We’ve rounded up 7 effective Black Friday marketing strategies to help you boost your sales all the way to Cyber Monday and beyond.

Utilising these tricks in your Black Friday strategy can help you build hype, increase website traffic, raise average order values, acquire new customers and expand your CRM database.

1. Discounts & Offers

The classic Black Friday strategy, offer unbeatable discounts and offers and push both warm and cold audiences towards purchase.

With this influx of customers, you can focus future efforts on retention and nurturing these new customers. This strategy can be used to push specific categories or products to get rid of excess stock.

An important consideration for offering regular discounts is that buyers may come to expect sales and wait to purchase during this time, reducing revenue for the rest of the year.

2. Declining Discounts

Starting with a high offer that gets lower throughout the day is a surefire way to inspire a sense of urgency in your customers.

In crowded markets, such as fast fashion, it has the advantage of ensuring that users spend with your company early on in the holiday, meaning that they potentially won’t spend as much at other brands.

3. Hidden Free Products

Having hidden products across the site can build hype and result in a high page/session on the day, as well as increasing time spent on site. One of the downsides is a potentially low conversion rate as well as low AOV as people just purchase the free item.

To capitalise on the increased sessions, this should be used in conjunction with other offers to push more purchases and drive revenue.

4. Early Access/Exclusive Sale

Giving early access will show appreciation for loyal, long-term customers. Offering exclusive deals and discounts to these customers is a smart marketing tactic that can help to build customer loyalty and drive repeat business. This can be partnered with ‘while sticks last’ messaging to inspire a sense of urgency.

5. Free Gift With Purchase

Freebies are always appreciated. By including a free gift with a purchase, you can incentivise your customers to take action. Additionally, they facilitate a feeling of goodwill that can encourage repeat business.

This can be a great opportunity to get rid of excess or low-value stock however, the gift will need to be something your customers will actually want, or it may get lost in the noise.

6. Minimum Spend For Discount

Introducing a minimum spend threshold will increase your AOV as people add more products to be eligible for a discount on their orders.

The downside to this may be an increase in returned orders, as people add products they don’t want, just to get a discount on the product they did want.

7. Green Friday

For some companies, Black Friday is an opportunity to push their brand values and connect with their customers. With the period being associated with mass consumerism, throw-away culture, and deals that really are too good to be true, it might not fit with your brand image to join in on the buzz.

You could dedicate a percentage of revenue to a relevant charity, or tie in sustainability with your offer. For example, Bedfolk in 2020 committed to planting a tree for every order that was placed over £99 stating that they believe in “Growing Trees, Not Discounts”.

If you really want to take a stand, you can shut down your website and abstain from the day entirely. You won’t get an uplift in sales, but you might get some articles and posts that boost your brand awareness.

Conclusion

The best strategy for your brand depends on your own goals and values. Make your Black Friday strategy work for you, whether that’s finding new customers, rewarding existing ones, shifting excess stock, increasing revenue, or building your brand.

Black Friday is a key buying period and therefore an opportunity that shouldn’t be overlooked by any brand, big or small.

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