The most anticipated shopping season of the year is just around the corner. Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are set to be game-changers for e-commerce businesses, and if there’s ever a year to bring originality and creativity to your strategy, it’s 2024.
According to recent statistics, a remarkable 56% of consumers began their holiday shopping in October or earlier last year. With only 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year – a shorter timeframe than any since 2019 – brands need to prepare for an even earlier rush.
We recently hosted a webinar with JustUno, Nosto, Roswell, By Association Only, Attentive and Status Accounts to talk through the top tips that you should be including in your BFCM planning. In a quick poll taken with our attendees, we found that while 50% of respondents had not started their planning yet, and 50% were about halfway through, nobody was finished. This indicates there’s still plenty of time to implement the crucial tactics that can make or break your holiday sales.
Let’s explore the expert insights shared during the session and discover actionable tips to help you shine during BFCM 2024.
Key strategies for BFCM success
Tip #1: Give loyal customers early access to sales
From Fiona Stevens – Director of Marketing at LoyaltyLion
One of the most effective ways to show appreciation for your loyal customers during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) is by giving them early access to your sales. This not only rewards their continued support, but also creates a sense of exclusivity that can help to drive those all-important early conversions. By offering your best deals to loyal customers before the general public, you can boost their satisfaction while also helping to manage the inevitable influx of traffic on the official sale days. This strategy can lead to higher average order values, as your most engaged customers are more likely to take advantage of these early deals. Early access can also serve as a soft launch for your BFCM campaigns, allowing you to gather valuable data and make any necessary adjustments before the main event.
Tip #2: Give existing customers a VIP experience
From Fiona Stevens – Director of Marketing at LoyaltyLion
Beyond early access, elevating the shopping experience for your existing customers by offering them a VIP treatment can significantly enhance their loyalty. Think of creating exclusive offers, personalized recommendations, or even dedicated customer service channels for your VIPs. This could include tailored product suggestions based on their purchase history, special discounts, or even a personalized thank-you message from your brand. By making your loyal customers feel valued and special, you not only increase their likelihood of making a purchase during BFCM, but also strengthen their long-term relationship with your brand. This VIP experience is about going the extra mile to show that you recognize and appreciate their continued support.
Tip #3: Build a strong SMS foundation
From Liam Jacques – Senior CSM at Attentive
SMS marketing is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for engaging customers, especially during the busy BFCM period, as its immediacy makes it perfect for sending out last-minute deals, reminders, and personalized offers that prompt quick action. To build a strong SMS foundation, focus on creating a well-segmented subscriber list and crafting messages that are both timely and relevant to your audience. To maximize the impact of your campaigns, make sure your messages are clear and concise, with a direct call to action, while also considering the timing to avoid overwhelming your audience. A well-executed SMS strategy can drive significant traffic to your site and increase conversions during BFCM.
Tip #4: Create a cohesive messaging strategy
From Liam Jacques – Senior CSM at Attentive
A cohesive messaging strategy across all your marketing channels is crucial for a successful BFCM campaign, making sure that your emails, social media posts, SMS messages, and website are all promoting a consistent and unified message. Your promotions, branding, and tone should align across all platforms to create a seamless customer experience, helping to build trust and recognition and making it easier for customers to engage with your brand and take advantage of your offers. A unified strategy also allows you to reinforce key messages, keeping your promotions top of mind for your audience during the BFCM period.
Tip #5: Promote loyalty sign-ups pre-BFCM
From Ryan Ellul – Associate Director of Retention Marketing as Roswell
Building your loyalty program before the BFCM rush can yield significant benefits during the shopping season. Start by encouraging customers to sign up ahead of time with incentives such as exclusive discounts, early access to sales, or bonus points. This strategy not only boosts your base of loyal customers but also prepares them to engage more actively with your BFCM offers. By promoting your loyalty program in advance, you create a pool of highly engaged shoppers who are more likely to make repeat purchases. This early push also allows you to segment these customers, tailoring your future offers to their specific needs and enhancing their overall shopping experience.
Tip #6: Beat the post-holiday slump by leveraging loyalty programs
From Ryan Ellul – Associate Director of Retention Marketing as Roswell
While BFCM focuses on driving immediate sales, it’s equally important to plan for the post-holiday period. Leveraging your loyalty program can play a key role in maintaining customer engagement and avoiding the usual sales slump after the holidays. By offering special rewards, discounts, or bonus points for purchases made in the weeks following BFCM, you encourage customers to return to your store even after the holiday rush has ended. This strategy helps to keep the sales momentum going long into the new year. By continuously engaging with your customers through your loyalty program, you can extend the impact of your BFCM efforts and sustain interest well beyond the shopping season.
Tip #7: Set up a journey that works
From SJ Carcamo – Senior Partner Marketing Manager at JustUno
Creating a customer journey that works is essential for turning BFCM visitors into loyal customers. This involves carefully mapping out the entire customer experience, from their initial visit to your site through to post-purchase follow-ups. Each touchpoint in this journey should be optimized for ease of use and consistently reflect your brand message, creating a seamless and enjoyable shopping experience that boosts the chances of purchase and encourages more repeat business. To enhance this journey, consider integrating personalized product recommendations, clear calls to action, and intuitive navigation.
Tip #8: Segment building off of quiz data
From SJ Carcamo – Senior Partner Marketing Manager at JustUno
Quizzes can be a fun and engaging way to collect valuable data about your customers, which you can then use to create more targeted segments. By inviting customers to answer a few simple questions, you gain insights into their preferences, needs, and shopping behaviors, providing valuable information that you can use to build more precise customer segments and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly. For instance, if a quiz shows that a customer has a keen interest in a specific product category, you can send them personalized offers or content related to that category. If you then segment your customers based on this quiz data, you can deliver more relevant and customized experiences, which boosts the likelihood of conversion during BFCM.
Tip #9: Showcase members-only exclusive products
From Natalia Howard – Head of Ecommerce Strategy at By Association Only
Creating a sense of exclusivity is a powerful way to motivate customers, especially during BFCM. One effective strategy is to offer members-only exclusive products. By showcasing items that are only available to your loyalty program members, you not only encourage sign-ups but also drive sales among your most engaged customers. These exclusive products might include limited editions, early releases, or special bundles that aren’t accessible to the general public. Featuring these exclusive offers prominently in your marketing campaigns can generate excitement around your BFCM event and provide your loyal customers with a compelling reason to stay connected with your brand.
Tip #10: Create personalized offers for loyalty members
From Natalia Howard – Head of Ecommerce Strategy at By Association Only
Personalization is key to driving loyalty and sales, and BFCM is the perfect time to put this into practice. Use the data you’ve gathered on your loyalty members to create personalized offers that cater to their specific preferences and shopping habits. Whether it’s a discount on a frequently purchased item or a special promotion on a product category they love, personalized offers are a great way to make your customers feel valued and understood. This tailored approach can increase the likelihood of conversion while also strengthening the relationship between your brand and your customers, encouraging repeat purchases and long-term loyalty.
Tip #11: Use transactional emails to capture more first-time customers
From Jack Hutchinson – Marketing Lead at Status
Transactional emails, such as order confirmations and shipping notifications, are often overlooked as marketing tools, but they can be incredibly effective, especially during BFCM. These emails typically have higher open rates than promotional emails, making them a prime opportunity to engage with first-time customers. Consider including personalized product recommendations, special offers, or loyalty program sign-up prompts in your transactional emails. This is a great way to improve and enhance the customer experience, while at the same time increasing the chances of turning a first-time buyer into a repeat customer. By strategically using transactional emails, you can capture the attention of new customers and encourage them to engage with your brand beyond their initial purchase.
Tip #12: Create personalized shopping experiences for first-time customers in Q1
From Jack Hutchinson – Marketing Lead at Status
The period following BFCM is a crucial time to nurture relationships with first-time customers. Creating personalized shopping experiences in Q1 can help turn these new customers into loyal, long-term supporters, using the data you’ve gathered during BFCM to tailor your outreach and offers. For example, if a customer made their first purchase during BFCM, follow up with personalized recommendations based on their purchase or browsing history. This could include suggesting complementary products or offering a discount on their next purchase. By continuing to deliver personalized experiences after the holiday rush, you can build stronger relationships with your customers and encourage repeat business throughout the year.
Tip #13: Nail your segmentation strategy
From Brian Graydon – Head of Partnerships for the UK and Nordics at Nosto
A successful BFCM campaign relies heavily on a well-executed segmentation strategy. Effective segmentation is an amazing way to help you deliver personalized experiences that resonate with different customer groups, driving higher engagement and conversion rates. Start by breaking down your audience into distinct segments, such as new versus returning customers, and tailor your messaging accordingly. Understanding customer behavior is also crucial – go beyond demographics and analyze what products customers are interested in, which pages they visit, and where they drop off. By combining these insights, you can create highly personalized experiences that meet and exceed customer expectations, ultimately leading to increased sales and customer loyalty.
Tip #14: Run daily deals
From Brian Graydon – Head of Partnerships for the UK and Nordics at Nosto
Daily deals are a time-tested tactic for driving urgency and repeat visits during BFCM. These deals create excitement and keep your brand top-of-mind as customers check back regularly for new offers, with the key to maximizing the impact of these deals making them as relevant and personalized as possible. Tailor your daily deals to individual customer preferences based on past purchases or browsing behavior, and for customers with less data available, consider offering best-sellers or trending items from the past week. Daily deals can also help manage inventory by promoting slow-moving items or surplus stock, making your BFCM campaign both profitable and efficient.
Conclusion
As Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach, a well-planned strategy can make all the difference in achieving your sales goals. From rewarding loyal customers and refining your segmentation strategy to leveraging SMS and creating personalized experiences, numerous tactics can help you stand out during the busiest shopping season of the year.
Remember, you’re not alone in navigating this critical period—there’s a wealth of expertise available to help you fine-tune your approach. By tapping into these insights, you can ensure that your BFCM campaign is successful and sets the stage for long-term growth.
For even more in-depth advice and to unlock special BFCM offers, take the time to dive deeper into the strategies shared by industry experts. Watching the full webinar will give you a clearer understanding of how to implement these tips effectively, ensuring you’re fully prepared to maximize your results this holiday season.
If you’d like to find out more about our services and how you can build an incredible loyalty program for your customers, get in touch with our friendly team today.
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