Black Friday Marketing: Clever Ideas & Strategies

Black Friday is quickly approaching, and businesses everywhere are getting ready for the biggest shopping day of the year. 91% of UK consumers plan to shop this BFCM this year [1], so if you're not prepared, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity.

But what can you do to make sure your business stands out from the rest? We're giving you a complete Black Friday guide with awesome Black Friday marketing ideas that will help you make the most of this shopping holiday.

Let's get started!

What is Black Friday?

For those of you who are not familiar with the term, Black Friday is the name given to the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. It's considered to be the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and is one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

In recent years, Black Friday has become a global phenomenon, with shoppers in countries all over the world taking advantage of the fantastic deals on offer. Last year Brits alone spent £4.8b over the Black Friday weekend [2]. So there's definitely money to be made, and a Black Friday marketing campaign can help you make it.

Why is it called Black Friday?

There are a few theories about how Black Friday got its name. One popular story is that it's so called because it's the day when retailers' accounting records go from being in the red (meaning they're making a loss) to being in the black (meaning they're making a profit).

Another theory is that the name comes from the massive amount of traffic that occurs on the roads and in stores on Black Friday. This can often lead to gridlock and even accidents, so it's not a particularly pleasant day for anyone involved!

Whatever the origins of the name, one thing is for sure: Black Friday is big business. And if you want to get a piece of the pie, you need to start planning your Black Friday marketing strategy now.

When is Black Friday?

This year, Black Friday falls on 25th November. However, many retailers start their sales early, both in-store and online. So it's worth being prepared from the beginning of November onwards.

What is Cyber Monday?

Directly after Black Friday is Cyber Monday, which takes place on 28th November, this day was originally created to encourage people to shop online, and it's now become one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.

Many retailers offer Cyber Monday sales, so it's definitely worth considering as part of your Black Friday marketing strategy.

12 best Black Friday marketing strategies 

Now that you know a little bit more about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it's time to start thinking about your Black Friday retail marketing strategy.

To help you out, we've put together a list of our top 12 Black Friday marketing ideas. Our first few Black Friday marketing strategies will focus on social media marketing, as this is a great way to reach a large number of people quickly and easily. Then we'll move on to your website and other digital marketing for retail strategies. Finally, we'll look at in store retail marketing ideas.

So without further ado, let's get started with the Black Friday marketing ideas!

Black Friday marketing strategies on social media platforms

1. Use social media ads

Social media ads are a great way to reach a large number of people quickly and easily. You can target your ads so that they're only seen by people who are likely to be interested in what you're selling.

For example, if you own a hair and beauty salon, you could target your ads to women aged 18-35 who live in your city. Or, if you're selling Christmas gifts, you could target ads to people who have recently engaged with other Christmas-related content.

Some tips for creating the perfect social media ad include:

• Use high-quality images or videos.
• Write persuasive copy that explains what you're offering and why it's a great deal.
• Create a sense of urgency with a limited-time offer.
• Include a call to action (e.g., click here to buy now).
• Use a strong call to action, such as "Shop Now" or "Sign Up Here."
• Choose an attractive offer, such as a discount or free shipping.

2. Use social media contests to generate excitement

One of the best ways to get people talking about your Black Friday sales is to run a social media contest. This is a great way to generate excitement and build up a buzz around your sale.

There are a few different ways you can run a contest on social media. Some include:

• Asking people to like or share your Black Friday post to be in with a chance of winning.
• Running a caption contest - ask people to come up with a clever caption for your Black Friday image.
• Ask people to tag a friend in the comments who they think would love your product.
• Collaborating with another business to run a joint contest - for example, you could team up with a hotel and offer a weekend stay as a prize.

3. Use hashtags to reach a wider audience

Hashtags are a great way to reach a wider audience on social media, as they allow people who don't follow you to see your posts. When it comes to Black Friday, there are a few different hashtags you could use to promote your Black Friday sales.

The most obvious one is #BlackFriday, but this is a very popular hashtag, so you'll be competing with a lot of other businesses. A good strategy is to use a mix of hashtags, including some that are more specific to your business. For example, if you want to promote your payment processing services, you could use the hashtags #BlackFridaydeals and #PaymentProcessingBlackFriday. Or, if you're selling travel products, you could use #BlackFridaytravel or #CyberMondaytravel.

TIP: If you're thinking ahead to Christmas, why not start planning your Christmas marketing strategy now? This will help you make the most of the festive season and ensure you're prepared for the busy period.

4. Use influencers and ambassadors to promote your Black Friday sales

If you have influencers or ambassadors who are willing to promote your Black Friday sale, this is a great way to reach a wider audience. When choosing influencers or ambassadors, make sure they're relevant to your business and that their audience is likely to be interested in your products.

For example, if you sell health supplements, you could collaborate with a fitness influencer to promote your Black Friday sale. Or, if you sell children's toys, you could work with a parenting blogger. Consider creating a Black Friday bundle or hamper that your influencer can promote, as this will make your offer more appealing to their audience.

Black Friday digital marketing strategies

5. Use email marketing for retail deals

Email marketing for retail is one of the most effective ways to reach your audience with your Black Friday deals. You can segment your email list so that only people who are interested in your sale receive the email, and you can personalise the content to make it more relevant to them.

To maximise the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign, make sure you:

• Use a catchy subject line to grab attention.
• Include a clear call to action.
• Use images and videos to make your email more engaging.
• Personalise the content as much as possible.

6. Use PPC ads for product deals

One of the quickest and easiest ways to spread the word about your Black Friday sale is to use PPC (pay-per-click) ads. These are the ads that appear at the top of Google's search results, and they're a great way to get your sale in front of potential customers.

You can start running your PPC ads a few weeks before Black Friday and target keywords related to Black Friday shopping to make sure you're reaching people who are interested in what you're selling. However, don't bid on generic terms like "Black Friday deals," as you'll be up against some big retailers with much bigger budgets!

Let's say you're an online business selling clothing that's planning a Black Friday sale. You know you have a range of holiday season dresses that will be popular, so you could create a PPC ad campaign targeting the holiday shopping season using keywords like "Clack Friday holiday dress deals" and "cyber Monday dress sale."

7. Use retargeting ads to reach people who have visited your site before

If you've been running ads on Facebook or Google over the past few months, you'll likely have built up a list of people who have visited your website before. These people are more likely to be interested in your products, and so they're a great audience to target with your Black Friday marketing strategy.

Let's say you sell hospitality POS systems, and you've been running ads targeting small businesses in the food industry. When Black Friday comes around, you could create a retargeting ad campaign specifically for people who have visited your website before, promoting your Black Friday deals. Or, if you have a product that would make a great Christmas gift, you could target people who visited your site in the lead-up to Christmas.

8. Create a Black Friday landing page

A Black Friday landing page is a specific page on your website that's been designed to promote your Black Friday deals. This is a great way to focus all of your visitors' attention on your sale and to make it easy for them to find the products they're interested in.

Your Black Friday landing page should:

• Be mobile-friendly, as many people will be shopping on their smartphones.
• Include images and videos to make it more engaging.
• Have a clear call to action so visitors know what to do next.
• Include a countdown timer to create a sense of urgency.
• Include a form so visitors can sign up to receive updates about your sale.

In-store Black Friday marketing strategies

9. Create a Black Friday window display

If you have a physical store, one of the best ways to promote your Black Friday sale is to create an eye-catching window display. This will grab the attention of people walking past your store, and it's a great way to get them interested in what you're selling.

Remember, people are likely to be doing their Christmas shopping on Black Friday, so try to tie your window display in with the holiday season. You could use festive props and decorations, or you could create a winter wonderland scene. Alternatively, you could just focus on the brilliant deals you're running and use eye-catching visuals to really stand out.

10. Integrate marketing apps into your retail POS system

If you're running Black Friday holiday sales in your physical store, there's a good chance you'll be using a retail POS system. These systems can be integrated with marketing apps like loyalty programs and customer relationship management (CRM) software.

By integrating these apps with your POS system, you can easily keep track of your customers and their purchase history. This information can be really useful when it comes to planning your Black Friday marketing strategy. For example, you could use your loyalty program data to target loyal customers with Black Friday exclusive deals, or you could use your CRM data to target customers who haven't shopped with you in a while.

Some of the fantastic marketing apps you can integrate with your Epos Now system include:

• Epos Now Loyalty: increase revenue and encourage repeat business with your own customizable loyalty scheme. 
• VoucherCart: sell your products and services as gift cards, vouchers, and tickets with powerful automation.
• Shopify: Enter the growing e-commerce space, reach new customers and expand your online store with Shopify.
• NearSt: attract customers to your brick-and-mortar store by making your inventory visible to millions of people on channels like Google and Facebook. 
• Mailchimp: Boost sales by automatically exporting customer data from your Epos Now system and importing it to your Mailchimp account.

11. Host a Black Friday in-store event

If you want to really get people excited about your Black Friday sale, why not host an in-store event? This could be a live DJ playing music, face painting for kids, or even just a special appearance from Santa. Whatever you do, make sure it's something that will get people talking and that will make your store stand out from the crowd.

Suppose you're having a massive Black Friday deal on Smart TVs. You could host a Netflix-themed event where everyone dresses as their favourite Netflix character, and you play Netflix shows on your TV all day. You could even offer further deals / a free gift to the best dressed! This would be a great way to get people talking about your store, and it would really make your sale stand out.

12. Team up with other local businesses

If you're struggling to think of ways to promote your Black Friday sale, why not team up with other local businesses? This is a great way to promote both of your brands, and it's a great way to get people interested in what you're selling.

For example, if you own a cafe, you could team up with a nearby clothing store and offer free coffee to anyone who spends over $100 in their store on Black Friday weekend. Or, if you own a restaurant, you could team up with a local hotel and offer a discount on dinner for anyone who books a room for the night. 

There are endless possibilities, so get creative!

Tips for creating a killer Black Friday marketing strategy

By now, you should have a whole bank of marketing ideas for your Black Friday sale. But before you start putting them into action, there are a few things you need to keep in mind if you want your sale to be a success.

1. Start promoting early

The key to a successful Black Friday sale is to start promoting it as early as possible. This will ensure that people are aware of your sale, and it will give them time to plan their shopping trip. So if you haven't already started, it's time to get your black Friday promotion ideas onto paper!

Ideally, you should start promoting your sale at least one month in advance. This might seem like a long time, but it's important to remember that people are likely to be very busy leading up to Black Friday, so you need to give them plenty of notice.

2. Use multiple channels

When promoting your Black Friday sale, it's important to use multiple channels. This means promoting your sale across multiple platforms, such as social media, your website, email, and even in-store.

The more platforms you use, the more people you'll reach, and the more successful your sale is likely to be. So make sure you're using all of the channels at your disposal.

3. Make it exclusive

If you want people to really take notice of your Black Friday marketing sale, you need to make it exclusive. This means offering deals and discounts that are only available on Black Friday and that can't be found anywhere else.

This will make people more likely to take advantage of your sale, as they'll know that they won't be able to get the same deals at any other time. So make sure you're offering something truly special and that your deals are exclusive to Black Friday.

4. Stand out from the crowd

With so many businesses running Black Friday marketing promotions, it can be hard to make yours stand out from the crowd. But if you want people to take notice of your sale, you need to find a way to make it unique.

One way to do this is to offer something that other businesses aren't. This could be a unique Black Friday product, a special Black Friday discount, or even just a fun in-store event. Whatever you do, make sure it's something that will really grab people's attention.

5. Make it easy

Finally, you need to make sure that your Black Friday marketing deals are easy to take advantage of. This means having a clear and concise message and making it easy for people to find the deals they're looking for.

The last thing you want is for people to get frustrated trying to take advantage of your Black Friday sale, so make sure it's clear and easy to understand. If people can't figure out how to take advantage of your sale, they're likely to give up and look elsewhere.

Final thoughts

So there you have it. Our complete Black Friday marketing guide filled with Black Friday marketing campaigns you can hold in-store or in your online stores.

These are just a few tips to help you create a killer Black Friday marketing strategy that can boost sales during this shopping weekend. If you follow these tips, you'll be sure to have a successful black Friday sale, and you'll be able to attract more customers than ever before.

Remember to prepare way in advance for your Black Friday marketing campaigns!

So what are you waiting for? Get started on your Black Friday marketing today!