7 Insider Secrets to Crush it This Black Friday for E-commerce Brands
Do you know what to do and how to prepare your business for Black Friday? Let us help you...
You see, Black Friday is like the Superbowl of capitalism for e-commerce brands…
What do I mean by that?
During Black Friday, only the best offers make the most money and it’s ALMOST impossible to stand out. After all, every single customer or prospect you have is getting spammed with Black Friday promos by brands that are most likely bigger than yours.
The problem is that most e-commerce business owners are already aware of this. Because of that, they question if they should even participate in Black Friday since it seems “way too competitive”.
However, myself and EVERYONE else who has been in the marketing industry for a while now, know that Black Friday is a great time to pull in TONS of revenue, regardless of its competitive aspect.
As long as you have an email list or purchase history of 100+ people, you NEED to participate in Black Friday.
The reason is that it’s a great way to test out the “price sensitivity” of your audience and how much that influences your sales.
Also, people in November EXPECT Black Friday deals with huge discounts. Chances are, there are a bunch of people waiting to try your products out as soon as you implement those deals.
However, most e-commerce brands butcher their Black Friday promos. Causing them to miss out on potential revenue, leads, and recurring customers…
But after working with 30+ e-commerce brands, we found 7 secrets that are PROVEN to make your Black Friday more successful.
Let’s dive into the first thing you need to do…
Building Your Email & SMS List
When Black Friday comes, you’re going to be competing in the ad platforms just like everybody else. The problem is that CPMs (cost to reach 1,000 people) double or even triple during those times…
This means that if you want your ads to be effective, you’ll need to spend a whole LOT of money.
Instead, what we recommend is that you start building your email and SMS list right now. The reason is so that you can blast as many offers as you want, once Black Friday comes.
We usually suggest that you try these two strategies during October:
- Running giveaways
- Launching “Meta Lead Ads” or “TikTok Lead Ads”
These will help you get more people to subscribe to your email list. Allowing you to make much more money during Black Friday.
Also, if you’re struggling with growing your email list, we recommend reading these actionable blogs:
Once you start growing your email list, it’s time you…
Come Up With a Killer Offer
When creating good offers for Black Friday, you want to make sure you’re not just doing the classic 10% off site-wide. That’s boring and doesn’t stand out, especially since almost EVERY brand will do it.
Instead, we recommend the following offers, which you can combine…
Discount + a Gift with Purchase (first X people)
With this offer, we recommend giving away one of your products (make sure it has good margins and a high perceived value).
But if you don’t have anything like this, don’t worry there are other effective ways to do this!
Usually, our e-commerce clients go and “create” something with a high perceived value. You can do this by partnering with other brands and offering their products with a commission in exchange. Think of it like affiliate marketing.
But if that’s not your cup of tea, you can also bulk purchase from wholesale places and “test” out the products before investing in their versions.
Here’s an example of this offer:
As you can see, Fitbit offers their subscribers the chance to “save up to $100”, which is the discount portion of this offer. Then to top it off, they’re offering a free gift if they make the purchase.
Here are some more examples that you can use:
- Jewelry Brands: Get 20% off site-wide, AND the first 100 people that purchase get a FREE limited edition Branded Jewelry Case.
- Pet Brands: Get 30% off everything, and the first 20 people who purchase get a FREE Durable Dog Bowl.
- Or you can go crazy, and giveaway a HUGE item for the first 1-10 people to drive action right away...
- Beverage Brands: Get 20% off and the first 5 people that purchase today get 1 year of Beverage Supplies ON US!
- Stand-up Desk Brands: Get 30% Off our Stand-up Desks, and the first person that purchases today gets a FREE Autonomous Ergo Chair+ (usually $500)!
Don't Just do 15% off, do TIERED Discounts
Instead of just doing the classic 15% off, what would happen if you analyzed your AOV (average order value) and set up a “tier” so people are incentivized to go over that tier, spend more money, and get a way bigger order with 1 shipping cost?
Our clients LOVE this! Not only because it drives in a crazy amount of revenue, but also because it makes things more fun for everyone.
Let’s say you have an AOV of $75, you could do something like this…
Tier 1: 15% OFF orders above $70
Tier 2: 25% OFF orders above $150
Tier 3: 35% OFF orders above $230
Here’s an example of this offer:
Tiered discounts are great for people who have renewable products (products people can stock up on). Also, for brands with a lot of SKUs to choose from.
Start Black Friday EARLIER for your past customers
One great way to drive urgency is to start your deals 1-2 weeks BEFORE for all your past purchasers.
This is because most brands wait until it’s actually Black Friday to start pushing offers. Meaning, that if you start a week or two before them, there is much less competition.
We always do this for clients that have a big customer base and it always crushes! It’s the main reason why we double the revenue during Black Friday.
We recommend creating an “exclusive” offer for them that starts early and expires…
Then create another offer for Black Friday Weekend that also expires…
Then the last one on Cyber Monday.
The secret is to make sure you’re incentivizing new sales, but not putting your customers in a spot where they regret buying because they see a better offer.
RUN ADS
This one is obvious. You NEED people to see your offers EVERYWHERE. Whether they are on TikTok, Facebook, Google, and all the other ad platforms. Just make sure you’re running them!
We usually 2x or even 3x our ad spend budget during Black Friday. Along with that, we also send many more emails and SMS.
Send A Lot of Reminders & Follow Ups
The truth is, people are getting hammered with a bunch of different offers, from a bunch of different brands.
You need to make sure to remind people about your offer the next day, when it expires, and when you extend the sale.
Be sure to have good email deliverability when doing this because if not, most if not ALL of your emails will get sent to spam. 👀
If you want to learn more about email deliverability, and how to ensure your emails land in your subscribers’ inboxes, check this out: 5 Simple Steps to Increase Your Email Deliverability & Get Out Of Spam.
The MOST Safe and Effective Way to Crush It This Black Friday…
Without having to sacrifice your sleep or savings.
Black Friday is usually too overwhelming for most e-commerce business owners.
You have to come up with great offers, take care of fulfillment, and figure out how you can market your business better than your competitors.
While you may be doing this already, during Black Friday this is 5x more stressful and time-consuming.
This blog can help you, but the truth is that NO business owner can do all this by themselves.
Or else you’ll be working 80+ hours a week, and the worst part is that you still won’t achieve the results you’re looking for.
So, what’s the solution?
We recommend hiring a team of experts who have done this for other e-commerce businesses and have proven results to back it up.
Doing this allows you to:
- Achieve the KPIs that you’re looking for…
- Save lots of time and stress
- Add a bunch of new recurring customers to your business
We understand how hard it is to find a team of experts that ACTUALLY care about your business…
So, we’re allowing you to book a free call with us where you can decipher if we would be a good fit or not!
This isn’t some sales call, it’s just a friendly chat!
BOOK A CALL
Conclusion
I believe Black Friday is like the Superbowl of capitalism for e-commerce brands. It's the time when only the best offers can make the most money, and standing out can be challenging because every customer and prospect is bombarded with Black Friday promos from larger brands.
I understand that many e-commerce business owners question whether to participate in Black Friday due to its competitiveness. However, based on my experience in the marketing industry, I know Black Friday can be a goldmine for revenue, regardless of the competition.
If you have an email list or a purchase history of over 100 people, I highly recommend participating in Black Friday. It's an excellent opportunity to test your audience's "price sensitivity" and drive more sales.
To make the most of Black Friday, you should start by building your email and SMS list. This is because ad costs (CPMs) skyrocket during this time, and having a substantial list allows you to reach your audience effectively. Strategies like running giveaways and using "Meta Lead Ads" or "TikTok Lead Ads" in October can help you grow your list.
Once you've grown your email list, it's time to craft a killer offer. Avoid the cliché 10% off site-wide deal. Instead, consider offering a discount combined with a gift with a purchase, or collaborate with other brands for added value.
Tiered discounts can also be a game-changer. By analyzing your average order value (AOV) and setting up discount tiers, you can encourage customers to spend more and get more significant savings.
Another tip is to start Black Friday early for your past customers. Creating exclusive offers one to two weeks before the big day can reduce competition and lead to better results.
Running ads is essential to ensure that your offers are visible everywhere, from TikTok to Facebook and Google. You may need to double or even triple your ad spend budget during Black Friday.
Lastly, sending reminders and follow-ups is crucial. Since customers are bombarded with various offers, keeping your offer top of mind is essential. Ensure your emails have good deliverability to avoid being marked as spam.
In conclusion, while Black Friday can be overwhelming, hiring a team of experts who've handled Black Friday for e-commerce businesses before can be a game-changer. It can help you achieve your KPIs, save time, and gain new recurring customers. I'm offering a free call to explore whether our team could be the right fit for your business.
