5 Marketing Tips your Business Can Learn from TigerDirect
Ever been confused when buying a new computer?
Even if you know your way around computers, a quick glance at the hardware specs may not be enough information to make a purchase. Thankfully, tech e-tailers like TigerDirect are raising the bar for all online retailers.
Their strong emphasis on promotions, social media content, and customer service are some of the reasons why they are ranked as one of the top 25 online retailers by the New York Times.
Here are 5 marketing tips your business could learn from TigerDirect:
Provide detailed product descriptions.
Spend the effort to build a strong connection with followers.
Use daily sales to boost your business.
Increase interest with promotions and exclusive content.
Take advantage of national events.
1. Provide detailed product descriptions
For an industry like computers and technology, system specifications are generally confusing and it is often difficult to tell which product is better than another, even for the tech savvy.
To address this problem, TigerDirect allows users to post comprehensive reviews on all of its products. This can be an indicator of how popular certain items are, and positive reviews can boost the attractiveness of product pages.
Additionally, try to make the features of a certain product as clear as possible. While there are many pages of technical specifications for all of TigerDirect's products, they also provide a simple visual breakdown of features for users - as seen above.
What can your business learn from this?
Give your customers an opportunity to review products. This will benefit your company and any potential customers.
Provide a lot of detail for products, especially if they are complex. For tech and computer hardware, potential customers need plenty of information before they make a purchase decision. \
2. Spend the effort to build a strong connection with followers
TigerDirect spends a lot of time on its Facebook page engaging with followers. Asking specific questions that the follower base enjoys can effectively build a strong relationship. Fans are invited to talk and discuss topics they feel strongly about, leading to higher engagement.
Going one step further, TigerDirect creates custom images and content that appeal directly to fans' tastes. For example, the Facebook post below makes a reference to Nintendo's infamous Mario character.
Make an effort to connect with your followers through engaging them with interesting questions or prompts.
Cater to the tastes of your followers. If you know what type of content they like, give it to them.
Creating custom media (either photos or videos) can be an effective talking point among fans and build brand loyalty.
3. Use daily sales to boost your business
Time-limited sales like weekly or daily deals is a great way for e-tailers to convey a sense of urgency to their customers and encourage them to purchase. TigerDirect does very well in this category, using a large, visible countdown to emphasize the limited nature of the deal.
The addition of a social media sharing tab at the bottom is also a smart choice. Users who feel they have genuinely found a good deal and want to share it with their friends can easily do so, increasing the buzz of each individual deal.
TigerDirect also keeps the deals persistent: there is always a daily deal or a weekly deal going on. Thus, users have more motivation to check back for a new deal.
What can my business learn from this?
Use weekly or daily sales to push out older inventory and increase demand for your products.
Let users share deals with their friends over social media to increase the spread of the deal. The more a deal is shared, the more free exposure your business gets!
Create a mailing list or special Twitter account specifically for deals to avoid cluttering your regular communication channels. This also provides timely information about deals to early adopters or brand loyalists who may share the deal with their followers.
4. Increase interest with promotions and exclusive content
In early March 2013, TigerDirect used a third-party Facebook app to host a like-gated promotion. Users would enter their contact information and be entered into a sweepstakes for a new video card worth over a thousand dollars.
Promotions are a fantastic way for businesses to get new followers and convert existing ones into actual sales leads. In this case, the major benefit for running the sweepstakes is to increase the total number of fans for their page (like-gating) and for collecting detailed information about applicants.
Take a look at Wishpond's social marketing tools.
Through Wishpond, you can set up a number of different types of promotions like sweepstakes, photo contests, and many others that can help you interact with your audience.
Use all your social media networks when spreading information about a promotional campaign.
Provide exclusive content to fans. Give fans a reason to like your page or hand over their contact information. This doesn't always have to be a promotion, but make it something they are interested in and cannot get anywhere else on the internet.
5. Take advantage of national events
Earlier in March, TigerDirect ran a series of voting contests on their Facebook page where products were pitted directly against each other. The contests ran during March Madness.
Users would be able to vote on which item they wanted to move on to the next round. The final four remaining products would be the grand prizes of a separate sweepstakes.
TigerDirect masterfully uses both events and promotions by doing this. They give fans a chance to voice their approval for different products, compel them to engage directly on their Facebook wall, and increase awareness for the actual sweepstakes.
By setting up these promotions during March Madness, TigerDirect tapped into the enormous energy and emotion surrounding the NCAA tournament finals.
The setup of the vote contests in a "tournament" style hierarchy and the usage of the same terms (such as "Final Four") served to deepen the connection between their contest and March Madness.
As a result, the promotion appealed to both technology fans and March Madness fans, and received a high level of engagement across all their different products and contests.
Use holiday or event themed promotions to attract more attention. If your promotion has an underlying theme, followers may be more interested in participating.
Talk to your followers about any upcoming holidays or events. Ask them questions or let them fill-in-the-blanks for your Facebook posts.
If you are interested in doing a vote contest, Wishpond's social marketing suite lets your business set up a variety of different promotions on your Facebook page. In addition to vote contests, you can even do photo contests, video contests, or sweepstakes.
Setting up a comprehensive social media promotions campaign has never been easier. Take a look at Wishpond's Social Marketing Apps today and see it for yourself!