While Black Friday originated in the United States, its influence has extended far beyond its borders, impacting consumer purchasing behaviour worldwide. It has evolved into a period of heightened consumer engagement. If you’re an e-commerce or brick-and-mortar store owner, you likely aim to generate a significant portion of your annual revenue during this time.

Black Friday presents an excellent opportunity to gain visibility for your brand, even if you’re transitioning away from a heavy reliance on price reductions and major promotions. The good news is that achieving a successful Black Friday campaign that surpasses your expectations is entirely feasible with the proper preparation.

It’s all in the planning…

Think that Black Friday prep should wait until November? Think again. Building a solid strategy as early as September will pay dividends. Preparing vital elements such as email list segmentation and automations in advance will keep you one step ahead of the game.

If you want to grow your email marketing list ahead of the Black Friday period, consider launching an acquisition campaign across your social media channels or using paid ad campaigns on Facebook, for example, to maximise your list and increase the potential of generating more income.

If you’re on a budget, hosting a competition on your social media channels, with one of the rules to enter being to subscribe to your email marketing list, is a great way to build on your database, offering the added advantage of list growth without the advertising costs.

September checklist

• Set up acquisition campaigns across selected channels – i.e. social media and paid ads
• Collect user-generated content and product reviews to use in your email marketing/other campaigns
• Test different pop-up forms on your website connected to your email lists, specifically around Black Friday signups
• Develop competition incentives for organic growth

Refine Your Strategy 

Now it’s time to meticulously fine-tune your Black Friday campaign strategy.

Are you leaning towards offering a percentage discount, a fixed value reduction, or a more innovative approach? Remember this crucial point as you deliberate: Black Friday inherently attracts bargain hunters, which can impact your brand’s profitability. Crafting a clever campaign and offer will not only drive initial purchases but also foster repeat business once the sale concludes.

October checklist 

• Confirm your Black Friday offer and objectives
• Design campaign creative that works with your brand for use accross your email marketing and other selected campaign channels
• Plan your email marketing campaign strategy and confirm what will need to be prepared and sent out by when
• Make sure your database is clean and up-to-date
• Test paid ad campaigns now to avoid higher online auction costs over the Black Friday period

The main event

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all Black Friday campaign schedule that guarantees results, so it’s vital that you not only plan in advance but review your historic email marketing reporting data to consider optimal send times and understand who has engaged with your email marketing campaigns already, who has signed up for your Black Friday campaigns previously and segment your email marketing accordingly.

The start of November represents your last opportunity to fine-tune and quality-assure everything before hitting that all-important “Schedule” button.

November checklist 

• Initiate a Black Friday opt-out campaign and exclude subscribers who prefer not to receive marketing on these offers
• Create and set the timing schedule for your cross-channel communications, encompassing emails, social media and any other channels you plan to use as part of your campaign
• Implement eye-catching creative across social media and your website that prominently features your Black Friday offer and marries in with your email campaign creative for consistency
• Execute your Black Friday campaign, incorporating early access and VIP offers with targeted communications based on data insights
• Develop post-purchase automations to motivate new customers to become loyal, repeat buyers

Undoubtedly, Black Friday presents a HUGE opportunity for retailers of all sizes. As with anything, the success lies in the planning! If you feel like you could do with some help strategising for Black Friday for your business, you can book a free 30-minute strategy call with us, here.