November is here—and this only means one thing in the world of Ecommerce: Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming.
As two of the biggest shopping days of the year, business owners put much importance on these dates knowing that they bring the potential to earn more revenue than any other day of the year. To help you make the most out of this year’s retail frenzy, we at Search Insights have listed various Black Friday marketing ideas to help you drive more traffic and conversion this season.
-
Offer mystery savings
Fun and interactive content doesn’t have to end with your social media posts and blog articles. You can add an element of surprise and boost engagement in your online store by gamifying Black Friday discounts and deals. This will encourage people to stay on your site a bit longer, therefore helping you minimize abandoned carts.
You can use tools like Zembula and Wheelio to add spin-the-wheel, scratch cards, and peel-it offers to your site. This can be your main promotion, or you can use it as a stop-gap measure once a customer expresses exit intent.
-
Roll out hourly deals
If you own a business that regularly enjoys high traffic, having a “Deal of the hour” promotion could be something you’d want to pursue. Make each deal a surprise so that your customers will have a reason to keep coming back to your site.
These deals would be on top of your “normal” Black Friday sale. For example, if your site-wide offer is a 30% discount, the Deal of the Hour could be 40% (or more) savings on selected items. Also, creating homepage banners for each hour that you have a deal would work as a great promotion.
To work best, this idea would require lots of work managing announcements on social media, creating graphics, answering inquiries, and more. So if you’re currently flying solo or if your team is limited, this marketing idea might not be the best one for you. -
Implement tiered discounts
This is a promotion that I personally have enjoyed seeing at my favourite retailers over the last few years. Implementing tiered discounts is another great way to encourage people to spend more. So how does this work? Here’s a sample promotion you can offer to your customers:
- Spend at least $40 to get 25% off
- Spend at least $80 to get 35% off
- Spend at least $120 to get 50% off
With this marketing tactic, people are incentivized to do most of their shopping from your store. Remember that at around this time, consumers are shopping not only for themselves, but they’re likely also tackling their gifting list as well. I’ve also seen people who had encouraged friends and family to order with them just so they can meet the minimum required spend for the highest discount. It’s a win-win for everyone, basically.
-
Create printable gift cards
In this increasingly-online world, there’s still something special about receiving physical gifts. While gift cards are one of the most popular presents given during the season, you can take it a notch higher by creating customizable and printable gift cards for your customers. Encourage buyers to purchase these cards if they’re unsure about what their friends and relatives want. They can then print these personalized cards and give them out during the holiday season.
-
Attract customers with gifts
Gifts can be a fun way to reward shoppers on Black Friday. You don’t necessarily have to give out gifts for every single shopper, especially if you don’t have high margins. You can instead offer it to qualifying orders based on a set threshold amount. This will encourage customers to spend a little bit more to meet the minimum requirement.
Ideally, these gifts should be easy-to-pack items that won’t significantly affect shipping rates. Some ideas include costume jewellery for women’s stores, cufflinks for men’s apparel stores, and travel-sized products if you’re in the personal care industry.
-
Create a gift guide
If you’ve seen our Black Friday content marketing blog post (trust us, you should), then you’d already know by now that creating gift guides is one of the most effective ways to boost sales. Consumers will appreciate some input and ideas now that they’re in the midst of shopping for holiday gifts.
Say you’re a company that sells athletic gear. “Fitness gifts for her,” “Fitness gifts for him,” “Creative gifts for athletes,” and “Gifts for athletic friends” are some search keywords that you might want to target. The gift guide can be in the form of an article if you have a blog, or it can be a collection on your store. -
Offer VIP discounts
Having a VIP club or a loyalty program enables you to have a steady database of your best customers. Make them feel special on Black Friday weekend by offering them exclusive or higher discounts. As loyal customers, they’re more likely to spend more on your site than one-off buyers anyway. They’re also the demographic who are more likely to make repeat purchases, so rewarding them accordingly can be a great idea.
-
Run a giveaway
Although it’s not obvious right away, running a giveaway or contest is easily one of the best marketing tactics you can use for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s a great data collection tool and it definitely attracts more attention than your standard paid ad.
Running a pick-your-prize giveaway style is a particularly-effective targeting tool. For instance, if more than half of the participants selected a specific prize when they signed up for the giveaway, you can then run an ad for that product and target it towards those people. Those who didn’t win the giveaway (which are most of the participants, obviously) are more likely to buy it from you later on.
Think about which of the ideas above would suit your business best. Once you’ve finalized the array of promotions you’re doing this year, get started on them ASAP. If you need any help with your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing, talk to us—we’ll be more than happy to offer you expert advice and guidance during the busiest time of the year.