Oneupweb : Make Your Cyber Monday Social

Since another Oneupwebber wrote about Facebook’s new messages yesterday, I decided to write about something that caught my eye as I was going through my mail (snail mail, that is). Express sent me a direct mail piece with several tear-out coupons for certain days. For example, I believe there was a 20 percent off coupon for Thanksgiving Day. The thing that caught my eye, however, was the coupon specifically labeled “Cyber Monday”.

I wondered, what could it be? What sort of fun code or social media promotion would they have going on that day? You can imagine my disappointment when it just said “Free Shipping”. Express was really onto something here, but I think they missed the boat. So here’s what I think they should have done:

Check Out Our Facebook Page for the Cyber Monday Special Offer
Really, as simple as that. They could have had these exact words printed on the coupon, along with the url to their Facebook page. Then, they could have created a custom tab with a special code for people to use to get free shipping on their Cyber Monday purchases (i.e. a code that they could easily track to see how many people came from their Facebook page to take advantage of the offer). Or maybe even require someone to like their Facebook page before they revealed the special code. When you like a page, that page’s updates and wall posts appear in your news feed, helping the brand stay top of mind. So while many people may have liked the page for the Cyber Monday special deal, the opportunities for these people to continue to interact with the brand (and make further purchases) just got extended well-beyond the Christmas season.

And keep in mind, not only would this offer have been extended to everyone on their mailing list, it would also reach all of their 514,559 Facebook fans (some of which may not be on their mailing list). And I have to imagine that more purchases on Cyber Monday as a result of this extended offer could only be considered a good thing.

What do you think of my idea? Would you take advantage of an offer like this if it was presented to you on Facebook? Or if you’re an online retailer, have you thought of adding social media to your 2010 holiday plans?