Summary: A look at how major retailers like Toys “R” Us and Staples are using Facebook to promote their Black Friday specials.
As Thanksgiving and the biggest shopping day of the year approaches, businesses are turning to social media to help promote the deep discounts they will be offering on Black Friday. Here are a few examples I’ve seen, as well as some ideas for how these campaigns could be improved.
Toys “R” Us on Facebook
Right now Toys “R” Us is getting a lot of attention for their Facebook campaign, but really its very simple, if not a little lazy. Becoming a fan of theirs enables you to view a circular with their Black Friday deals before they are released to the general public. And, they even embed the circular on their Facebook Page, which is nice. Really, though, was this all they could have done?
The circular is something which can easily be lifted from the Facebook Page and reposted elsewhere on the net. Why not instead give fans an additional 5% off their purchases through a unique code that could be generated? That way, you could also track through to see who used their code later.
Staples
Generally speaking, I think Staples has done some nice things with their Facebook Page. They have a fun little application called “I Shred U” which lets you put embarrassing Facebook photos into a virtual shredder. What Staples didn’t do was put much though into their Black Friday promotion.
Staples is “leaking” Black Friday specials through wall posts. This approach doesn’t really help them garner new fans, as anyone can see these updates. In a way I think thats nice because if you aren’t going to provide an incentive to become a fan, at least you should make the updates public so everyone can see. However, like Toys “R” Us this just feels a little lazy.
Why not make things a little more fun and tie in the Shred app? Install the shred app on your page, use it, and upon doing so you receive a deal on a shredder, or a camera, or a printer or any other number of things associated with Staples. That way you get people to interact with an already otherwise cool application on your page, and bring that tie in back to Black Friday.
I think that whenever a retailer does anything with their Facebook Page the tendency is to see stories about it. The truth is that advertising online, especially on a social network like Facebook, should elevate the quality of the ads. When a retailer gets lazy and doesn’t fully utilize the potential of the medium, it really stands out.
Do you disagree? Which retailers are doing the best job with their Black Friday promotions?
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