Black Friday is right around the corner and adults in the UK are planning to spend big with retailers estimating sales of £4.8 billion across Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Over the past 18 months or more, consumers have spent more time online than ever before, accelerating the move from high-street shopping to eCommerce that’s been building for years.
Now more than ever has it been critical for businesses to have a digital strategy ready to take advantage of the extra opportunity presented by this annual shopping event. Most brands spend months preparing their Black Friday marketing strategy. But what if you’ve left it too late? Is it still possible to take part?
Lucky for you, there are several ways to capitalise on Black Friday and Cyber Monday without much prep time.
Try changing the channel
Most businesses use Google Ads and Facebook Ads to advertise their products for many good reasons. But when competition is fierce at a time like Black Friday it could pay to look at other options.
Depending on your business and its target audience you could try running ads on Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest or even eBay. Competition may be less fierce across these platforms and could yield meaningful returns.
By testing a new channel over Black Friday when the conversion intent of your customers is high then you may just find a winning new marketing channel that can be used again in the future.
Take advantage of your existing customers
Grabbing attention over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend by launching new ads alone to get people to your site is tough because there’s just so much competition. But reaching out to your existing customers first with a targeted email campaign is a sure-fire way of getting engagement from an audience you already know are interested in your products.
Many of your existing customers are probably already expecting an email from you announcing a Black Friday promotion. Create a custom email letting them know about your promotions and discounts before Black Friday with a follow up email on the day to remind them of your deals so you’re at the top of their inbox.
Create a lookalike audience
Combining your email list with your Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaigns can be a great way to reach a whole set of new customers with similar interests and shopping habits to your existing customer base.
To build this new audience, you’ll want to use your list of existing customer email addresses and build out a lookalike audience in Facebook Ads and a similar audience in Google Ads. The ad platforms will then show your ads to people who are similar to your existing customers. The bigger your list, the more accurately Facebook and Google will be able to identify users, but this tactic can be used with even a small email list of 100 customers.
Focus on future sales with remarketing
While much of your marketing activity over Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be conversion focused, it’s important to not forget the other end of the funnel in using it as an opportunity to raise awareness and build your remarketing lists.
Many of the potential customers who are seeing your ads might not be ready to buy right now, no matter how good your deals are. But with Christmas following hot on the heels of Black Friday there is an opportunity to reach out to them again soon when they might be more inclined to convert.
Remarketing allows you to remind customers about your products after they leave your site without making a purchase. Use display ads through the Google Display Network and social media to show these users highly targeted ads for the products and services you know that they’re interested in.
And finally
To make the most of Black Friday it naturally pays to start early and have your customer base warmed up and ready to go on the day. But when a third of UK adults are planning to spend up to £275 each across this annual shopping weekend, there’s still plenty of room to get involved, even if you haven’t prepared your strategy with military precision.
If you need help putting together your eCommerce strategy for Black Friday and beyond, get in touch with our expert team. We’d love to help!