Black Friday has become one of the largest and busiest retail days of the year. What started out as a phenomenon in America has become a popular shopping period in South Africa, with many online and physical stores offering exciting deals to consumers. However, many retailers are not sure how to boost their sales on the days leading up to (and on) Black Friday.Â
If you are working with a digital marketing company you will have a plan in place for boosting Black Friday sales. But this can be augmented and improved too, allowing you to see an increase in an impressive increase in sales. If you are not sure where to start with your Black Friday marketing campaign, below are some helpful tips and tricks.Â
Early Email Madness
Now, you might be thinking that sending out email marketing messages early in the morning is the best way to reach your audience before your competition does, but this could not be further from the truth. The likelihood of a customer opening and paying attention to your email early in the morning in the days leading up to Black Friday is minimal.Â
Ideally, you should send out your email marketing messages in the afternoon, from about 12 pm onwards on the days leading up to and on Black Friday itself. This is when the chaos will have subsided somewhat and when customers are more likely to be looking at their inboxes. If you would like to get your marketing message across earlier, send it the evening or day before Black Friday.
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Nurture Previous Customers
Building suspense is a useful digital marketing tactic for any major retail event, but if it is not done correctly, you could lose potential customers. You could make it work in your favour by segmenting your audience and offering existing customers the chance to pre-order your Black Friday deals, which can help to increase your sales over this period.Â
Consumers will enjoy being part of an exclusive group, and this could lead to more sales in the future, not only over this wildly popular shopping period. Lead nurturing is as important as lead generating, and so segmenting your list and offering an exclusive deal can be just as effective as drawing in new customers.Â
Hook, Line, And Sinker
One of the most important aspects of any effective digital marketing strategy is to have a hook, that is, to have something that your customers simply cannot resist clicking through to. It could be a limited product range or even a hidden Black Friday discount, but playing on human curiosity is a tried-and-tested marketing method that is known to boost sales.Â
You will need to think about specificity, exclusivity, and uniqueness. For example, if your store sells handmade furniture crafted from salvaged wood, you could offer personalised branding on certain pieces. Driving this factor can help to encourage customers to make purchases, especially if you offer personalisation along with these purchases. Personalised items appeal to younger generations and can net impressive sales on Black Friday.
Ramp Up Referral Discounts
Referral-based discounts are not only good for consumers, but can be highly beneficial for your business too. And when used for a Black Friday marketing campaign, a referral-based campaign can drive sales from both new and current customers. However, you will need to be strategic with the discounts and the amount which each referral can receive.Â
You can implement a tier system for referral-based discounts in order to limit the discounts that people can receive. For example, one referral could be equal to 10 percent off of a Black Friday purchase, two referrals could equal 20 percent off, and for fifty percent off, you need to supply ten referrals. Customers enjoy being rewarded by brands and this referral programme can help to drive more sales and brand loyalty.Â
Simply Social
Using social media as part of your Black Friday digital marketing campaign is a smart move for a brand of any size. You can use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to share create a buzz in the days leading up to Black Friday, or you could share deals every hour using these channels. If you create sharable content, consumers will share this with their followers and drive more sales.Â
You can also effectively use hashtags to gain more of a social media presence, such as using the hashtag #BlackFriday on your posts to gain visibility or you can use #BlackFridayDeals to drive more traffic to your deals. Content that is more visual than text-based will do well for this campaign, as consumers are not likely interested in reading long-form contact on a busy shopping day.Â
In The Black
Black Friday is a highly competitive day in the marketing calendar, and driving more sales is often the goal of any online and offline retailer. However, it can be difficult to achieve your projected sales if you are relying on only one marketing tactic.Â
For those who are looking for creative and effective digital marketing techniques for Black Friday (and every other day) feel free to contact NetMechanic to find out how we can help you.
