Love it or loathe it, Black Friday is here again and it’s big business.
After rising year-on-year, spending dropped in 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic, but it was back up last year with UK consumers spending £9.5 billion – and two-thirds of that was spent online. Last year men on average spent £335 on Black Friday sales, and women spent £190.
With rising inflation and wavering consumer confidence, it’s expected that spending may be tempered somewhat this year – but it still represents a significant opportunity for those businesses willing to invest their time and energy in this annual event.
This year it falls on Friday 25th November, but Black Friday is no longer a case of promotions focused on a single day. Rather it spans all promotional activity from the middle to the end of November, and as a result those scenes of mob mentality as shoppers spill through shop doors on Black Friday are thankfully over. The majority of sales are online, moving the focus from brick and mortar stores. Google Trends shows that there’s typically an increase in search traffic from the beginning of October, while most retailers begin to communicate their Black Friday offering prior to Halloween.
Here are a few tips to help you make the most of the opportunity this year.
01. Communicate at the right time
Communicating with customers at the right time is crucial. Too early and you risk cannibalising sales you would have gained at full price and too late may tempt customers into going elsewhere.
Research shows that new customers to your business will view their first product page on your website an average of 15 days before they purchase. For one quarter of consumers there is an average of one month from their first touchpoint to their Black Friday purchase.
Bear this time frame in mind when considering when to start promoting the products and services that you want to sell. If your product is more expensive and requires more research then start advertising closer to a month before the big day. If your product is cheaper and more impulsive you’ll probably be able to leave it for a little later.
02. Don’t give too much away too early
It can be tempting to tell your customers exactly what your deals are going to be, but this can take away one of the major factors when it comes to succeeding on Black Friday: the suspense.
Make sure customers know you’re going to be offering Black Friday deals but don’t share the exact discount rates or exact product details. Instead encourage them to come back to your premises or website on the day. Taking this approach will give your customers a sense of urgency on the day itself and you can make the most of that fear of missing out feeling.
03. Make your offers clear and compelling
Customers are super savvy now and are unlikely to fall for a product or service that’s discounted but isn’t the same specification of what they’ve looked at before. If you give customers a bad experience on Black Friday they won’t just stop shopping with you for the day they’ll stop for good.
Clear offers such as percentage discounts, multi-buys or product packages are the way to give people a real sense of value. Black Friday is highly-competitive and a really busy time for your customers who will have their eye on certain products. They don’t have time to work out complicated deals so make it obvious. Make it too good to miss.
04. Audit and update your product pages
With ecommerce attracting so much Black Friday spending, make sure the product pages on your website are as good as they can be.
You’ll want to ensure that your key product descriptions are accurate and include the right keywords to attract web searches. Also confirm that your product imagery is high quality (but at the same time optimised so that it doesn’t affect page load speed). If you have reviews then display a selection of them alongside the product.
05. Use all your infrastructure to promote your deals
If you’re a bricks and mortar business use window stickers, leaflets at the point of sale, and shop floor screens to build excitement. If you’re an online business use pop-up website banners to highlight to all of your visitors that discounts are looming.
Use video on social posts to build intrigue, email to stay front of mind – and to secure that conversion, use pay per click and shopping ads to maximise the opportunity.
Need a hand with your Black Friday marketing?
If you need help or advice with your marketing this Black Friday contact us and discover how we can help with all of the tactics we’ve highlighted above, along with many more solutions to meet your needs this festive season.
PLUS: for a strictly-limited time we’re offering our own Black Friday 10% discount on top of our existing end-of-year advertising offers. To take advantage of this double discount click below to get in touch (terms & conditions apply).
