Black Friday Starts Early on Social Media!

COUNTDOWN BEGINS.
One week.

Thanksgiving will be over, our tummies will be time for.... SHOPPING!

Black Friday is almost here but it seems like every year things start earlier and earlier. And one place you can surely keep up with what's going on is on Twitter. In fact, Amazon announced that it is going to be blasting out deals every 10 minutes starting this Sunday!
Of course, Amazon is completely online so you'll need to be glued to your computer to find the deals but some of these savings are steep! A Vizio 55-inch smart HDTV for $479.99 (usually it sells for $775.98), a Google Chromecast for $29.99 (usually $35) and I am sure many many more.

Now, this is not intended to be an ad for Amazon. It is interesting to me, though, that their "every 10 minutes" marketing plan syncs so well with the fast-paced style of social media. Black Friday is totally going social this year, you guys! In fact, many retailers have created special Twitter handles or Facebook pages just for their Black Friday deals! My favorite is Target who is giving away $25 gift cards through an app on Facebook and have a special Twitter handle -@ChristmasChamp - giving out advice on all things Black Friday at Target!

Rule #1: Don't use Tragedy as a Marketing Ploy

Thoughts and prayers going out this week to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Tragedies such as this leave many social media users in a sticky situation.  This week, a few companies have been ridiculed for not being sensitive enough to those affected by Sandy.

Possibly the worst offender was American Apparel, who sent an email blast for a "Hurricane Sandy Sale'' - targeting its price cuts to just those on the east coast. Even with the promise of "20% off", Twittersphere did not approve.

Gap followed suit with a slightly less aggressive move, attaching well wishes in the same tweet as a call to action for online shopping. Similar backlash ensued.

Call me naive, but I don't believe that either of these companies had entirely bad intentions when making these moves.  Their vision, however, was short sighted. Tying the company's profit to their sentiment of compassion made them seem inauthentic.  And that doesn't sit well in social media.

A better idea would have been to send the same sentiment but with a promotion donating portions of any online sales that day directly to those affected.  See what that does?  By changing the benefactor of the promotion from the company to those who are in need, you can align the organization with the concern.

 

The line between relevance and self-promotion can be thin.  Do you think these companies went too far?