Black Friday is one of the biggest sales opportunities of the year for stores and online retailers. In 2023, online sales during Black Friday alone reached almost $10 billion. Even more shoppers looked for deals on Cyber Monday, purchasing another $12.4 billion in goods.
How can your business take advantage of the typical Thanksgiving weekend buying rush to boost your revenue?
The Best Black Friday Marketing Ideas Have Changed
Black Friday has received a makeover in the last decade. Remember the days when retailers opened at the crack of dawn, with shoppers rushing to grab the hottest deals? We don’t either. These days, more Americans shop online than in-store.
More importantly, eCommerce businesses are shifting how they offer deals. Early Black Friday discounts kick off at the beginning of November, and sales often continue past Cyber Monday. Merchants refer to this entire sales period as “Black November.”
With more shoppers turning to online stores, having a high-performing, well-designed website is crucial to capitalize on this trend. A smooth, user-friendly shopping experience ensures that your customers stick around and convert. Need help preparing your site for the holiday rush? Check out our web design services to make sure your store is ready.
How are consumers responding? Well, online sales during the month of November 2023 exceeded $109 billion, an increase of 7%. In other words, spreading sales out during the month can help you sell more, not less.
Epic Black Friday Marketing Ideas for eCommerce
Make November a month to remember with smart marketing plans and the right kinds of deals.
1. Plan Your Black November Marketing in Advance
Considering how important Black Friday sales are for your annual profits, it’s smart to treat November like you were launching a new product.
Attention-Grabbing Content
Leverage blogs, email campaigns, and newsletters to build anticipation for your sales event by creating teasers for specific products and limited-time offers. One powerful tactic is to encourage your audience to create wishlists. Let them know they can “save their favorites” or “start planning their must-have items” ahead of time. This builds engagement and keeps your products top-of-mind as the big day approaches.
Use teasers like “Coming Soon” announcements or product sneak peeks to generate excitement. Offer exclusive early access or special perks for those who sign up or create a wishlist, creating a sense of exclusivity that makes customers feel like they’re getting ahead of the game.
Social Media Posts
Use social media to promote upcoming sales, get past customers re-engaged with your brand, and generate traffic to your discounts as soon as they go live. This means posting every day, usually several times a day.
Videos and Product Images
Make your biggest sellers look their best by preparing attractive images, collections, comparison videos, and promotional content.
Reviews
Black Friday shoppers want amazing deals but also care about product quality. Ensure your web pages show the star ratings or positive customer reviews for your products.
Your goal with Black Friday marketing is to start building buzz around your discounts from early in the month. As you count down to your biggest sales, keep generating enthusiasm. Afterward, ride the hype to a fantastic finale during Cyber Week.
2. Perform Website Maintenance in October
If there’s one time of year you don’t want website performance issues, it’s during the shopping surge in November. You should perform technical SEO and website maintenance every year anyway, so October is the perfect time for a checkup.
Make sure the following areas are bright and shiny:
- User experience: Is your site easy to navigate? Can shoppers browse categories and find products smoothly?
- Bounce rate: Are too many website visitors leaving your landing pages without engaging?
- Conversion rate: Are you attracting the right type of traffic?
- Page loading: How long do your pages take to load on mobile devices?
- Broken links: Do your content links lead to the right products or a visit-ending 404 error?
Run a few shopping test runs, preferably on a mobile device. If you notice any friction, clean it up before Black Friday arrives.
3. Temporarily Increase Your Paid Social Media Ad Spend
Even if your marketing budget doesn’t normally support Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube ads, it can be worth making an exception during Black November.
Paid social media ads are particularly effective for announcing offers, and they help you send even more traffic to your eCommerce store. With sales platforms like Shopify, you can even sell products directly from your promotional content.
How much should you set aside for Black Friday marketing strategies? It depends on your average return on investment. At Digital Neighbor, we’re happy to help you run the math to find the right balance of social media spending versus revenue.
4. Offer Buy Now, Pay Later Financing
Buy now, pay later offers are especially popular with today’s Black Friday clientele. They increased by over 40% in 2023.
The average order volume also increased, suggesting that clients who use BNPL financing tend to buy more.
5. Make Your Discounts Stand Out
To grab attention online, you need Black Friday marketing ideas that are different from the rest:
- Offer short-term 50% to 60% discounts instead of the days-long 25% to 30% of competitors
- Use BOGOs for popular items
- Promote “build-your-own-bundle” offers with stacking discounts
- Discount newly released or trending products
- Design progression-based rewards that encourage higher-tier purchases
- Game-based discounts (e.g., “spin the wheel to save”)
Your sales advertising has to be exciting to build anticipation. Show clients something special is waiting in November.
6. Test Pay-Per-Click Ads From the Beginning of November
Paid search consistently drives the most sales during Cyber Week (almost 30%), almost as much as SEO and social media combined. The right PPC strategy can make a huge difference in your total numbers during Black November.
Don’t wait until the big event to launch your ads. Test them with sale promotions and A/B comparisons earlier in the month. That way, when it counts the most, your marketing performs above and beyond.
7. Use Custom Marketing for Loyal Customers and VIPs
One way to get the most bang for your buck with Black Friday advertising is to prioritize marketing to your most loyal clients. Create VIP-only sales that you communicate with high-quality, charming, personalized emails. Special events build your relationship with customers and encourage frequent buyers to increase their total spend.
8. Know Your Audience Segments
To motivate your customers effectively, you need to know which type of marketing and discounts they respond best to:
- Deal hunters: Large discounts, flash sales, and urgent messaging
- Impulse buyers: Plenty of visual/video content, lifestyle messaging, and bundle-based deals
- Last-minute holiday shoppers: Sales that extend beyond Black Friday, paid search advertising, and trending items on sale
- Browsers: Game-based offers or lead-generation tools, such as “sign up for an exclusive Cyber Monday sale/coupon”
- Almost-purchasers: On-page messaging or email marketing with special incentives, such as additional discount codes
We make it easy to reach different audience segments with our targeted email marketing, landing pages, and other content.
9. Use Limited-Time Offers
Few things motivate purchases like limited-time offers and FOMO. Rotating discounts keep things interesting for customers, prompting return visits to check out new deals.
Mix it up with early bird promotions, 24-hour sales, 60-minute deep discounts, Black Friday/Cyber Monday countdowns, and last-chance Cyber Week deals.
10. Don’t Ignore the Power of Local PR
Do most of your customers live nearby? Local PR can increase visits to your retail store and eCommerce storefront. Our team helps you plan events, partnerships, social media contests, and other Black Friday marketing ideas so your brand becomes the go-to spot for November deals.
11. Optimize Advertising for Mobile
Mobile sales account for nearly half of all Black Friday online sales. Here are a few ways to optimize marketing so it reaches smartphone users effectively:
- Set Google AdWords campaigns to specifically target mobile devices
- Include clear discount promotions directly in your ads
- Keep redirects to a minimum, taking users directly to the relevant offer
- Use bold visuals, including lightweight videos or images
- Customize PPC ads for the time of day your Black Friday discounts are most likely to have the biggest impact
For the best shopping experience, make sure your website is optimized for mobile, not just your ads.
12. Set Aside Funds for Flexibility
During the peak hour on Cyber Monday, shoppers spend over $15 million a minute. Investing more in advertising during these peak times can help you maximize your revenue while people are in the mood to buy.
Keeping reserve funds also helps you stay flexible. With extra ad spend or special promotions, you can grab attention away from competitors.
Black Friday Marketing Strategies for B2B eCommerce
Black November is a good time to generate leads and sales for B2B. To get the best ROI, focus on products that only need approval from one decision-maker.
Popular B2B sales items include office furniture, tools, electronics, and bulk goods. A Black Friday marketing strategy with volume-based discounts can be the ideal “push” to turn leads into clients.
Get Personalized Black Friday Marketing Strategies Tailored to Your Business
At Digital Neighbor, we bring decades of expertise in social media marketing, PPC ads, eCommerce, Shopify development, and Google Analytics. This isn’t our first “Black November,” and we can help you connect with your target audience, drive traffic, and maximize your ROI. Ready to make this your most successful Black Friday yet? Talk strategy with us.
