Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas ー the end of the year is the busiest season of the year for retailers. But successfully increasing sales requires some preparation and planning. Technical optimizations in the store, prepare products, packaging and shipping and plan the right marketing campaigns. To avoid having to do all the to-dos at the last minute, you should prepare and plan your marketing campaigns as well as possible in advance.
In the first part of our Black Friday series, we already presented some technical quick wins on how to set up and optimize your store for Black Friday. The next step is to use targeted marketing activities to draw potential customers' attention to your store and the latest deals.
Increase sales, retain customers and attract new customers at the same time? Sounds good? We'll give you a few tips on how to be as well prepared as possible and successfully increase your sales in an emergency, even last minute.
Last minute to successful peak season
You don't have to reinvent the wheel to be successful in the era of BFCM. The marketing channels and strategies are basically used throughout the year and are therefore nothing new.
Email marketing, the online store itself and social media have proven to be particularly effective marketing campaigns. It is important that you plan the campaigns in advance and coordinate them with each other so that they can be delivered to your target group in good time.
The trend is also now for customers to research possible discounts earlier and earlier, and for stores to start their promotions earlier and run them longer. Google Trends shows that a great many consumers are already searching and finding out about possible deals from mid-October. So the earlier you plan your marketing for Black Week, the earlier you can also play out your campaigns and keep your customers informed about planned promotions via newsletter and increase anticipation.
Deals, Deals, Deals
Black Friday is the shopping event of the year. However, attractive deals, offers and discounts are indispensable here. In order to stay ahead of the game and not be outshone by the competition, you can't avoid discounts and special promotions in most cases. In what form is less important at first.
#1. Flash offers
Probably on such days, most customers spend a lot of their time comparing prices and finding the best deal. That's why flash offers are a popular way to encourage purchases, especially on Black Friday.
Flash deals are time-limited offer prices on selected products. The time limit creates an artificial urgency and the customer decides to buy faster, for fear of missing out on something.
.To further enhance the effect, you can set up a countdown in the store and on all marketing channels. So the customer knows directly when the offers start or how long the reduced price will be offered.
Email marketing has proven to be particularly effective for flash offers and flash sales. Even if mails are often not opened directly, newsletters are particularly suitable for promoting flash sales of the next 3 hours. Especially in the evening, you can usually achieve a high opening rate and thus a high reach.
#2. A Gift Per Purchase
Everybody loves gifts, so why don't you just give them to your customers. You buy something and get a free gift at the same time ー sounds good!
If you limit the gift to a certain purchase value, you can additionally increase the average order value. The customer will automatically buy more to reach the minimum value and receive a small gift.
#3 - Bundle
The products in the range can be combined well with each other? Great, then offer them directly in a bundle. Bundles are now very popular methods to increase the sales value. The customer receives a complete package with all the products they need and usually pays less than buying all the items separately.
Mystery boxes have a similar system. The customer buys a bundle at a certain price, but does not know the products. Here especially the surprise effect is huge!
#4 - Buy 2 get 1 for free
Similar to bundles, the 3 for 2 method also drives up the sales value. For example, the customer chooses 3 items of his choice and gets the cheapest item for free. Very few people will buy only one product with this promotion ー rather, they reach for additional items and buy 3 parts directly. For the customer, the effect is similar to a free gift, which, however, he could choose himself.
#5 - Exclusive products
Of course, it does not always have to be discounts on Black Friday. But since the days are now so busy, a purchase should be as attractive as possible for the customer, so as not to lose him to a competitor.
Attractive can be, for example, exclusive products. You plan a new product, in limited numbers or limited time offer? Black Friday offers the optimal opportunity here. Here, however, you should definitely emphasize that it is a one-time and limited offer, again to shorten and positively influence the customer's purchase decision.
#6 - Don't forget existing customers!
However, in addition to acquiring new customers, Black Friday brings with it numerous opportunities to maintain the relationship with your existing customers. Here, too, you should plan the most attractive promotions possible. Early access to sale items or exclusive discounts for existing customers? Sounds like existing customers are especially important! This feeling can significantly increase the chances of retaining customers. Additionally, you can set up personalized discount codes and personalize the email campaign, geared towards the customer.
After Black Friday is before Cyber Monday
The offers on the net are staggered very differently. Some companies start offering discounts days before and end with Black Friday. Others take the entire weekend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday as an occasion. Still others, however, offer their customers directly the entire week all discounts.
You can thus extend your planned actions over a longer period and also take the customers who could not yet decide on Black Friday for a product.
Start directly
Black Friday is becoming more and more popular every year ー and worldwide! However, the competition between online retailers also increases directly with the sales. It's time to set up your store in the best possible technical position and to plan and set up your marketing in a targeted manner. Even if the peak season is already on everyone's lips, there are all kinds of ways to make the weekend a successful season with the highest sales.