3 Thanksgiving Day Promotion Ideas Your Audience Will Bring to their Table

While many marketers are easily caught in the tidal wave of Black Friday promotions, savvy promoters will not forget the important opportunities presented through family, food and fun during the day before – Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is also the unofficial kickoff of the Holiday Season. For this reason, it’s important to consider a different or supplemental strategy that taps into the content your audience is creating during Thanksgiving. Importantly, taking advantage of Thanksgiving promotions can bridge into Black Friday weekend, and also extend your sales from the week before Thanksgiving through the Holidays.

Utilizing a digital promotions strategy encourages participants to generate content for your brand which can build, strengthen and loyalize your followers through hands-on participation, in addition to driving sales. Here are 3 Thanksgiving Day promotion ideas your audience will bring to their table.

Idea 1. Recipe Photo/Video Contest

Nothing says Thanksgiving more than food.  Families spend hours preparing turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie often pulling out recipes passed down from generations.  Use the opportunity to engage your followers to share photos or videos of their favorite Thanksgiving recipes in exchange for a prize or chance to win something from your business.  Using hashtags, participants can upload videos and photos of their recipes on Twitter or Instagram, which would be collected in a gallery and shared. Recipes can be voted on and the public can select the winner, or you could select the winner yourself. This type of contest is particularly useful for brands or products connected with the food industry, household appliances or kitchenware products.  Here are some examples of past recipe contests.

Idea 2. Say “Thanks” Promotion

Say thanks to your audience or customers by offering a gift or promotion if they register online or come to your store during the days leading up to Thanksgiving.  People who make a purchase during the Thanksgiving week will be able to redeem a ticket using the Easypromos Validate your code online application on Black Friday and/or the days that follow, and will be automatically entered into a sweepstake to win a grand prize, such as a $500 Christmas shopping spree.  The code can be offered via your website, Facebook page or on Twitter, or via your email list of customers.

Another example might be to give away tickets for entry into a sweepstakes among customers who make purchases in the days prior to prior to Thanksgiving.  You can randomly select the winners online using the Customer Loyalty Reward application to redeem and validate the numbers on the tickets.  Announce winners via Facebook and Twitter.

Idea 3. Giving Thanks Photo Gallery/Contest

One of the best features of Instagram is that photos are easily shared on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and Foursquare, or even by email, making it an ideal platform to host a photo/video contest where your audience can vote on their favorite entry. Ask participants to take photos set to a Thanksgiving, turkey, family or giving thanks theme. Ask them to post their entry on Instagram or Twitter using an assigned hashtag which you have chosen for the contest. All the photos will be automatically uploaded to your gallery, where they will be viewed, shared and voted on. Pick a prize such as a Black Friday discount or give-away like a Christmas shopping spree to incentivize greater sharing and participation.

Looking for new leads or growing your database?

If your objective is to gather new leads and expand your database, you’ll be able to gather information by programming a reply message, which could include a link taking participants to a form they’re asked to complete. To ensure greater response, offer a discount, prize or entry into a sweepstakes in exchange for their details.

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