Black Friday is almost here, but that won’t be news to most ecommerce brands!
Cyber Weekend is big business for online retailers and offers an unparalleled opportunity to boost sales and attract new customers. But competition is fierce, with discounts getting deeper each year.
We’ve all heard the phrase “fail to prepare, prepare to fail” and it certainly applies to Black Friday – but what exactly do you need to have in place to enjoy a successful Cyber Weekend? In this blog post, we’re putting it all on the table, offering our tried-and-tested tips on how best to prepare for the biggest event in retail.
We’ve even included a free downloadable template to help you pull together a Black Friday marketing plan in seven simple steps.
How to prepare your business for Black Friday
1. Start planning early
The simplest way to prepare and stay on track for Black Friday is to start your preparations well in advance. Of course, when you’re busy running your business, it can be a little overwhelming to say the least, so outlining a clear timeline of what tasks need to be completed and when can make it easier to stay on track.
2. Set clear goals & KPIs
Setting goals is essential to the success of your Cyber Weekend marketing activity, as it will help to shape your marketing strategy and ensure your team knows exactly which KPIs to track. Once goals are in place, you’ll know which channels to prioritise, which will help you to effectively manage your time.
3. Create compelling offers
Black Friday shoppers are hunting for the best deals. Don’t fall into the trap of exaggerating the value of your discounts or being too scared to offer worthwhile deals. Make sure your discounts are substantial enough to grab attention – think 25%, 50% or more. If you need some inspiration for your Cyber Weekend discount strategy, here are a couple of ideas:
Flash sales: run time-sensitive flash sales throughout the day to drive urgency and keep customers coming back.
Product bundles: increase your average order value (AOV) by bundling complementary products together and offering a discount on the bundle. If you decide to offer custom bundles, make sure your site is capable of this level of functionality and test the checkout process in advance.
Early bird deals: offer exclusive early access or VIP deals for loyal customers to drive early conversions.
Remember – Black Friday is no longer a one-day event. Savvy shoppers start looking for deals weeks in advance, and many retailers now offer pre-Black Friday deals to capture early buyers. Use this to your advantage.
4. Define your marketing strategy & messaging
Nailing your Black Friday messaging is crucial. Your customers need to know exactly what’s on offer, whether you’re communicating a sitewide discount, free shipping over a certain threshold, or something else.
You also need to pick the right channels to display your messaging to the right people at the right time. With so many shoppers in a buying mindset, Black Friday is the perfect time to invest in paid advertising. Bear in mind that bid costs can skyrocket closer to the big day, so start your campaigns early to lock in lower costs. Retargeting ads can be used to bring back visitors who have shown interest in your products but haven’t purchased yet.
5. Prepare your creative assets
Creative assets are just as important as any other aspect of your Black Friday marketing campaigns, as these are what draw your target audience in and make you stand out in a fiercely competitive space. Every creative asset, from website banners to graphics for paid ads, should be on brand, sized correctly for specific platforms and optimised for all screen sizes.
6. Optimise your website
We’ve seen many ecommerce brands fail to optimise their websites before Black Friday and lose a lot of sales as a result. If your website can’t handle high numbers of traffic and transactions, you need to rectify this now. If you don’t, you’ll not only lose business but will tarnish your brand image if website users experience slow loading speeds, technical glitches and failing checkouts. Billion-dollar sportswear brand Gymshark knows this all too well – the business reportedly lost $143,000 in revenue on Black Friday in 2015 due to its Magento website going down for eight hours.
7. Devise an email marketing campaign
Email remains one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal during Black Friday. Use it strategically. Data collected by Klaviyo suggests that brands that start sending campaigns in October and maintain a weekly cadence are 3x more likely to be top-performing, so if you were planning to start any later than that, make sure you re-examine your Black Friday email marketing strategy ASAP. Be sure to segment your audience so that you can create more personalised campaigns, based on your customers’ previous purchases, browsing behaviour and preferences.
Download your free Black Friday marketing plan template
If you’re still feeling a little daunted or simply don’t know where to start, fear not – our free Black Friday marketing plan template breaks everything down into seven straightforward steps, with handy checklists, timelines and templates. Fill out the form below to download it.
