18 Black Friday Marketing Strategies to Try in 2022
Planning your Black Friday marketing strategy is the key to standing out from the crowd. Think about it. Every store, whether brick or online store, is engaged in advertising. Clients are actively looking for them. So how do you get their attention?
By preparing and using killer tactics.
Don’t let planning your Black Friday marketing strategy get you down. Standing out from the crowd on a busy day of sales is easier than you think.
Here are 18 proven marketing strategies to try on Black Friday!
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the Friday following the American Thanksgiving. It is known for price cuts in e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores, which has led to a surge in consumer spending.
Black Friday usually kicks off the holiday shopping season. You may have heard stories of the pandemonium faced by brick and mortar houses.
The term “Black Friday”originated in Philadelphia in the 1950s. The police used it to describe the large, destructive crowds that flock to the city the day after Thanksgiving. Suburban shoppers and tourists flocked to the city ahead of the infamous Army-Navy football game.
Later, retailers adopted Black Friday. They depended on holiday shopping to get them back before the end of the financial year. “Getting back”simply means making a profit instead of operating at a loss or “being in the red.”
Today, Black Friday has expanded from brick-and-mortar stores to online sales, with e-commerce stores jumping into the festive day. He also expanded his timeline. Now Black Friday is not just a day, it’s a sales weekend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
E-commerce stores are reaping the benefits of online sales even at a time when global shopping habits have changed in an unpredictable market. In 2021, Shopify store owners collectively earned a whopping $6.3 billion in global sales between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, up 23% from 2020.
During this time, sales have been linked to 47 million unique buyers who have made a purchase from a Shopify merchant. These weren’t your classic bargains. The average basket price was over $100!
These are opportunities that your business can take advantage of. All you need is a stellar marketing strategy to help you stand out from the crowd.
18 Solid Black Friday Marketing Strategies
There is no one size fits all when it comes to Black Friday marketing strategies. You know your customers and what will work best for them. But there are a few tried and tested strategies that can help with your Black Friday marketing strategy.
Take a look below at these 19 solid Black Friday marketing strategies.
1. Use Social Media Marketing to Promote Your Sales Proactively
Some buyers love the thrill of hunting; others prefer to plan ahead and take advantage of early sales. You can reach both types of buyers by using social media to promote your sales. You can tease sales in your feed by offering “secret deals”or by posting exactly what your promotions will be.
By sharing exclusive offer announcements, countdown timers, and other exciting content, businesses can build anticipation and drive traffic to their Black Friday stores. And social media is a great way to connect with shoppers and answer any questions they might have about your Black Friday sale.
2. Create a sense of urgency
To get customers excited about your sale items, write text that conveys urgency. Creating a sense of urgency or scarcity in Black Friday marketing spurs customers into action.
One of the reasons it’s important to create a sense of urgency is because it helps grab attention. For example, in a busy inbox, an email that stands out and creates a sense of urgency is more likely to get noticed than an email that doesn’t.
You can encourage customers to act now instead of waiting. Whether offering a limited time discount or exclusive access to discounted items, customers will feel compelled to take advantage of your Black Friday deals before they disappear.
3. Email Marketing Campaign
Set up an email marketing campaign and watch your ROI grow and grow and grow. When you average this out, email delivers a $36 ROI for every dollar spent. This is higher than any other channel.
Who doesn’t love getting discounts and offers in their inbox every day? Set it up weeks before Black Friday with deals for your followers.
4. Optimize your website for shoppers searching Google.
Black Friday is filled with e-commerce sites vying for space on the Google homepage. To rank, you need to optimize your site for online shoppers.
One way to do this is to use keywords that shoppers are most likely to use when searching for holiday deals. Do a little keyword research and then spread those words around the site. Make sure you sound natural and don’t fall into the habit of typing in keywords.
On top of that, you should also make sure that your website is mobile-optimized as more and more people are using their phones for holiday shopping.
5. Install a chatbot on your website to make customer support easier
The more customers, the more support requests. You cannot avoid it. Consumers will refer to frequently asked questions about orders, shipping and returns. You name it.
By installing a chatbot on your website, you can simplify and automate the work of your customer support. A chatbot can handle simple answers to frequently asked questions, and when a support representative is needed, it can step in and continue the conversation. This process can eliminate repetitive work that weighs down your team and give them time to focus on larger issues.
6. Install the chatbot on your Shopify website as well.
You want to make it as easy as possible for your customers to convert. So, if you’re running an e-commerce site like Shopify, consider installing a chatbot.
Shopify chatbots can pull data from your store to automate tasks. These include essential communication with customers, checking in-store inventory, making returns, and encouraging sales.
During a hectic time like Black Friday, it’s important to give your customers the support they need. A chatbot will help you with this.
7. Use a chatbot to help shoppers find products faster
In addition to automating support requests, AI-powered chatbots can also help with sales. If you find the right one, a chatbot can help shoppers find the right products quickly and easily.
It can work if you program your chatbot to ask customers a series of questions. From there, they can narrow down the search to a few specific items. Customers can then either buy the item online or find it in the store.
Chatbots can also provide personalized recommendations based on previous purchases. And during the chaos of Black Friday, you’ll need all the help you can get.
8. Offer loyal customers exclusive offers
People like to be recognized, especially if they are associated with your brand. Black Friday gives you the opportunity to show your appreciation to loyal, longtime customers.
Offering exclusive offers and discounts to these customers is a smart marketing tactic that can help increase customer loyalty and encourage repeat sales. By showing your customers that you value their loyalty, you encourage them to come back to you on non-Black Friday days.
9. Try Selling Directly on Social Media
People often use social media to research a product or find a brand. Nearly one in two people reported looking for new brands, products, or services on Instagram.
On Black Friday, everyone will be looking for deals and promotions. By selling directly on platforms like Instagram, you can get your products right in front of your target audience. Selling your products directly in the app means it’s even easier for your consumers to convert.
And you can reach a global audience on social media. People on Instagram, for example, expect to be sold to. After all, 90% of people follow a brand.
10. Use hashtags to reach new audiences
Black Friday gives you the opportunity to reach a new audience on social media. By using hashtags, you can connect with people who are interested in Black Friday deals and help them find your products and services.
If you’re in retail, you can use the hashtag #blackfridayshopping or #blackfridaydeals to reach people who are looking for discounts.
11. Connect with customers after Black Friday
It’s great that you can sell a ton of goods on Black Friday. But the value of a customer to your brand grows over time. You want to turn those one-time customers into loyal customers for life.
A study by Shopify notes that customer lifetime value is lowest around holidays like Black Friday. It showed that for a whopping 64% of retailers, shoppers acquired on Black Friday or Cyber Monday have a lower lifetime value than shoppers acquired at any other time of the year.
Send a quick thank you email, a customer service survey, or ask for feedback on their experience. You will improve the quality of service to your customers, which can pay off in the form of future dividends.
Taking the time to connect with customers will show that your brand truly values their business and that you are committed to providing a positive customer experience.
12. Referral codes
You know that referral marketing can do wonders for your brand. It is also effective for promoting Black Friday deals.
Send referral codes to your subscribers via email. Offer them gift cards or bigger discounts as an incentive. Their referrals can bring in new customers with the added bonus of showing affection to your loyal customers.
13. Minimum spend rewards
Offer rewards for minimal spending for certain amounts. For example, if customers checkout with a $100 cart, they may be eligible for free shipping.
Low spend rewards are a great way to increase your conversion rate and encourage customers to spend more money on your business. This can be even more effective if the rewards are tiered. For example, a customer who spends $50 may receive a 10% discount, while a customer who spends $100 may receive a 20% discount.
14. Give a gift with a purchase
People like to feel like they’ve been rewarded.
Giving your customers free gifts with their purchase will encourage them to take action. And they create a sense of goodwill that keeps customers coming back.
Of course, you want to make sure you’re giving what your customers really need. When choosing what to gift them, it’s important to consider your customer base.
15. Focus on cart abandonment rates
Have you ever shopped online and abandoned your cart only to be stopped by a pop-up window? Whether it’s a discount code offer or a survey about your shopping intent, these pop-ups can be very annoying, and that makes sense.
Pop-ups are designed to grab your attention and reduce cart abandonment. Give buyers the opportunity to express their intentions or encourage them to make a purchase. You will likely reduce your bounce rate.
Don’t forget to get this popup to express your limited time offer for Black Friday only.
16. Make a Gift Guide
Oh how we love Black Friday gift guides.
A gift guide is essentially a curated collection of your products, categorized in a way that is easy for customers to understand. For example, you could create a “For Your Fashion Friend”guide that will feature the unique pieces of clothing you sell.
Gift guides help promote certain products, drive traffic to your website or store, and generate interest in your brand.
17. Host a social media contest
A social media contest can drive traffic to your website or store, generate leads, and increase brand awareness.
Offer a prize your target audience wants and encourage people to enter the contest and share it with their friends and followers. It works like social proof.
When one of your friends recommends a brand, you are more likely to trust that brand. Ask your followers to tag their friends or post your content to their post stories.
Schedule your contest and posts ahead of time with Hootsuite to prepare for the big day.
18. Be weird with it
Look, you already know how murky the Black Friday marketing swamp is going to be.
Retailers will be screaming for their low prices, great deals, and fast delivery from every corner of the ring. If you want to stand out, you must draw attention. Don’t be afraid to try something new.
Deciem, for example, has canceled Black Friday entirely. They have taken down their website and shut down their stores to stop the impulsive selling that Black Friday is known for. They then announced that they were extending the sale until November.
Source: Deciem
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