I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and didn't get too full on turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc ad nauseam. I also hope you're staying safe and looking out for your fellow shopper amidst all the craziness that is Black Friday - remember, no one has to die over a DVD player.
If you haven't been up since the literal crack of dawn and braving the cold weather and long lines at your favorite department store, then you may be more interested in what retailers are doing online to earn your holiday shopping dollars. Here are just a few social media and campaigns and community initiatives some major retailers have launched:
- Amazon has unveiled a "Holiday Customer Review Team", consisting of its most active reviewers (read: real customers) and designed to help Amazon customers find gifts. The team reviews and recommends products, as well as provides money-saving tips for holiday shopping.
- Facebook users give and receive "virtual gifts" to each other every day - some to support causes, others just for the fun of it. Dell, eBay, and Sephora have each launched their own virtual gift campaigns on Facebook for the holidays, which they hope will drive traffic to their respective Facebook fan pages (which promote real products) and websites.
- JCPenney has chosen the holiday shopping season to jump onto the social media bandwagon, launching a viral marketing campaign on Youtube and Facebook called "Beware of the Doghouse". Apparently, the Facebook page allows women to "put their significant other in the 'Doghouse' for bad gift choices" (hmmm, smacks a bit of the recent Motrin ad debacle to me). They may be redeeming themselves, however, with their newly-launched presence on Twitter (@askjcp).
- Before you do your holiday cyber shopping, don't discount the value of blogs and online tools to help you find the best deals. Check out this great post over at Gather listing some deal tracking tools and widgets you can use, as well as this post at BuzzLogic about how blogs can help you save money on electronics this holiday season.
One more thing today - don't forget to vote in the Open Web Awards! Round 1 voting ends at 11:59 EST this Sunday, November 30th. Vote below for your favorite social media and web 2.0 sites while you still have time!
