8 Black Friday Marketing Ideas for eCommerce Stores
Black Friday is, for the US and UK, the biggest online shopping period of the year. So what exactly is it and what can you do to capitalise on this special day?
Black Friday is an informal name for the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The day after Thanksgiving has been regarded as the beginning of America’s Christmas shopping season since 1952, although the term “Black Friday” did not become widely used until more recent decades.
Already well established in North America, it has grown to surpass the pre-Christmas shopping period in the UK.
Online retail giant Amazon is often credited with bringing Black Friday discounts to the UK eight years ago. Now, the sales event, which is no longer limited to 24 hours, runs through the weekend and culminates in so-called Cyber-Monday. That’s the Monday after Black Friday, when retailers cut prices for goods they’re selling online.
According to the Centre for Retail Research:
The impact of Christmas can be seen from the monthly sales chart 2004-2019 for the UK (Figure 1). Sales are at their lowest in January each year, then they rise to a peak in July (usually), drop back somewhat then rise rapidly from October to peak every December. Note that these figures are sales values (ie not adjusted for inflation) and are not adjusted for seasonal changes. Examination of the chart shows that there has generally been reasonable growth in Christmas sales, although 2018 saw the smallest growth for six years.
It is very clear that for the last few years, Black Friday has been paramount to the success of e-commerce across the UK.
In this blog, we will look at a few ways you can prepare your e-commerce business for Black Friday, and the first and foremost thing to do is PLANNING!
The proof is there, so as an e-commerce business you should have a very clear plan set out in your diary way in advance. The key to the winners of this increase in traffic is simply the ones that had the fortitude to plan. There are a few things we would like to share to make the planning process a little bit easier, or at least to give you some key ideas of what to do before the big Black Friday rush.
Send a Black Friday email marketing blast to your customers
Get in on the action a few weeks in advance with a small email reminder to your clients to diarise the event, reminding them of the specials that you will be running to get them prepped for the big day. See how we can help here.
Social media cover images & profile photos
Create some images showcasing your Black Friday specials. This is a great way to keep reminding your followers on social media that you are offering specials for Black Friday. See how we can help here.
Social media
Take advantage of social media posts as a reminder about Black Friday. Make some creative posts closer to the date as reminders to your followers and client about the specials you are running and try to get them to engage in these posts. It is a great chance for you to get some more followers and drive more traffic to your website. More traffic equals more sales! See how we can help here.
Boost Black Friday posts on social media
Once you’ve designed some beautiful content for social media, why not boost some of your posts a week or two before Black Friday. This is a very effective way of advertising your specials to potential clients as well as current ones. See how we can help here.
Google Ads
Don’t forget those Google Ads. This is the perfect time to put some extra budget to a campaign to drive more traffic to your website. See how we can help here.
Add a countdown timer to require swift action
One of the best ways to get peoples attention is by putting a time limit to your specials. Why not add a count down timer on your landing page to show them exactly when the sale starts, as well as when it will end, urging them to take action. See how we can help here.
Upsell and cross-sell with discounts
A proven sales tactic is to give your customers the opportunity to buy more for less. In other words, giving them an even bigger discount when they purchase two or more items from your site. Create combos of 3-4 complementary products that go well together and offer the whole package to customers at a discount on the total. These kinds of combo promotions work very well on big sales days like Black Friday when people are actively looking for a package deal for a much better price.
Generate excitement through a flash sale
A flash sale is generally a short period of time promotion. It is an exciting way to create hype and boost sales before the actual Black Friday sale. It can be a few hours or even a day or two before the expected event.
Lastly, if you have a product or service that you would like to sell online, get in touch with our team for a free, no-obligation estimate to help you build your e-commerce dream and make it a reality.
(Some info from Beekating)