BLACK FRIDAY MARKETING GUIDE: 12 TIPS TO BOOST SALES

In the UK, it's estimated that brits will spend £3 billion in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales.

Our Black Friday marketing guide is here to help you maximise this opportunity to boost your end-of-year sales, as we explore some easy-to-implement tips.

WHAT IS BLACK FRIDAY?

Black Friday is the term used for the Friday directly after Thanksgiving and is regularly one of the biggest shopping day in the US with many stores offering heavy discounts on their standard pricing.

It is often extended beyond the Friday to include the Monday aka Cyber Monday and in many cases starts in the week commencing, known as Black Friday Week.

This sales weekend has expanded globally with it becoming an annual sales event in the UK as well, making it an extremely popular shopping event for both consumers and brands.

HOW CAN I BOOST MY BLACK FRIDAY SALES?

When implementing your Black Friday marketing strategy, you need to ensure you've considered a key points before getting started. You should consider:

• The promotions you intend to offer

• How customers can claim them

• Where you will promote them

• How you will execute your Black Friday marketing strategy

Read our full Black Friday marketing guide to implement these 12 easy-to-action tips.

Clear and Straightforward Offers

Keep your offers simple and easy to understand. Offer a simple promo code or an automatic discount. Don’t try to be too clever or you risk confusing your customers and they’ll shop elsewhere.

Example Black Friday Offers to Try

↳ X% off Everything

↳ Buy X Get Y Free

↳ Spend £X Get Y% Off

↳ Spend £X Get Y% Off

↳ Free Gift of X With Every Purchase

↳ Bundle Offers

↳ Double Loyalty Points With Every Order

↳ Tired Discounts for Higher Spend Thresholds ↳ Flash Sale For One Hour Only

↳ Early Bird Discounts

Implement Clear CTAs

If the offer is simple, make sure the CTA is too. Using a discount code? Make it short and easy to remember or easy to copy and paste. Make sure they are placed strategically so customers can take action at the right time.

Go BIG or Go Home

Customers expect your BF sales to be big. So if you’re going to take part, make it worth it. Offer somewhere between 20-60% off (or an equivalent). Why not throw in a free gift or free delivery to sweeten the deal.

Push Urgency

FOMO is your best friend here. If you have an enticing offer that customers can’t get at any other time, make sure you tell them so they don’t miss it! Time-bound offers encourage quicker decision-making.

Make Sure it Works

This might be an obvious one, but test your offer works. Put yourself in the shoes of the customer and check it’s a simple and easy process to convert. Ensure your site loads quickly and it works on mobile - a significant portion of Black Friday sales are completed on mobile.

Some things to consider are:

• Site load speed

• Mobile optimisation

• Frictionless checkout process

• Clear CTAs

Install Trust Signals

Black Friday is a great opportunity to attract first-time buyers to your brand. Show them you can be trusted by using reviews, testimonials, guarantees etc. Show them they can put their faith in you to deliver what you claim.

According to a report from Mintel, 84% of consumers would shop with a retailer again if they received a positive experience.

Leverage Seasonality

With the holidays just around the corner, Black Friday is often seen as the unofficial start to holiday shopping.

Leverage the time of the year with gift guides, multi-buy offers, and free shipping to help gifters cash go that extra mile.

Likewise, if you sell winter goods such as winter clothing, skiing equipment, or indoor activities, this is a great time to get customers to invest in time for the colder festive period.

Look After Your VIPs

Although your main goal is to probably attract new customers, don't forget to reward those who helped your business get to where it is today.

Offer member or existing customer exclusive promotions. This could be as simple as an extra discount, a free gift with every order, early sale access, or even extra loyalty points if you run a loyalty scheme. Either way, make sure you give your VIPs a little something no one else can get. They'll love you for it!

Retarget Your Promotions

Consumers will naturally be shopping around for the best deals, so may not buy when they first visit your site. Install retargeting pixels to your site and use ads to remind those who left of your offers and keep you front of mind for when they do buy.

Retargeting ads can be implemented across all social media networks and Google's network. They are highly targeted - because they only go to those that have already engaged with your brand - and usually have a very low CPC (cost-per-click).

Set Expectations and Deliver

Will Black Friday sales overwhelm your fulfilment team? The best thing you can do is be prepared with a few extra hands to help.

Additionally, if delivery times might be affected, tell customers up front so there are no nasty surprises - or even nastier Trustpilot reviews!

At the checkout and in order confirmation emails, make sure you communicate simply and clearly that your standard delivery may be longer than normal. Set a realistic timeframe for what that might look like. If the purchase is a gift, your delayed times may be too late, leaving your customers with a very negative experience.

Make sure you underpromise and over-deliver on customer service.

Know Your Audience

Spend your time promoting your offers where your audience engages with your brand. There isn’t much point in running an ad for your shoe brand on LinkedIn if your consumers follow you on Instagram.

Use analytic data and insights to determine where website visitors originate and focus your promotional avenues in the areas that will have the biggest impact on your ideal customers.

Calculate Your ROI

Black Friday needs to be as beneficial to you as it does your customers. Therefore, you need to ensure that whatever offer, deals, or promotions you plan to run, that they bring value to your bottom line.

Check out our guide on How to Calculate Marketing ROI for further reading.

MAKE YOUR BLACK FRIDAY MARKETING A SUCCESS

The biggest mistake you can make is not acting. By implementing the tips in our Black Friday marketing guide, you'll be better equipped to manage customer expectations and achieve your sales targets.

Ensure you make offers clear, compelling, and simple for customers to claim. Set expectations on when they can expect their orders to be fulfilled and make customers feel valued.

However, your offers are only as good as your promotional channels, so make sure you promote it to the right customers in the right place. If you don't your preparation will all be for nothing.