Digital Strategies for Black Friday Sales Success

It’s that time of year again, the run up to Christmas! However, this year is different…

With an impromptu lockdown on our hands, we’ve got clients of all sizes wondering how to tackle the expected surge in sales digitally. Normally marketing teams or small business owners have been planning the run up to Christmas for months. The ever-evolving regulations have been a real test for traditional campaign processes and marketing strategies across many sectors.

Retail, especially, has had to adapt fast and embrace the opportunities that ecommerce can bring. Getting up and running online is no small feat and since the start of the first lockdown, many have changed their approach by turning to digital marketing. That being said, the digital playground is definitely getting noisier.

The next big event on everyone’s mind is Black Friday, so here are a few ideas to help boost your sales!

Paid Search Ads

Capitalise on the intent to buy and bid for keywords that drive conversions.

Paid ads are great for short lived campaigns because you can set one up in no time. Unlike SEO, which can take months, ads place you at the top of Google almost immediately. They’re also really useful for seasonal promotions, like Christmas gifts…

You’ll need technical knowledge on how to create and manage an ad campaign, a budget set aside and an in-depth knowledge of your audience and their buying habits so you can bid for the right keywords. Ensure your ads have strong call to actions and clearly state what the offer is. Having them lead to the correct landing page is key too. Without correctly optimised ads you run the risk of wasting your budget for little ROI.

Social Media Ads

Ramp up activity and pay to be seen where your audience plays.

The more natural your social ads look, the better. It’s like walking down a street and having people stop you to give you a leaflet, chances are you carry on walking. However, if something peaks your interest, you’re more likely to stop and take a look at what’s going on. Social ads are the same. Normally you can spot an ad a mile off so you carry on scrolling. However, if you have an impactful graphic on your ad and it looks like a native social post, then you’ll get some traction.

Social ads are great for attracting the right audience and increasing brand awareness. Facebook allows you to drill down and be really niche with your target audience. You can also boost organic content that’s performing well for a little more exposure. The flexibility is beneficial for those with a limited budget or little time to manage a full on ad campaign.

Remarketing

Consumer spending is high at this time of year so make sure you stay top of mind.

Most of us like to browse before we commit to buying. But then it becomes a challenge to stand out when your audience is weighing you up against the competition. One of the best ways to do this is by increasing the amount of times your audience comes across your brand. More exposure helps to build trust and means your audience is more likely to think of your product when it comes to making that final decision.

For remarketing you need to install pixels into the code of your website and give people the option to opt out. When installed, the pixels track activity on the website and look at what products a person has been viewing. Then, if people exit the page, it pulls through the product across social media and search engines as a display ad.

Email Marketing

Prompt a purchase with abandoned checkout emails.

We’re all guilty of it, adding items to our shopping baskets and then exiting the site. However, having the functionality to save the items in your customers basket for when they return saves them time and offers a better user experience. You can take this even further if they have an account with you and are open to email communications.

Key components of a good abandoned checkout email are timing, personalisation and a clear value proposition. Creating a sense of urgency by having a small, time limited offer and following up a few hours after someone has exited the checkout page is advised. Reminding customers what’s in their cart and tempting them to checkout with a compelling value proposition based around those products works too.

For more information of how we can help you with your digital marketing, get in touch with us at [email protected]