We know what you’re thinking: get Halloween out of the way before you start scaring us with Black Friday, but in the marketing world, it’s always best to be ahead of the curve.
At Blaze, we eagerly anticipate Black Friday and are excited to see how our clients make the most of the event. If you are a business owner who has yet to take advantage of the madness of Black Friday, you might be terrified of the month ahead and have every right to be.
The best way to prepare for Black Friday is to learn from the campaigns of successful businesses and apply what you learn to your campaign, second only to employing the help of an experienced marketing agency, cough, cough.
Here is our pick of some of the best Black Friday digital marketing campaigns; hopefully, you can take some inspiration from them for your own campaigns.
Gymshark’s Black Friday Wish List
If you regularly attend the gym and maintain a healthy lifestyle, you have definitely heard of Gymshark. It is one of the biggest brands in the country and has a committed customer base.
Gymshark already has a very successful online presence. It has collaborated with influencers and regularly shares discount codes on its website.
Gymshark’s Black Friday yearly plan certainly reflects the company’s popularity. They know that a lot of people will be making purchases, which is why they always release a guide to help their customers get the items that they want.
Gymshark guides its customers through making a wish list that allows them to buy the items that they want. By encouraging its customers to make this wishlist, Gymshark builds hype around the event and directs more people towards its site ahead of Black Friday.
Lush’s Orangutan Soap
Lush is the perfect example of using Black Friday to sell products and promote the ethos of your brand.
As you are likely aware, Lush places a huge focus on sustainability and breaking free from extreme consumerism, which is essentially what Black Friday represents – well that and reasonably priced flat screens.
Every Black Friday, Lush releases a limited edition ‘Orangutan Soap’, Lush raises awareness about how close these incredible creatures are to extinction and emphasises that their survival hinges on the number left in the wild, which is why the product is limited to how many orangutans are in the wild.
All profits from the sale of these soaps go directly to the Orangutan Information Center, which is a great example of someone ethnically using Black Friday while still benefiting from the event.
At Blaze, we strongly believe that focusing on your brand’s ethos and beliefs is essential to authentically connecting with your consumer base.
Polysleep’s Mock Email Leak
One of the best Black Friday marketing campaigns that we have ever seen is Polysleep’s email leak.
Let’s face it: It can be difficult to get your followers and clients to open a newsletter, which means that many customers miss out on brilliant Black Friday discount codes and deals.
The owner of Polysleep, Jeremiah Curvers, framed their Black Friday newsletter to look like it was leaked accidentally, piquing the recipients’ interest even more, resulting in the newsletter being forwarded and more conversions being achieved.
The idea of the deals being leaked created huge hype around the company on Black Friday and resulted in the company selling an incredible number of mattresses.
Now, at Blaze, we will never encourage dishonesty, but we think this idea was brilliant, and it clearly worked well.
Cards Against Humanity’s 99% off Sale
Cards Against Humanity is well known for its comedy. It’s not quite up to the Blaze standard, but it’s definitely getting there.
Because their whole brand is based around humour and having fun, it only makes sense for them to use Black Friday as an opportunity to be as silly as possible.
In 2019, Cards Against Humanity held a 99% off Black Friday sale, which offered the most bizarre items. For example, you could get a used Ford Fiesta for less than £100 and even a diamond ring for less than £30.
This campaign aligned well with the brand’s personality and showed off its humorous side while still providing excellent deals and spreading brand awareness.
It shows that it is beneficial to lean into your brand’s personality, which is why clearly understanding your brand identity is essential for carrying out a great marketing campaign.
Ikea’s Buy Back Friday
Ikea is one of the biggest businesses in the world and it is clear that they have absolutely no problem gaining customers. Because of this, in 2020, they decided to find a different use for Black Friday away from trying to achieve sales.
To further improve the company’s sustainability initiative, they offered to buy back used Ikea furniture for up to 50% of the original price.
This Black Friday campaign was fantastic for the planet and allowed Ikea to connect with more eco-conscious consumers and highlight the brand’s plan to be more sustainable.
When it comes to newsjacking, it’s hard to deny that Ikea does it best. They used the excitement of Black Friday to perfectly further the brand’s image.
Running a Successful Digital Campaign
Hopefully, looking at examples of successful digital campaigns has motivated you to start your own before Black Friday arrives.
As of the time this blog is published, you should have around a month to put your campaign together, which is plenty of time if you are working with the right people – hint, hint.
Now that you know the importance of running a successful Black Friday digital campaign, here are some tips on developing your own.
Start Marketing Early
For Black Friday, it is always suggested that you start the marketing process as soon as possible, as you have to imagine you will be competing with many other campaigns.
It is always suggested that you start brainstorming ideas earlier in the year, as this will give you time to assess them and select the best one.
As soon as the concept is established, begin the marketing process. This will ensure that as many people as possible are aware of your campaign by the time it is published.
Prepare Your Mailing Lists
Every business should have a mailing list. A mailing list allows you to share updates with your consumers and get in touch with clients. It also adds more personality and character to your business and gives people more insight into the company.
Make sure you have your mailing lists and a newsletter concerning your Black Friday deals ready to go. Providing your mailing list with deals before everyone else will also allow them to develop a better relationship with the company and feel appreciated for their loyalty.
Remember, your customers are the ones who are paying your bills; the least that you can do is make them feel valued.
Increase Advertising Spend
Every business in the world increases its advertising spending around Black Friday. If you pay attention around that time of year, you will see that your social media certainly has far more advertisements than usual.
Businesses become really competitive during Black Friday, so your average ad spend may result in your ads being lost. By investing more money into your ads, you will reach more people and achieve higher sales on Black Friday.
At Blaze, we know the value of investing in your social media ads, and we have seen great returns for our clients through clever investment in their ads.
Social media is always the best investment when it comes to ad spending, especially on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, so increase your spending on those platforms.
Create a Sense of Urgency
You must create a sense of urgency with your Black Friday deal; if people aren’t worried about you selling out or missing out on a deal, they won’t bother to rush to your site.
Make it very clear that your sale is limited and needs to be quickly cashed in. A popular way businesses create this sense of urgency is by offering a limited amount of their product; limiting your stock will make people more likely to rush to purchase.
If you are unsure how to develop this sense of urgency and need Black Friday marketing ideas to inspire you, do your research and learn about campaigns carried out by companies in your industry.
Seek the Support of a Marketing Agency
The best advice we can offer is to work with a marketing agency. We know what you’re thinking: Of course, you’re going to recommend a marketing agency; you are a marketing agency.
However, we implore you to look at the results we have achieved for our clients through running ad campaigns, as that shows that we know what we’re talking about.
We have run countless PPC and social ad campaigns and have mastered the art of marketing campaigns, especially for Black Friday.
Working with a marketing agency will ensure that you are doing everything right and getting the most out of your money, so be sure to contact our team to learn more about how we can help you make money this Black Friday.