Black Friday is the biggest sale event of the year for many brands, with consumers ready to spend. Here are some quick wins to implement in the lead-up to Black Friday, during the sale, and once BFCM has ended that will help your brand:
- Generate revenue
- Acquire new customers / subscribers
- Encourage repeat purchases from existing customers
Before Black Friday
Tip #1: Build up deliverability
With Black Friday comes a period of increased campaign sends. While experienced email marketers know the importance of segmentation, BFCM is one of those times where exceptions are made, i.e. sending campaigns to an entire database. The key is to prepare in advance for the increased number of campaigns you’ll be sending, and who you’ll be sending them to.
Building up your deliverability score means achieving healthy open, click-through and delivery rates, as well as low unsubscribe and bounce rates. To achieve this, you’ll need to segment your audience. These segments can be based on purchase behaviour, engagement rates, or custom properties.
Tip: Create a campaign calendar to help you determine who to include and exclude from your sends.
Better segmentation equals better metrics, which means a strong deliverability score. But why does it matter? Simple. Poor deliverability means your email campaigns will end up in spam.
Tip #2: Create a BFCM-specific popup
This is a great way to create hype in the lead-up to Black Friday, and encourage new subscribers to sign up to your database. The popup can hint at what the offer will be during Black Friday, or keep it a secret to build anticipation.
Having a dedicated popup also makes it easy to report on who was interested in your Black Friday sale (which can then be used for year-on-year comparisons).
Tip #3: Audit incentivised popups and emails
Your customer’s email journey should be consistent. If conflicting messages are received, the customer may lose trust in your brand or become frustrated. For example, if an email in your Abandoned Cart series offers $10 off, but your BFCM sale is offering 25% off sitewide with additional codes not accepted, the Abandoned Cart email becomes irrelevant.
In the lead-up to Black Friday, review all automated emails, SMS messages and popups and make a list of each time a discount is mentioned. Then, when Black Friday rolls around, it will be easy to switch off any communications that mention an invalid offer.
Once the sale is over, simply turn these touch points back on (and ensure all Black Friday messaging has been removed from automated emails as well as your website).
During Black Friday
Tip #1: Countdown timers
Incorporating countdown timers in your Black Friday strategy is a great way to create a sense of urgency during your sale. These timers can be used on your website, in popups, and throughout your Black Friday email campaigns. Check out Klaviyo’s help guide here to find out how to add a countdown timer to your BFCM emails.
SMS can also play a key role in driving urgency. For example, send customers an SMS two hours before the end of the sale, letting them know the sale is about to end. As always, SMS should always be used sparingly - so be sure to exclude those who have already placed an order during your sale, or tailor a separate message just for them.
Tip #2: Email-only offers
If one of your Black Friday goals is to grow your database, try crafting a strategy that includes email-only offers. These offers should only be accessible via email, and should not be advertised anywhere else. Prior to BFCM, advertise that you’ll be doing email-only offers, and let your database know they’ll be treated to exclusive deals.
During the sale, create a popup that lets new site visitors know that they can sign up to unlock email-only offers in addition to the main Black Friday offer. This creates a sense of FOMO and prompts browsers to sign up to your newsletter list. With these subscribers now opted in for future marketing, you’ll then have the opportunity to market to them post-BFCM and convert them into a repeat customer.
Tip #3: Be transparent about shipping estimates
Customers understand that during peak sales times, their order might take longer than expected to be delivered. The key is communication. Make it clear during the shopping process when customers can expect to receive their order. This could be done via the shipping page of your website, at checkout, or in your order confirmation email. Otherwise, expectations may not be met, which could result in extra pressure on your customer service team when the inevitable queries start rolling in.
After Black Friday
Tip #1: Segment your audience
With any successful BFCM sale comes an influx of new subscribers. These new subscribers all fall into one of two categories:
- Made their first purchase over BFCM
- Intended to shop the BFCM sale but didn’t
The latter group will be the biggest churn risk, so it’s important to target these subscribers with content that’s suited to them. For example, send a series of campaigns (or a tailored version of your Welcome Series) that introduce your brand story, USPs, and shipping and returns information.
Segmenting your audience will also help you to build your deliverability score back up after emailing your entire database throughout BFCM. It will take time to get this back to where it was before the sale, however the payoff is that your emails will be seen by your subscribers instead of landing in spam.
Tip #2: Black Friday best sellers
Once Black Friday is over, the BFCM content doesn’t have to stop. Sales will dramatically slow down after the sale has ended, so it’s important to plan your campaign calendar accordingly. For example, send an email campaign showcasing your best-selling products from Black Friday. Customers who didn’t purchase these best-sellers might feel compelled to place an order, while those who did will be happy to learn they made a popular choice.
It’s likely that customers may be hesitant to purchase at full price after Black Friday, so you could introduce a discount specifically for the best-sellers. Alternatively, you could create offers on items that didn’t sell as well as you’d hoped over BFCM.
Tip #3: Collect UGC
With an increase in sales activity and eyes on your socials, it’s the perfect time to request user-generated content (UGC). UGC is gold for eCommerce brands, especially smaller businesses who want to build brand awareness and recognition. You can request UGC from customers through a series of email campaigns, focusing on post-BFCM messaging.
Another option is to include a dedicated email in your post-purchase flow that asks customers to review their purchase or upload a photo. This could even be turned into a competition, advising customers to upload a photo featuring their Black Friday purchase in order to win a gift card. This will encourage engagement as well as repeat purchases from the winner. Once you’ve collected UGC, use it to refresh email automations or include it in future campaigns and socials to keep your audience engaged.
Get in touch
If you’d like to work with REP. this Black Friday or beyond, reach out at hello@rep-agency.co.
