global holiday shoppers message businesses to find out more details about a product.
  • 43% of global holiday shoppers message businesses to purchase a product.

Stories present a huge opportunity for your business, so make sure you’re utilizing them. Below are some Stories best practices to help keep your business at the top of the consumer’s mind:

  • Post to your Story at least once a day to make sure you’re staying in front of your customer. Use location and hashtag stickers to increase your discoverability.
  • Stories can (and should) be more authentic, organic, and unpolished. Try “behind the scenes” and Live content. People love to see the “human” side of your business and it will help build a connection.
  • Use Stories to showcase what you have going on in the store- post products, limited-quantity items, and event or sale info. Around the holidays, suggest gift ideas to get your followers thinking about your business for their holiday shopping.

Most importantly, have fun with it! Stories are a great tool to connect with your followers. Posting consistent, relevant content will help keep your followers engaged with your business so that come holiday gift-buying time, they turn to you! Share in the comments how you utilize Stories!

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3 Instagram Stories Every Retailer Should Post

One of the most popular social media platforms in the world is Instagram(IG). And thankfully for you, retailers are seeing LOTS of sales from their posts and Stories. With over 1 Billion IG accounts active every month, there’s a good chance your customers are on IG. Translation: you should be too.

How often should you post? Daily. Yep, I said it. I recommend posting every…single…day on IG but not on your Feed, in Stories.

Because IG Stories disappear after 24 hours, ensure you’re showing up there with everyday posts.

The good news?

IG Stories don’t need to be super polished, professionally-designed, lifestyle-feeling posts; those which typically perform best in the IG feed.

Your Stories can (and should!) be more organic, behind the scenes and authentic to you.

Below I share 3 tips of what a retailer should post in their Stories. But first, are you using IG for your business? Are you posting to Stories – and doing so daily? I was SO surprised during my in-person social media boot camps that the attendees were NOT using Stories. In fact, out of 32 attendees, only 5 were using Stories. Insert gasp!

If you’re not using IG for your business and are not posting to Stories (daily!), you are completely missing out on using this app to drive customers into your store. Don’t wait another day to leverage IG. Start today and post to your Stories using one of the below ideas.

(Not sure how to post to IG Stories? No worries, I got you! I created a quick how-to video located at the bottom of this blog post for your convenience.)  

Three IG Stories Every Retailer Should Post:

  1. Limited Quantity Items. It’s all about F.O.M.O. – the Fear of Missing Out. If you only have one or two items left of something, create a Story to highlight the item. Share urgency that it’s the only one left, how much it costs, and tag your store location on the post. (This can be a video or photo.)
  2. Event or Sale Info. Timely stuff works well in Stories and, with events and sales, they’re timely! So invite people in the day before and the day of an event or sale using your Stories. You could create a Story-a-day for 5 days leading up to the event or sale, especially if it’s a big one (open house/annual sale/anniversary sale, for example) and share something different about the event in each Story like items that will be discounted (and the benefits of the items), guests at the events, giveaways, event tips (parking, when to arrive, what to bring), etc. If you’re posting the day of, and tomorrow the event or sale is over, make sure you list the date and time when it ends in case someone is watching the Story a few hours after the event ended.
  3. Behind the Scenes. Stories should include….stories! Share a day-in-the-life snippet of the store owner. Unbox new merchandise. Share something funny that just happened at the store. Talk about what’s going on with the owner personally in the coming days. Show pictures from your most recent vacay. Take people on a buying trip to market. The options are endless! The goal of these is to be human, be you, and show the behind-the-scenes of running your biz and, if you feel comfortable, behind the scenes of YOU. Remember, people buy from people. You can use Stories to share more about you to build stronger relationships with your IG followers.

Ok, over to you! Get out your phone (or you might be on it reading this :)), go to Instagram and post a Story. If it’s your first one, let me know in a Direct Message (DM) on IG! We’re @CrystalMediaCo or simply leave a comment on this blog post.

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Happy IGing!

Crystal

Oh wait! One more thing…my brand-new Instagram for Retailers Training Course is now available! 🎉Click here to get it today for only $397!