It’s that time of year again! Make sure you’re leaving out those milk and cookies for Father ROAS on Thursday 24th November, because Black Friday is back, baby!
Whether you’re a small business heading into your first ever BFCM or a seasoned digital marketing agency preparing for their sixth (we’re the latter), there’s always something new to learn.
We wanted to ask our expert paid social execs, web devs, PPC execs, email marketers, graphic designers and copywriters what they recommend going into another high-octane advertisement adventure. Read on and discover their top tips to make 2022 your most successful Black Friday yet.
Organisation is Key - Aimee, Head of Copy.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my Black Fridays with DMT, it’s that organisation is key. Anyone who works with me knows how I love to break my days down into a list, but I can’t stress enough how important it is over the Black Friday/Cyber Week madness. It keeps me sane - and wine helps, too.”
Stick to a Plan - Ellie, Email Marketing Executive.
“I would say organisation and planning as much as possible is key.”
Simple and Clear Copy - Hannah, Copywriter.
“Keep your promotion as simple as possible! During the Black Friday period, consumers will be hit with a huge influx of content, so it's important to avoid going OTT. Drive up the FOMO, use a blanket discount and make your promotions as clear as possible to avoid any confusion.”
Update Your Flows - Jamie, Email Marketing Team Manager.
“If you’re running a sitewide promotion, be sure to add it to all of the correct flows (Homepage Pop-up, Exit Intent Pop-up, Welcome Series, and Abandoned Cart, as well as campaign templates). You should also be aware that existing discounts may stack on top of the BFCM discount, so make sure that these are temporarily disabled!”
Adapt Your Copy - Joe, Copy Team Manager.
“BFCM is all about who shouts the loudest. Be willing to adapt your brand’s tone of voice to something a little more sales-y, and encourage FOMO wherever possible. If you think it’s likely your product is going to sell out, you better make sure the customer knows it.”
A Good Offer = New Customers - Lauren, Head of PPC.
“Make your offer compelling. Don't just use this as an opportunity to get rid of unwanted stock - Black Friday is a chance to gain new customers who wouldn't have shopped for your brand/product otherwise. Scaling new customer acquisition activity over the BFCM period will pay dividends later as a proportion of those new customers will buy from you again, so factor repeat purchase rates into decision making.” - Lauren, Head of PPC.
Seasonality Adjustments - Lucy, PPC Executive.
“Best suited for promotions lasting 1-7 days, seasonality adjustments allow Google advertisers to adjust bid strategies based upon anticipated and predicted uplifts in conversion rates during peak seasons. As Smart Bidding focuses on long-term seasonal events and trends, seasonal adjustments acts as an extra layer for short-term events to allow for machine learning to adapt to temporary CVR spikes at a much quicker pace.”
Launch Early to Get Out of the Learning Phase - Matt, Head of Paid Media.
“Build and warm up your audiences beforehand, as first-party data is so important now following changes made in iOS14.5. Go heavy on content creation to stand out from the crowd, and launch your promotion early with the aim of getting out of the learning phase before the main event. Being in the learning phase on Meta can break your Q4, so keep ad changes to a minimum - it’ll do more harm than good!”
Time Management is Key - Ollie, Copywriter.
“Get ahead of yourself. Make sure you’re aligned with the rest of the team and know what needs to be done. Starting early and getting on top of everything will relieve so much stress in the long run and ensure that those last-minute worries can be easily alleviated.”
Stand Out from the Crowd - Regan, Design Team Manager.
“Make sure your ads are original. Try to stray away from the generic sale style and try to stand out in the feed. It’ll make you much more likely to get that conversion.”
Gather Assets Ahead of Time - Sam, PPC Executive.
“We like to make sure our clients have sent over their promos, assets and budgets in good time. The earlier we get our hands on this stuff, the more time we have to create better quality ads for the biggest day on the eCommerce calendar.”
Identify Last Year’s Wins - Sarah, Head of eCommerce Strategy.
“From a business strategy perspective, plan ahead and mark important dates as well as key promotions in your marketing calendar. Identify if there is anything you can bring into this year from last year, like demand for certain products, trends, and competitor analysis. Then communicate this across your team to ensure everyone knows their role and can operate as smoothly as possible during the peak period.”
Start Building Your Database Now - Tim, Head of Design.
“Start running lead gen on Facebook from October, and integrate that with your ESP. Collect email addresses of prospecting customers interested in early access and exclusive Black Friday offers. Having a large database of engaged users interested in your deals will ensure you are maximising the potential return during the BFCM period.”
Don’t Stress - Tom, Paid Social Manager.
“Don't be stressing on the day if results are looking slow. Conversions are delayed in Meta & Google Analytics. The conversions will come!”
Hopefully, you’re feeling a little better prepared for Black Friday 2022 after reading tips from the experts. If not, have no fear! Digital Media Team are here to help. Whether you need to rebuild your Shopify site, get Performance Max ads up on Google, refresh your Email Marketing Flows or get some new paid social ads live, we’ve got experts for every step of the way. Get in touch and find out how we can change your business for the better.
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