Black Friday Marketing and Promotions
The four-day Thanksgiving Day-to-Cyber Monday weekend as we used to know it may be gone this year. Certainly, it will be different than in previous years because of the global pandemic and its domino effect on most aspects of our lives. All the retailers’ efforts will point to online promotions rather than in-store. In a way, the retail industry seems to be better prepared to withstand the onslaught of online buyers’ high demands and expectations during this year’s Black Friday shopping fever. Retailers who wanted to survive the crisis have already focused on online operations. More importantly, e-commerce has become a bonanza for many brick-and-mortar retailers and not just pure players.
Mobile traffic and shopping have significantly increase since 2019, with 75% of shoppers using mobile devices to research products, compare prices, or make purchases.
Black Friday is the king of the holiday season! Thus, retailers should make serious efforts in its preparation. We have picked up for you some advantageous Black Friday marketing ideas.
Table of Contents
#1 Black Friday – Cyber Monday 2020 stats and trends
To better prepare for this year’s Black Friday, let’s recap the previous year. In 2020, only in the US 174 million people shopped online during the cyber weekend.
- Sales during the 2020 “big five” weekend from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday
amounted to $39 billion. - US shoppers spent a record $9 billion during Black Friday 2020 and $10.84 billion
during Cyber Monday 2020. - E-commerce spending went up 15% year-over-year on Cyber Monday 2020.
The trend of the whole weekend merging into one enormous shopping spree had already blurred the lines between holidays. This massive swing was due in part to the Coronavirus.
#2 What’s coming up this Black Friday?
And how to prepare your online retail for the shopping fever?
This year, retailers are entirely focusing on e-commerce. The online landscape during Black Friday will be very competitive and condensed. Retailers will be competing to offer the most desirable prices on all kinds of goods.For consumers, Black Friday is a main savings event of the year. They are looking forward to spending a dollar more. Hence, creating an exciting holiday shopping experience should be your main concern.
Black Friday brings you more than any other season. It’s an opportunity to attract new visitors, gain new customers, increase profits, and get rid of the old stock. You can expect heavy website traffic and a multitude of sales. But these favorable conditions carry some side effects – a high bounce rate and cart abandonment rate.
“ The global average cart abandonment rate on Black Friday is around 74% while the conversion rate is approx. 4%", according to Barilliance Insights. “
Americans start their holiday shopping on Thanksgiving Day. It is still one of the important holidays for many of them. Then, they continue on Black Friday and Cyber Monday all the way to Christmas. Such condensed season puts pressure on consumers’ to get their shopping done in time. And it also applies to those who leave the shopping at the last minute. But this year, the Black Friday season will start earlier than ever before.
#3 Top Black Friday marketing ideas
Let’s see how to thrill shoppers this Black Friday and Cyber Monday and bring in more sales!
To achieve so, you’ll have to make a stand-out Black Friday marketing promotion. You need to break through the noisy and crowded retail landscape. The main goal of the Black Friday marketing promotion is to bring your brand into the focus of attention. If your offer attracts consumers your chances to increase sales and profit are high.
Hence, start preparing your marketing strategy early. Don’t expect to jump in at the last minute with a killer social media campaign. You’ll miss those interested buyers who begin their search as early as the first week of November.
Give yourself enough time to get shoppers excited about your offers. Preparation time is crucial for the success of any seasonal promotion.
Seasonal campaigns are critical to your profit because of a large number of sales that take place. Furthermore, they enhance buyers’ interest in your brand. That gives you various opportunities to convert one-time customers into loyal ones.
3.1 Black Friday sales ideas to delight your customers
First, define your goals and deals. When your sales strategy is ready, you have to make sure your customers find out about it. Black Friday marketing campaigns depend on the deals you decide to offer.
Flash sales
Whether hourly or daily, flash sales bring more actions and transactions. Flash sales create a sense of urgency. By putting a time limit on your offer, you nudge your customers to act right away. It’s a proven technique for increasing sales and conversions. In total, they generate a 35% lift in transaction rates. Brands experience better results when using email to drive their flash sales.
Free shipping
When it comes to Black Friday offers and deals, free shipping is the number one incentive. People overvalue the benefits of “free”. Even when free items compared to better-quality items cost a small price. Thus, free shipping influences consumer behavior on a psychological level. It adds a powerful boost to your average order value.
Freebies with purchases
You can give out an actual item at a certain amount. Offers like these would spark the interest of your customers. Buy-one-get-one promo or free product samples are always a good option to clean up your stock or to introduce a new version of your product.
Product Bundles
Product bundles are appealing for several reasons. Bundling is a good alternative for effectively increasing the seasonal sales. With bundling, you can increase the average order value. Not only do gift packs make great presents, but they’re also a great way to upsell customers to a higher price point.
Exclusive offer
Black Friday season is suitable to stir up buyers’ enthusiasm. Who can resist all those special offers and discounts?! This selling tactic combines well with limited time offers, pre-order discounts, or similar.
Loyalty cards or discounts
Don’t forget your loyal customers! They are going to buy your products even if they are not discounted. Even more, they will recommend your offerings to their friends. Offer something special – special discounts or coupons – only to them. Either way, coupons should work as a strong incentive for your customers to stop by your store.
By all means, show to your visitors and customers that you appreciate them. Let them know that you are doing something special for them, something above and beyond your already competitive prices. Customers will be more inclined to buy as they are already in the Black Friday Cyber Monday mindset.
#4 Affiliate marketing for maximizing Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales
One of the tactics for maximizing your Black Friday marketing efforts is blogging and guest blogging. Guest blogging brings mutual advantages for both publishers and retailers. Publishers want quality content to feed their users and keep them coming back. Retailers and brands need a platform to promote their Black Friday deals. This way, offers get exposed to the relevant audience that is looking for the best Black Friday deals.
Writing a blog post will help you to expose your Black Friday offer and to give publishers free content. For instance, create a guide to Black Friday shopping. It will enable you to showcase your products and deals, to inspire shoppers, and to stay at the top of the game. The more shoppers search for the best deals, the better ranking, and free traffic you can get. You want consumers to find the Black Friday offer that suits them and they will spend their hard-earn money in your online retail.
4.1 Craft a perfect guide to Black Friday shopping
A successful shopping guide is more than just a list or a catalog of items at a large discount. The way you arrange and categorize the products can boost your sales. Besides showcasing individual items, throw some bundles, one-plus-one offers, sets, or freebies. You also could include bestsellers.
A picture is worth a thousand words! So, don’t forget high-quality product imagery! Showcase your products with accurate, clear, suitable photos. It will boost engagement, establish credibility, and most importantly, improve conversion rates.
A successful shopping guide will generate new leads, bring customers back, and increase sales.
#5 Black Friday email marketing
A marketing channel with the strongest impact on the success of one Black Friday promotion is definitely email marketing. Email is steadily the top-performing marketing channel during the Black Friday season. It is significantly ahead of organic search, paid ads, or social media.
In 2019, 39% of consumers opened emails with Black Friday deals and promotions, according to the National Retail Federation’s report.
Not surprisingly, email is one of the most cost-effective marketing channels. It allows you to personalize your messaging. You can segment your email list and target specific segments. And you can do it at no cost. This way, the right leads get the most impactful information at the right times. Obviously, email marketing is critical for your ROI.
“59% of respondents said that marketing emails influence their purchase decisions, while just over 50% buy from marketing emails at least once a month” according to SaleCycle.
Start timely. To gain the most traction, begin your promotion with early access emails. This is how you will warm up your subscribers for the upcoming Black Friday Cyber Monday season. Include in your email a wish-list, gift guide, or coupon code. It will tickle your customers’ fancy and make them look forward to purchasing.
If you want the higher email open rate and click-through rate, you’ll have to be very creative. Your offer should stand out in subscribers’ inbox. That means you’ll have to be very creative. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are all about offering great deals. Still, a great deal isn’t just a shocking discount. It can be something unique. For instance, you can combine products at discounts with giveaways or shopping guides and tips, or charitable contributions. An extra option could be creating an exclusive Black Friday collection. That will add some urgency because of the limited edition, not because the prices have sunk so much.
Black Friday email sequence to create anticipation and drive sales
- Teaser email sent 2 weeks before Black Friday.
- Countdown timer emails sent a few days before Black Friday.
- The main offer sent on Black Friday morning.
- Reminder sent within the day.
- Cyber Monday preview sent on Sunday.
- Cyber Monday main offer email sent on Monday morning.
- Final email sent on Tuesday (if you want to prolong your campaign).
- Thank you email to show your appreciation and build trust.
Of course, you don’t have to stop here. As we all know, the long-term success of your business depends on your customer retention. Send a follow-up email after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Ask your customers for feedback or invite them to revisit your store. You can also send a sneak peek to the upcoming holiday season to stir up their excitement.
5.1 Automate cart abandonment recovery emails
A mainstay of every successful e-commerce business is the cart abandonment email automation. It’s one of the remarkably effective sales recovery tactics.
With so many promotions that are happening around, customers can easily forget about the products they picked. And yet, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you lost sales. If you trigger an email to remind hesitant buyers to complete their order, there’s a lot of chances that they’ll do it. A quick reminder an hour or so later can urge them to complete their order before the promotion is over. These types of emails can win back up to 18% of your lost orders.
5.2 Personalize your Black Friday email campaigns
Besides starting your Black Friday email campaign at the right time, there is more you have to do. A dull email subject line won’t breakthrough neither will be noticed in a crowded inbox. A typical discount-only approach could easily be overlooked rather than be opened.
You need an eye-catchy sentence that will nudge your subscribers to open your email. In fact, you need a well-crafted copy, pithy, and personalized. You can play around with emojis – lightning, loudspeakers, fireworks, electronics, people running, clocks, etc.
If you personalize the email subject line with the subscribers’ first name, it’s more likely that email will be noticed and opened. You could see an increase in the email open rate by up to 42%.
The email copy should match the Black Friday email design. It should be different from your regular newsletter. Changing to a different style has practical and functional advantages. Dark colors simplify perspective and help declutter your newsletter. They direct subscribers’ attention to deals and products.
Interactive emails are more likely to drive conversions. Flashy imagery and movements have proven to draw the eyes’ attention. Hence, adding a GIF to your Black Friday email can boost the CTR and sales. For instance, countdown timers make your emails interactive and add urgency to your offer.
Last but not least, make sure that your email is responsive and looks good on all devices.
#6 Boost Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales via social media
Can you imagine a Black Friday marketing promotion without social media? Social media plays a remarkable role in bringing customers to your e-commerce website. Their impact is visible, especially during the holiday season. Some reports show that a large number of people do their shopping through popular social channels – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Pinterest. Not only that social media networks help you to connect with your customers and inspire them. They can significantly impact the success of your promotion.
6.1 Prepare your social media accounts
Start with your social media profiles. Update your social accounts. Use cover images, banners, bios, and links to advertise your Black Friday promotions. Make sure your call-to-action button includes a direct link to the dedicated Black Friday landing page. Don’t forget to pin your post that announces Black Friday deals.
6.2 Gamify your Black Friday offer to entertain your audience
Make your social media promotion playable. This way, you can collect participants’ identity data through integrated entry forms.
6.3 Offer a sneak peek at Black Friday deals
One of the beneficial marketing ideas is to build anticipation and excitement. You can use a GIF or video to showcase products that will be discounted on Black Friday.
6.4 Host Black Friday giveaways
Pick relevant products to give away to your social media followers. Contests are a great way to grow your email list and expand the reach of your Black Friday promotion.
6.5 Promote the shopping guide for Black Friday
Publish shopping guides on your blog. If you want to reach more people, create a post, and share it. But if you want to reach specific audience segments, then run paid ads.
6.6 Use trending Black Friday hashtags
To make your offer easily searchable and accessible, use season-specific hashtags. They will make your deals visible and reach more people. If you want to step up your hashtag game for Black Friday, use hashtag analysis tools.
#blackfridaysale #blackfridaydeals #blackfridayshopping #blackfridaydeal #blackfridayweekend #blackfridayweek #blackfridays #blackfridayspecials #blackfridaymadness #blackfridayoffers #cybermondaysale #cybermondaydeals #cyberweek
6.7 Get your Black Friday offer into the limelight with a paid push
If you have high expectations from this marketing promotion then you have to spread a word around it. You have to show to people interested in Black Friday that your offer is irresistible. We all love good deals, so put your advert right in front of those who are searching for Black Friday deals. If you want to scale your sales faster, it is important to focus on creating paid advertising campaigns. Be it on social media or the search engines to give a little boost to your Black Friday offer.
See also: 6 Tips for The Back-to-School Season
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