By Téalin Robinson
Client Services Coordinator, Lessiter Media
trobinson@lessitermedia.com
262-777-2430
Today just happens to be the biggest sale day of the year, Black Friday. According to Statista, 131.7 million consumers plan to shop this Black Friday alone in the United States, and 174.3 million people plan to shop Saturday through Cyber Monday. The question on many marketers' minds though is when should the promotions start and stop?
According to the National Retail Federation and Fujisan Marketing, while 55% of consumers polled said they made a purchase due to a sale or Black Friday offer, 35% said they bought something in the week leading up to Thanksgiving.
Brands are opting to increase early access to deals, use loyalty incentives and selective discounting approaches like targeting a specific item with a bigger discount than others to drive pre-Black Friday sales while maintaining customer satisfaction, according to Forbes. For this reason, it is imperative to have an extended promotional period to capture as many consumers across multiple days as possible.
There is one concern many companies deal with annually though: "If you train your customers to expect a sale at every turn, you ultimately devalue your brand and create friction up and down the sales funnel," said Eric Girouard, founder and CEO of BRUNT Workwear in a Forbes interview.
In an attempt to increase your revenue prior to Black Friday, you can use digital campaigns with specific language to run a sale in early November and indicate there will not be a bigger Thanksgiving weekend sale, as REI has successfully repeated annually. This can help with holiday competition and allow you to follow up with a small loyalty customer sale on Cyber Monday or through Cyber Week as needed.
Check out the Five Stages of Black Friday Campaigns, with help from Tailwind and Wisepops, below to improve your Black Friday sales in the future or to help you plan your strategy for other holiday sales.
