How big is Black Friday in the UK?
Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year in the western world, last year its estimated that £2 billion was spent in the United Kingdom and it may make November the UK’s biggest month for shopping very soon if it hasn’t already. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a shift in how this day is promoted and consumed. This year, with half of British consumers planning to reduce spending in 2022, a slump in sales of around 15% is predicted, this means advertisers must pitch Black Friday as an opportunity to grab those who are tight for cash as these could be the best deals of the year!
What should brands do to prepare for Black Friday?
You’re going to want to have a plan in place. Map out every channel you have at your disposal. Following a unified strategy across multiple platforms coalescing into one big splash at the end of the year is what every advertiser should be trying to do. When it comes to the customer experience, quick and easy is the name of the game. Make it as easy as possible for customer to purchase site side.
When is a good time to start a Black Friday campaign?
You can’t really start a Black Friday campaign too early, getting people to sign up to a newsletter or Facebook group promising early access to Black Friday deals is a good way to build up a customer list. Everyone loves to feel special, and by inviting them into an exclusive ‘club’ that gets them access to deals earlier than the rest, you do exactly that. This can be used to create ultra-targeted ads and emails, that would just be too expensive to do through traditional media buying around Black Friday weekend.
What makes a good Black Friday campaign?
You’ll need to know what your competitors are doing: Stalk their socials, regularly check facebook ads library and Moat to see what their ads look like. You’ll want to use data to inform your marketing decisions. Ad creative that drives the most traffic can be repurposed or used to inform further creative. Product pages that get a lot of hits but not sales are ripe for a Black Friday deal. Products that sell well don’t need a discount to sell, but using them as a value-add to a product or products you want to push might be a better way of acquiring customers, without hurting your margin the way a large discount might!
How can I compete with other brands this Black Friday?
Don’t be afraid of trying something new. You’re likely competing against the big dogs with close to unlimited budget and resources. You need to do something better than just slapping a x% off sticker on a product image. Be cheeky, push the boundaries! Customers are used to standard marketing speak, so something phrased differently that almost catches the customer off guard can drive engagement. Those few extra shares and engagement can drop your CPM’s to the point where you have a successful campaign. Even though you’re competing against the big guys, smaller agencies and brands are a lot more focused on what’s going on right then and there than the big guys can be, so no matter how well thought out your strategy is, be prepared to make changes on the fly and don’t let your pride get in the way.
How can we improve our online customer experience this Black Friday?
Try to reduce the amount of clicks one needs to spend their money. In the journey from a customer seeing your advert to buying your product, the general rule is you lose 20% of your customers with each click. If you can reduce the clicks required to purchase you can improve your conversions. Now a lot of that will come down to web site design of course. But when it comes to digital marketing this Black Friday there are some clicks saving “tricks” that can make is easier for customers to purchase.
Remarketing is a must this Black Friday.
If you have enough datadata, you should retarget ads to people who have things in their cart, have browsed more than one page or have spent more than a minute on the site. These customers are already familiar with you, they might know exactly what they want already, and if it’s in their cart, you can direct the ad straight there, so that they just need to click checkout.
Make sure your ads link directly to what you’re advertising this Black Friday.
Product focused ads should direct to the listing of that product, don’t send them to the “shop” section or the “about us” section. Get it right in front of them as soon as possible. As that’s what got them there, itsit’s likely what they want.
Modern eCommerce platforms can really help you out with Black Friday sales.
I mentioned earlier that value adds might be a better option for some businesses than discounts this Black Friday, and the two most popular online eCommerce platforms, WooCommerce and Shopify both have features to make these value adds all the simpler with prepopulated cart links. It’s a massively underused feature but when it comes to deals that rely on more than one item being purchased it’s a no brainer. Essentially, you can create a link that when clicked adds all the necessary items to your cart and takes you straight there to see the items with the discount added. You’ve saved the customer the hassle of going through and adding everything themselves and they immediately see the saving they’ve made. Think selling a whole curated outfit as opposed to just one item of clothing. Or a months’ worth different vitamins balanced for the target market. You’ve not only sold them the goods, but you’ve been their personal shopper, adding that extra service can allow you to even beat competitors with cheaper pricing.
Please don’t make customers sign-up to buy online!
For the love of all that’s worth loving. Don’t make a customer have to sign up for an account to buy from you. The small amount of data gather isn’t worth the large drop in sales. Give them the chance to save their details AFTER they’ve purchased, maybe even offering a further discount. But don’t hinder their buying process right at the time they’re thinking about buying.
How can I advertise my bricks-and-mortar business this Black Friday?
Hyper localised targeting optimised for reach and impressions in your establishments home town or borough can work very well . You’re better suited to compete in ad auctions as your audience is smaller and the person seeing your ad is much more likely to be familiar with you and your brand. Meaning a lot of the work of a marketer is already done e-commerce giants like Amazon can’t always provide on the day shipping so if a customer really wants something now getting out of the house and grabbing it in person is still the quickest way. That’s a message that you need to convey for your local shop. Get this deal today, so you can have it today before it sells out today. It’s a powerful selling point, one made all the stronger by the public’s growing interest in shopping locally and general disdain for the tech behemoths which run our daily lives.
Put yourself in your customers shoes
Close ups of products are a must, think of every question a shopper could ask about a product or service, are these all answered in the product listing? Are these answered on any of your advertising? If you can do this you are more likely to keep that customers attention, and not let them get distracted by a quick google search or passing dog in a good jumper.
Think about how and when you can upsell to your customer
Online up selling should be thoroughly tested, and your website should look as sexy as possible. Use click heat mapping software to see what parts are getting the most attention and use that data to inform how you lay out your digital store front. Make sure your best offers are always right there when the page loads and try your best to upsell at check out with product offers which can tempt the customer. For physical stores to thrive this Black Friday they must leverage all the same tricks online stores can, but then give the customer an option to pick up from you personally aside from the logistical savings that makes, it gives you a touch point with the customer, the option to upsell in person, or force the customer to walk through your well curated store and impulse buy. Arrange fast shipping and in-store pickup options so customers can get their items quickly without having them shipped from a warehouse or store across the country.
Is a Black Friday sale worth it for your company?
Black Friday is Phenomena in the modern age that is only being made larger outside of the U.S as time goes on. This will increase as big tech increases its influence globally. The fact of the matter is everyone is talking about it. So it’s an opportunity to capture some of that energy and buzz and use it to your advantage.
