Categories
Creators Insights

STEPS TO PREP FOR BLACK FRIDAY

The unofficial start to holiday shopping is the day after Thanksgiving, popularly known as Black Friday. But we like to think of it as Green Friday because some creators sell more during the holiday season than the entire year combined! Make this holiday season your most successful yet by planning your Black Friday promotions in advance so you can increase traffic and sales during this pivotal time.

From designing holiday products, to ordering samples and then setting up promo codes, the weeks leading up to Black Friday are vital. Don’t worry if it seems overwhelming—we’ve boiled it down to 3 Simple Steps to Prep for Black Friday!

Your first thought might be, “What is a content & sales calendar?” Seeing your different promotions outlined on a calendar will help you keep track of what you are offering and when. Especially as you might (and should) run multiple sales leading up to Black Friday. For example, you might do a huge sales push the week before, or offer several pre-sales in the weeks leading up—or both!

Here is a suggested timeline:

  • By November 1st – Create your promotions in your dashboard so that you can switch them on when the time comes.
  • Early November –  Include hints in your social content about upcoming sales and promos. 
  • Mid November – Build excitement & anticipation with pre-sale benefits (like giveaways). 
  • The week before – run mini sales leading up to Black Friday to catch the early bird shoppers.
    • TIP – Run different promo types leading up to Black Friday, such as free shipping in the days leading up and then switch to percentage discounts for your day-of sales.
  • Black Friday – Announce your sale on socials! Offer a percentage discount promo (i.e. 15% off) through Cyber Monday to maximize sales. See how other creators do it here. 
  • December 1st onwards – Start offering digital products as there are no logistics or  shipping deadlines to worry about.

Here’s a free content schedule template you can use for November through the holidays.

DID YOU KNOW THAT FANS WHO VISIT A STORE OFF A PROMO CODE LINK ARE 25% MORE LIKELY TO PURCHASE?

It’s an opportunity you can’t afford to pass up. When you choose to promote your products on social media, it’s good to have a promo code. As we said earlier, these can be planned in advance and switched on when you’re ready. Make sure to have different promo codes for different times – it helps with tracking, what is working, etc.

Don’t fret—making promo codes is super easy! You can create them within the Promotions section of your dashboard. Line up your promo codes in advance and follow your calendar as to when they will activate. Find out more about creating promotions here.

Promo codes can be applied to all of your products. Reminder: You’ll need to ensure there’s enough profit margin to support the promo—no matter what product is being purchased, so do that math ahead of time.

Why does your social content need to include your sales and promotions? It turns a fan into a shopper then into a customer. And there are a few proven tactics to maximize fans’ attention:

  • Create effective promotional content. Canva is a great tool for creating eye-catching images on social media. Choose from hundreds of templates—just don’t forget to include the promo code, the dates your sale will run, and the discount type. You can also sign up with 20% off using Spring’s partnership with Placeit to create sale announcements
  • Feature samples. Crazy Stat Time! Creators who show off samples in promotional content earn as much as 200% more profit from their products! That’s a no brainer. Tag @springforcreators and use the hashtag #CreateShareEarn for the chance to be featured on Spring’s socials. 
  • Use integrations. Make sure fans can easily find your store. Pair social content with a link straight to your listing. Use the YouTube Integration, which shows your products underneath the videos, or set up the Instagram Shopping Integration to tag your products in posts. For an easy start, Sprint’s Linktree Integration is available to all creators.

It’s time to stop reading and start promoting. Your Holiday Customers are waiting! As always, hit us up with any questions at creatorhelp@spri.ng. We’re here for you:-)

Categories
Creators

How conservationists are combatting COVID-19 setbacks with merchandise

Deon Appelcryn, the director of Untamed Brewing Company, has one mission—to save Africa’s wildlife, one beer at a time. Centering their work around conservation and inspired by the African wild dog, they collaborate with non-profit organizations. Using income from sales, they support the ongoing struggle to preserve endangered animals and their habitats. Untamed Brewing embraces their passion for beer, Africa and wildlife to fuel their business, vision and product collection. 

Diversifying income with their social store

Unfortunately, like many other small businesses worldwide, COVID-19 has severely impacted Untamed Brewing. Being locked down for several weeks has forced the company to close its doors, unable to sell alcohol or even distribute merchandise to their international customer base. Despite their recent hardships, the team is finding new ways to keep themselves afloat and stay active with conservation efforts through merchandise. 

“COVID-19 has already caused a huge impact on our business, so if it’s extended further, we don’t know how we will recover. However, we have plans in place and are positive we will see this through. In the meantime we can continue to sell our merchandise globally through Teespring to fund our business and raise awareness.”

Finding ‘wild’ inspiration 

Untamed Brewing’s products are created around the face of the business—the African wild dog, making their most popular design the ‘Logo Dog Range’. Deon’s volunteer work with the species is the inspiration and story behind Untamed Brewing’s merch designs. Apart from their popular t-shirts, they offer sweatshirts, hoodies, athletic wear, and kids clothing too. Based on recent sales trends they’ve also expanded their collection to include a range of homeware and accessories like mugs, pillows, wall art, phone cases, bags and socks.

Selling on social media  

As a passionate, global group of supporters on social media, Facebook is their primary platform for promoting merch. By following our Facebook promo guide, they are able to generate high engagement and click through rates on the content they share. Notably, the team also wears samples of their products regularly to raise awareness for their brand, conservation efforts, and drive sales.  

 

“We use Facebook adverts as well as selling merchandise at events. All staff are always wearing branded clothing. We get people stopping us on the street asking for shirts! Our adverts on Facebook cause spikes in sales on Teespring, so we’re pushing those more and more.”

Building a conservation community

From connecting with locals at events to spreading awareness of their work (and beer) on social media, Untamed Brewing’s story demonstrates how you can turn a passion (or two) into a successful business that makes a real, positive impact in real life. Their merch enhances brand building by creating opportunities for followers to support their business, contribute to a worthy cause, and raise international awareness. 

“Creating a custom store on Teespring provided the best option–from fast products to customer service. It enables us to build our brand and sell products at scale without having to worry about fulfillment logistics and customer support.”

Despite the challenges posed by the global pandemic the Untamed Brewing team maintains a positive mindset and looks to the future. We’d like to thank them for sharing their story and wish them the best of luck in the future!

Want to support Untamed Brewing Company and their ‘pack’?

Check out their store, follow @untamed_brewing_company and visit their facebook page Untamed Brewing.