Black Friday and Cyber Monday are rapidly approaching, which is enough to make any marketer quiver. According to a study completed by Finder, on average 42% of people spend on Black Friday or Cyber Monday with an average spend of £250! But it’s safe to say that things will be different this year.

Let’s not sugar-coat it, the pandemic is going to affect every aspect of shopping behaviour on these days. But it’s our jobs as marketers to ensure our campaigns are ready to face every possibility and make it the most profitable day of online sales.

Here’s what you need to know for your Black Friday digital marketing campaigns in 2020:

1. Online competition will be more prominent than ever

Unsurprisingly, Black Friday purchases are more likely to be made online this year rather than in store. Which is great news for your online shop and campaigns. However, every other online retailer is going to be fighting for the same advertising space as you. Competition will be rife this year to ensure that businesses do not miss sales that they would usually get from in store customers.

Increased competition for an ad space can drastically increase your bid prices and overall cost. If you do not use budget smartly, your Black Friday will be very expensive.

To help with competition, we recommend reviewing the bid strategy of your campaign and considering using a smart bidding option. With the help of machine learning, smart bid strategies automate your bids to a) keep cap of your budgets and b) only bid on the customers that will be valuable.

2. Your campaigns need to make an impact

If you’re like me, you’ve spent the majority of the pandemic shopping online with a new package arriving every day. This means I might think I have all the stuff I need and won’t need to buy anything on Black Friday. This is what your customers could be thinking too.

Your campaigns need to make an impact to push customers to make the purchase. They likely do not need your product, but your job is to make them want your product. You need to use your campaigns to tell a powerful story that ultimately results in a purchase on the big day.

Consider using display or social campaigns powered by remarketing lists to reach users most relevant to you.

Get creative and make them want your product.

3. If you can’t be competitive on price, be unrivalled on customer service

This one’s pretty self-explanatory. If you cannot lower your prices to be the lowest on the market, ensure your customer service exceeds your competitors. Consider having free delivery, free returns, 24/7 customer support or even a warranty. If you can prove to shoppers that your brand is trustworthy, you might win their purchase over a lower priced competitor.

Ensure your USPs are in your ad copy as much as possible.

4. Do your research before

Most importantly, you must have done your research before building your campaigns for Black Friday. Take some time to complete audience, keyword and competitor research to know exactly how to run your campaigns. This research will inform you of the bids to set, which audiences will be most profitable and where you stand on the market currently.

Doing campaign research prior to the big day could be the difference between a good and bad Black Friday.

If you are looking for further advice on how to succeed online this Black Friday, contact us today for a no obligation chat.