02 Dec Black Friday 2014 Social Media Round-Up

We’ve had a few days to recover from our Thanksgiving hangover and the trauma we endured on Black Friday has passed. We’re easing ourselves back into work, returning some emails and attending some meetings. I think now is the perfect time to take a second to check out some of the winners from this weekend’s Black Friday social activations. I know, the shopping frenzy was such a blur you probably forgot where you found most of your deals. Don’t worry – I’ve got you covered.

T.J. Maxx Black Friday Gift Hunt

If you were like me, you were bombarded with Black Friday emails from all of your favorite retailers starting as early as Tuesday evening. Some emails were direct, telling you about discounts and giving you a deadline. Other emails, like this one from T.J. Maxx, also included a social component and call to action to their sale.

T.J. Maxx asked their fans to take a picture of an unexpected gift they found while shopping in-store and to post their picture on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags #BestGiftEver, #Entry and tag @tjmaxx for a chance to win a $1000 gift card. Fans loved the opportunity to tweet their shopping finds with the added bonus of possibly winning a gift card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T.J. Maxx saw many entries on both channels, with each of their posts promoting the campaign gaining more interaction as the day went on. People were excited to share the great gifts they found at great prices. Here are some examples of the Instagram and Twitter entries they received:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Target #Salefies

Forget about your selfie, Target wanted to see your Black Friday #Salefies! They asked fans to follow them on Twitter, post a selfie while shopping in the store and use the hashtags #salefie and #sweeps for a chance to win $10k. In their kick-off tweet, Target even got in the action with a #salefie of their mascot at the opening of a local store.

On Twitter, fans shared pictures of themselves waiting in line, out with the crowds, shopping with family/friends and the great gifts that they bought at the store. Together, Target and their fans got to share the Black Friday experience and fans gave an on-the-ground perspective and look into the Black Friday shopping world. Here are some examples of  some of my favorite #salefies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kohl’s Black Friday Twitter Triva Sweeps

Kohl’s got in on the fun a little earlier than Black Friday. They started their Black Friday Sweeps on Monday. The main idea behind this promotion was that fans could win a $500 gift card for answering the Kohl’s Twitter Trivia Question everyday. Were the trivia questions difficult? No. Did they get a high number of engaged users to participate? Absolutely.

 

The trivia sweeps ran through Black Friday with a total of 46 questions being asked. Each trivia question saw huge engagement – the last trivia question had 503 retweets and 670 favorites.

 

 

 

This program was a big Black Friday winner in my book because it built anticipation throughout the week and managed to keep fans engaged the whole time. They kept coming back to Twitter to answer the newest trivia question and hopefully win the big prize!

Amazon Tweet to Unwrap

Amazon – the fan favorite – came in with a great way to get the deals you want sent to you when they’re available. Amazon asked their fans to tweet #UnwrapKindle to get access to early Black Friday deals on Kindle and Fire devices. Amazon would reply to fans that tweeted using the hashtag and let them know when deals were available. If you were someone who enjoys the rush of the door opening after waiting in line all morning, this gave you an idea of what it could be like if you had the opportunity to get the security guard to open the door a little earlier.

Amazon used Twitter as a way to help their fans get the deals they want, quickly. They took the time to reply to fans that can’t sit online all day waiting for deals to go live. I like to think of this program as a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch you back” relationship that everybody loves.

Now that you’ve seen some of my favorites, who do you think won the title of best Black Friday social activation? Let us know in the comments.