It is not a secret that Black Friday is one of the busiest days for retailers and the best shopping day of the year — and a traditional time to kick off the holiday sales.
Small and big retailers will be taking advantage of these days to drive sales with special offers and discounts with billions of dollars spent both online and offline during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
But while there is never a shortage of shoppers hitting up the stores (both the brick-and-mortar and virtual variety) during Black Friday, for many retailers, this time of year does not always translate into sky-high profits. In fact, once the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales end, many retailers heave a sigh of relief, wondering if it was all worth it.
Here are a few ways to boost both traffic and sales around Black Friday. They are not complicated and are tactics that any company can use.
The best Black Friday sales are designed to raise awareness and encourage visitors to go through with their purchases. Here are a few tips for creating a promotional campaign that will set you up for the most successful year.
- Creative Discount Strategy
The Black Friday sales strategy involves using a set of discounts to get attention and draw people in. The employing a three-tiered discount structure works especially well. By using this system, the more customers spend, the bigger their discount. We will also have a loss leader, which allows us to advertise bigger reductions to get people’s attention. Don’t forget to plan your markdown strategies.
- Highest-Converting Video Ad
Modifying your video ads to include an introduction and closing about the sale is another effective and easy type to get good results. Typically, shorter 30-second ads convert better than longer 60-second promotions.
- Marketing Emails
Another effective type that most companies usually use nowadays is email. Email marketing can be extremely effective, and in fact, in 2015, it was responsible for driving 20% of online holiday sales revenue. Still, with all the emails that are being sent and received today, you’ll need to ensure that yours stands out.
Here are a few things to help you create emails that drive conversions:
- Offer a discount
- Create an exciting headline
- Simplify the content
- Consider using GIFs
- Offer a gift with every purchase
- Offer a free shipping for qualifying purchase
- Use urgency
- Express appreciation for your customers
Usually it is more efficient to start sending out emails two to three days before the sale to announce it. Any sooner and people will forget about it, too soon and they will not have time.
- Targeted Advertising
It allows you to reach an extremely niche audience, enabling you to create more targeted ads and drastically improve your response rate. Take your email list and then use Facebook’s Custom Audience feature to create an ad for people who visited the site but did not go through with a purchase.
- Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency is always a good way to increase conversions. It sometimes includes a countdown timer on emails, as well as on ads and the website itself. When it comes to the ad campaigns, usually creating series of ads that not only highlight how many days are left so that is a perfect way. It continually reminds that time is running out.
- Social Marketing
Don’t forget to use social media to help generate more buzz for your sale. You can use your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts to share Black Friday discounts, promotions and giveaways. Don’t forget to boost visibility by using relevant hashtags such as #blackfriday, #SmallBizSat, or #CyberMondaySale.
- And, of Course, Mobile Advertising
This one should go without saying. But if your website is not optimized for mobile visitors, you could be losing out. Your customers will be on the go during the Thanksgiving weekend, so make it easy for them to view and purchase from your website. Fifty-three percent of all orders on last year’s Cyber Monday came from mobile devices, so make sure you’re reaching the mobile crowd.
Make your Black Friday sale the best yet. Using these tips will enable you to create a strategy that will help to provide a great boost to your sales this holiday season. Have a nice Black Friday Shopping!
Reminder: The Black Friday will be on Nov. 24 this year. Get prepared.
