How to run a successful sale

Running a successful sale is easier than you think. The key to executing a successful sale is creating top tier promotional content to share with your community on socials. Make sure fans know you’re running a sale, can find your products easily, and create a sense of urgency. Follow these simple steps, and start making more sales, quicker. 

1. Plan sale schedule
2. Create promo codes
3. Prepare promotional content 

Step 1) Plan a sale schedule

You’ll need to determine your content schedule for the next few weeks and consider how sales announcements can fit in.  Do you want to run several sales over an extended period, or offer a discount just before you release a new item? If you’re on YouTube, think about your video content schedule (when would be a good time to announce a new product and sale) or if you’re on Instagram, how will you incorporate your upcoming samplephoto shoots?

Here’s a few sale ideas for inspiration:

• New products: Use a promo code to celebrate a new product release. This is the best way to create hype and provide an incentive for fans to start shopping.
• Switch it up: If you offer the same types of discounts on a regular basis, fans will wait for the next sale instead of purchasing full-priced items. Utilize the different promo code types available and switch up your schedule.
• Align your sale with an event: Announce a sale to celebrate a special calendar event or a milestone you can share with your community. E.g. You just hit 100K followers, Black Friday is approaching, or you want to donate profits for Black History Month.
• End-of-season sale: Offering discounts on ‘older’ designs before a new product launch is a good way to encourage purchases of existing items while generating hype for new launches.
• First come first serve: Encourage purchases early on by offering a limited number of discounted orders. For example, you say: “the first 50 people to buy my new design will get 10% off with the code FIRST50”. Turn the promo code’s active status to ‘off’ in your dashboard when you hit 50 orders.
• Live streaming discount: Encourage viewership + purchases by announcing a sale on Twitch, YouTube, or Instagram Live, only accessible for a short period of time. 
• VIP only: Reward loyal subscribers by sharing promo codes within the members-only section of your YouTube channel or Twitch. 

Find an example of a content schedule you can download and customize yourself. Plan sales in advance, and make sure you’ve got plenty of time to create compelling promotional content that will help you maximize your sales.  

Free content schedule template

Step 2) Create promo codes

Now that you’ve got a schedule it’s time to create your promotions. You can create promo codes instantly within your dashboard and turn their active status to ‘off’ until it’s time to run your sale. 

You can create three different types of promotions; free shipping (US delivery only), a discount amount (like $3), or a discount percent (like 10% off). Learn how in the video below. 

Create a promo code

Promo codes can be applied to all of your products. Make sure there’s enough profit margin on all your listings to support the promo. For example, if you’re offering a ‘$3 off’ discount and a fan adds a sticker to their shopping cart, the sticker will need to have at least $3 in profit margin for the promo code to work. 

Step 3) Prepare promotional content

Now it’s time to create the social media content you’ll use to promote your sale. Promotional images and videos of you wearing your products work best, and you can enhance imagery with tools likeCanva. Choose from hundreds of free design templates, and create the perfect imagery to announce your sale. Check out how @loudmouuthpod does it below or see the sale announcement imagery inspo below.

Promo content inspo

Tips for announcing your sale on social media:

• Utilize social integrations: Make your products easy to discover. Feature products underneath your videos using the YouTube Integration, or set up the Instagram Shopping Integration to begin tagging your products in posts (and more). Don’t have access yet? Start using the Linktree Integration, available to all creators right now. See what’s available for you now below.

• Get your caption right: Worried about coming across as too pushy/sales driven? Announce a sale within your regular social media content. Feature your sample photos in posts, but include dates and times the discount will be active, the discount code they need to enter (e.g. DISCOUNT10), and the discount amount (e.g. 10% off) in your caption. 

• Include all the info: Of course, you’ll want to include the promo code and a link to your store or listing, but make sure to tell fans when the sale ends to create a sense of urgency.