VERB’S Guide to Black Friday/Cyber Monday Success
By Maria A. Ossa
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the year’s most anticipated and competitive shopping events. Brands and destinations should plan ahead and take advantage of these events to boost their sales and visibility.
Let us walk you through a helpful guide to help your brand plan a showstopping Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategy.
The Early Bird Gets the Sale
Planning for Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns should start well in advance. At VERB, we recommend starting as early as October. Reach out to your team members and begin brainstorming tentative plans, ideas, and client proposals. Google’s Consumer Insights on the Four Ds of Holiday Shopping Behaviour reports, “Last year, 70% of shopping-related search volume containing “Black Friday” happened before the day itself.” In other words, certain shoppers are starting to make purchases earlier in the season, searching for deals, and extending their shopping window well beyond Cyber Monday. Consumers are eager to make purchases, but now more than ever, on their terms. Price alone isn’t the deciding factor; consumers prioritize quality and value in their buying decisions. Starting your campaign early provides ample time for market research and campaign development.
Set Clear Goals
Define your objectives for the holiday shopping season. Whether it’s increasing bookings, boosting sales, or improving brand awareness, having clear goals is crucial to shaping up a successful marketing strategy. A well-structured content calendar is the backbone of your campaign. Plan your content, incorporating social media updates, teasers and countdowns, email newsletters, and other relevant channels. According to Google’s Travel Analytics Center, the research cycle for people considering travel is one month. The travel market has the highest cart abandonment rate of any industry during Black Friday. Take this into consideration when planning a marketing strategy. Consider reminder ads to drive urgency and cart abandonment emails. Creating excitement and anticipation with teaser campaigns and countdowns to Black Friday and Cyber Monday is crucial to hitting your goals.
Develop Compelling Storytelling
The holidays are an oversaturated time in marketing, so it’s essential to stand out. Your organization cannot underestimate the power of storytelling. Brands, destinations, and marketers should work together to craft compelling narratives that can stop the audience in their tracks. For your Black Friday or Cyber Monday campaign to stand out, you must present compelling visuals and narratives, the unique value your brand or destination offers, and insights that go beyond a discount. Social Media platforms are a great way of developing a compelling brand narrative. In 2022, 32% of consumers clicked through a Black Friday social media post.
Younger generations are avid app shoppers; platforms and brands are taking notice of this phenomenon and adapting accordingly. On Instagram, for example, you can discover a brand, visit its profile, scroll through until you see a product you like, and complete a purchase without ever leaving the platform. From a marketing and advertising perspective, it’s vital that brands identify these opportunities and create campaigns that capture user interest early. Investing in paid advertising on social media platforms provides an excellent avenue to target specific demographics and helps reach a wider audience.
Personalize Your Campaign
Holiday inspiration searches begin on platforms like Pinterest and TikTok as early as July. In the case of Pinterest, users create holiday boards, with holiday planning activity peaking in November. More and more consumers want to experience a destination tailored to their interests. This is why hyper-personalization of your campaign is beneficial. You can leverage data, AI machine learning, and segmentation to help you understand how to personalize your campaigns. Tailoring your messaging and offers to different audience segments will provide a more personalized experience. Encourage visitor feedback and reviews throughout the user journey to gather valuable insights. Then, action this feedback to refine and further personalize your offerings.
Embrace Video Marketing
Video marketing is no longer exclusive to big brands. In fact, video is the leading form of marketing content used across industries. Thanks to TikTok and Instagram Reels, audiences are embracing video more than ever for product discovery and research. Creating engaging video content showcasing experiences and the unique characteristics of your brand will be beneficial throughout the year, but it can have a particular impact during the holiday season. Video content is highly shareable, and although viral moments are hard to come by, videos can still boost your brand visibility during a hectic marketing season. Leverage user-generated content to showcase your destination or brand. Potential customers are likelier to trust word-of-mouth recommendations and UGC over blatant advertising. Videos or images of other consumers endorsing your brand or raving about a new travel destination can help lend credibility and authenticity to your brand.
Happy Planning
At VERB, we are committed to keeping our partners informed and up-to-date with all travel, marketing, and social media trends. Every Black Friday and Cyber Monday is an opportunity to learn about your brand and audience. Our talented team can work with your brand to stay on trend and better promote your offerings during the holiday season. Contact us to learn more about our marketing services or explore the work of some of our partners to take a closer look at the work we can do for you.
Maria Ossa is a Social Media Coordinator at VERB Interactive — a leader in digital marketing, specializing in solutions for the travel and hospitality industry. Find out more at www.verbinteractive.com.
