Black Friday Meets Social Media As Sellers Seek An Edge
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Retailers are taking to targeting customers over social media sites for 2013's Black Friday.
As stores plan to open their doors for the busiest shopping day of the year, a number of companies are hoping to get a jump on the competition through social media.
A recent study suggests 65 percent of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers make purchases through social media, via promoted tweets on Twitter and sponsored advertisements.
"It's already started," mother of two Ronette Kite said. "Thirty-four people are on social media talking about best products and who's opening when. They're going to be sending out social media messages throughout the week, and especially leading up to Black Friday."
The process, called re-targeting, gives companies an idea of what you may be more likely to purchase, targeting customers based on their online interests.
"You've clicked on something you're interested in, and then all of a sudden, whether you're on your email or Facebook you have an ad for something that you just looked at," Kite said. "So, they're definitely looking at not only what you consume and who you follow, but they're also looking at what you push out to help target you."
While many shoppers have yet to notice this recent social media trend, some call it a useful method of finding deals specifically for them using phone apps such as Shopular.
"They're able to amplify the best deal that they got, or maybe not the best deal," Kite said.
Meanwhile, celebrities and social media personalities that have a large number of followers are being targeted by the companies to promote their products over Twitter.
