Black Friday is here. Last-minute tips to put the finishing touches on your campaigns.

I’m sure you’ve already mapped out your strategies for this famous Black Friday. And you’ve probably already planned your actions for that day, but there’s still time to review everything and make sure everything is perfectly organized and thought through. In this post, I’m going to tell you about the origins of Black Friday, as well as share a series of tips that could help you during this crucial time of year for any retail business, whether online or brick-and-mortar. Are you going to miss out? I don’t think so.

But before we begin, let’s find out where the term “Black Friday ” comes from and when it was first used.

There are many theories, but the most likely one dates back to September 24, 1869, when two Wall Street brokers attempted to corner the entire gold market. Their attempt failed, the price of gold plummeted, and many investors were ruined, leading to that day being dubbed “Black Friday.”

However, it wasn’t until the mid-1950s that the expression was revived. The day after Thanksgiving, an American football game between the Army and the Navy was scheduled to take place in Philadelphia. Because of this, a crowd gathered the day before—Friday—to get a head start on their Christmas shopping and attend the event the following day.

Given the chaos that ensued, no police officer was able to take the day off on the eve of the game, and they worked long 12-hour shifts to control the crowds, leading to that day being dubbed, once again, “Black Friday.”

That name caught on, and soon shopkeepers began using it to refer to the crowds of people who gathered at the city’s stores the day after Thanksgiving.

Over the years, this event gained popularity in the United States, with several adjustments made to the timing and discounts; however, it wasn’t until the rise of e-commerce that it truly became widespread, spreading beyond the borders of the United States.

Their numbers just keep going up. In fact, on the most recent Black Friday in Spain—to give just one example— sales increased by 21% compared to the previous year, 2021 !

As you can see and know, this is a crucial time for any business, so it’s essential to have a well-developed strategy and to have everything involved in the process thoroughly planned out in order to achieve the highest possible profitability. Let’s get started with the tips.

 

Last-Minute Tips to Boost Your Sales During Black Friday

 

You may already have everything ready, but if you’re one of those people who’s left it to the last minute, I think these tips could come in very handy. If you’re in the first group, they might help you next year, so be sure to read them.

 

1. Determine what you’re going to offer your customers.

Typically, our approach involves identifying which products have the lowest turnover—to which we’ll apply larger discounts—and which ones sell much better, setting a lower price for them directly.

However, there are other options that aren’t so short-sighted, that also appeal to consumers, and that will bring you—as a business— more value in the medium term. One such option, for example, is to offer free shipping not only during Black Friday, but also throughout the following month. This way, you might retain some customers, who will then make their final Christmas purchases at your store.

Another option—which is also very interesting—is to offer a discount coupon for future purchases. This option is also designed to encourage the return of customers attracted by Black Friday, whom you have the opportunity to retain in any way possible.

2. Test your website’s performance.

For an online store, page load speed is critical, since a fast-loading site leaves a positive impression on users. Furthermore, when visitors are engaged, they click more, buy more, and convert more frequently, so your site’s speed must be directly proportional to the speed of purchase your customers demand.

According to Google, a website with fast loading times can increase its conversion rate by double digits compared to one that doesn’t.

This applies to any time of year, but before Black Friday, you need to assess your server load and prepare for traffic levels far higher than what your store normally handles. It wouldn’t be the first time an e-commerce site has crashed right in the middle of Black Friday, sending sales plummeting and truly living up to its name.

That’s why I recommend running a load test to see if your e-commerce website can handle large spikes in traffic under controlled conditions. The goal here is to understand how your website will perform when real visitors start flooding your site in large numbers. Conducting a load test will give you early warning of any performance issues your website might experience during Black Friday sales. If you encounter any problems, you’ll have time to fix them and navigate this busy season with confidence.

 

3. Take advantage of social media.

In 2018, more than 130 million people worldwide joined the conversation on Instagram to express gratitude, share holiday posts, and, of course, hunt for the best Black Friday deals and offers (Facebook Business). On Facebook alone, there were 450 million views of Black Friday and other related videos, which covered everything from shopping guides to in-store finds.

If you haven’t developed a social media strategy for Black Friday yet, I think you should consider doing so as soon as possible.

To do this, I recommend that you follow these steps:

• The design and content have to be valuable, and don’t hold back—use black.
• Start posting before, during, and after. Don’t be afraid to post too much. During this time of year, consumers are especially receptive to what you have to offer.
• Use various types of social media posts—from posts that raise awareness of your product or service, to posts that build brand loyalty, and others aimed at sales, going viral, or remarketing.
• Offer a special discount to your social media followers. It’s very likely that this will go viral and help you boost your sales even more.
• Use hashtags and paid posts to increase the reach of your posts. Run A/B tests and repeat the ads that work best for you.

 

4. Develop your email marketing strategy for abandoned carts.

In the rush to find the best deal, it’s very likely that many users will add a product they’re interested in to their shopping cart, only to forget about it amid the other items they’re considering. In fact, studies have found that the average cart abandonment rate jumps from 67.91% to nearly 75% on Black Friday. This means that for every 100 orders you receive, there are approximately 300 people who visited your site, added something to their cart, but did not complete the checkout process.

It’s a good idea to anticipate this and have an automated strategy in place for abandoned carts, such as sending a reminder email offering an additional discount or free shipping.

 

At MioGroup, we understand how important the Black Friday period is, which is why we bring in our specialists from every area to help our clients optimize their efforts and achieve the highest possible sales. Technology, social media, social ads, marketing automation, web analytics, online and offline media buying… these are just some of the areas where our professionals can help turn this period from black to gold. Should we talk?