Supercharging your Black Friday & Christmas Marketing

From our webinar Supercharging your Black Friday & Christmas Marketing. Head of Paid Media, Irina explains why it's never too early to start planning your festive campaigns.

What we will cover:
Black Friday during cost of living crisis
Black Friday for non-eCommerce business
When should you start preparing for Black Friday
Black Friday strategies compared to the rest of year
Best channels to utilise for Black Friday
Utilising social media during Black Friday
What audiences to go after
Emerging trends in consumer behaviour

Transcript

1. Supercharging your Black Friday & Christmas Marketing The Digital Maze Webinar Irina Holliday
2. hello@thedigitalmaze.com What we will cover Black Friday during cost of living crisis Black Friday for non-eCommerce business When should you start preparing for Black Friday ☐ Black Friday strategies compared to the rest of year Best channels to utilise for Black Friday Utilising social media during Black Friday What audiences to go after Emerging trends in consumer behaviour Other marketing solutions for Black Friday What happens after Black Friday
3. Irina Holliday Head of Paid Media Who am I? 16+ years experience within PPC B2B & B2C experience Leads Paid Media department Background in programming
4. Emerging trends in consumer behaviour What's changed? hello@thedigitalmaze.com
5. Trends in consumer behaviour hello@thedigitalmaze.com Some of the trends from Black Friday 2022 • • • • 'Near me' searches have increased on Black Friday and mid-day Saturday with consumers returning to 'normal' 'Pay later' orders have increased by 78% with revenues through this method rising by 81% Mobile purchases are dominating retail with 71% of retail traffic worldwide generated from mobile devices Growing demand for personalisation with 60% increase in shoppers walking away from the brands that fail to meet their unique personalised needs
6. Black Friday during cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis hello@thedigitalmaze.com
7. Black Friday during cost of living crisis hello@thedigitalmaze.com Understanding the current climate • • • Interest has been gradually decreasing since the pandemic with people being a lot more conservative with their spending habits given the economic uncertainty With the peak in 2019, It was the lowest point of interest in Black Friday search term in 2022 since 2013 Consumers becoming savvier and are doing their research and comparing the cost choosing the best value for money
8. Black Friday during cost of living crisis hello@thedigitalmaze.com Two main forces of success: Quality & Honesty • • • • Over 98% of Black Friday discounts advertised in 2020 were available for the same price or cheaper in the 6 months after the sale 71% of customers say they're unlikely to buy if company loses their trust 57% of customers say they'd never buy from the company again if they violated their trust Build the trust to stand out - once consumer sees your ad across 3+ different channels, their trust in it strengthens
9. Black Friday during cost of living crisis hello@thedigitalmaze.com Be prepared for a different Black Friday • • • • • Make sure you are talking to the right customers at the right time T ell your customers what exactly can they expect from the sale Keep in mind the customers are more savvy now and doing their research thoroughly prior to completing a purchase Be empathetic - showing the understanding can make a great deal of difference Highlight the value for money and how your proposition can be useful for the potential buyer (e.g. saving on energy bills while purchasing appliance that is more energy efficient)
10. Black Friday for non-eCommerce Non-eCommerce hello@thedigitalmaze.com
11. Black Friday for non-eCommerce hello@thedigitalmaze.com Black Friday isn't just for eCommerce • • • • • • • • • • Create an offer with added value with extra bonuses or services Free resources (e.g. checklists, calendars, etc.) Entry to a competition Free ticket to an event, etc. Combine & bundle your services 2 for the price of 1 Extra service on top of your existing proposition Discount your services to a limited number of clients 40% discount for the initial consultation for the first 10 customers 30% discount for the next 20, etc.
12. When should you start preparing for Black Friday? When is it too early or too late hello@thedigitalmaze.com
13. Preparing for Black Friday • • • • • • • Start building the awareness and anticipation in advance Leaving things last minute may lead to unexpected issues: Disapproved ads / promotions Losing the advantage to your competitors Missed opportunities Mobile is more important than ever Make sure your website is mobile friendly & checkout process is smooth Lay out a plan, including the budget you want to spend, platforms you're planning to use, ad copies, promo codes, assets, etc. Look back - check what worked well for you in the previous years (including the pre-pandemic) Plan your course of action thoroughly to build the anticipation among your new and existing customers hello@thedigitalmaze.com Get your sled ready in summer time
14. How does Black Friday strategy compares to the rest of the year? Black Friday strategy hello@thedigitalmaze.com
15. Your Black Friday strategy compared to the rest of the year • • • • • • • Y our daily budgets Make sure your campaigns are not constrained by budget Y our messaging - consistent across all channels Emphasise the urgency and limited time offers - create some FOMO! Consider the ad customisers for countdown Y our landing pages Make sure your website is up to date and displaying same offer as your ads hello@thedigitalmaze.com Things to consider changing • • • • • • • Y our ad extensions Don't disregard sitelinks, promotion and price extensions Y our promotions in Google Merchant Centre Make sure your promotions are approved and well highlighted Y our shopping feed Check your items for disapprovals Keep an eye on your account suspension risks
16. Preparing for Black Friday • • • • Ensure your website can handle the extra traffic Make sure you have adequate stock levels for products you're running your promotions for Minimise the user journey to product pages Simplify the checkout process (e.g. using Apple Pay / Google Pay if possible) hello@thedigitalmaze.com Other things to keep in mind
17. Best platforms for Black Friday ads Best channels to utilise hello@thedigitalmaze.com
18. hello@thedigitalmaze.com Best platforms for Black Friday ads Where do you advertise? • • • • • • Check what worked for you before Keep in mind your previously successful channels and campaigns Check the best creatives, messaging and deals to see if some can be utilised again Explore something new Consider the platforms you haven't yet advertised on for cross-platform remarketing or prospecting Keep in mind that more touch points equals more trust
19. Utilising social media during Black Friday Social Media hello@thedigitalmaze.com
20. Utilising social media during Black Friday hello@thedigitalmaze.com Ways you can leverage social media • • • • • Run lead generation campaigns on Facebook and Instagram for early access to your Black Friday sale Nurture and retarget the audience you collect Leverage engagement and brand awareness campaigns to reach out to new customers Re-engage with your previous customers Consider uploading customer list
21. Prospecting & remarketing during Black Friday Who do we go after? hello@thedigitalmaze.com
22. Prospecting & remarketing Prospecting Reach out to new potential customers hello@thedigitalmaze.com Re-engage with your website visitors & more Remarketing • • Overlay your audiences - consider combining the Black Friday shoppers & bargain hunters with certain custom & in-market audiences Don't forget the lookalikes, especially those created with first-party data (e.g. customer list or platform engagers on Facebook / Instagram) • • • • • • • Segment your audiences Non-converting visitors Checkout abandoners Social media engagers Customer lists Past converters Utilise dynamic remarketing to tailor and personalise the offers to your audience
23. Other marketing solutions What else can you do? hello@thedigitalmaze.com
24. Other marketing solutions hello@thedigitalmaze.com What channels other than PPC can you utilise? • • • • Set up an email marketing campaign targeting a list of your existing customers Use organic social media posts to create urgency Consider selling directly through social - connect your online store with platforms like Facebook & Instagram to allow customers to purchase directly through their feed Audit and improve your website and the product pages - keep in mind that even 1% increase in conversion rate will significantly improve your transactions & revenue which can be crucial during the peak seasons
25. Keep your sales up after Black Friday What's next? hello@thedigitalmaze.com
26. Keep your sales up hello@thedigitalmaze.com Cyber Monday • • • Black Friday is no longer a single day event followed by a Cyber Monday Keep in mind that most retailers are now running extended promotions that last for a few days (e.g. Black Friday weekend or Black Friday week) or even weeks (Black November) Remember that Cyber Monday is online specific event (as opposed to Black Friday which can be in store as well as online)
27. Keep your sales up hello@thedigitalmaze.com Christmas • • • • • Keep in mind your stock levels - you don't want to run out of your best sellers too quickly Display cut-off and delivery dates on your website - be transparent when can your customers expect their orders to be delivered Highlight Christmas promotions if you have them Consider seasonal landing pages - get people into a Christmas spirit! Automate it if you can - use automated rules, schedules and scripts where possible
28. Keep your sales up hello@thedigitalmaze.com Boxing Day • • • • • • Customise and tailor your ad copy to Boxing Day sales Schedule and automate your ads whenever you can Get the most out of your ad extensions Consider updating your website with relevant to Boxing Day sale information Use countdown features in your search ads (and potentially on your website) to emphasise the urgency and limited time offer Make sure your offers are valuable and genuine
29. A Quick Summary Make sure your offers are valuable and genuine Start preparing for Black Friday early Keep your messaging consistent across the channels Remember that Black Friday is not just for eCommerce Segment your audience and tailor your offers Keep an eye on your stock levels Keep sales coming with tailored Christmas & Boxing Day ads
30. Thank you!