10 Ways to Stand Out Amongst Competitors With Black Friday Marketing This Year
Black Friday, the time for buyers to find the biggest and best shopping deals available all year—and the time for businesses to reap the benefits. In order to get the most out of this consumer-driven holiday, your business has to give consumers all of the incentives to spend with smart, exciting Black Friday marketing.
The time is now to set your Black Friday marketing plans, so use these tips to stand out from your competition and satisfy the hordes of customers, old and new, looking to get a piece of this year’s deals.
Start Early
The best way to grow the hype around your coming Black Friday deals is to start advertising early. The majority of customers start searching online much earlier than the week of Thanksgiving, so be sure to have your website updated long in advance and start sending out any promotions and in-store marketing items a few weeks before the event.
Pre-Black Friday Flash Sales
A great way to take advantage of that early start is to make it feel like Black Friday is already here with a pre-event flash sale. These sorts of sales typically last a short amount of time and carry solid deals to entice customers. These can help build the hype for even better deals on more items when the real thing happens, so consider sweetening the deal with an extra discount code for Black Friday to bring them back at the end of November.
Gift Guide
Consider creating a gift guide to send out before the event which will be visually appealing and gives consumers a sense of the deals they’ll find when Black Friday hits. This is a great way to start cross-selling, as your guide can suggest items that work well together (for example, multiple items of clothing that make a trendy winter outfit).
Email Discounts for Past Customers (signups)
One of the focuses of successful marketing is keeping existing customers coming back for more, especially because those who have bought from you before are more likely to buy again. When establishing your email marketing strategy around Black Friday, consider sending exclusive email discounts to past customers to show your commitment and gratitude to them.
Traditional Mail
Sending holiday greeting cards via traditional mail is a nice option which your past customers will love. If you have a decent mailing address list from past customers, this is a genuine gesture they will appreciate, especially if it offers exclusive deals in addition to reminding them of your upcoming Black Friday specials.
Social Media
When it comes to using social media to your Black Friday marketing advantage, there are three things to remember: Post, Interact, Give. Set a well-filled schedule of posts that will advertise your upcoming deals, as well as the different ways consumers can get in on the action.
But don’t stop there! Be sure to spend some time responding to any replies you may receive from consumers asking about your deals, holiday store hours, and other Black Friday-related details. Customers love the personal feeling of interacting with a business on social media.
Finally, social media is a great spot for giveaways and contests that will not only hype up your customers for Black Friday, but also up your follower count and bring new customers into the mix. In addition, you might want to give back to your current followers with social media-exclusive deals which reward them for being your fan.
Hourly Deals
This has become a bit of a no-brainer, but it’s still worth mentioning for any business looking to capitalize on the craze of Black Friday. Rather than only having static deals that remain the entirety of the event, consider doing different deals each hour online. This can encourage customers to get your regular deals in store, but also to keep them coming back to your site. Amazon has seen a lot of success with this tactic on their Prime Day.
Countdown Timer
Consumers like to feel that they’re winning on deals that are temporary and exclusive. Adding a countdown timer to your online items, perhaps along with a “X amount left in stock” label, is a great way to give them this feeling. If they see a timer counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds left to grab a deal, they’ll have even more reason to buy.
Free Gifts
Who doesn’t love free stuff? If you can swing it, giving out a free gift of some sort to customers who spend over a certain amount or fulfill some other area of ROI is a great tactic to increase your customer’s spending and satisfaction. It’s a concrete way to show them that they’re getting more for their money than they would otherwise.
Give Back
Social responsibility for businesses is huge, and it’s a win-win. If you partner with a charitable organization of some kind, like a food bank, you can offer more deals and gifts to those who support that organization when buying with you. Maybe you give them an extra discount on their purchase if they donate a can of food, or you give them a coupon for a future purchase if they add a monetary donation to their purchase now. It makes your employees and your customers feel good for doing a little extra during the holidays.
Black Friday is coming, and you have the tools you need to prepare your company for the best success on the most successful day of the year. With the power of e-commerce, Black Friday doesn’t have to be one day or in-person. Share the wealth and use the tips in this article to up your Black Friday game for your strongest year yet.
Still think you need some help in organizing your Black Friday marketing during this crazy time of year? The team at Kraus Marketing can help you with branding, social media, web design, and more. Contact our team today to get started!