Brand It Like Amazon: Building Your Own #PrimeDay Hype
To promote its new subscription service, Amazon is launching a sale to ‘rival Black Friday’ today. Historically the most competitive sales day of the year. ‘Prime Day’(#HappyPrimeDay), is slated to give Prime Members up to 80% off retail prices. I’m more interested in they way they have promoted this sale however. Yesterday, a sweet lil’ lady in the grocery store reminded me to sign up for Prime “to get my big savings.” Seriously, what reach. Promoting a brand or a launch? Here are a few quick ways even the smallest businesses can ‘Brand It Like Amazon:’ (See what I did there, instead of ‘Bend It Like Beckham?’ I tried).
Believe Your Own Hype
Okay, it’s Amazon, but someone had to believe the hype before they ‘were.’ When promoting your brand or a new launch, go big. Promote your brand or idea with almost mythical competition. Black Friday is known for it’s jarringly cheap sales… You be the ’Black Friday’ of your brand. Be known for the best sales, or have the most bang-for-your-buck service.
Hype Your Hype
Spread the word with a big, well-thought out campaign. Create a self-serving hashtag. Amazon has elected it’s own day – ‘Prime Day,’ it’s hashtag #HappyPrimeDay. Hype! They are also giving out $10K in Amazon Cards for those that share ‘what #PrimeLiving means to them.’ Incentivize your customers even further with a giveaway (that you can afford) and cue tons of user-generated content and very cheap buzz. Use a service like Rebelmouse to curate and showcase all of that content.
Build More Hype
Deliver, and build even more buzz about your brand. If you are going to give them a sale, really give them a sale. 50% off is always an attractive starting point. An additional ‘Free Shipping’ incentive is even better. Post pictures of your contest winners with you giveaway to build credibility. Factor the output as marketing spend and fill your blog with quotes from happy customers, and your feeds with overjoyed retweets.
Lindsey