It’s that time of year! Black Friday Cyber Monday advertisements are filling our screens and mailboxes. In their Black Friday marketing, we hear from all the big brands that it’s their “Biggest Sale of the Year!!” Our favorite online stores have started sending emails and texts promoting their “Massive” Cyber Monday specials. As a business owner, have you thought about the best way to spread the word about your Black Friday deals? Are you worried your sale is going to fall short because no one heard about it?
At Mountain Mojo Group, we help our clients with marketing year-round, but we love the big push that November brings! We’ve put together some Black Friday marketing ideas for you to put into action right now! Get out there, spread the word, and watch the sales come in.
We’ll cover what you should do behind the scenes to ensure you have enough product, staff, and support to handle a rapid influx of sales. Then, we’ll discuss the best marketing tools to tell your audience about how you’re participating in Black Friday and Cyber Week! We’ll touch on where your audience is and what channels will have the most significant impact on your marketing efforts.
How to Prepare for Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Preparing your business for Black Friday and Cyber Monday requires planning your marketing and your supply chain resources. Here are our top 10 tips to ensure these special shopping days in November are your most important sales days of the year!
1. Make sure your team is ready.
Whether you expect your customers to come to your brick and mortar store on Black Friday or for them to shop online on Cyber Monday, your team needs to be ready to handle it. Ensure you have extra staff on hand to help customers find what they need, additional cashiers to help customers with their purchases, and shipping and packaging team members to help with online orders.
2. Check and recheck your inventory.
We recommend having more than one product on sale for these big shopping days and separating your sales from the big days. Have a Black Friday theme that is separate from Cyber Monday. You could make an additional Small Business Saturday sale that focuses on the local community you serve. Allowing a range of deals and dates helps spread out the chaos that can come Black Friday weekend and ensures that as long as you’ve done your math correctly, you’ll have enough inventory for demand.
3. Research your audience.
Does your audience see your sales on social media? Do they open the emails that you send? Would it be more likely that they might see your ad as a banner on the homepage of the local newspaper? These questions impact your marketing efforts. Don’t just throw all your darts, hoping one of them will be a bullseye. Do your research and spend your advertising budget wisely.
4. Research your competitors.
You should also research your competitors. Where are they focusing their advertising efforts? What do their ads look like? Would the design entice you to click, or do you think changing the wording would better suit your industry? Research the how, what, and when behind their November sales. Is it worth competing with them, or should you change what you planned to put on sale?
5. Test your e-commerce website and have a plan B.
Prepare your e-commerce website for a high amount of user traffic. Be sure your website support team and hosting provider know how important it is to have a fast-loading website and that you’re expecting a high spike in traffic on those days. Be prepared to fix bugs in real-time. Make sure you have a backup plan that includes alternative shipping methods and suppliers.
Keep in mind customers are likely to look at your Google, Facebook, and Yelp reviews before Cyber Monday and Black Friday. Have you responded to all reviews?
6. Layout your marketing plan and stick to it.
Now, it’s time to focus on your marketing strategy. Start by creating a step-by-step plan that will allow the most people, who are the most likely to purchase from you, a chance to see your sales. If you’re a small, local business, be sure to remind your audience that keeping their dollars local benefits the entire community. In 2019, Amazon had 54.9% of all Black Friday online sales. Use your platform to encourage your customers to support locally owned businesses! With so much competition, the earlier you can let your customers know of your Black Friday sales, the better.
7. Create a unique landing page.
You should have a special landing page that clearly explains your Black Friday Cyber Monday sales by Halloween. Direct all your ad clicks to that page!
8. Run Black Friday sales early.
People only have so much money to spend, and every business out there wants a chunk of it. Run your Black Friday sales early and explain why people need your product now. Explain how they will benefit by having your product today rather than in a few weeks.
9. Create a sense of urgency.
This is it! This is the only time we will be offering this deal! You’ll never see it any lower. TODAY ONLY.
10. Countdown!
Add a countdown timer to your Black Friday landing page! Use your social media and email newsletter to help you countdown to the big day. Why? The benefits are two-fold:
- It’s a fun and engaging way to switch up your regular content and connect with your target audience
- It’s a great tool to remind your target audience of the sale and create anticipation without using the typical sales lingo.
Think of the Marketing Channels You Can Use To Reach Your Audience
You’ve done your target audience research. You know where your audience is and how best to reach them. Now it’s time to design specific campaigns to spread the word about your Black Friday Cyber Monday sales!
1. Social Media Marketing
Social media has a powerful reach organically and with paid ads. Use all the tools available to you. Stories with clicks to product landing pages, reels, highlight stories, Instagram and Facebook posts, events, ads, and boosts.
2. Direct Mail Marketing
Depending on the demographic of your target audience, direct mail advertising can hit a home run. Be sure you’re not wasting advertising dollars, however. Has direct mail worked in the past?
3. Email Newsletters
A regular email newsletter is one of the easiest ways to build a relationship with your customers. Once that relationship forms, they will want to support your business! According to Hubspot, “Small businesses can experience a +107% revenue boost over the holiday season, and 38% of consumers will make a deliberate effort to shop at smaller retailers throughout the holiday season.” (Source: Adobe)
4. Website & Relevant Blog Articles
The cheapest real estate your business has is your website, be sure to use it! Leading up to November, add a section to your homepage about the deals you are planning to offer and publish blog articles that pertain to the products you plan to feature on Black Friday. What would make someone want to purchase your products? How do they benefit your customer?
5. Paid Advertising
“Online holiday spending will surpass $189B in 2020 — up 33% YoY.” (Source: Adobe) Hubspot confirms that people are shopping online more than ever before. Use paid digital advertising to reach them. Social media ads, banner ads, and pay-per-click advertising are the best ways to get your message across.
Focus on Holidays and Having Fun!
The holidays are a special time of year. Brick and mortar stores should create an atmosphere of fun and excitement for their customers. Decorate for the season, play holiday music, allow your team members to “bling” up their uniforms with holiday accessories.
If you serve popcorn, cookies, or coffee, add some seasonal spices to it! Your customers will love winter coffee and a peppermint cookie so much, they will go home and share their shopping experiences with their friends and family.
Online websites and stores should change their hero images to be seasonal and feature your holiday products on top.
Talk to an Expert Today About Your Marketing Needs
If you’re interested in learning how a digital marketing agency can help you push your Black Friday Cyber Monday sales over the top, we’d love to help! Mountain Mojo Group is a digital marketing agency in Flagstaff, Arizona, specializing in research-driven strategy and execution to help our clients take their businesses to the next level. You can learn more about our marketing plans and how we can help by reading our blog, sending us a message, or calling to talk to one of our creative experts today!