BrainTrust Query: Facebook Participatory Promotions
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt from a current article from Insight-Driven Retailing Blog.
Last week, Lowe's and Gap joined Walmart in launching what I'm calling Facebook Participatory Promotions. These retailers are taking Facebook marketing up a notch by adding an element of fun.
Lowe's "Black Friday Sneak Peek Party" campaign on Facebook offered consumers a limited number of items at a ridiculously low price for their fans. Paid-search and display ads encouraged consumers to check out its Facebook page just after midnight on Friday, Nov. 5 for a sneak preview of its doorbuster deals planned for Black Friday. As an extra incentive, the first 100 Facebook visitors at 2:01 Eastern time received an option to purchase a KitchenAid stand mixer at 90 percent off. The following 900 fans earned the right to purchase the appliance for 20 percent off.
Lowe's told Mediapost.com that the "Party" weekend featured more than 5,000 90 percent-off coupons covering more than 20 items.
Of course these deals are only visible to Facebook fans of Lowe's and, once they're a fan, other marketing messages can be posted on their newsfeed. These types of campaigns are sure to increase Lowe's number of fans and generate some excitement heading into the holidays. It remains to be seen if those fans will stick with Lowe's after the holidays.
Also last week, Gap partnered with Facebook Places to reward customers with free jeans for Facebook check-ins on Nov. 5. According to Fast Company, more than 28,000 users signed up on Gap's Facebook page to attend the event, although Gap only offered 10,000 free jeans. The retailer handed out 40 percent-off coupons to those who checked in but missed the freebie.
The Gap and Lowe's promotions follow Walmart's Crowd Savers program on Facebook that was launched the prior week. Wall posts invite fans to vote on a promotion -- most call for around a 40 percent discount -- and when enough "likes" are recorded, the promotion takes effect on the walmart.com site. They then let everyone know about the success of the promotion in another wall posting, and everyone (not just those that voted) can benefit. It's an interesting way to push promotions to customers and also let them "play along."
Targeting promotions only to fans reinforces loyalty, and having them do things rather than just sending coupons adds the excitement and buzz. I predict these types of promotions get even more creative as we near the holiday season.
Discussion Questions: In what ways will Facebook promotions be able to reach consumers that traditional media can't? Which of the mentioned promotions represent the best example of how to reach consumers through social media?