Black Friday, traditionally an American consumer event, has taken the world by storm in recent years and has become the biggest day for sales both physically and online. A study by Statista found that in 2019 the total spending of British consumers reached 8.7 billion pounds in one day. That was the highest amount of spending in comparison to any other European countries.

As the popularity of running Black Friday campaigns increase, so does the competition. That is why you need to stay ahead of your game to reach a larger audience, increase engagement and drive the most amount of traffic possible to your website.

To help you do so, we have listed some great Black Friday marketing ideas for your business, guaranteed to help you to outshine against your competitor.

Have a strong email marketing campaign

Studies have shown that email marketing during the build-up to Black Friday had a higher conversion rate in comparison to any other channels. Make sure you have a strong email campaign that is staggered a couple of weeks ahead of the shopping rush. Create email content and imagery that is enticing and includes “sneak peeks” to the specials you will be running. This will create a sense of curiosity among the audience and will leave them feeling like they want to know more about your offering in your next email.

Your subject lines should be short and punchy and should have an option for the reader to add your Black Friday event to their calendars to ensure they don’t miss out. Perhaps consider offering an extra special discount or deal to those who sign up to your newsletter or to those who are already loyal subscribers to drive more traffic to your website.

Think outside the box

Don’t make your offering flat! Instead of a certain percentage off your entire product range, rather include a variety of discount and deals to keep your audience engaged and your offering exciting. Examples such as “When you buy X you receive Y at 50% off” or “Buy 2 X and receive a Y free!”. This will help you push slow-moving products and will also increase your profit. Psychologically, your audience will think that they will be saving more money by purchasing more. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Spend some time creating gift guides

Sometimes your audience doesn’t have the vision that you do. So, help them with that. Create a visual offering for the consumer with a selection of products that complement each other and will allow the potential of purchasing more than one product at a time.

There are a variety of ways to put your products out there and one is a gift guide. These can include themes i.e. “The best Christmas gift guide”, genders i.e. “The perfect presents for a perfect princess”, specific ages i.e. “Dad will love these…”, interests “Escape the city with this luxurious camping gear” and most successful of all, values i.e. “Our top 25 gifts for under £25!”

The three R’s

Remarket, recapture and reengage. Humans have an incredibly short attention span and with so many offerings around Black Friday, yours must stand out from the rest. Use strong remarketing techniques across your platforms to bring your customers back to the sales funnel.

Specifically, target customers who have abandoned their shopping carts or email those loyal customers who haven’t purchased in a while. Make sure your brand messaging is strong enough to capture the audience’s attention and ultimately drive the sale of that product they initially have their eye on.

Your order has been shipped!

Studies have proven that the majority of customers leave their cart if the shipping fees are too high or if there are any fees at all. Free shipping is the easiest way to get a customer to convert without having to do too much to convince them.

Free shipping with a guaranteed fast turnaround time, usually same day or within 2 days, encourages up 50% more purchasing than those companies without this promise. If you are offering this, make sure you stick to your word. There is nothing more disappointing than buying an outfit for a certain occasion which is not delivered in time.

If you can’t offer free shipping and a huge discount during the Black Friday period, then perhaps consider offering free shipping on orders over a certain amount. If a customer is spending hundreds of pounds on your business, the least you can do is pop it off with Royal Mail for free.

Jump on board with another brand

Probably one of the most effective Black Friday campaigns you can run is to team up with another small business that compliments but doesn’t compete with your brand. Run an awesome promotion together that encourages the customer to buy both products in a single offering.

Selling organic shampoo and conditioner? Team up with a skincare brand. What about the launch of your new recipe book? Get in touch with your local spice manufacturers. The options are endless.

This will not only boost sales but will help increase your audience reach and brand awareness to those customers who may not have known about your brand beforehand.

Flash sales and extended deals

Give your customers something to look forward to. Drive Black Friday campaigns that include flash sales with a certain offering for a limited time only. This creates a sense of urgency for the audience as they know that they are pressed for time and need to act quickly. No bigger regret then the opportunities we didn’t take, right?

Consider running your campaign for a couple of days and not just one. This will increase the chance of a successful remarketing campaign and, of course, have a greater chance of profit.

Give back

Join forces with a local charity and give back! This will make customers feel more confident in their purchasing and will encourage them to spend more if they know a portion of their spending is going towards something of value. Get the charity to post about your campaign across their platforms too. A social impact study has shown that customers are more likely to purchase from brands that share the same beliefs and integrity as them.

And besides – karma is cool!

It would also be a good idea to consider running some paid ads. Facebook is a great place to start with this and we have listed our 8 tips for setting up Facebook Ads that get the best results.

With these Black Friday marketing ideas, you will be well on your way to running successful campaigns that grab attention and make it easy for the audience to convert. Make sure to test your site beforehand to make sure your online store is user friendly and fully optimised.

Don’t forget to share this blog to help other small businesses with their Black Friday marketing ideas.