As the years go by, Black Friday continues to be the biggest sale of the year. In fact, it does not need advertising, but the reality is that companies have to be sophisticated, coming up with something new in order to bypass competitors. So, for example, from one Friday, the sale has grown into a weekly or even monthly, and wheels of fortune, sweepstakes and gifts have replaced simple discounts.
Not so long ago, we already published an article on how to properly prepare for such an event. Now let s talk about how to stand out from the competition and give some good examples.
1. Websites for Black Friday
Now you won t surprise anyone with standard discounts, but you need to stand out against the background of competitors. Therefore, over the past few years, they have come up with a number of activities that can lure users.
1. Dynamic discounts… The easiest way to whet the interest of users and reward them if they still missed the day of the sale. It is usually carried out in such a way that the highest discounts are made on Black Friday. But the sale is not limited to one day. Moreover, every day discounts are reduced by 5% -10%, and so on to 0%.
2. Limited offer… This format can be carried out in two versions: a limited offer by quantity of goods and a limited offer by types of goods. For me, a limited number of products creates more exclusivity and urgency, and therefore more attractive to users.
3. Private sale… It takes place if you segment your subscribers well and can highlight the segments for which such a sale will be relevant and interesting.
4. Wheel of fortune… A very popular format lately that engages people well. The bottom line is that the user starts the online roulette and receives some kind of random bonus. You can set a different size of the discount, or you can add free shipping and / or gifts to your order. You can tweak the same discount option for everyone, or get confused and make a really random hit.
Fig. 6 – Example of a wheel of fortune
Fig. 7 – Wheel of Fortune
5. Countdown… Warming up the audience before the sale with a banner with a countdown timer. You can also start such a timer for the period of the promotion with the message “until the end of the sale is left”.
In offline stores, lotteries are also held with prizes or discounts, as well as draws among all those who bought in a certain period. This method perfectly attracts customers attention and enhances the effect of discounts. But besides that, a discount on the next purchase helps to bring the customer back to the store.
The mechanics of such a promotion is simple: the client pays for the purchase and draws the lucky ticket / card, and sees on it the amount of the discount or gift that they will receive on the next purchase. The main thing here is to limit the duration of the bonus so that it will be remembered as soon as possible.
In the case of a drawing, the client fills out a questionnaire and attaches a check to it. Among all checks, a prize is drawn as in a lottery, on the appointed date. Best used to boost Black Friday sales and other sales to get the most out of your customers.
2. Email newsletters
Mailing lists are an indispensable tool for Black Friday. About 30% of all purchases are made via email.
Countdown timers can also be used in emails. But for your email campaign to be effective, there are 5 simple rules to keep in mind:
- Warm up the audience… It is better to inform that you will have a sale, and what conditions there will be, in advance, so that users do not miss your offer among hundreds of similar ones. It is ideal to start warming up the audience 7-10 days before the start.
- Prepare a series of letters… If your sale lasts longer than one day, prepare a series of letters that you will send at the beginning, middle and end of the promotion.
- Do not over-spam… Yes, a series of letters works better than one. But do not abuse mailing lists and send several letters a day.
- Make sure the technical issues are in good working order… The site must be able to withstand the influx of users, the cart must be functional, and ideally with the ability to pay online. Product availability must be updated online. If possible, simplify the ordering process to the maximum, at least for this period.
- Customize abandoned cart emails… This will help you not to lose customers who were distracted by something from ordering or who had some kind of technical failure during ordering. Abandoned cart and abandoned scan emails tailored specifically for the event are a very effective way to increase sales.
3. SMS and Viber
Not everyone reads letters, but sms and viber messages catch the eye of the addressee in 90% of cases. However, this pleasure is not cheap. Therefore, I recommend using these tools in conjunction with Email.
The system of such a link is as simple as possible: the client received the letter, but did not read it – we send him a message in Viber. If he doesn t have Viber, then we catch up with SMS. This helps you reach the maximum audience while saving your budget.
4. Social networks
And of course, be sure to post your sale on social media. In addition to the standard posts with a call to buy, here you can arrange whole programs about how the sale is going:
- if you have offline points, you can shoot and photograph in the Store queues in the store;
- take pictures of stacks of parcels that go to online customers;
- share life hacks on how to buy profitably, including on sales;
- arrange a competition among buyers to post or Stories with your product, which they bought on Black Friday.
Examples of posts:
conclusions
As we can see, all the mechanics are pretty simple, straightforward and not new. Sometimes something creative and interesting appears, but more often than not, users like the familiar formats much more. But, of course, one should not forget about progress and current trends. The main thing is not to be too smart.
Black Friday will pass, but the ideas will remain and they can be applied to other events as well.
So get inspired, bookmark the article and start preparing for the New Year!