How to Save Money Everywhere With Social Media
Social media is great for checking your ex’s profiles and your neighbor’s vacation photos, but their real power lies in saving you money. You can find coupons, deals and even negotiate directly with companies. Here are some easy ways to use these links to save money on everything from everyday purchases to monthly bills.
Use hashtags (no, seriously) to find deals
The hashtag (#) is used across all popular social media platforms as a way to quickly search for specific topics. But when it comes to using a hashtag to find deals and coupons, it’s often misused. While Twitter is the gold standard for finding deals by hashtag, you’ll have decent results on Facebook as well.
Here’s what you want to find:
- # (Product Name) #Deal or #Coupon: This will give much better results than combining two hashtags into one. For example, many users will search for #GuitarCoupon, find very few, and give up. But if you split it into two separate hashtags (#Guitar #Coupon), you will find loads of coupons and deals.
- # (Store Name) Deals: This search usually returns results specifically tailored to in-store purchases. For example, a quick search for the #TargetDeals tag on Twitter returns tons of great current deals and coupons for your next trip. Coupon matching is when profitable buyers do all the work for you and tell you what products are on sale and receive a coupon to lower the price.
- Coupon # (store name): This search is equally for in-store and online purchases. This can be a little random, especially with lesser known retailers.
Also, use seasonal hashtags as needed. Hashtags like #BlackFriday #BestBuy will offer you suggestions from the relevant seller as well as bloggers who did most of the work for you.
Discuss your accounts on Twitter
Many companies hire community managers to research social media platforms for users who are either upset or have questions about their company . This became clear recently when I responded to a blogger friend complaining about how expensive his Verizon bill was . I bolstered my sympathy, and a few minutes later a Verizon rep responded to me on Twitter, offering to help lower my bill. Use this to your advantage – it’s a great tool to start a conversation when trying to negotiate a lower bill.
Here are some strategies to get this to work:
- Say the service is too expensive: By sending a direct tweet to a company saying that you are considering switching to a cheaper competitor, you will usually get a quick response. While a representative may not always have the authority to negotiate your account directly, he will give you a direct number to the custody department that has authority.
- Join an Existing Conversation: Find an existing Twitter conversation about a service you would like to get cheaper and share your opinion. Be sure to include Twitter’s name on your tweet. However, be careful not to interfere with the conversation. Use them instead to start your own. This will give both of you the help you need.
To ensure a positive response from the company, be respectful and stick to the facts.
Finding Pinterest Boards Correctly
Since Pinterest is a very visual, static platform, finding deals requires a different strategy. You can search by hashtags, but you will often find very old pins that won’t help much. Instead, you’ll want to look for coupons and deals on “boards,” which are a bunch of pins, since they always list the most recent deals.
Also consider creating your own Pinterest board for coupons and deals. By regularly updating it with useful content, you will attract like-minded people and communicate with them. It’s also a great way to categorize your bargain purchases for future reference.
Ask for the coupon in a Facebook message (or chat)
There will inevitably be times when you look under every stone and still can’t find the coupon code. The next time this happens, fire up Facebook Messenger on your phone or computer and just ask the seller directly if they can help. You just click “Message” on their official Facebook page and send them a private message. Every time I try to do this, I usually get a response in less than 15 minutes.
Many store representatives are waiting to hand out exclusive online coupon codes to those who politely ask. Some of the more popular stores that do this regularly include J.Crew, 1-800-Flowers, Gap, JCPenney, Lands’ End, and Michael’s. It could be free shipping, a percentage of the total, or something else, but no matter what, you have a good chance of getting a deal.
Another tip is to call the chat directly from the seller’s website and ask for a coupon. The most popular retailers these days have live chat operators to help with your order, and they are often armed with coupons . Start a conversation politely and say, “I would love to complete my order today, but the shipping costs are higher than I expected, do you have a coupon that I can apply to my order?” When items end up in your virtual cart, retailers don’t want to lose your business and often sweeten the pot if you ask.
Check out the descriptions on Instagram
Instagram primarily uses images, making it difficult to navigate deals and coupons. But this is absolutely possible. However, you will need to use Instagram from your smartphone as the web browser version is very limited.
Here’s how to do it:
- Find the seller you are interested in. Click on the magnifying glass and enter its name to find its page.
- After you go to their Instagram page, tap the 3 horizontal lines in the corner to open frame-by-frame with a description.
- Text Description is where retailers drop items at exclusive coupons and specials. Just scroll through them for coupon codes and exclusive deal information.
- Fridays are generally a great day to hit Instagram looking for deals, as many retailers are posting messages trying to entice weekend shoppers.
The main takeaway from all these ninja building tips is to be proactive. Don’t sit back and wait for the seller or company to help you save money or offer to lower your bill; you will often wait a heck of a long time. By starting a conversation with a salesperson or by discussing an invoice over Twitter, you begin to understand how these tools can work to save you significant money in your day-to-day life.
Two Cents is Lifehacker’s new personal finance blog. Follow us on Twitter here .