Black Friday 2022: Try These Holiday Marketing Tips For Success!

Did you notice that ‘Black Friday’ didn’t start or end on Black Friday last year? Not even close!

In recent years, many brands have begun their Black Friday promotions more than a week before the official day and continued on well beyond Cyber Monday.

This has been influenced by pandemic-related shifts, like longer shipping times and a major push toward e-commerce, but what will things look like in 2022?

We’re predicting that many of the trends we’ve seen will continue, with more and more companies stretching out their promotions to get into people’s pockets sooner. Beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many brands will try to ride the wave, doubling down on top-performing ads and running sales right up until the end of the year.

So, what does this mean for your business? In this blog, we’ll cover why you may want to rethink your Black Friday promos, how to craft an irresistible offer, and what you can do today to set yourself up for success by the time the peak holiday shopping season rolls around.

Why You Should Think Differently About Black Friday This Year

When everyone runs their promotions at the same time, the competition for ads and attention intensifies. That means it gets much more expensive! When you have to offer a steep discount and buy ads at a premium, your profit margins can quickly erode.

We’re not saying you should skip Black Friday altogether, but you may want to think about your strategy and approach before you jump on the bandwagon.

Cut through the noise!

To succeed, your goal should be to create a promotion that a) makes sense for your business, and b) provides the kind of value your audience is looking for.

To inspire you to think differently this year, consider these brands and how they ran their promos last year:

• Noize skipped Black Friday and offered a steep discount for the entire month of December
• Noa is offering frequent promotions for just about every holiday of the year, from Valentine’s Day to Father’s Day
• Hill House let their customers know well in advance that they will be hosting just one major sale of the year, running from November 15 through November 29 (Cyber Monday)

As these examples show, you don’t have to be beholden to traditional timelines and formulas for your promotions. Instead, you can carve your own path, choose your own sales holiday, and find an approach that works for your brand.

How to Craft an Irresistible Offer

Are you feeling inspired to reimagine your holiday promotions this year?

Sure, everyone loves a good buy one, get one free or a steep price cut, but traditional discounts aren’t the only way to hook your customers. In fact, in some cases offering too big or too many discounts could actually hurt your brand in the long run by conditioning customers to hold out for a sale.

Here’s how you can create an offer that will really move the needle.

1. Think about your audience. What motivates them? How price-sensitive are they? How aware of your brand are they? What other options are they considering?
2. Brainstorm promotional angles. Make a list of as many possible offers as you can. When brainstorming, remember there are no bad ideas. Gift with purchase, buy more to save more, early access to an exclusive collection… the list goes on! Once you’ve exhausted your creativity you can begin to narrow down your options more strategically.
3. Test your promotions. Instead of guessing, use data to decide what offer to run with for your big promo. Try running ads for multiple different offers, or test using different segments of your email list
4. Identify your top offer. Use your data from your test promotions to choose the offer that will make the biggest impact
5. Make it scarce. Decide on a timeframe or offer a limited quantity to encourage people to act quickly to avoid missing out.
6. Let people know what’s coming. Don’t wait to make a big reveal on sales day. Let your audience know that a big promotion is coming. If you’re skipping Black Friday, let people know when they can expect a sale from you instead.
7. Think about lead generation! Your promotion could be a great way to attract new customers and build your database.

As you test and refine your offer, don’t be afraid to take risks and experiment with your approach. You might just find that your customers are more interested in getting access to a limited edition colourway than a discount on your best seller. You’ll never know until you try!

What You Can Do to Prepare for the Holiday Season

If you want to capitalize on the demand of the peak shopping season of the year, now is the time to lay the groundwork for a successful promotional campaign.

Here are three things you can start doing today to make this your best holiday season yet.

Start Testing Different Offers Now.

You can save yourself a lot of money by testing different promotions at a time when competition is lower and ads are more affordable. It takes time to see results, so give yourself plenty of runway to test and refine your offer before your major sales event.

Focus on Building Your Email List

You can already predict that ads will be running at a premium around the holidays, and organic reach will be even more challenging. By building and nurturing your email list now, you can avoid being solely dependent on social media. Of course, you’ll still face competition for attention in your customer’s inbox, but at least you’ll have control over your own audience.

Plan Your Content

When competition is high, quality content is more important than ever. Give your campaign a fighting chance by planning your content before you need it, and mapping out your calendar well in advance. It takes time to develop a concept, book a photographer, scout locations, source props and models, and write copy. If you start now, you’ll be much better positioned (and less stressed) when the time to promote your offer rolls around.

If done right, Black Friday (or whatever promotional day you choose) could be your best sales day of the entire year. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your holiday promo today!

Need help planning your Black Friday or Holiday campaign? Get in touch or send me an email at mreussink@the-emms.com

Originally published on www.the-emms.com/blog.

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