Digital marketing strategies that can “turn shoppers into customers” this Black Friday

As part of Bdaily’s latest feature, Retail Week, we hear from Marietta Chatzidiakou, senior content consultant at Leicester based marketing agency Digital Ethos, who recommends some of her Black Friday digital marketing strategies, so that marketers can turn shoppers’ excitement into “standout holiday sales”.

Marietta commented: “Over the past decade, Black Friday has become a commonplace event in the UK. With such popularity among UK consumers, most brands and retailers are using the opportunity to start sales from the beginning of November, as well as extending sales to the Monday after, which is now known as Cyber Monday.

“This is the time of year that customers expect and are actively looking for deals, but it can be challenging for brands to stand out and understand how to best provide their customers with a captivating message and an exciting customer experience.”

As the busiest shopping period of the year, preparing for Black Friday can become overwhelming, which is why brands need to have a clear strategy in place with some killer planned tactics. Read on to find out more…

Promote your sales in advance with a social media campaign

With “overwhelming pressure and hype” on the day itself to promote, early bird sales can be just as attractive to some shoppers. Creating a dedicated social media campaign can lead to brands attracting shoppers who are looking to get ahead on their bargains and Christmas spending.

Marietta noted: “Make the most of each social platform’s features. Excite your followers by posting countdown timers, previews of exclusive deals, teaser campaigns, and social media competitions.

“With social media, you can easily convert your followers into customers and generate sales by using phrases that create urgency in your captions, and inspire followers to act fast on deal reveals.”

Social media is also an excellent tool for connecting and interacting with followers and customers, and scaling the social media campaign to adequately allocate resources to respond and interact with customers throughout the event is most important. This will result in a more personalised, and invested approach that customers will appreciate and respond to.

Reward your loyal customers

Marietta advised: “It is important not to forget the loyal customers that have a sustained relationship and purchase history with your brand, especially as these seasonal events are the perfect time to acknowledge them and reinforce to them why they have been loyal.”

Appreciation for loyal, long-term customers must go beyond a general mass email or discount code. Instead, marketers should use the perfect blend of consumer shopping data and proactive content marketing to demonstrate how appreciative the brand is, such as personalised messages and exclusive deals.

Marietta continued: “You might want to consider creating a rewards programme for seasonal events, or even throughout the year. This can give your brand the opportunity to exceed your customer’s expectations every time they interact with you, resulting in your brand community creating a sense of belonging.

“This will then allow your brand to build emotional connections with your customers, and really build customer loyalty.”

Preparing your website for e-commerce transactions

With 61.5 per cent of UK sales taking place online for Black Friday last year (according to behavioural marketing specialist SaleCycle), having robust e-commerce functionality is a must for every website. But this means going beyond the simple functionalities of clicking a button, and creating a platform that enhances the user experience for a lasting impression.

Marietta said: “There are so many tips and tricks that marketers can use to elevate their eCommerce functionalities. Most important, is to establish the eCommerce platform that will work best for your brand.

“After that, really delve into developing the site’s layout and eCommerce UX design for a seamless and exciting user experience, and do not forget about mobile user-friendliness!”

Marietta also advises using keywords to search for holiday deals that shoppers are likely to use, for example, google shopping search trends indicated that ‘headphones’ has seen an increase of 488 per cent in UK searches this week alone.

Using appropriate keywords throughout a brand’s website is an essential method of creating relevancy and interest, but ensure to avoid keyword stuffing so that content can read naturally and be compelling for shoppers.

Marietta summarised: “Avoid being overwhelmed and under immense pressure this holiday season, as some effective digital marketing strategies can go a long way to improving sales, and creating positive customer engagement and loyalty.

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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