Ah, yes. The Q4 period is slowly rearing its unnerving and stress-inducing head, and every marketer’s favourite time of the year will soon be upon us. This is probably the moment when you’re scrambling to get various things together and stressing about those clients who are just sauntering through their BFCM campaign planning.
What we all want to achieve is a successful Q4 period, where your clients are happy and the whole team behind the effort is aligned towards your main goal. Each and every department must know what’s expected of them and the best steps and techniques to reach that high level of success.
We’ve put together a short guide on how you can write successful ad copy for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns. Check out a few of our top tips below!
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
At the end of the day, getting people to follow through with your ads and convert is the goal. Creating FOMO around your campaigns can encourage readers to take action and make them truly believe you're hosting a limited-time/limited-stock sale.
This tactic is going to be employed by all of your competitors, so make sure you don't fall behind the crowd. Even including the simple phrase "limited-time sale" within your ad copy can push the consumer into a purchase because they'll believe that the deal won't be around for long.
Other examples include:
- "Limited stock available."
- "Hurry! Offer ends in 24 hours".
- "Offer available whilst stocks last".
- "Flash sale! X now X% off for just a few hours.".
Making the viewer believe they'll miss out on the deal is one of the main focuses of your campaigns. Don't bore them and force them over to your competitors; entice them with flash sales, sudden discount increases, and language that'll trick them into thinking you only have one product or one size left in stock.
Be Consistent
Another top tip is to make sure your copy stays relevant throughout the BFCM period. Confusing customers is the last thing you want to do, as they’re more than likely to choose your competitors for their products instead.
Offering a sitewide blanket discount to all your customers is useful in this regard. There shouldn’t be anyone incorrectly typing in a code or contacting your customer support team to ask whether one product has a bigger discount than your others.
Also, ensure your copy and any codes you use are consistent across all your channels; organic, paid media, email marketing, and website. Don’t unnecessarily puzzle anyone by having different discounts/products/promotion dates across Instagram, Facebook, or your website’s sale banner, as no one will understand what’s happening.
If your ad says “Black Friday Sale: 20% Off”, and someone clicks through it onto your site, make sure they’re met with a banner, image, or landing page that conveys the same message. This will alleviate so many issues in the long run and ensure there’s no confusion on the journey from ad viewer to customer.
Be Willing To Adapt Your Tone of Voice
This is something that everyone, and we mean everyone, will be doing. Black Friday is the time for sales, so push that message to the whole of the internet and beyond.
Your customers will recognise your usual TOV out of the sales period, but don’t be afraid to adapt it to reach a wider audience. This links into the idea of FOMO and ensuring the customer knows that a sale is happening and that it’s a limited-time thing.
You don’t just want to appeal to your usual customer base during this period, so including as many sales-y words, phrases and emojis into your copy will expand your target audience and allow you to reach lots of new customers. Sales happen all the time, but it’s important to grab this particular sales period by the throat and really get your message out there.
If products are likely to sell out fast, make sure that’s a principal part of your messaging. If you’re promoting your largest sale to date, emphasise how great an offer the customer is getting.
Be Clear in Your Messaging
Do not mislead people into thinking your deal or offer is something that it’s not. Putting your discount code or percentage front and centre will show consumers exactly what you’re offering.
Likewise, having a clear call to action will make sure the viewer knows what you want them to do; for example, “Shop the deals on-site”, “Apple code at checkout”, or “Add three items to your basket and receive one free”, etc.
Clarity also comes from being aligned across all channels and making sure your deals match. As we’ve mentioned before, having designated landing page copy & website banners that show the same offers as your ads will ensure that nothing gets misinterpreted throughout the checkout process.
Keep It Simple
Don’t go overboard with the varying discounts. No one will understand what promotion you’re offering if there are different percentage discounts for various products or if you’re giving customers “15% off all Black products for Black Friday”. It’s just confusing!
Using a blanket discount sitewide throughout the sale will make sure the consumer knows what promotion you’re running. Suppose you’re staggering the deals regularly or constantly changing what offer you’re handing out. In that case, it’ll most likely lead to a few complaints from customers who saw a better discount/other discounted products a few days before your new promotion.
That being said, having consistent and well-documented staggered promotions can be beneficial. Consumers will eagerly wait for the most considerable discount before purchasing, potentially leading to more and more people shopping with you.
So, there you have it! Those were just a few of our top tips on how you can write successful ad copy for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns. We love testing the water with new copy techniques and phrases to encourage consumers to click, browse, and purchase, so hopefully, we’ve inspired you to try something different this year.
If you’re in need of any advice surrounding Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the rest of the Q4 period (yes, Christmas is snowballing towards us at a very fast rate), then get in touch with us today! Whatever questions or concerns you have, we’re sure to have the answers.
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