Black Friday is one of the most important days of the year for online shopping, but it can also be one of the toughest. Meeting the expectations of so many new customers is no small feat.
Luckily, you have time to plan for success with your Black Friday ecommerce strategy, and we’ve got all the tips you need below!
What is a Black Friday Ecommerce Strategy?
Black Friday is the day after the American Thanksgiving holiday and one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Shoppers expect deals and promotions from their favorite retailers. In turn, they reward enterprises with higher costs. In 2021, US shoppers spent $9.03 billion on Black Friday.
The dawn of e-commerce marked the continuation of Black Friday, which is called Cyber Monday, when online stores offer their best deals. Last year, Cyber Monday actually outspent Black Friday among US shoppers with $10.90 billion in sales.
These big numbers turn into a lot of traffic to your online store. You’ll want to brace yourself with a solid Black Friday ecommerce strategy.
This means a marketing plan ahead of Black Friday so you can capture the attention of your customers and keep them interested in your online sales. You also need to prepare for the influx of shopping cart orders and customer inquiries throughout the day, which will require a solid customer support strategy.
Are you starting to sweat? Don’t worry! Below, we’ve outlined the must-have ecommerce tools and tactics to include in your Black Friday strategy.
11 Black Friday Ecommerce Tricks You Should Try
1. Optimize your website for SEO
Whether you’re selling lip gloss or jet skis, boosting your search rankings will literally help you rise above the competition and increase your conversion rate. To get started, use the free SERP checker (which stands for Search Engine Result Page) to see how you rank. See opportunities for improvement? Here are some things to try:
- Speed up loading time. Websites that take a long time to load a landing page lose positions in search results. Here Google offers another free tool to test your website speed. Compressing your images and upgrading your hosting are two ways to improve site speed.
- Clarification of product names and descriptions. This will help customers find your products when they search and make the user experience easier. You can use Google’s free tools to find the best keywords for your product pages.
- Posting quality content on social media. We did an experiment a few years ago and found that having an active social media presence is good for your search rankings.
2. Make sure your site is optimized for mobile devices
In 2021, Shopify reported that 79% of all Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases were made on mobile. In 2014, mobile shoppers outnumbered desktop shoppers, and the number has been growing steadily ever since. Test your website and make improvements now before you miss out on mobile shoppers.
3. Start Your Campaign Early
Remember that every other retailer will also run a Black Friday campaign. You don’t want to leave yours until the last minute, you have to take care of your social media and email followers months in advance. This way, when you unfold your trades, you have a captive and engaged audience. Here are some tips:
- Offer your email subscribers exclusive early access to Black Friday deals. Encouraging customers to subscribe to your email list will expand the reach of your offerings and pay dividends after the Black Friday & Cyber Monday sale ends.
- Test your ads. After all, you don’t wait for marathon day to start training. You should refine your creative and A/B test your campaigns to find out in advance what works best for your audience.
- Create buzz. Tell us about Black Friday promotions in advance. Let your customers know that you will share the details on social media and via email. This will boost your follower count and reward your active followers by improving your customer experience in the long run.
4. Make sure all inventory information is accurate
It’s also a good time to stock up on your most popular items and schedule specials or offers to take slow-selling items off the shelves.
You can expect an influx of new customers on Black Friday. This means that the shopping process should be simple and intuitive so as not to cause confusion or hesitation. Product pages should include all important specifications such as size, weight, and materials.
Make sure each product has high quality images and videos. Also post customer reviews on the page – even one review can increase sales by 10%.
5. Prepare customer support
Have you ever wandered around a department store, desperately trying to find an employee who could help you? Then you know how annoying it is to wait for help. And if your customers are disappointed, they will leave!
To keep up with Black Friday shoppers, invest in a retail chatbot. A chatbot like Heyday provides instant customer service that can answer up to 80% of customer queries. This frees up your support team to respond to the remaining 20% in a timely manner.
Source: Rise
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This is especially useful during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Remember that you will have brand new customers who are less familiar with your store and its products. (According to Bluecore, 59% of Black Friday sales in 2020 were made by first-time shoppers!) A chatbot can help your customers find exactly what they are looking for by pointing them to the right size, color, and style. They also can generate personalized product recommendations, upsells, and cross-sells on an average order. This can boost sales even more, especially when you consider that 60% of Black Friday shopping is done on impulse.
6. Work with influencers
Influencer marketing is a powerful tool. One recent study found that 8% of shoppers bought something in the last 6 months because it was promoted by an influencer. This figure rises to nearly 15% for shoppers aged 18 to 24. Collaborating with an influencer on your Black Friday strategy can help you win new customers and increase sales.
If this is new to you, we have an influencer marketing guide to set you up for success. And remember, it’s important to find the right pair with influencers. Don’t aim for the most followers – it’s more important to align your values and audience.
7. Generate BFCM promo codes
Offering promo codes and coupons for Black Friday and Cyber Monday creates urgency. This encourages your customers to take advantage of the big discounts you offer.
However, you want to make it easy for your customers to find and apply promo codes. Otherwise, they may abandon their carts in desperation. Shopify has some great tips for making your discount codes easy to spot:
- Use a popup on your ecommerce site. This will announce the discount code and give your customer the option to apply it at checkout with one click.
- Ask customers to enter their email address to receive a promo code. It also helps in your email marketing and remarketing!
- Add a floating bar at the top of the discount code page. This makes it too obvious to miss.
- Apply the code automatically at checkout. This is the simplest solution for your clients. Sephora used it for their Black Friday 2021 sale. Buyers received an automatic 50% discount at checkout:
One tip: make sure your discounts are competitive. According to Salesforce, the average discount in 2021 was 24 %, lower than in previous years. But on Black Friday, customers are still looking for serious deals, so a 10% or 15% discount is unlikely to stop them.
8. Launch an Email Discount Campaign
Advertise your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales via email. This is an effective way to engage your already engaged customers. It’s also the perfect way to create buzz ahead of Black Friday. Tease upcoming deals and delight your customers with upcoming deals. Offering early access to a Black Friday sale is also an effective way to grow your email subscriber base.
In addition, it gives you the ability to segment your offers, which increases their effectiveness. Clavio found that segmented emails generate three times more revenue per customer than regular marketing messages.
Show loyal customers discounts on items they may be interested in based on their purchase history. Or give your VIP customers an exclusive gift with their purchase to increase their loyalty.
9. Expand your BFCM deals
There is no reason to end the sale on Monday at 23:59. Extending your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for the entire week can help you catch customers making a second round of shopping. It also gives you the ability to add steeper discounts to clear more inventory before the end of the year.
Since many buyers will be planning a vacation (more on that below), make sure you have clear delivery dates. Buyers will want to know if their package will arrive by Christmas.
You can also expand your trades in the opposite direction to stay ahead of the competition! For example, fashion retailer Aritzia holds an annual Black Five Day sale. It starts a day earlier, on Thursday.
10. Create a holiday gift guide
Black Friday is often considered the start of the holiday shopping season. For many people, it’s time to cross as many names off their gift list as possible. Creating a holiday gift guide makes their job a lot easier.
Pro Tip: Segment your guides by recipient (Gifts for Mom, Gifts for Dog Breeders) or by topic (Sustainable Gifts). This will help your customers find what they are looking for. The outdoor clothing store MEC even created a gift guide for the person who has everything.
You can also share your gift guide on social media by creating an Instagram guide. These are carefully selected collections of images with titles and descriptions.
11. Advertise your BFCM deals with social media ads.
One of the biggest challenges for social media businesses is declining organic reach. It doesn’t matter how good your content is. If you want to generate leads, you need a paid strategy.
Also, your strategy should definitely include TikTok, where your ads can reach over a billion users. According to our 2022 Social Trends report, 24% of businesses rank TikTok as the most effective channel to reach their business goals. This is 700% more than in 2020!
3 creative examples of Black Friday ads
Walmart – #UnwrapTheDeals
For Black Friday 2021, Walmart created the #UnwrapTheDeals campaign with a custom TikTok filter. A TikTok post with a filter allowed users to “unwrap”gift cards and prizes and make purchases right in the app. Walmart partnered with influencers to promote the campaign, resulting in over 5.5 billion views.
@iammatthewjordan #UnwrapTheDeals #contest #walmart @walmart
Conclusions:
- Make it fun. Using an interactive filter, Walmart created an engaging and shareable campaign.
- Add creative rewards. #UnwrapTheDeals offered bonus prizes in addition to Black Friday deals. This prompted TikTok users to try and win by posting videos. Each new post increased the reach of the campaign.
- Hold attention. You only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention on social media. A dynamic campaign like this makes users stop scrolling and looking.
- Come to TikTok! This is your final reminder to make TikTok part of your business strategy.
IKEA – #BuyBackFriday
IKEA launched a #BuyBackFriday creative campaign to celebrate Black Friday 2020. Instead of just offering a discount, shoppers could get credit by bringing in old IKEA products. IKEA offers a buyback program throughout the year, but during Black Friday they doubled the credits.
This campaign worked on several levels:
- This was no ordinary Black Friday campaign. #BuyBackFriday messages stand out among the many “25% off!”messages.
- He appealed to values. Many buyers are concerned about sustainability and affordability. This campaign was built around these principles. By showing your customers that you care about the same things, you build loyalty and trust.
- It was more than just a sale. This campaign was aimed at IKEA buyers who wanted to get rid of old furniture. This allowed it to reach people who weren’t even planning to shop on Black Friday.
- A creative system of discounts was offered. If your business can’t afford to take 30% off its inventory, think about other ways you can attract customers. Such a credit system encourages customers to return in the future. This is a long term strategy for success.
DECEIM – Slow evening
Cosmetics and skincare brand DECEIM has gone against the grain. Their “Slowvember”campaign ran through November. The idea was to discourage impulse buying and encourage customers to shop thoughtfully. It has received many positive reviews from buyers.
Here are some conclusions:
- Get creative with your timing. With a month-long sale, DECEIM beat the competition on Black Friday.
- Focus on the client. DECEIM messages were all about their customers. It makes people feel cared for. In turn, they are more likely to support your business in the future.
- Don’t forget the promotion. The campaign slogan got attention. But DECEIM still offered an attractive 23% discount on all products.
- Offer experience. Black Friday can be hectic. In response, DECEIM hosted relaxing activities in the store. They included DJ sets, flower arranging, embroidery workshops and more. Remember, just because most sales happen online, it doesn’t mean you can forget about the personal experience.
- Think long term. Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a time to connect with a lot of new customers. Ideally, you want to turn them into regular customers. So think about how you build relationships or trust for years to come. You may not make as many sales on Black Friday. But a successful business strategy is a marathon, not a sprint.
Top 7 Must-Have Tools for Online Stores
1. Heyday
Heyday is a retail chatbot that will delight your customers and save your business tons of time and money. He is always available to answer questions and help customers find what they need, which is valuable throughout the year (but priceless during Black Friday!). One company saved 50% of their customer service resources after getting Heyday.
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2.Hootsuite
Hootsuite helps your business optimize and improve your marketing efforts. With Hootsuite, you can schedule your social media content across every platform in one place. It also gives you the data you need to refine your campaigns with a customizable dashboard of your social media performance. You can also use Hootsuite to track what your customers are saying online.
3. Facebook messenger
Facebook Messenger is one of the most popular social networks in the world with 988 million daily active users. If you’re not using Messenger, you’re missing out on the opportunity to connect with countless customers. Alternatively, you can use the Facebook Chatbot to offer fast and friendly customer service 24 hours a day.
4. Google PageSpeed Insights
The free Google PageSpeed Insights tool lets you know how fast your site is loading. Improving your speed will also improve your search rankings, so don’t sleep on it!
5. Shopping on Instagram
Do you sell products directly on Instagram? You must be! Social commerce is the future. According to Instagram, 44% of users make weekly in-app purchases. Access this growing market by connecting your online store to your Instagram account.
6. Shopping on TikTok
TikTok has proven to be an effective retail channel, with almost half of all users buying products after seeing them on the platform. While Gen X shoppers and millennials are more likely to shop on Instagram and Facebook, younger shoppers prefer TikTok. No wonder TikTok could become the most important social network for marketing.
TikTok Shopping is a relatively new feature, but don’t fall asleep on it. We have a detailed guide for setting up a TikTok store.
7. Shopping
In 2021, Shopify merchants earned $6.3 billion in Black Friday sales. This is because Shopify offers a simple, intuitive platform for building your store. There are many Shopify apps that can enhance your business and enhance your customer experience. You can also integrate your Shopify store with TikTok shopping and Instagram shopping. This ensures a seamless customer experience across all platforms.
In addition, Shopify directly integrates with the Heyday chatbot, allowing you to provide 24/7 support to every customer.
It’s a wrap! You have all the tips and tools you need for the best Black Friday sale. Need more strategy help or information about new social media features? We’ll have your back.
Engage with shoppers on social media and turn customer conversations into sales with Heyday, our custom AI chatbot for social commerce retailers. Deliver a 5-star customer experience – at scale.
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