Are you starting to plan your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies? If you’re new to the experience or your previous years were a bit lackluster, never fear — we’re here to help.
This guide will help small businesses get the most out of their Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM for short). We’ll cover all the strategies and techniques for providing the best customer experience — while maximizing your revenue.
Ready to talk business? Let’s dive in!
How to plan your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign
Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) have evolved since their beginnings in the 1950s, becoming key periods for retail revenue. If your BFCM offerings fall short, it’s the quickest way to miss out on potentially record-breaking revenue. Here are some of the expectations that modern customers have for BFCM:
- Sales promotions: Site-wide discounts are a powerful lure for customers. Although termed "site-wide," these sales don’t need to include every item. For instance, you could exclude newly released products or specific categories while capturing customer interest.
- Coupon codes: Discount codes are an easy way to encourage newsletter subscribers and visitors to your website to make larger purchases. Many businesses see great traction with mystery codes where visitors click a button or pop-up to unveil a code for a certain percentage off of their purchase. You’re able to set minimum and maximum values, so you won’t end up giving merchandise away.
- Free shipping and in-store pickup: Offering free shipping can make your products more competitive without cutting into your merchandise profits. Also, you may consider offering in-store pickup for online orders if you have a physical store. This caters to customers who prefer the in-person experience and helps them avoid crowds and long lines. Make sure to allocate sufficient staff and space for a smooth pickup process.
- Free gifts: Free gifts are an excellent way to clear out slow-moving inventory. When customers spend a certain amount, reward them with a free item or a gift card for future use. These gifts are typically low-cost but add perceived value to the customer’s purchase, encouraging higher spending.
During the planning process, don’t forget to plan for potential complications as well. Here are a few snags that are common to the BFCM timeframes that you should plan for:
- Server downtime: Test the server load capacity of your store with Pingdom to find where it’s lacking and how to improve it.
- Shipping delays: Be transparent about shipping delays due to carrier delays, the impact of peak volume, and whatever else might hold up your customers’ packages. Build a relationship with your shipping services to communicate accurate information to your customers.
- Unhappy customers: Focus on crafting the best brand messaging that takes ownership of all problems and communicates expected challenges to consumers.
- Low inventory: If you do sell out of your products, congratulations! But remember to communicate when you don’t have a product in stock.
20 Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies
Now that we’ve covered what customers generally tend to expect from BFCM sales, let’s jump into each marketing strategy, from planning through to thanking your customers.
1. Start your planning early
It takes time to get a marketing strategy in place. As a rule of thumb, we recommend beginning planning at least two to three months in advance to ensure all logistics are in place.
Not only will starting early give you more time to strategize your marketing plan, but you’ll have more time to secure partnerships with other businesses or influencers, test out your campaigns, and build anticipation for upcoming sales.
2. Budget wisely
Planning an effective sale takes money. That includes both marketing and advertising, as well as any additional staffing or inventory.
By getting an early handle on the budget for BFCM, small business owners can make sure that they’re effective and efficient with where the budget gets spent. This also allows for businesses to better track their expenses and evaluate the success of their marketing efforts.
3. Inventory management
Running out of inventory in the middle of the holiday shopping season would be a disaster. However, overstocking inventory can be a disaster in its own right. As part of your Black Friday and Cyber Monday planning, you’ll want to review sales data and trends from previous years (if possible) to see how certain products tend to move during the holiday season.
In addition, knowing your sales trends can help you plan sales or bundles to move products that may not be selling as well as others. Knowledge is power, so use it to your advantage!
4. Get your website ready
As we mentioned earlier in this guide, you’ll want to be sure that your website can handle increased traffic during BFCM. Here are a few specifics that you’ll want to review:
- Ensure your website can handle increased traffic. Black Friday and Cyber Monday bring an increase in traffic, so test your website's speed and performance to ensure it can handle the influx of visitors.
- Optimize your website for mobile. With more shoppers using their mobile devices to shop online, it's important to have a mobile-friendly website. Make sure your website is responsive and easy to navigate on mobile devices.
- Update product descriptions and images. Make sure your product descriptions and images are up to date and accurately represent the products you are selling. Having high-quality images and detailed descriptions can help increase conversions.
- Streamline the checkout process. You’ll want to make it as easy as possible for customers to complete their purchases. Remove any unnecessary steps and ensure the process is fast and easy to navigate.
5. Launch an exclusive pre-sale
During your planning, you may consider offering your loyal customers a pre-sale. Exclusive sales can help bolster your relationship with your customers by making them feel valued. An exclusive pre-sale can also help start a positive buzz for your business and thus build anticipation for your larger BFCM sales.
6. Bundle exclusive deals
Bundle offers for Black Friday and Cyber Monday can help your business in several ways:
- Higher average orders: Encouraging customers to bundle products (particularly with savings tied to the bundle) creates value for your customers and increases your average order value.
- Promotes new/seasonal products: If your business offers special holiday products, bundling those products with year-round best sellers can be a great way to get attention for those new products.
- Simplify customer decisions: Curated bundles can help shoppers by reducing the number of decisions they might need to make.
- Increase cross-selling: Bundling products allows you to create a bundle of best-selling products that customers may not always purchase together, which can improve product awareness.
7. Consider holding a flash sale
A flash sale is a great way to kick off the pre-BFCM planning. It can help boost attention for your brand and products and clear out any old inventory ahead of the holiday season. Additionally, data gleaned from a flash sale can help craft a plan for a bigger sale down the road.
8. Create tiered discounts
Planning a tiered discount strategy for Black Friday and Cyber Monday is another way to potentially increase sales. For example, offering a 10% discount on orders over $50, 20% off over $100, and 30% off over $200 can motivate customers to increase their cart value to receive higher discounts.
9. Leverage BOGO offers
Buy One, Get One (BOGO) sales are another great way to attract new customers. Similar to bundle offers, a BOGO deal can help to clear inventory while also offering a valuable discount for your customers.
10. Offer free shipping
In a 2022 survey, 76% of the shoppers surveyed ranked free shipping as one of the three most important features when shopping online. Shipping can be expensive, though, so consider offering free shipping with a minimum purchase requirement to make up for the cost.
Another potential perk of free shipping is that customers remember who offers it. Shoppers appreciate transparency and a no-hidden-cost experience, which can potentially turn them into repeat customers.
11. Get started with your email marketing early
Awareness of upcoming sales is key! Be sure to send out a series of emails leading up to and during the BFCM sales period. Items to include in these emails could be sneak peeks, reminders, behind-the-scenes information, and exclusive offers.
12. Plan your social media campaigns
Social media is another place where you can drive awareness for your BFCM sales. Planning out your content calendar ahead of time will help lighten the load closer to the actual sales.
Are you not sure what to post or need help getting started with a social media calendar? Check out our AI prompt library for inspiration.
13. Build influencer partnerships
Influencer marketing is a partnership between a business and individuals with social media followings to promote that company’s products. A smart collaboration with an influencer can help your business reach a wider audience.
Getting an early start on influencer marketing is key to a successful partnership, as building a relationship first is important. You’ll also want to find an influencer who works within the same category as your business, as this will help to better target an appropriate audience.
14. Do paid advertising
Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are highly competitive, and using paid ads can help a small business cut through the noise to reach potential customers. Here are a few reasons why paid advertising could be a smart move for your business:
- Targeted reach: Paid advertising platforms like Google Ads and social media channels offer advanced targeting options. Small business owners can focus their ads on specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, making sure that their promotions are seen by people most likely to make a purchase.
- Immediate visibility: Unlike organic marketing strategies, which can take time to build momentum, paid ads provide instant visibility. This is crucial during Black Friday and Cyber Monday when the window for capturing customer interest is narrow.
- Budget control: One key advantage of paid advertising is the ability to control spending. Small business owners can set daily or campaign-specific budgets to make sure that they don't overspend. Many platforms also offer performance tracking, allowing for real-time adjustments to maximize ROI.
- Enhanced engagement: Paid ads often have features that can enhance user engagement, such as interactive formats, video content, and carousel ads. These elements can make promotions more attractive and drive higher click-through and conversion rates.
- Remarketing opportunities: Paid advertising allows for remarketing campaigns, targeting users who have previously visited your website or engaged with your brand. This is particularly effective for converting window shoppers into buyers during high-intent shopping periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
15. Start a loyalty program
Starting a customer loyalty program allows you to reward repeat customers with extra discounts or early access to sales. Loyalty programs can also help your business retain customers, who may also bring referral clients to your business. It’s a win-win.
16. Add interactive content to your socials or website
Interactive content is another great way to engage with your audience and generate buzz for your brand. Contests on your social media pages can help drive engagement for the holiday season. And over on your website, quizzes can help customers decide on which product is best for them, which can help to boost conversion rates for purchases. Keep your interactive content light and fun, customers will appreciate it.
17. Highlight user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) is sometimes overlooked by small businesses as a marketing strategy. However, UGC can help build more authenticity for your brand, which also builds trust with your customers. Here are a few UGC ideas to consider:
- Encourage customers to share their purchases on social media with a specific hashtag for a chance to win a prize.
- Embed customer reviews on the home page of your website.
- Post customer stories on your social media or website.
- Ask customers to create product review videos.
18. Plan to send thank you emails
Another strategy to consider is sending personalized thank-you emails after purchases to your customers. A well-crafted email reflects positively on your brand, showing that you value your customers and want to go the extra mile to maintain customer satisfaction. And, including a discount code in your email for future purchases can be a nice touch as well.
19. Gather customer feedback
Another item to consider sending out after your BFCM sales would be customer surveys. Surveys are a great way to gather feedback on their shopping experience and improve future sales. You could also conduct polls on your social media pages to gather feedback.
20. Provide after-sales support
Don’t neglect your customer support during the holidays. It’s important to provide excellent after-sales support to handle any returns or issues promptly. Leaving your customers with a positive impression of your business goes a long way toward ensuring repeat business.
Last thoughts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing ideas
Hopefully, this list of Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing ideas has helped spark some plans for your small business. Whatever strategy you employ, though, it’s important to do something. With all the work you just did preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, make that little extra effort and keep the momentum going. Good luck and happy BFCM!
Black Friday Cyber Monday marketing FAQ
When is Black Friday in 2024?
Black Friday is on November 29, 2024.
What is the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, featuring major sales in brick-and-mortar stores. Cyber Monday, on the other hand, is the Monday following Thanksgiving and is dedicated to online shopping deals. While Black Friday focuses on in-store promotions, Cyber Monday offers exclusive discounts for online purchases.
Why is Black Friday so famous?
Black Friday is famous because it marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season with significant discounts and promotions offered by retailers. Originating in the United States, it occurs the day after Thanksgiving and has gained popularity worldwide. The event attracts millions of shoppers looking for deals, both in physical stores and online, making it one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
