It’s hard to believe, but the holiday shopping season is quickly approaching. Business owners are working overtime to prepare for the busiest time of the year, and for good reason!
Last year, online shoppers spent a staggering $8.9 billion during Black Friday alone, and that number is expected to increase in 2023.
Improving sales and engagement during this time is more than a short-term win. If you impress new customers, there’s an excellent chance they will continue interacting with your brand long after the new year.
Since this is the first time many people will interact with your business, you have to get your marketing and messaging right.
Today, I’ll show you five powerful Black Friday marketing strategies that you can use to increase sales and build rapport with visitors this year. We will cover everything from embracing seasonal content to email marketing.
On that note, let’s get started!
Embrace Seasonal Content and Design
Your website is, without a doubt, one of the most important tools you have for converting Black Friday shoppers. If your site doesn’t look any different during this time of the year, many people will assume you don’t have discounts or other promotions and leave without taking action.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways to embrace the season through your content and website design. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Your homepage is the first thing visitors will see when they come to your website, so make sure it’s clear that you’re offering exclusive gifts and discounts. For instance, you can include a banner at the top of the page announcing some of your popular deals.
- A seasonal landing page is a great way to promote your holiday sales and deals in one place. You can also use this opportunity to ask users to join your email list.
- When you consider that over 6 billion people use mobile devices, it’s clear that smartphone optimization is vital for improving holiday sales. Use a responsive design so visitors can easily see your deals and website information, regardless of how they’re viewing your site.
- Event calendars are an excellent way to build excitement and brand awareness. Since the last few months of the year are packed with different sales, consider creating a calendar so visitors can see what’s coming up.
- Design seasonal popups for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other big holidays. Then, include these popups on relevant blog posts. This strategy will help you connect with users based on the content that drove them to your site.
Bundle Popular Products
Another great way to increase sales during Black Friday is to bundle popular products together. Bundles are a great way to increase your average order value, which means more Black Friday profits and engagement.
When putting products together, choose items that complement each other. So, an online pet store could create bundles for cats and dogs with things like collars, toys, and different types of food.
People are far more likely to purchase bundles if they’re interested in more than one item, even if they don’t necessarily need everything in the set. However, this could help you introduce new products to people who would otherwise not buy them individually.
I suggest referencing your customer segments so you can create eye-catching bundles based on your target audience’s goals, needs, and pain points.
Promote Deals on Social Media
Social media is an excellent place to reach prospects and existing customers during the shopping season. For context, over 4.8 billion people use social media, so it’s no surprise that this is one of the most-used ways to boost Black Friday sales.
There are many ways to promote your deals on sites like Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), and YouTube. Here are a few that have worked well for us:
- Create more video content. On YouTube alone, it’s estimated that the average person watches 100 minutes of video content daily. This number grows dramatically when you consider other visual-based sites, like Instagram.
- Use relevant hashtags. Hashtags can help you connect with people who’ve never heard of your brand. Simply adding #BlackFridayDeals can boost awareness. I recommend taking it a step further and using other, more relevant hashtags so you can find your audience.
- Run a giveaway. Social media giveaways will help you generate excitement and engagement around your brand (and your Black Friday deal!). Don’t forget to offer discounts to people who participated in your contest but didn’t win.
- Invest in paid ads. If your business is relatively small, you may want to consider investing in paid ads to expand your reach and connect with people who would find value in your product or service.
Send Personalized Promotions
Black Friday is the perfect time to reach out to people who’ve bought your products or engaged with your brand in the past. If you track how these folks interact with your site, you’ll have a better chance of turning them into repeat customers.
When you know what type of products and content people like, you can start personalizing your Black Friday offers. In the right context, personalization will have a huge impact on sales. Surveys show that around 80% of shoppers say they’re more likely to buy from a business if the recommendations are personalized to their tastes.
In my experience, email and your website are the best places to implement personalization.
Personalized emails are more likely to be opened and read than generic “sales” emails. This is because the content inside is relevant to each person. You can use this technique to build rapport with customers and show them you’re listening and laser-focused on their interests.
For example, you could send a personalized email to customers who have abandoned their cart, offering them a discount to complete their purchase. We found that sending 3 personalized emails 1 week after abandonment helped us recover 69% of abandoned carts – and that’s just one example!
Our research also shows that personalized calls-to-action in email and your website result in 42% more clicks. The evidence for using personalization, especially during Black Friday, is overwhelming.
If you want to start using this strategy, start sending customers and email subscribers preference forms so they can tell you what kind of content they want to see in the future. Next, group users based on their responses, and you’ll have a better chance at skyrocketing sales this holiday shopping season.
Back to You
It’s not too late to develop your Black Friday marketing strategy. The tips outlined today will help you connect with your target audience in new and exciting ways. If you manage to impress them with your top-notch products and attention to detail, there’s a good chance many Black Friday shoppers will become loyal customers.
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