According to the latest PwC report, Polish consumers' purchasing decisions are primarily influenced by price and promotional offers. Google, in turn, reports that over a third of respondents declare a willingness to wait until Black Friday to purchase goods. Respondents hope this will save them money – if not through lower prices, then at least through free shipping. Is Black Friday cheaper? When is it in 2022? And above all, how can you prepare your e-commerce for the biggest shopping holiday? We've got some tips!
Black Friday – a great customer celebration
Everyone has their favorite time of year. Some people wait for the holidays with their wristwatches in hand, while others eagerly anticipate Christmas. Beyond these, there are those for whom Black Friday is the most important event of the year . On this day, brick-and-mortar and online stores compete to deliver tasty morsels to satisfy consumers' appetites.
Do you know that…
According to data published by Shopera, in 2021, stores using their platform had 50% more orders on Black Friday and their basket value increased by 55% compared to 2020.
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Black Friday – when?
Black Friday always takes place on the first Friday following Thanksgiving. This year, the consumer holiday falls on November 25th. Although the "celebrations" on this day are quite frantic and spontaneous, their execution must be planned down to the smallest detail. Customers are simply expected to conduct thorough research to know where to look to snag the most bargains. Store owners face much greater demands. Long before the shopping frenzy erupts, they must develop an effective strategy to attract as many customers as possible.
The stakes are invaluable. During Black Friday, you can at least double your conversions, your average conversion value, and even lower your bids.
Black Friday 2021 – statistics
According to research conducted by tpay.com among a group of e-sellers using this form of payment service, more than half of them introduced special sales campaigns from November 26–29, 2021 (from Black Friday to Cyber Monday inclusive). Most e-shop owners offered customers price reductions of up to 30%, leading to a projected increase in sales on the last Friday of November. Among tpay customers, turnover increased by an average of 160%.
Is it cheaper on Black Friday?
While it may seem like you'll pay less for Black Friday purchases, you should be careful. Dishonest sellers sometimes inflate the prices of products offered on Black Friday to sell them at a "promotional price," which is actually the starting price. Therefore, it's important to have a common sense and choose your shopping carts wisely, even online!
In turn, e-commerce owners preparing for Black Friday should make a number of changes to their Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaign settings . What factors should they pay attention to?
Black Friday – golden tips for e-commerce owners
Klaudia Zielke, Head of Web Analytics, talks about how to prepare for Black Friday to reap the rewards :
Nothing is more important than proper preparation for this day, which often stretches over a weekend (Black Weekend) or even an entire week (Black Week). Here's a quick checklist that will help you head into Black Friday with peace of mind:
- Analyze last year's event, what worked and what needs improvement;
- Take care of the speed of your website, especially on mobile;
- Check the performance of servers, secure them in the event of increased traffic;
- Go through the customer's purchasing journey, checking for errors;
- Select a list of products covered by the promotion, ensure price changes in the product feed when running online advertising;
- Prepare a marketing strategy, select the most effective channels, define the audience you want to target;
- Interest the recipient, let him know in advance what discounts he can count on and what products will be included in the promotion;
- Use attractive graphics in Google Ads or Facebook Ads, build suspense, for example by counting down the days until the promotion starts;
- Keep the user's attention throughout the campaign by setting up quick email marketing in the event of an abandoned cart;
- Use the scarcity principle to speed up the decision-making process, for example by using a counter of people viewing or purchasing a product;
- Keep your finger on the pulse during the campaign – control your budgets so that the campaign does not run out of steam – on this day, the speed of response is of great importance.
When should you start preparing? Ideally, in the first half of October!
Google Ads is the key to consumers' hearts on Black Friday
1. Black Friday is supposed to be just one day, but our experience shows that sometimes it's worth extending the promotional period to several days. Then you can organize a Black Weekend or even an entire Black Week . To determine the most favorable time frame, follow these steps:
- check the results generated in previous years,
- analyze the historical activities of competitors,
- take a closer look at your competitors' actions this year,
- consider whether “bargain hunters” are attractive customers for your business at all.
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2. The foundation of an effective sales campaign is a functional website . Make sure your website loads smoothly and that your servers can handle the increased load. Additionally, ensure your products are accompanied by descriptions and photos that address any potential customer concerns. Don't forget to adapt your website to the needs of mobile users. According to statistics, smartphones and tablets generate 79% of product inquiries. If your website is plagued by technical issues, you could waste a significant portion of your advertising budget.
3. As part of formulating your strategy , sort all products into the following 3 categories:
- Attractors These are products with the biggest discounts. Their goal is to grab customers' attention and draw them to the landing page.
- Arrears These are all the products that are filling warehouse shelves. Black Friday is a great time to clear out excess inventory.
- Products at a promotional price, which will be issued while maintaining the sales margin.
4. Your super offers will be your biggest draw. You need to prioritize this aspect. We've got a few tips for you to help you maximize your potential.
- Find out which products generated the most conversions and profits in previous years. In this case, you don't have to focus solely on Black Friday. Simply highlight your store's biggest hits.
- Don't leave product selection until the last minute. Selecting your product range is just the first step. You need to leave yourself time for optimization.
- Choose the most attractive products and put them in the foreground.
- Make sure prices are updated and the product can be shipped to buyers at any time.
- Make sure to diversify your offer using graphic designs, discount codes, and attention-grabbing techniques such as intriguing slogans.
- It is worth segregating products to simplify browsing the website.
5. Setting a budget is a key issue during this hectic period. If clients are going all out, you need to adopt the same approach. In this case, frugality can be a poor advisor. Your competitors will take advantage of your conservative approach, and you'll lose impression share. It's definitely worth allocating a larger budget than you've been using so far. All hands on deck, don't miss this opportunity! It's also worth developing a crisis plan to quickly get back on track if problems arise.
6. Remarketing on the Search Network (RLSA) is one of the most effective tools during Black Friday.
- Use a branded search campaign to gather potential customers.
- Reach for remarketing lists that cover a longer time horizon, e.g. 90, 180, 365 days.
- Use multiple list combinations, such as new customers, all customers, abandoned carts, and successful transactions. Optimize campaign performance based on partial results.
- Use the collected data in a display or video campaign.
7. Ad headlines and descriptions must be prepared for the onslaught. Note the following:
- Texts must grab customers' attention.
- Take advantage of new, flexible text ads. They can increase clicks and conversions by up to 10% compared to standard solutions.
- Saturate your headlines and descriptions with keywords.
- Use the pin to number the order in which your headings and descriptions appear.
- Don't forget the call to action!
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8. When building a campaign, you must include extensions.
- Make sure you get a high ad ranking.
- Add extensions for callouts, sitelinks, phone number, location, website information, and promotions.
9. Graphic designs are your ace in the hole. They can help you grab users' attention and encourage them to explore your offer. Above all, prepare your designs in advance.
- Place intriguing text in headlines and descriptions.
- Invite to interact.
- Choose flexible banners because:
- They guarantee 50% more conversions than standard display ads.
- They provide dynamics and variety to the displayed graphics.
- All you need is one design that automatically adjusts to the required dimensions.
- You save time for your graphic designer, who doesn't have to prepare a set of dozens of graphics. A square or rectangle is perfectly sufficient.
- You save time by quickly modifying graphics and texts.
10. It's time for the crème de la crème: establishing a Google Ads strategy . To do this, follow these guidelines:
- If you don't specify CPA or ROAS, you need to maximize conversions. This will help you manage your budget more efficiently.
- Accumulate as many conversions as possible while maintaining your target CPA (cost per conversion/purchase).
- Achieve the highest possible conversion rate while maintaining your target return on ad spend. Furthermore, set automatic bid optimization to maximize your revenue.
11. In the whirlwind of events, you might focus on the big picture and miss the details. Ensure professional customer service. Respond promptly to all inquiries and concerns. Procrastination can result in a missed sale.
Scale up your Black Friday operations
1. Social media platforms offer almost limitless opportunities for creating content around upcoming sales. You can start posting about the offer a few weeks before the sale. Of course, don't reveal all the details right away. As time goes on, reveal more cards to gradually build interest among your audience. It's also worth noting the temporary nature of Black Friday promotions. Remind users that they need to hurry to shop at a discounted price. For this purpose, you can, for example, set up a counter showing the time remaining until the sale ends.
2. You can also create a Facebook event dedicated to Black Friday. This will provide an additional channel for sharing information about the promotion. After all, not everyone follows such a page, so an event can open up opportunities for you to reach new customers.
3. Short promotional campaigns can successfully leverage the potential of Facebook and Instagram stories . These are content that disappears after 24 hours. This is enough time to achieve your Black Friday sales goals. The primary use of this method would be to showcase individual products. Users are very eager to consume content presented in this format. They are increasingly finding it more accessible than traditional posts. You can also use this format to chronicle sales. A few in-store or behind-the-scenes stories will help fuel the shopping frenzy.
4. In the run-up to Black Friday, customers are bombarded with advertising messages from all sides. Even if they take notice of your offer, they may have some doubts. Due to increased traffic, expect an increased number of inquiries about your offer. Therefore, it's worth collecting the most frequently asked questions and using a bot on Messenger . This mechanism will guide the customer through the initial stages of the purchasing process. At the right moment, you can join the conversation and seal the deal.
5. If you start preparations well in advance, you'll still have time to create your Facebook store . This approach can be beneficial when dealing with impatient audiences. Users often lose interest when they can't navigate the landing page. Implementing a product catalog directly on the social media platform shortens the purchasing process. Customers can read the full product description on Facebook and then proceed to the website only to make payment.
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6. Base your Facebook advertising goals on the preparation stage of your promotional campaign. We suggest using the following formula:
- In the initial phase, launch a campaign focused on building remarketing groups on your website and Facebook page. During the promotion, you'll use the collected data for conversion-focused ads. In this case, ads that direct users to your website and increase engagement under your posts are ideal.
- At the peak, use the groups you've previously built and then target them with promotion-related ads. Choose conversion- or sales-focused campaigns from the catalog.
- Increase your bids on peak days. Instead of aiming for the lowest cost when bidding, consider setting a cap where you bid relatively high, for example, for a conversion or landing page view. This will help you outperform your competitors in the advertising auction.
7. Immediately check that your Facebook pixel is working properly. Basic tracking code is definitely not enough. Be sure to also include other events, such as:
- adding a product to the cart
- display content
- initiating the checkout process
- subscribing to the newsletter
- registration
- using the contact form
8. Based on the collected data, you'll be able to build remarketing lists that will allow you to reach people who have already taken action on your website. These users have already had initial experience with your brand and should be familiar with what you do. This will shorten the path to building their trust. Furthermore, Facebook's capabilities aren't limited solely to people who have previously noticed your store. Based on remarketing lists, you can create lookalike audiences. This mechanism will create a new set of people with similar characteristics to those visiting your website. While these audiences may not yet be familiar with your offer, there's a good chance you have exactly what they need. The usefulness of this data isn't limited to Black Friday or other special occasions. In the future, you'll be able to use these lists regardless of the circumstances.
9. Don't limit yourself to dominant social media platforms. Among less popular channels, Pinterest offers the greatest sales potential . It turns out that a staggering 73% of users make a purchase after clicking through to your website. Furthermore, customers spend up to twice as much on Pinterest than on competing platforms.
Together it's always more fun and effective
Limiting yourself to just Google Ads or Facebook Ads can limit your potential revenue. Both platforms can work effectively together, so use them in parallel. Working across both channels simultaneously can provide the following benefits:
- increase in sales by up to 20%,
- increasing reach and traffic,
- expanding brand awareness,
- alternating use of remarketing lists.
Also, remember that analytical tools can be your best ally. Use Google Analytics and Facebook Analytics.
- Track all traffic from all sources and pay attention to the connections between individual channels.
- Monitor your purchase journey.
- Analyze assisted conversions and key conversion paths.
- Monitor traffic on mobile and desktop devices.
Network monitoring tools also provide invaluable assistance. You can use them while preparing for the promotional period. Respond to user concerns and inform them about your store's offers. If you take care of all of the above aspects, you can rest easy. You're perfectly prepared for Black Friday. Good luck!
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- The Importance of Black Friday and Consumer Behavior During Sales
- The Black Friday deadline and the need for strategic planning of preparations
- Black Friday Statistics
- A Comprehensive Checklist for Shop Owners
- Setting up search engine advertising campaigns for Black Friday
