When the weather starts changing from freezing to fair, and
your mind switches gears from snow plows to lawn mowers,
you'd better have a game plan in place to ensure your marketing
plans don't take a back seat once the season rolls into full swing.
Need a little inspiration? This month, I'm offering up a belated
holiday gift of two easy-to-execute digital marketing campaigns
to boost engagement and drive even more sales this spring.
CAMPAIGN IDEA #1: RUN A PHOTO CONTEST
I've talked a lot about getting the most out of your social media
channels in this regular monthly feature, but it bears repeating
that you absolutely must use social media to do more than just
promote your products, services and specials. Why? Put simply,
people don't want to be sold to on social media. If too much of
your content is sales focused, it'll turn your customers off.
So how do you build your brand on social media without
just posting inventory or pictures of cute cats? Run a spring
project photo contest on Facebook. Ask your fans to email in
photos of their spring projects and add a branded frame (think
a Polaroid picture with your logo on it) over each of the photos
and share them on your Facebook page, tagging the person who
submitted the photo. Online editor tools like PicMonkey (www.
picmonkey.com) can make editing photos like this a snap — no
graphic design skills necessary.
Why not just have people upload their pictures right to
your Facebook page? Brand awareness. Once you've posted the
branded images on your page, ask your followers to vote for their
favorite photo by liking and/or sharing — giving you exposure
to Facebook users beyond your page's reach. The post with the
most interaction wins, and instead of a gift card, I'd recommend
giving a new product that you're interested in promoting —
more awareness, zero direct sale. A real win for social media
engagement.
Take promotions for this campaign beyond social by
encouraging participation and sharing the results via website
banners, a blog post, your email newsletter and in-store with
signage on your community events board. While social may
be the primary platform for this campaign, it's important to
always consider every communication medium at your disposal
when planning promotions. Don't forget to simply ask your
store visitors to participate — the power of word-of-mouth
advertising is still alive and well!
CAMPAIGN #2: HARNESS THE
#THROWBACKTHURSDAY HASHTAG
If you've spent any time browsing social media on a Thursday,
you've probably seen vintage photos posted with the hashtags
#ThrowbackThursday or #TBT.
Take advantage of this popular hashtag trend by creating
a Throwback Thursday Pricing Rollback campaign, which you
22 JANUARY 2016 OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com
FEATURE STORY | Website Solutions
Two easy-to-execute digital marketing campaigns
■ BY COLLEEN MALLOY
SPRING MARKETING JUMPSTART GUIDE
IMAGE
©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/PAMELA
MOORE
