Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware of the fact Black Friday and Cyber Monday are quickly approaching, and this year things are only going to be busier—but in a new and unusual way.
Throughout the global pandemic many storefronts quickly shifted and moved their Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales online. We will continue to see more and more shoppers opting for online stores this year to avoid close contact.
This means a spike in online Black Friday and Cyber Monday traffic and a lot of potential revenue for e-commerce businesses of any size. Crazy, right? Not to worry, Good Commerce has put together this list of nine proven Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies you can use in 2021.
Black Friday Cyber Monday Marketing Ideas
- Build Your Black Friday Email List
- Encourage Wish Listing
- Offer Flash Sales
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Give the Gift of Giving Back
- Build Your Black Friday Email List
Though we are sure you’re aware that email marketing is an effective strategy in driving traffic and sales, in order for your email marketing to be successful, you need to grow your subscriber list with interested prospects.
One way to do this is by setting up an email popup on your website targeting new visitors who are interested in your BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday) deals and prompting them to sign up for your email list to receive exclusive deals, free shipping, or a gift, depending on your budget!
You can take this one step farther, and thank your email subscribers and offer early access to your sale.
- Encourage Wish Listing
Similarly to abandoned shopping carts, wish lists work in a similar way, they show us the customer is interested in or at least close to the decision stage of their purchasing journey.
Wish lists also provide mutual benefits for both customers and business owners - customers have a place to keep track of products they love, while retailers can gather this information and target these customers through email communications and more.
- Offer Flash Sales
Building up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday most retailers come out guns blazing offering a blanket sale for their entire promotional period. This may drive conversions, but businesses should consider taking advantage of flexible sales such as flash sales.
Flash sales are recurring discounts or promotions offered for very limited periods of time. These sales are short-term and data shows that flash sales have the potential to boost conversion rates by 35% because they use consumer psychology – most notably, urgency and scarcity – to increase the rate of impulse purchases.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers can be set to go live at a specific time such as a “Midnight Special” where shoppers can receive an additional discount on their purchase during 11PM - 1AM. Or, a flash sale for just the hours of the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend that will push surplus stock.
With statistics suggesting the average website visitor makes at least seven visits before converting, flash sales broadly entice new visitors whilst working to re-engage familiar customers, whether they are newly acquired or existing loyal advocates.
- Abandoned cart recovery
Though cart abandonment happens all year round, BFCM sees on average a 5% increase in cart abandonment. Typically the reasons for cart abandonment remain the same, shoppers decide to abandon their carts due to high shipping costs, unexpected taxes, discount codes not working, or simply because they are looking for the best possible deal and want to compare prices.
It is important you have done everything possible to ensure your shopper doesn’t leave, or if they do, they will come back. Here are some popular and successful cart abandonment solutions that you can utilize in your Black Friday Cyber Monday marketing efforts:
- Implement exit-intent overlays to stop shoppers from leaving;
- Offer an exclusive discount or other value exchange if they choose to convert now;
- Offer the ability to save their shopping cart for later;
- Retarget abandoners with social and display ads;
- Send timely cart abandonment emails.
Cart abandonment emails are very effective when trying to recover a shoppers abandoned cart. Cart abandonment emails should include an instant reminder of what the consumer has left in their cart and direct, personalized copy that engages the reader, tempting them
back onto your site. During a peak sales weekend, additional discounts can be offered if the item is of high value as this may help to encourage the removal of a purchasing barrier.
- Give the Gift of Giving Back
With more and more consumers switching to a more sustainable lifestyle, many brands and retailers face scrutiny for participating in BFCM sales, as they inevitably encourage mass consumption and go against environmental concerns and fair trade regulations.
Some retailers choose to opt out of BFCM entirely, but others use this opportunity to collect donations off the back of their profits. Everlane is a good example to illustrate this. The brand partners with ocean protection charity Oceana to help eradicate the production of single-use plastics by donating $10 of every Black Friday sale to the charity.
These campaigns are generally successful and generate great returns because they offer consumers the ability to better justify their purchases. With this in mind, they might feel inclined to spend more and are more likely to become brand ambassadors in the long term.
Want to Win this Black Friday?
Get ahead of the competition by optimizing your website to convert all of that Black Friday traffic! Our team at Good Commerce has investigated the most popular BFCM campaigns of last year and are ready to optimize your Black Friday Cyber Monday marketing strategy – get in touch today to learn more about it!