The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to contribute to a subdued Black Friday this year. However, if you running an online store, it’s a good opportunity to cash in on the trend and make some killing.
Black Friday across several retail chains is likely to be held online this year. That means an extended shopping festival that starts with Black Friday on November 27th culminating with Cyber Monday on the 30th.
Here is a quick guide on how to prepare your business for this year’s season.
Shopping is going mobile
As the world enters another recession, consumerism is going to see a dip this year. However, with lesser money to spend, more customers are going to shop for discounted products during Black Friday.
But with social distancing norms in place, do not expect your neighborhood Walmarts to be mobbed like earlier. Shoppers are going to prefer the convenience of buying online. More specifically with their mobile phones.
So the first thing you must take care of is your website’s mobile-friendliness. Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals fly off the shelf at very short notice. So a website that is slow to respond is a surefire way to lose customers.
In addition to this, we are going to see plenty of mobile apps crop up over the next month that help buyers with the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal from various stores.
If you have the technical expertise in-house, do consider launching your own Black Friday app on the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store so that you have complete control over channeling this audience to your stores.
If you have not invested in App Store Optimization (ASO) yet, now is the time to do it.
Look at social media for customer acquisition
Traditionally, Black Friday deals are dominated by major retail chains like Walmart and Target. With sales moving to the digital medium this year, there is a gap that smaller players can fulfill.
There is however not enough time for such businesses to acquire organic traffic from search engines. Advertising with PPC is an option but CPC costs during Black Friday sales are going to be exorbitant.
Social media is thus a great channel to acquire customers during this shopping festival. To begin with, invest heavily in video marketing. Social media users engage well with the visual medium than text.
Facebook and Instagram users spend several hours each month on videos. By building powerful videos that market your upcoming Black Friday sales, you could set up a marketing funnel that you could target not just for this shopping season, but also continue to engage with for future campaigns.
A good strategy here is to produce high-quality videos showcasing your products and the kind of discount you are likely to offer during the Black Friday – Cyber Monday season. You may end the video with a Call To Action (CTA) asking people to be notified of more such deals.
This way, you create viral content that will also fetch you, email subscribers.
In addition to videos, you must also consider investing in other forms of visual content like infographics, memes, and top-quality product images.
When doing this, have very specific KPIs for your campaign – be it, social media shares, click-throughs, or conversions. When you have decided on the KPI, it is easier to produce content that aligns with this objective.
You may, for instance, like to work on conversions. However, the content you produce for this purpose may not be viral enough. On the other hand, visuals with viral quotient may not carry prominent CTAs that affect conversions.
It’s a trade-off that you must deliberate upon before deciding how to go about your strategy.
Prepare a robust customer support system
Black Friday sales typically attract a ton of people – not all of whom are going to purchase from you. In a regular physical setup, these buyers are more motivated since they have already taken the first step in walking into your store amidst the rush.
In an online setup, however, the purchase intent is going to be much lower since the same buyer could shop on multiple websites at the same time.
You are hence going to need a better support system to handle these visitors. As a first step, install a live chat widget on your website so that customers on the fence could ask quick questions about the product and get them answered immediately.
In addition to this, set up a robust helpdesk system as well. The days before, during, and after Black Friday are going to be hectic as you receive a ton of sales and support requests from both prospective buyers as well as those who have purchased from you.
A well-equipped support team shall be able to answer queries quickly so that orders may be processed sooner.
Stores that fail to do this often invite wrath from customers who could then escalate the issue by seeking chargebacks that could impact your business.
This year’s Black Friday is going to be a lot different from anything we have seen before. Following the steps mentioned above could help you set up a flawless and successful campaign for your business.
