5 Strategic Moves You Need For Black Friday 2022
Image Credit - @iandavenportofficial
It’s not too late to prepare your e-commerce business for Black Friday. Increasingly this big shopping experience is being digitised bringing more competition and accessibility to the table. Each year, we see Black Friday sales starting earlier, lasting longer and becoming more generous. That being said, as a smaller brand there’s still room for you at the table. Here are our top 5 strategic moves to make to get the most out of Black Friday 2022.
#1 Don't underestimate the importance of infrastructure
Often considered the boring “techy bit”, ensuring your ecommerce website is running smoothly is of vital importance (and not just during seasonal sales). Getting people onto your website is only one piece of the job. Your website needs to maintain a seamless customer experience to checkout alongside clearing messaging on product pages. Make sure your discount codes, shipping options and checkout addons are working correctly to avoid missed sales and/or extra customer service emails.
#2 Utilise UGC in your marketing content
Whether that’s content created based on a gifted product to influencers or customers sharing their reviews, UGC (user generated content) can boost the credibility of your product and brand. For new customers, this is important as it reflects that your discounted products are of quality despite the sometimes “too good to be true” price tag.
#3 Crunch the Numbers
Assess your inventory, margins and delivery charges to see how it affects the bottom line during Q4 and beyond. Can you afford to lose money on certain products? Will a boost in sales now help cash flow in Q1’s slower season? Perhaps a less sexy task but don’t forget to factor in your cost of customer acquisition and the perceived lifetime value of gaining new customers. It may sound exciting to launch a 2 week 50% off sale but can your business sustain the hit? Does the loss of revenue at this time prove worth it for the influx of new customers? Consider how much of a repeat purchase you have, how big your product range is and if you can upsell or cross sell items?
#4 Be smart about how you promote your offers
A well promoted and straightforward limited edition offer often performs better. Keep the offer period concise to create a sense of urgency and to avoid consumer fatigue in sales messaging.
If you're a small makeup brand for example, it's hard to compete with the big brands who have huge budgets for paid media or are well-known and people are waiting for their sales to get a discount. Only pursue paid media avenues if you have the budget and choose a focus on campaigns that acquire new customers and retarget warm audiences. Whilst it’s harder to track sales conversions, running Facebook traffic campaigns can be cheaper than Conversion Campaigns.
This is also a great time to use your network. Ahead of time, identify a collection of brand fans who have covered your brand on social media and reach out to them directly during the sales period to inform them of your brand’s Black Friday offering.
Don’t forget to pursue PR connections and get your offers included in Black Friday roundup articles and gift guides. If budgets are tight then choosing a collaborative approach working with affiliates and influencer collaborations may provide more targeted brand exposure too.
#5 Your messaging is sales
It’s vital to understand that shoppers and your audience are looking for one thing and one thing only, discounts code and sales. Black Friday weekend is probably the best time to park your educational content and focus on delivering sales messaging with easy Call to Actions and a smooth customer journey.