Consumers recognize Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, as a prime opportunity to shop for holiday presents (and possibly, some things for yourself). Stores everywhere are eager to show off their Christmas specials, and oftentimes, their lowest prices of the year.
As a business, Black Friday is your opportunity to win more traffic, achieve more brand visibility, and earn more sales, boosting your revenue before the year is over. With the right email marketing strategy, you can accomplish even more – and beat your top competitors.
But what exactly are the best ways to use email marketing in coordination with your Black Friday strategy?
Perfecting the Sales
One of your greatest assets in the Black Friday marketing game will be the sales and special offers you’re going to present to your audience. Spend some time actively researching your target audience, competitive offers you expect to see, and the value of cutting prices temporarily.
Reaching an attractive, yet profitable price point, or brainstorming a compelling welcome offer for new customers could instantly make all your promotional efforts (including email) more effective.
Best Practices for Email Marketing for Black Friday
Assuming you have compelling, interesting offers in place, you can follow these best practices to make the most of your Black Friday email marketing campaign:
1. Start early
If you haven’t already, start planning your Black Friday email strategy today. The earlier you start, the better. If you’re not ready to send out specific offers or if you’re still figuring out what your sales will be, that’s fine; you can still plan the timing for your emails, flesh out your subscriber list, and more. Otherwise, you can start sending teasers to your subscribers. For example, you can provide a countdown to Black Friday or give your customers some early offers – with a forecast of the sales you’re going to offer Black Friday weekend. If you start putting together your Black Friday plans the week before the day arrives, it may be too late to fully capitalize on your ideas.
2. Spend time boosting your subscriber list
If you still have a few weeks before Black Friday arrives, do what you can to boost your subscriber list numbers. A combination of advertising, social media posting, and customer outreach can secure you hundreds, if not thousands of additional email subscribers – ultimately increasing the value of your marketing efforts.
3. Master your subject line
The subject line is arguably the most important component of any marketing email, since it’s often the factor that determines whether or not your recipient bothers to open your message. Before Black Friday, it’s important to AB test different variations of your intended subject lines, so you can figure out what works and what doesn’t.
4. Find a way to critically differentiate yourself
Businesses everywhere are going to be loudly and aggressively competing for consumer attention. Consumer inboxes are going to be flooded with marketing emails. If you want to be successful, you need some way to differentiate yourself; that could be with lower prices, more entertaining content, or a unique spin that no one else in your industry has tried before.
5. Make use of the entire weekend
Black Friday gets all the attention, but the truth is, people shop relentlessly throughout the Black Friday weekend, including Saturday, Sunday, and even “Cyber” Monday. Make sure you spread out your deals and offers throughout this time period, reaching more customers and landing more sales in the process.
6. Utilize embedded videos
Next, use embedded videos in your emails. Video content is much more engaging and more persuasive than written content, and it gives you more creative flexibility – which is especially important if you’re showing off new products. It’s also an easy way to differentiate your emails and help your brand stand out from the competition.
7. Personalize your approach as much as possible
Your email content is going to be much more compelling and much more persuasive if you find a way to personalize your approach. On a basic level, you can customize your subject lines, greetings, and other email features to address your email recipients by name. Or you could get more advanced and send emails based on previous shopping activity, abandoned carts, and other trackable actions and metrics.
8. Create a sense of urgency and scarcity
If left to their own devices, people tend to be procrastinators. If they have unlimited time to purchase something, they may never purchase it at all. That’s why it’s important to create urgency and/or scarcity to drive consumer action. Include at least some sales that last only for 24 hours, or flash sales that last a few hours each. You could also provide offers that are only available “while supplies last,” or discounts for the first 1,000 customers only. It’s a great way to drive purchasing activity.
9. Recognize and reward your best customers
Your email list is likely populated with existing loyal customers. While there’s value in reaching out to new people and trying to win new business, it’s also important to recognize and reward your best, most loyal customers. For example, you could send an email with a subject line like, “A special gift for being one of our best customers!” and include a promotional code they can use for a discount on top of your sale prices.
10. Go beyond Black Friday
Black Friday tactics don’t have to sharply end the moment Black Friday weekend is over. You can continue promoting your best products and best prices throughout the holiday season. You could host a “second chance” Black Friday sale or provide special offers each day during the week leading up to Christmas; there’s a lot of flexibility here, so get creative.
Are you already running behind on your Black Friday email marketing strategy? Don’t worry. Viewed has all the tools you need to craft high-quality videos and truly engage with your email subscribers. Sign up for a free account today to get started or contact us for more information!
