With the clock ticking until Black Friday, the Arkenauts have put together a checklist for the main things you need to consider and can still action on time for a successful marketing strategy during BFCM.
Whilst we at Arke can support your overall strategy, we recognise that pricing, inventory planning, web development, and logistics optimisations may not be too flexible by now, but your BFCM marketing campaign can still be a success by following our 10 steps to succeed this Black Friday.
1. Define how long you will take part for
What started several years ago as a one-day shopping frenzy has been diluted by multiple approaches, with retailers offering their Black Friday discounts for several days or even weeks. Analyse what impact this will take on your brand, bottomline, and your customers’ perception if you participate in Black Friday over an extended period.
2. What will you offer?
BFCM can be a great opportunity to reduce inventory levels and clear collections. Site-wide discounts can be communicated more easily to customers, but going granular can also increase your customers’ perception of hitting the jackpot if you’re able to offer irresistible discounts.
3. Have a look at your results from last year
Don’t forget to check the performance of your online store last year. Were there any pain points that need to be communicated (such as an extended period for deliveries?). Were there any collections that didn’t perform as expected or others that surpassed your objectives and that may offer a chance to increase your margins?
4. Set up your BFCM page
If you haven’t got a BFCM landing page from previous years, it’s never too late to create one where your promotions are shown with exclusive content for the duration of the campaign. This page will also be a great testing ground to where you can direct your paid campaigns.
5. Design your multi-channel communications strategy
Losing sales by communicating too late or receiving complaints from customers who purchased before the campaign goes live is a common scenario. Clearly communicate your returns policies during BFCM and any price-matching strategies you’re able to put in place. Decide well in advance when you will start communicating your Black Friday marketing campaign.
6. Target your paid campaigns accurately
Use advanced segmentation based on your customers’ profiles and retargeting for those who visited your site before your BFCM campaign goes live.
With competition and demand increasing considerably during the run-up to BFCM, it’s always crucial to direct your budget to those most likely to convert, whilst also trying to reach new audiences.
Consider launching data-capture competitions and give-aways four weeks before Black Friday to build up your email list and retargeting campaigns.
At Arke we can help you devise a correct bidding strategy to win the day, optimising towards target ROAS and maximising value to boost your marketing ROI.
7. Can you offer a sustainable spin to your customers?
The consumerism spirit of the discounting campaign could pose a contradiction to your brand values. In response to this, creative initiatives have gained prominence over the years so you can have a sustainable Black Friday campaign. At Arke we don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach and specialise in tailoring creative strategies for each of our clients. Interested? Just hit that contact button and tell us about your unique needs.
8. Prepare your teams
The most successful marketing campaigns cannot be detrimental to your customers’ experience. Consider any additional support your teams will need for increased demand over BFCM and the run-up to the holidays, so your customers get your products on time and their questions answered swiftly.
9. Plan for loyalty and retention
BFCM is not just about discounts. Take it as an opportunity to scale LTV, showcasing your values and the quality of your products.
Make sure your reviews are clearly shown not just on your website but also across your multi-channel communications, and have a plan in place to reward loyal customers who act as referrals and ambassadors of your brand.
10. Check your tracking!
Having inaccurate data is one of the biggest issues retailers face to understand the performance of their marketing campaigns. Server-side tracking combined with Consent Mode V2 are required to stay privacy-compliant and enhance accuracy.
Download Arke’s Black Friday Marketing Checklist
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Our expertise across multiple industries is constantly recognised as refreshing by our clients as we bring fresh perspectives and learnings gained over the years.
Our Black Friday campaign for Shay & Blue won the Best Paid Social Campaign at the UK Paid Media Awards, bringing record ROAS, revenue and engagement among younger audiences. These are some of the stats we achieved with them:
At Arke, we’re offering a free audit of your site where we’ll not only assess current marketing performance but also identify opportunities for optimisation and growth. The audit includes a review over Search, Display, Programmatic and Social tailored to your industry.
Let’s have a chat and tell us about your unique needs or book an intro call directly.
