Black Friday Marketing Campaign Mistakes to Avoid

As per a study, American consumers spent $8.9 billion online during Black Friday 2021.^[i]

Black Friday is undoubtedly a golden opportunity for eCommerce stores to generate more sales and revenue. However, businesses often fail to prepare adequately for the most anticipated sale of the year.

So, with the holiday season approaching, we have compiled a list of some common mistakes that you can avoid to boost conversions this Black Friday.

Ready? Let’s get started!

Limiting Black Friday Promotions to Discounts Only

90% of US shoppers look for deals before making an online purchase, especially during the holiday season.^[ii]

And one of the biggest mistakes eCommerce brands make is to assume that discounts are the only way to target customers on Black Friday.

However, there are several other deals that can bring better business.

You can try these:

BOGO Sales

Buy one get one, also known as BOGO sales, is one of the best ways to attract customers who have a limited budget. There are several intriguing BOGO deals that you can run including buy one get one free, buy one and get the other product at 50%, etc.

Free Shipping

Shipping fee is one of the biggest reasons customers abandon their cart. One way to convert abandoned carts is to offer free shipping on top of your Black Friday discounts to encourage more purchases.

Free Gifts with Every Purchase

Offering free gifts is a great way to convince your customer that they are receiving more value for the money. A free gift may include other items from your website, vouchers, coupons, referrals, loyalty bonuses, VIP offers, etc.

Letting the Cart Abandoners Go

During Black Friday 2020, the online cart abandonment rate was nearly 78%, globally. Cart abandonment is one of the biggest roadblocks faced by eCommerce brands.^[iii]

There are numerous reasons shoppers abandon their carts including poor UX, not getting the expected discount, or change of mind. And it becomes challenging for brands to convert the abandoned cart and complete the transaction.

Letting the cart abandoners go is a huge mistake. You can combat this challenge by nurturing your shoppers and offering them special discounts and offers. You can leverage customer data to send reminder emails with additional discounts and persuade them to complete their purchase.

Some of the strategies to convert abandoned carts are:

• Analyze the reason for cart abandonment using customer data
• Send personalized notifications and reminders through emails and text messages
• Send push notifications to remind them about their abandoned cart
• Leverage recommendation engine like Argoid that uses machine-learning algorithms to reduce cart abandonment rate

Assuming Your Customers Know What They Want

One of the biggest Black Friday mistakes eCommerce owners make is to assume that your shoppers come to your site prepared with a shopping list. A lot of times customers land on your website clueless, relying on your holiday deals to guide them.

This is where personalization can come in handy. You can use your customer data and offer your customers personalized offers and deals when they come to your website.

You can even display the best-selling or most trending products on the homepage.

Not Optimizing Your Website for Mobile Users

Studies show that 70% of shoppers are using mobile devices for online shopping these days. Customers choose mobile over desktop for convenience and a better user experience.

Therefore, it is imperative to provide your visitors with a quick, responsive, and optimized mobile experience, especially for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. According to Adobe, in 2021, 42% of Black Friday sales came from mobile phones, accounting for $3.7 billion in sales.^[iv]

Besides, most of the search queries for Black Friday also happen via smartphones. So if you do not optimize your website for mobile users it will directly affect your conversion rates on Black Friday.

Here are some of the strategies to make your website mobile-friendly:

• Add attractive CTA buttons
• Use a responsive design
• Make the checkout process simple

Focusing On Only One Marketing Channel

eCommerce brands usually prefer e-marketing tactics like email marketing for promotion during holiday sales. However, promoting your Black Friday campaign on one marketing channel is not enough to have the maximum impact on a wide audience.

Multi-channel marketing provides more ways to showcase your deals or build brand awareness within a target market. Even if a potential customer doesn’t engage with your brand on certain marketing channels, they might find out about your brand and your products through other channels.

Therefore, it is important to diversify your marketing efforts to other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.

Only Focusing on Holiday Offers

Even though achieving those holiday sales targets is a top priority, the last two months of the year also provide plenty of opportunities to kick off the new year with a competitive edge.

So, do not stop after the holiday sale is over! Instead, use increased demand to split test offers not directly related to the holiday season, and use the outcomes to tweak your campaigns in the future.

Not Planning Ahead

Another common mistake eCommerce businesses make is to not plan ahead for Black Friday sales. Black Friday is a yearly event that needs proper planning. You can’t expect to throw together a successful Black Friday marketing campaign at the last minute and call it a day.

Things like analyzing internal and external statistical data, choosing products/services for sale, creating a powerful offer, and ensuring your site will handle the spike in traffic need a lot of planning and time.

To Summarize

For eCommerce store owners, Black Friday brings great opportunities to expand their business. And if you do not plan your campaigns effectively, you will end up making mistakes that would only cost you lost sales opportunities.

Need Help With Your Black Friday Marketing Strategy? Contact Us!

References:

[i] Sales Cycle- 11 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Online Retail Stats
[ii] Statista- Digital coupons and deals in the United States – statistics & facts
[iii] Statista- Online shopping cart abandonment rate on Black Friday in selected countries worldwide in 2020
[iv] Get ready for Black Friday 2022 with updated stats and trends