The happiest time of the year is here! It’s a fun time for both holiday shoppers and brands as the deals are alluring and the cash register ringing. Even if your brand has yet to kick start their Black Friday marketing campaigns, or you just want that extra push that’ll have your sales register ringing all the way into the new year, you can use the following tips and tricks.

There’s a lot of information out there about how to handle marketing for Black Friday which can be confusing. What is proven and what is just hearsay? So we’ve made sure to back all of our 11th Hour Marketing Tricks with case-studies from brands that have tried these methods and hit the bull’s eye in years past.

Omnichannel to be where your customers are:

The holiday season is a busy time and there is a high possibility that your prospective customers may not be spending as much causal time online. This doesn’t mean that you should count them out from your leads. Make sure you reach out to them by sending out notifications in a way that they will see it even while on the go. This means that an Omnichannel experience is important now more than ever. From push notifications on your app, to flash messages, SMS alerts, emails, and ads on social media platforms, put yourself wherever your customers go.

No need to limit offers to just online or in-store purchases. You can incentivize in-store pick ups after any online order. Yes, we mean a double discount but it wouldn’t burn a hole in your pocket. You would be saving on shipping and delivery costs. In the same way, you could also incentivize customers who do not opt for priority shipping as you can mass ship/deliver this after the shopping madness is over. Plus it’s always good to get customers who have already shown that they are willing to purchase your products to come in store where they may be interested in spending more money.

Walmart, for instance, has been offering special incentives and discounts for in-store pickups to reduce the madness around the delivery and the shipping mistakes that inevitably happen at this time of year.

Email your way into your customer’s inbox:

You can stick to the age-old email marketing but make sure your campaign stands out from the rest. With all types of brands making the most of this shopping season it is possible for the customer to miss your email. Here are few ways to help ensure that you get your customers’ attention and raise those conversion rates;

• Coupon codes: Give your customers an exclusive code, unique URL, or maybe even a spin wheel offer on your email that would direct them to your website to make a purchase. Make sure you customize the codes to be non-transferable so that every email you send out gets you a lead for maximum conversions.
• Catchy subject line: The difference between just sitting in your customers inbox and getting them to visit your site mostly comes down to this single element. It can make or break your campaign in the last week. So be sure that you have something catchy and use a wide variety of subject lines, do ample beta testing, make it personal, whatever you think suits your brand’s identity. When it comes to subject lines creativity is almost always rewarded!
• The time factor: FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is often the biggest motivator for younger generations to act. Ensure that your campaign focuses on this in a positive way by highlighting what the customer might miss out on if they do not shop with you. This is a double whammy because your customers will see a campaign different from the rest (most of them speak about why you should go with them not what you’re missing out on) plus it brings the element of exclusivity to the forefront. Not only do people not want to miss out on things they also want to make sure that those who have missed out know it.

Cashbacks brings them back!

While a lot of brands incentivize first-time customers there is often little incentive for repeat buyers. Give them something beyond the loyalty points; cashback. Even if it is just a small percentage of the purchase, it feels good to be getting some money back from what you spent. You can keep this as an offer for the repeat customers or those who shop with you x number of times during a sale. This is a great way to keep customers coming back in a condesned period of time, possibly making up for the fact that you’ve started your Black Friday campaign a bit late.

If the cashback seems like a lot of investment think of it this way; while the customers’ rewards increase your sales increase too!

Treat them to royalty!

It’s the season of gift giving and spreading joy so treat your customers with a festive spirit. This doesn’t have to be an expensive affair for it to be a memorable experience for your customers. All you have to do is add on a few rewards for people who shop with you. Something as simple as offering free shipping could go a long way in retaining your customers and getting more business.

Making your customers feel special is essential for higher retention. For instance, Wayfair offers free shipping, easy returns, and a special app for the customers. This free and fast shipping opportunity for the customers during the festive season is be a great incentive for last-minute shoppers. Not too sure if it would work? Here’s the logic; almost every business establishment and brand offers exclusive discounts on their products during their Black Friday Sale but they don’t always prepare for the increased traffic and the enormous shipping demands that result from the sale.

If you have a brand partnership as Wayfair does with Paypal, you could use your partners’ resources to help promote and execute your Black Friday campaign.

Don’t forget Social Media:

This is where all the action happens, so plan multiple campaigns, post interesting deals, offer exclusive discounts, host contests. In short, keep your customers engaged. Creating an exclusive hashtag for your business to be used around Black Friday and sharing updates on the offers and deals makes it easy for customers to find all updates in one place. Also you can run campaigns that offer special deals to selected people who post on brand tweets or Instagram stories using your hashtag. While the discounts or giveaways you might be spending on would be less, the exposure that your brand receives, the organic reach, and the hashtag trend make it a key strategy. Make it easy for happy customers to share their experiences. Some brands that were successful in this space with a phenomenal hashtag use for their Black Friday sale are as follows:

#AdidasBlackFriday

#MacFriday

#TECNOBlackFriday

Black Magazine Week + Pieminister collaboration

Kopari: Interesting gifting ideas - a word from the influencers

Rad: Discount + Free shipping!

We hope these tips were helpful for you and your business. Gear up and kickstart your campaign in the eleventh hour for Black Friday sale and make the most of it!.

Need assistance in creating and launching successful last-minute campaigns? Drop us a message and we will ensure that your brand steals the best campaign deals!

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