You’ve heard all about it, now it’s time to try it! These 10 Black Friday tips will ensure you’ve got just the deal to catch and keep the eye of your E-commerce customers.

Since starting in South Africa in 2014, Checkers has seen an increase of 40% in sales during 2016 Black Friday offers with consumers shopping the biggest discounts and deals. So let these 10 tips inspire you on how you can use Black Friday to drive traffic to your business online.

  1. Create a deal of the hour

Black Friday can be confusing and quite overwhelming to your customers – especially as they are trying to squeeze in as many great deals in the limited time available. By creating a deal of the hour, you’re making it very clear to your audience what the promotion is, and what time it is available. You’re also encouraging a consistent flow of traffic to your site during the day – not to mention keeping your customers coming back for more.

  1. Offer a VIP discount – exclusive to members

Provide extra value or exclusive discounts to members or newsletter sign-ups on your site. Your database is a very valuable commodity and a way to continuously engage with your audience in the future. By providing added value to member sign-ups you’re not only building your database but creating more opportunities to sell to your customers in the near future.

  1. Offer a sneak peek

By giving users a sneak peak of your merchandise or services on sale you are ensuring a committed and loyal customer base who are willing to sit through a long waiting queue or any potential difficulties to get a product they’ve already identified. A note on this tactic would be to ensure you are upfront with your customers on the availability and stock of your product to prevent backlash.

  1. Extend your sale

Creating urgency and limiting the special deal to one day only can increase user’s willingness to buy – but it can also demotivate and discourage. Should customers feel like it is improbable they will be able to purchase your discounted promotion, they will be less likely to try at all. By extending the sale and promotion you are giving them the option of exploring your offering, and increasing the probability that they will be back to purchase. The sale extension and be either before or after Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

  1. Use hashtags

Making use of popular hashtags is a great way of extending the reach of your campaign. Be sure to include hashtags such as #blackfridaysale, #blackfridaydeals or #blackfriday2017 to be easily accessible to users looking for a special Black Friday deal.

  1. Increase your ad spend

Yes. Black Friday is very popular, and a lot of customers are primed and ready to start shopping on the day. However, this doesn’t mean you can just sit back and wait for the customers to come calling. During Black Friday weekend advertisers will be spending more than usual – increasing the competitive bidding and cost per click online. To stay part of the conversation you need to increase your ad spend in correlation with the amount of competitive activity to retain your online profile.

  1. Create a Black Friday content calendar
Black Friday isn’t just happening on the 24th of November. By starting early and teasing your customers about the discounted promotion prior to the event, you can create hype and interest about your promotion and ensure you’re not missing out on customers going to competitive sites.
  1. Offer mystery savings to be revealed on the day

Sometimes not knowing is almost more powerful than a massive discount. Brands can engage, tease and ultimately surprise their customers with instant or flash prizes, discounted codes or time sensitive savings announced on the day. Similar to the hourly promotion, this will keep customers on your site for longer and potentially reduce the probability of abandoned carts.

  1. Promote “App Only” discounts

Have an app that you want to promote? Use Black Friday to offer “App Only” discounts and exclusive savings available only for users checking out on your App. This encourages the App downloads and motivates users to become more comfortable with shopping on your App. Be sure to communicate these exclusive and App Only deals prior to Black Friday to ensure customers are primed and ready once the deals start.

  1. Add new products or a gift guide

Don’t have a massive discount or a lot of discounted products this Black Friday? Relook how you position your products and explain to your users the value/ benefit of your offers specifically in relation to gifting. As Black Friday is used to purchase “luxuries” or discounted gifts, add a special product and gift guide to explain who customers can purchase your discounted deal for – and how it will save them time and money.

It’s never too late for a Black Friday campaign

Exclusivity and early communication really is key when creating they hype and interest in your Black Friday promotion. Left it a bit late or not sure about your Black Friday Promotion? Digital Fire is a flexible full-service marketing agency standing by with easy and quick Black Friday Promotional Tips and Ideas. Click here to contact us and make your BF campaign a success.

 

 

Resources:

https://www.oberlo.co.za/blog/black-friday-marketing-ideas

https://www.shopify.com/blog/55276613-the-26-point-checklist-to-prepare-your-store-for-black-friday-and-cyber-monday

https://www.shopify.co.za/blog/56776517-8-awesome-black-friday-email-campaigns-you-can-steal-this-holiday-season

https://r1.dotmailer-pages.com/p/4KHL-18B/our-new-collection-is-launching-soon