7 Black Friday e-commerce marketing strategies for 2023
Emily Ward The event known as Black Friday has now become, what e-commerce businesses believe to be, the most important marketing event to take place every year.
The term Black Friday originated in the USA in the 1950s, after crowds of shoppers would flock to their local stores and spend as much as they could afford in preparation for the official “holiday” season. Over time, this evolved into a weekend of sales and discounts across the world.
Black Friday 2023 falls on 24th November and to help get the most out of your online sales, we’ve put together a handy guide of top Black Friday marketing strategies that will help you stand out from your competitors and grow your eCommerce business.
How to create a successful Black Friday marketing strategy for e-commerce
- Email Marketing Blasts
Who doesn’t enjoy discounts sent to their inbox? Customers are more likely to look out for these emails in the lead-up to Black Friday. Take advantage of this and get your eCommerce marketing strategy in place.
Although there is no doubt that social media marketing is becoming increasingly popular with eCommerce sales, email marketing is still one of the strongest marketing strategies to date that will boost your sales and grow your customer base. In fact, it was found that 25.1% of sales came from Black Friday email promotions alone – evidence that this is a Black Friday Marketing Strategy you want to focus on.
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Here are some ways to maximise your Black Friday email campaigns:
- Create a memorable and catchy subject line – this is vital to get right as this is the first thing customers will see when the email hits their inbox.
- Put together a list of subscribers that you can target – this could be the likes of past customers, loyal customers and even new potential customers. The earlier you can create this list and target these customers, the better.
- Include personalised content in your emails, for example “add this event to your calendar” with a link to your website, you don’t want them to miss any Black Friday promotions!
- Get an expert to do it for you. Hire an email marketing specialist to create a Black Friday strategy for you
- Social Media Marketing
Boost your Black Friday sales through the power of social media. Ideally, you want to build as much anticipation as possible ahead of Black Friday. A social media expert can help with getting any existing and potential customers to feel excited about any deals or discounts you’ll be offering.
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Things to think about:
- The times that you post your content on social – do some research and target your customers at the right times!
- Stay on top of your community and engage with any comments/questions and DM’s – if any issues arise, you want to nip them in the bud as soon as possible. This will also help build your reputation online!
- Include call-to-actions in your posts. You want to make sure that anyone clicking or viewing the post will do what you want them to do next i.e heading to your site.
- Sell your products directly on social media. On Black Friday especially, everyone will be searching for deals and discounts and this is a great way to get your products right in front of your audience.
- Invite your VIP and most loyal customers to exclusive discounts
It was found that VIP users actually spend three times more than other customers in your database. So, when targeting customers with Black Friday promotions, don’t be afraid to go all out for your best customers – send them bigger discounts and promotions ahead of Black Friday to drive more conversions.
People like to feel recognised for their brand loyalty too. By personalising emails and acknowledging customer loyalty, you’ll find that this will likely increase retention and customers who will continue to come back, even after Black Friday ends.
- Encourage customers to not abandon their carts
Did you know that an astonishing 69.8% of all online retail customers result in abandoning their baskets? This is why it’s vital to stay on top of your Black Friday Marketing Strategy to prevent this from happening.
By adding products to their cart, it shows that they are interested in your products – what has caused them to change their mind?
Influence their decisions with incentives. Speak to a digital marketing freelancer about including pop-ups on your website that show discounts or exclusive deals that’ll grab customers’ attention before they decide to abandon their cart.
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- #Hashtags
Using hashtags should form a part of your Black Friday Marketing Strategy – it’s a way to reach and target new audiences on social media as well as get people interested and aware of the Black Friday product deals you have on offer. This is a great way to expand your reach and target customers looking for a bargain.
Hashtags we like:
#BlackFriday #BlackFridayDeals#BlackFridayShopping #FridaySales #ThanksgivingSales #BlackFridayDiscounts #CyberMonday
- Optimise your website ranking on Google by using keywords
Having your website rank high on the first page of a Google Search is vital to your Black Friday Marketing Strategy. This is called SEO and to do this, you can use keywords that customers are likely to use when searching for Black Friday deals.
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Look into this and do some research – if you were the customer, what would you look for? Also, consider reaching out to an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) expert who will be able to help you define your Black Friday strategy!
- Make your website mobile friendly
Shopify merchants saw mobile transactions accounted for 71% of all sales, compared to 29% on desktops during the Black Friday weekend in 2021.
This is why it is paramount that your eCommerce site is mobile-friendly and efficient. If it is not, you run the risk of losing potential customers to competitors with faster-performing mobile sites.
