We’re just a day away from Halloween, yet Christmas as well as Hanukkah decorations have adorned the store aisles and city streets for weeks. Businesses are yearning for Black Friday around the corner.
For businesses, it all comes down to revenue — and a LOT of it! As Americans, we love to show our love for one another by showering ourselves with gifts and stuffing our bodies to the point of bursting. Whether or not you’re fully prepared for this holiday shopping season, be sure to check your list twice for a few ecommerce tips that will make the most out of your holiday marketing season and Black Friday.
Black Friday & Holiday marketing tactics to think about
Shopper spend more money on Black Friday than any other day of the year. In 2017, customers spent over $7.9 billion on Black Friday, an amount that rose by 18% compared to last year.
Nearly half of online Black Friday sales were made on smartphones, and obviously, in-store Black Friday sales flourished. These trends should make your business think strategically about these topics overall:
Is your website mobile friendly?
How will you advertise?
What is your in-store promotional plan?
Depending on your brand and industry, specific plans will vary. Regardless, you need some sort of plan tailored for Black Friday.
Print isn’t dead, invest in newspaper ads…
While newspapers deliver less of an audience than they did in their golden days, people tend to flip through newspapers section by section (and not just above the fold) on Thanksgiving Day after indulging on stuffing and mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving Day’s newspapers boasts the highest number of circulars, inserts and ads than on any other day of the year. So get creative and put your business in the mix of this captive audience to leverage the most out of your Black Friday and holiday season shopping.
But go digital, too.
Audience always favor digital ads, but on Black Friday, those ads are at a premium. That means you have to seriously pay to play. Get ready to bid high, as advertisers pay a higher cost per click to get their ads in front of the target audience. Prepare to set aside a much larger budget in order to compete with the big box retailers. Be sure to test and retest before your campaign to ensure the highest ROI.
The Alternative: Advertise early! As we inch closer to cold weather and gift exchanges, shopping is on everybody’s mind during these months, not just the holidays themselves. As a small- to medium-sized business, run your sales early to get more sales as a lower cost per click. This puts you steps ahead of your competitors.
Co-Market and collaborate
Competition is at an all-time high. So how can small- to medium-sized businesses stand out and present their business to new audiences? They team up with like-minded brands and complementary businesses through social, digital, promotional and event collaborations. The more, the merrier. Think crossover gifts with purchases or giveaways with influencers. (Check out Into the Blue’s guide to influencer marketing here).
Social media and email marketing
Your customers, email subscribers and social followers give you the gift of loyalty, so give them the gift of exclusively sharing your sales, new products, events and promotions with them first. Offer a sneak peek of what’s to come, like early member discounts or gifts with purchase. If you have a new product to release, tease it to your customer base. Serious shoppers tend to plan their purchases, so the earlier you can let them know of your promotions, the less likely they are to go elsewhere.
Don’t underestimate UGC. Encourage customers to share their shopping highlights to help spread the word as the “go-to” gift store. Take it up a notch with a clever standout #hashtag to put a sparkling spotlight on your business. (See how successful these hashtag campaigns really are here.)
Practice makes perfect
Putting together a cohesive and incredibly dynamic Black Friday and Holiday Shopping campaign can be detailed as well as daunting. But if it’s correctly done, it’s worth the all the hours invested. Your business should take advantage of every opportunity, not be intimidated by increased holiday advertising costs.
This Black Friday, remember to:
Plan early
Practice
A/B test
Staff up!
We’ve all seen the frenzied aisles as well as overflowed shopping carts. Black Friday and holiday shoppers are on a mission to seize every deal they see. Today’s marketing mantra is: Promote. Shop. Buy. Post a Review. Repeat. In other words, how your cash register rings is equally as important as what led them to it.
Looking for out of the box smart marketing for the holidays? Harness the power of an experienced team and own 2019! [email protected].
