There’s no doubt in our minds that Black Friday will look different this year. With many large retailers closed on Thanksgiving Day due to COVID-19, almost all Black Friday purchases will be made online. In fact, ecommerce purchases in 2020 are expected to top $1.1 trillion. As a result, digital marketing takes on a greater importance than ever before, so it’s never too soon to start prepping.
This year, we recommend taking a more holistic approach to your Black Friday marketing strategy. Instead of focusing on one specific sale, start priming your sales funnel by running brand awareness and audience growth campaigns.
Facebook ads are an excellent starting point for running brand awareness campaigns. With Facebook ads, you can determine exactly how much you want to spend in a day. However, keep in mind that Facebook anticipates high spending this year, so you may want to ramp up your marketing budget for the next few months.
Once you’ve put your brand name out there and directed more traffic to your website, it’s time to launch retargeting campaigns. Retargeting is a technique that targets ads toward people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your page. These ad campaigns can help turn window shoppers into social media followers/email subscribers or, even better, loyal customers.
After growing brand awareness and gaining more followers/subscribers, it’s time to hit your customers with your best deals. In addition to emailing exclusive discount codes and marking down your ecommerce prices, there are plenty of other strategies to incorporate into your store this holiday season.
First off, we recommend extending your sale season. Black Friday and Cyber Monday will bring in the most revenue, but expanding by a few days can work wonders for your business. Sometimes, you need to take a small loss in order to grow your business. Try *surprising* your email subscribers with an exclusive discount code that kicks off the sale early. Then, at the end of the day on Cyber Monday, extend the sale by an additional 24 or 48 hours to convince some last-minute customers to follow through with their purchases.
In addition to extending the sale period, some other Black Friday strategies include offering mobile-only discounts and creating a holiday gift guide. Both content creation and exclusive sales are your best friend this year.
When sending out promotional emails and launching social media ads, segmentation is your best friend. We recommend the following segments for your Black Friday deals:
Inactive Subscribers
Recently Active Subscribers
VIP Customers
Holiday/Seasonal Shoppers
Product Browsers/Almost Buyers
Gift Givers
Finally, here are some quick stats from retail experts to keep in mind this year:
77% of retailers start preparing 1-3 months in advance
33.5% of retailers start promoting their sale 30 days beforehand
22.4% of retailer start promoting their sale 2 weeks beforehand
88% of retailers send promotional emails (we recommend using ahoy!)
73% of retailers use welcome popups with a discount code
82% of retailers prioritize converting new customers
Average savings on Black Friday deals are 37%
30% of all retail sales occur between Black Friday and Christmas
Black Friday is just one month away, so if you haven’t put your strategy into place, the time is now. If you want any assistance with your ecommerce store or marketing strategy this year, get in touch today!
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