If you use Instagram commercially as a marketing tool for your online business or webshop, a Flash Sale can be a great way to boost your sales, generate some extra attention and / or quickly get rid of excess stock.
A Flash Sale is a quick, limited-time sale that lasts just one day or even just a few hours.
Do you still have old stock, store daughters, last pieces, samples, tryouts, one of a kind models, unique pieces...? Then this is a very nice way to get rid of it and to make your customers happy. Want even more good news? You set this up with zero budget!
How does an Instagram Flash Sale work?
There are several ways to arrange this, because you can use Instagram in so many fun and effective ways to sell products and services. In 2020, the Flash Sale was the alternative to the King's Day Free Market due to the first major Corona lockdown and it turned out to be super simple and successful. Just look at hashtag #instavrijmarkt2020 and then you don't even see all Instagram Stories that were active on April 27th.
💡 TIP : a Flash Sale also works great on other social media such as Facebook or TikTok. See where your customer is and organize your Flash Sale there.
The Flash Sale tips
Back to the Flash Sale. You can of course just use your own regular business Instagram account for this. But we recently found such a nice way, which we would like to share and explain with you. The full case study with additional tips can be found in the accompanying Instagram Flash Sale swipe file.
Tip 1 - Determine your goal and make a plan
Pay attention to what times of the day your target audience is most active on Instagram. If you use an Instagram business account (recommended), Instagram provides this information in the Insights section. Decide what you want to sell and what you need to sell to reach your goal.
Tip 2 - Preparation is key
Write your posts in advance, including your hashtags, so you can copy/paste them at the right time (or schedule your posts using Buffer, Hootsuite, or Creator Studio).
Tip 3 - Use a hashtag
An exclusive hashtag can be useful if you announce your sale in advance. The key to success, as with any marketing tool, is learning to play the game. Research how to use hashtags accurately and effectively and go for it!
• EXTRA HASHTAG TIP 1 : make sure you use good hashtags and no forbidden terms! You can read more about banned hashtags here .
• HASHTAG TIP 2 : Don't know which hashtag to use? You can use the hashtag generator at Tagsfinder.com that helps you find top 30 hashtags based on keyword selection.
• HASHTAG TIP 3 : Do you want to know which hashtags your competitor uses a lot? You can find out with www.ninjalitics.com
Tip 4 - Use your network
Leverage your network and/or collaborations to draw attention to your sale. Get more attention for your Flash Sale by getting others to write or post about your Flash Sale. You can also use influencers for this. Do you need help with that? Then take a look at our Influencer Marketing Ins & Outs e-book .
Tips 5, 6 and 7
Tip 5, 6 and 7 can be found in the Instagram Flash Sale swipe file, along with a very interesting Flash Sale case study and additional additional tips.
Flash Sale case study
Elva Fields is a jewelry designer from America, in her webshop you often find beautiful handmade jewelry and vintage finds. Often 'one of a kind'. Over the years Elva may have unnoticed saved up a lot of store daughters and a lot of loose beads and one day she thought: "Get rid of it!". I don't exactly know the scope, but it may well be that she wanted to get rid of her extra stuff in a fun way and also wanted to boost her turnover.
Below is a collage of Elva's successful Flash Sale. Every piece of jewelry you see has been sold and at the time of writing there will be another Flash Sale next week.
In the swipe file I explain each part of the case study individually. Then you can get started yourself. Good luck!
Zero budget marketing
'Zero budget' means that you use the resources that are within reach as much as possible. A free Instagram account, the mailing list you already have and the network around you. What you do extra, and what budget is needed, is up to you. Like advertising or growing your mailing list …
This is how you arrange more followers, customers and turnover
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Sources: Elva Fields and The Abundant Artist
