Your Black Friday marketing checklist...

The biggest shopping day of the year is just around the corner. An American tradition but one that has transferred to the UK, particularly in an age of online shopping, Black Friday returns this Friday (26^th November 2021).

Want to get involved but stuck on where to start? We’ve listed a few of our favourite ideas below...

Preparation is key:

• Time your messages - When it comes to promoting Black Friday sales, you can either go early, on time or late. With the sheer quantity of messages, there is no “right” answer for this ??" arguably some people will hold out from buying until the day to ensure they’re getting the best offer, but there’s no wrong way of going about it...
  

• Get attention - Black Friday isn’t about giving the best offer, it’s about getting the best attention. Get all your plans in place; know when you’re going to promote and how, know what you want to sell.
  
  

• Partner with other like-minded businesses - Whether it’s the local coffee shop, a complementing business or the entire High Street, have a chat to local business owners and see if anyone wants to partner up, not only will this create a better experience for the customer, but it could bring more value to all involved.
  
  

• Dress your store, windows and website to grab attention- Think about your window display, your shop layout and how your website is looking, perhaps shaking things up for Black Friday might encourage sales or bring more people through the door.
  
  

• Printed collateral - Use posters, stickers... anything that might let people know you’re getting involved for Black Friday
  
  

• Make sure discounts and offers are clearly visible - You know what your offers are, but are they blindingly obvious to your customers?
  
  

• Prepare follow up ??" extend offers; Not everyone will buy what they need and want on this day alone, so consider your plans to follow up any incentives from the day.

Incentivise your customers:

• Encourage gift card purchases - It’s the start of Christmas shopping, so this could be a great time to boost gift card purchases, what about a free item, money off or a pound to charity to ensure customers act now.
  
  

• Cross-sell to promote gift sets with complementary items - If you’ve got people’s attention, why not encourage them to buy more by offering money off when they buy more than one item, or complementary products.
  
  

• Have a loss leader product which entices people in - You don’t have to discount everything, but find something that allows you to run a profit whilst getting everyone’s attention.
  
  

• Run a competition alongside - If you can’t justify discounts, what about running a competition on this day to encourage visitors to the store?
  
  
• Run an event alongside - Whether it’s a performer, activity or workshop, running an event alongside Black Friday could encourage more footfall or visitors to your website.

Promote via digital platforms:

• Email marketing - Send lead ups, teasers, invites, call to actions, follow up cart abandonment with added offers, or if there’s a set time for your offers why not include an opportunity for people to automatically add to calendar, send a Christmas gift guide and include products that you can discount.
  
  

• Incentive email sign up - If you don’t have a thorough email list, what about offering incentives to sign up? Some of the most reputable brands do this, such as Jo Malone and Charlotte Tilbury. If buyers want to get access to your Black Friday deals, they need to sign up... “join our exclusive invite list”
  
  

• Pop ups to help avoid cart abandonment - If your website allows, add a pop up which appears when buyers either become idle, or abandon their cart for a period of time, encouraging them to complete the sale to avoid missing out.
  
  

• Leverage social media - Make your Instagram posts shoppable, go live, use hashtags, and create stand-out graphics. If you’re partnering with other businesses, be sure to use the collaborator feature in Instagram.
  
  
• Design a homepage banner - This is essentially your shop window, so make the most of it with temporary graphics.

If you’re taking part in this seasonal sales day, we wish you all the best for your marketing and the day itself. Feel free to tag us in some of your social posts and we’ll do our best to share!