November might seem like it’s still in the distance, but Black Friday 2024 planning is in full swing. Online sales continue to increase year-over-year, so take advantage of all online channels for maximum success. It’s time to start planning today – Let’s work together to ensure your BFCM email marketing plan is a success!
1. Start Planning Early
Better late than never doesn't apply to effective, well-thought-out marketing campaigns. Black Friday has become one of the largest marketing & sales events of the year in Canada, so make sure it is a key part of your email strategy. How can you do that?
Create an Omnichannel Marketing Experience
Ensure that your email marketing plan is aligned with all other Black Friday marketing channels, such as paid ads, social media, SMS marketing, and your website. Coordinate promotions, messaging, graphics and images across all marketing channels to reinforce your Black Friday offers, maximize reach and ensure a seamless customer experience.
Offer Exclusive Deals to Email Subscribers
Send your email subscribers exclusive discounts, early access, or additional sales to make them feel valued. This will help strengthen your customer relationship, drive more sales, and grow your email list for future campaigns.
Offer Value That Is More Than Just Monetary Discounts
While discounts are a key part of any Black Friday marketing strategy, we understand the challenge of cutting too far into your profit margins. There are many ways to offer value to your customers beyond saving money, such as free gifts, free shipping, extended warranties, bonus loyalty points, and more.
2. Double Down on Marketing Efforts
Leverage Automated Campaigns
Ensure all your email automations are functioning and up to date for this high-volume shopping period. Some key automations to optimize are:
- Abandoned Cart: Ensure you have campaigns to re-engage customers who have abandoned their carts in the period leading up to and during the Black Friday sales period. These emails should be personalized with dynamic product recommendations and special offers to entice the customers to purchase.
- Lapsed Buyers: The BFCM period is the perfect time to try and reactivate lapsed customers who have not purchased in a while. Create targeted campaigns for this segment with personalization, product recs, and additional offers to try and win the customer's back.
- Post-Purchase: Post-purchase flows foster relationships and create long-term customers. These emails should thank customers for their purchase, provide order confirmation and shipping updates, and offer product recommendations to encourage repeat purchases.
Send Reminder Emails
During Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Holiday periods, marketers double down on their campaigns, which means inboxes are flooded with additional emails. Black Friday itself is the day that the most emails are sent.
This means that for your message to be seen, it must stand out (we'll get into that later), and you must send it often in case the recipient misses it. Don't be afraid to add additional "did not open" sends or reminders.
It is also important to build up the hype before Black Friday. This could mean sending countdown emails, offering exclusive early access, or offering pre-sales.
Create a Sense of Urgency
A picture is worth a thousand words, and a countdown is worth a thousand pictures! Using a visual countdown until the sale ends can add an additional sense of urgency and drive more sales. Check with your email platform to see if they have an existing template integration.
3. Apply Email Best Practices
Standard email best practices still apply to all emails in your BFCM campaigns. Here are a few to keep in mind:
Personalize Emails
While basic personalization is a good start, go the extra mile and implement advanced personalization. How? Use your customer data to deliver hyper-targeted and highly personalized emails to your customers. This data could include purchase history, browsing activity, product recommendations, etc.
Craft Compelling Subject Lines
Encourage customers to open your email with a strong subject line. Ask a question, use emojis, spark interest and more.
Create Engaging Content
Design visually appealing emails that will help readers convert. Make sure offers are displayed prominently, and call-to-action buttons are clear.
Optimize Design for Mobile
Ensure that your email is optimized for both mobile and desktop viewing. Keep key information like promotions above the fold to catch attention.
Track Data & Analyse Performance
Track key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, revenue, transactions, etc. This will help you determine the success of your campaigns and let you know if adjustments are needed.
Now that you're armed with these insights, it's time to get to work! The Black Friday inbox battle is fierce, but with the right strategy and proper planning, your brand can stand out. By applying these email marketing strategies and best practices, you'll boost your sales during this crucial period and cultivate lasting customer relationships that will pay dividends year-round. Inboxes are a powerful tool—make the most of it.
If you need additional help with your email or Black Friday marketing, <imajery> is always ready. Reach out today!
Author
Email & Social Account Manager
Interested in working with Us?
We'd love to hear from you!