Brace yourself: Black Friday is coming. Are you ready for this? Because your customers are. Last year, the special shopping day — including Thanksgiving day — pulled in $14.13 billion in online sales alone. This made for a 19% increase over 2019. Preparation is key. Let’s talk about your Black Friday marketing strategy and how you can make the most of this eventful day. Keep scrolling!

7 Black Friday Marketing Strategy Tips to Dominate 2021

1. Send an Email Blast Early — But Not Too Soon

Part of what makes Black Friday so powerful is the urgency. People have one day (okay, fine, sometimes a few days) to take advantage of these incredible sales.

This means you want to build the hype but also maintain that sense of urgency. Let your email list know in advance that they can expect deep discounts, but do it close enough to the day that they understand time is of the essence. Consider giving them a heads-up the day before Thanksgiving, the day of the holiday, and early in the morning on Black Friday.

You might also consider sprinkling in a few additional email blasts to remind them that their time is running out. #YOLO

Your email list is packed with warm leads. Leverage this!

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2. Use Pop-Ups to Your Advantage

We know, we know. Pop-ups can be annoying. But! If used with intention, they can be your ally. That’s why we’re including this on our list of Black Friday strategy tips.

A well-timed pop-up is a great way to let your website visitors know that they have a limited amount of time to shop at a discount. You can also use pop-ups to remind people when they’ve forgotten items in their shopping cart.

3. Release Gift Guides

Did you know that 27% of Black Friday shoppers are planning to purchase items for the upcoming holidays? That’s why gift guides are an important part of your Black Friday marketing strategy. You know what this means: It’s time to start blogging! #ContentIsKing

Head to your blog to draft up gift guides based on the recipient. Think of guides like:

• X Gifts She’ll Love
• X Gifts for the Man Who Has Everything
• X Presents to Buy Mom This Holiday Season
  

You can get even more specific than that, depending on what your brand is selling. For instance, a yoga brand might release a gift guide for people who love meditating. An outdoor and sporting goods store might have a gift guide for people who enjoy hiking. You get the idea.

Gift guides make it easy for people to find exactly what they need. Be sure to link to all of your products so that shopping is easier!

4. Upsell, Upsell, Upsell (and Cross-Sell)

One way to increase your sales this Black Friday is to encourage people who are already spending to spend more. Upselling and cross-selling are two simple ways to do this.

Upselling means that you encourage a shopper to buy a better version of what they’re already considering. It can also include nudging them to purchase add-ons. Think of someone who put a carpet cleaner in their cart. You might upsell by showing them a slightly better model and also introducing them to extra attachments.

Cross-selling is when you offer additional products or services that complement the original purchase. For example, if a customer purchases a deep tissue back massage, you might try to sell them a facial, as well.

Upselling and cross-selling are an important part of your Black Friday marketing strategy because you’re not trying to convince all new people to spend money on your brand. You’re trying to convince those who are already spending to simply spend a little more.

5. Run a Flash Sale Within Black Friday

While your Black Friday sale might last all day — or even several days — a flash sale can be as quick as a few hours.

Try running one or more flash sales throughout the day(s). You can group and organize them by type of product or service. For instance, for our previous fictitious yoga brand, they might have a one-hour flash sale on yoga socks specifically.

What we’re doing here is increasing the urgency even more. Take it one step further by putting a countdown timer on the appropriate product pages. (A timer is a good idea for your Black Friday — and Cyber Monday — deals in general!)

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6. Make it About More Than Discounts

Giving people a percentage off of their purchases is always nice. But you might sweeten the deal with extras like:

• Free shipping.
• Free returns.
• A bonus gift when you spend a certain amount.
• Points that they can redeem.
  

If you have a loyalty or rewards program, now’s a really good time to hype it up, too!

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7. Give Back

Using all of these Black Friday marketing strategy tips and tricks, you’re going to make a killing. It never hurts to give some of it back.

Maybe you’ll donate a percentage of sales to a charity or organization close to your brand. This is something you should clearly communicate to your shoppers and remind them of consistently. People care about where their money goes — especially if we’re talking about marketing to millennials. They’re going to appreciate spending their hard-earned cash on a brand that prioritizes giving some of that money to people who really need it.

These Black Friday marketing ideas are just the tip of the iceberg, but they’re still more than enough to help make the day successful for your brand. 

Developing a proper digital marketing strategy can feel like an uphill battle. LSM can help. Contact us for a free strategy session today.