Brands have all year to prepare for Black Friday Cyber Monday, yet many brands wait too long to strategize, leading to missed opportunities and lost revenue.
It’s been a tough year for retail in general, with consumer prices up 2.5% in August compared to a year ago. 2024 is definitely a year where brands will need to get creative to ensure they’re acquiring (and retaining) as many customers as possible.
To prepare for the busy season and stay in control when the big event arrives, you need actionable strategies, such as:
In this Black Friday Marketing Strategy Guide, we’ll outline two different strategies you can set up ahead of time to make the most of the busy holiday season:
Without further ado, let’s get into it!
It can be tempting to go all-in on new customer acquisition for Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM).
After all, it is the biggest shopping event of the year.
However… It’s also a prime opportunity to focus your marketing efforts on the customers you already have - the ones who already know and love your products instead of overpaying for new ones. Why? Because acquiring a new customer can cost five times as much as retaining an existing one.
It’s also a prime opportunity to focus your marketing efforts on the customers you already have—the ones who already know and love your products instead of overpaying for new ones.
By refocusing your marketing efforts this holiday, you can drive up average order value (AOV), customer lifetime value (CLV), and add profit to your bottom line (it’s totally fine to save time budget for net-new customers, too!).
Here are some steps for uncovering some cost-effective re-marketing opportunities this season:
Every customer is a constellation of data points - but not every customer is created equal.
Dive deep into your data and you’ll discover customers that are most likely to make another purchase this holiday season. In Triple Whale’s Smart Customer Data Platform, you can see the breakdown of customers based on recency, frequency, and monetary value (RFM audiences):
Maybe they’re recent first-time buyers you’re looking to re-engage within a month after that first order hit their doorstep. Perhaps they’re your go-tos, the Whales with the highest LTV. Or maybe this is the perfect opportunity to circle back with folks who only stopped by last holiday season.
You want to focus your marketing efforts on these people: Your people!
You've identified key cohorts. Now let's figure out what they want to purchase.
Let's say you sell artisanal ice cream.
In analyzing your customer data, you notice that your most loyal customers buy pints of birthday cake and double chocolate fudge brownie at the same time. You can use this data to build bundles and inform ad creatives to target the other cohorts you uncovered with special offers designed to turn recent buyers and last year’s new customers into evangelists (without that nCAC surcharge).
With zero-party data, you can take your customization to the next level. Nurturing customers involves understanding and catering to the needs of different segments. Collecting information throughout the buying journey, like with engaging quizzes with Digioh or conversational pop-ups with Justuno, can reveal valuable insights on customer preferences you can utilize to help your brand stand out during the holiday season.
For specific holiday insights, consider asking questions like:
1. What incentives (e.g., free shipping, discounts) would make you more likely to purchase?
Knowing which incentives work best can increase conversion rates and satisfaction. For example, If most customers prefer BOGO promotions, heavily promote this incentive in your holiday marketing.
2. What do you look for in an ideal online shopping experience?
Interactive polls or feedback forms can inform which aspects of the shopping experience matter most to your customers, to help tailor your website's UX/UI and customer journey. If customers value fast shipping and easy returns, make these features prominent in your marketing campaigns.
3. Would you be interested in holiday-themed social media contests or events?
Social media polls and interactive content (e.g., TikTok’s Q&A sessions) can help gauge interest in types of content or events, to help plan effective campaigns. For example, a cosmetic brand could host a “Holiday Makeup Contest” on Instagram or TikTok, to encourage UGC and boost brand awareness.
By tuning into your customers' needs, you can create a magical shopping experience that boosts sales and loyalty. Triple Whale's PPS (Post Purchase Survey) is your secret Santa, offering insights into customer behavior to help you pick the best incentives and fine-tune your marketing. With Triple Whale, you'll make data-driven decisions that turn your holiday campaigns into a winter wonderland of success! 🎅🏽
Once you’ve compiled all the data, you can use the insights gleaned about your customers to create data-informed, personalized marketing campaigns that will resonate.
Some strategies that are tried and true include:
Your most loyal customers are actively reading your emails, which means they’re more likely to act on special offers. If you set up a discount that’s exclusive, worthwhile, and timed before the main sale, you can secure some purchases early.
The zero-party data collected will be invaluable for creating specific segments of customers that you can market to with exclusive deals that resonate with them.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You already have ads that have performed well during the year - if you don’t know which ones performed best, ask Moby!
Based on a customer’s previous purchases, you can recommend personalized products to create a personalized shopping experience. This can extend to specific, tailored SMS or email campaign offers that will resonate with the customer.
A smart campaign is a successful campaign, so make sure your BFCM efforts are focused on the customers who have the most potential to drive revenue during this popular event!
While retention is crucial, acquisition marketing during BFCM is also an opportunity to bring in new customers who are ready to shop for deals. The key is to make sure you’re marketing the right products, using the data you have in front of you to inform your strategy, and creating a post-purchase experience that keeps customers coming back for more.
A hero product is the flagship product for your business and often the item that sets you apart from the competition. A standout product will drive sales, and once you’ve determined which product is your hero, you should double-down on marketing that product to new customers.
Triple Whale’s Product Analytics feature can help you gain an in-depth understanding of your sales at the product level, to make better merchandising decisions right down to the variant.
For example, you could ask Moby: “which product generated the highest revenue over the past 12 months?”
With the result, you could choose to put more marketing dollars behind advertising that specific product.
Product Analytics can also dial down the KPIs for every product variant, including Ad Spend, ROAS, Contribution Margin, Return Rate, and many more. With this robust array of KPIs for each product, you can analyze which ads drove the sales to each product, to iterate and improve on future ads.
Triple Whale enables you to build a real-time, fully customizable dashboard to monitor the data points that matter most to you. With Triple Whale, you’re able to witness your performance as it unfolds, which is essential for adjusting on the fly during such a high-traffic event. Real-time insights could mean the difference between capitalizing on opportunities or missing out due to delayed information.
Another benefit of Triple Whale is the ability for community partners to create dashboards that can be installed and used by any brand on the platform. One board that would be especially useful for analyzing performance during a sale is the Hourly Performance Dash, created by adQuadrant.
With this template, you can monitor how performance is pacing throughout the day, giving you the ability to make intraday decisions to adjust budgets to maximize performance. You can drill down by ad platform, campaign, and individual ads to unlock the key growth drivers.
Even without using a pre-built template, you can ask Moby questions about your data to make on the fly decisions during the BFCM event. Here are a few examples:
Don’t let last year’s data go to waste. Start with the basics, and ask Moby to give you a rundown on performance metrics for last year’s BFCM event:
“I want to analyze my BFCM sales performance last year to start strategizing for this year. Show my total sales and key performance metrics for November 24 - November 27, 2023.”
And Moby’s response could look like:
These metrics can stand as a benchmark for your 2024 data, some values you hope to surpass for this year’s sales.
Another way to use historical data is to generate a forecast for future sales to predict inventory needs. Which products sold out first during last year’s event? Ensure you have adequate inventory for the surge of sales you will expect to see.
While this section outlines how you can acquire new customers, you should also always be trying to make a first-time customer a long-time one. Here are a few ways to do this:
The holiday season is the biggest for gifting, which means you can expect a lot of returns. Streamlining the return process can be a big factor in customer satisfaction, and a painless process will keep them coming back.
ShipBob can help with a returns management process, and even create a positive brand experience for customers. By asking customers why they are making a return, you can connect with them to understand if they’re unsatisfied and how you can improve your product. You can also build brand loyalty by building trust!
Enhancing the unboxing experience is a great way to influence future purchasing decisions, generate social buzz, and boost customer loyalty and retention - and ShipBob can also help, here! Besides managing the fully-branded packaging for your business, ShipBob can also add personalized experiences like handwritten notes, which are next-level!
Offering exclusive deals and access to loyalty programs can really drive the potential for repeat business. Building a community around your brand will make customers feel like they’re a part of something. Toki has all the tools to create a cohesive retention experience all in one place, including Loyalty, Memberships, Referrals, and Engagement. In the post-purchase flow, you also should include a spot where you encourage customer reviews and feedback, so the customer always feels heard.
Setting up a post-purchase survey is a great way to get more information from your new customers, too! In Triple Whale, you can set up a post-purchase survey directly, or you can integrate your Kno or Fairing data to analyze the data collected on those platforms. For example, a hair extension company like Madison Braids can ask what problems a customer is hoping to solve by purchasing their products. The answer can guide future product development and customer satisfaction.
With the additional data collected through post-purchase surveys, you can unlock the power of Triple Whale’s Total Impact Model, which combines first-party data with zero-party data, mixes in our proprietary algorithm, and generates a comprehensive understanding of which marketing channels are driving the most revenue.
Planning ahead for Black Friday is essential for maximizing your holiday season success. By focusing on both retention and acquisition with these marketing strategies, your DTC brand can navigate the busy season with confidence and drive substantial growth. Start now to make the most of BFCM, and watch your holiday sales soar!
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