Considered the official start of the holiday season, Black Friday is now a key date on the retail calendar, a time when brands across industries can boost awareness, drive customer engagement, and most importantly, increase their winter sales.
According to recent reports, online shoppers are spending record amounts each Black Friday. In the US alone, spending reached billions in 2024, with global e-commerce sales also hitting all-time highs. This surge creates fierce competition, as companies race to attract customers with exclusive deals, limited offers, and early access promotions.
As highlighted in our iBirds Digital webinar, it’s essential to approach Black Friday with authenticity, originality, and a strategy that makes your brand memorable.
To help your brand get ahead this Black Friday, here are actionable marketing tips and takeaways:
1. Craft customer loyalty incentives
2. Plan early and set clear KPIs
3. Accurately forecast and stress-test everything
4. Segment your audience for impact
5. Create winning offers
6. Construct standout visuals and messaging
7. Optimize the mobile and checkout experiences
8. Monitor in real-time and stay agile
9. Think long-term
1. Craft customer loyalty incentives
Customer loyalty programs are crucial for driving repeat purchases and deepening long-term relationships. Studies show that loyalty rewards are a primary reason customers stick with a brand.
Offering incentives gives consumers a sense of personal value, turning one-time buyers into repeat customers and brand advocates.
For Black Friday, creating a dedicated loyalty signup page or email encourages early access to deals and helps grow your audience before the big day.
This ensures strong Black Friday sales and sets the stage for engagement in future campaigns.
2. Plan early and set clear KPIs
Waiting until November to plan is a common mistake. Brands that succeed in Black Friday often aren’t just those with the biggest discounts, but those who plan rigorously in advance.
Your roadmap should include offers, creative tests, and channel strategies. The foundation of this plan is KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Actionable metrics to focus on include:
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Expense to gain a new customer.
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Revenue per dollar spent on campaigns.
- Revenue Per Recipient (RPR): Average revenue from each email sent.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Total monetary value of a customer relationship.
These benchmarks prevent hasty decisions when competitors scale aggressively.
3. Accurately forecast and stress-test everything
Black Friday can generate five to ten times normal sales, but only if you’re operationally ready. Accurate e-commerce forecasting ensures your operations support demand.
Overstocking can cut into profits, while understocking risks lost revenue and damages customer trust. Stress-testing your campaigns, website, and customer service helps identify weak points in advance.
Test discount levels, ad creatives, checkout flows, and website performance early to prevent issues during the rush.
4. Segment your audience for impact
Mass emails are outdated. Audience segmentation is essential. A buyer persona represents your ideal customer and helps target marketing efforts effectively.
Segment by demographics, purchase history, or engagement level to tailor messages. For example:
- VIP customers: exclusive early deals.
- Lapsed customers: “we miss you” offers with discounts.
- Cart abandoners: reminders about stock running low.
Segmenting by channels also matters—emails, social media, and app notifications all perform differently for different audiences.
5. Create winning offers
Discounts are key to Black Friday, but aggressive cuts can erode profits. Studies show moderate discounts (10–25%) often convert better than extreme markdowns (50–70%).
Consider tiered discounts, product bundles, or free gifts for spending thresholds. These feel more personal and valuable to customers than flat percentage discounts.
6. Construct standout visuals and messaging
Many Black Friday campaigns look alike: black and white themes, holiday motifs, and discount banners. To stand out, create creative campaigns that tell a story.
Use urgency (flash sales, limited editions) and social proof (reviews, testimonials, UGC) to drive action. For instance, a flash sale banner paired with customer reviews captures attention and builds trust.
7. Optimize the mobile and checkout experiences
With most traffic coming from mobile, poor interfaces can reduce sales. Test layouts, remove friction in checkout, and enable guest checkout with multiple payment options.
Immersive experiences like virtual product try-ons can also encourage conversions and decision-making.
8. Monitor in real-time and stay agile
Black Friday requires constant oversight. Use live dashboards to track KPIs, reallocate budgets, and pull back underperforming campaigns.
Crisis planning is crucial for tech errors, delivery delays, or ad rejections. Refresh content regularly if engagement drops, and continue reinforcing trust with user reviews or live purchase notifications.
9. Think long-term
Black Friday is just the beginning of your customer relationship. Follow up with post-sale campaigns, loyalty program invitations, and thank-you messages.
Request reviews while experiences are fresh to gather social proof and improve future campaigns. Conduct post-Black Friday audits to refine offers, subject lines, and channel strategies for next year.
Golden Rules for a Successful Black Friday Campaign
- Plan early and set clear KPIs.
- Forecast and stress-test inventory, website, and service.
- Segment audiences for personalized messaging.
- Craft compelling offers without hurting margins.
- Stand out visually with storytelling, urgency, and social proof.
- Perfect mobile and checkout experiences.
- Monitor in real-time with agility and backups.
- Think long-term by nurturing loyalty and reviewing campaigns.
Following these rules, brands can cut through the Black Friday noise, build authentic connections, and turn the shopping frenzy into sustainable growth.
Pro Tip: Download our iBirds Digital Black Friday checklist and content calendar to plan, organize, and track your seasonal campaigns.
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