In this article we will discuss:
What is Black Friday
Black Friday and Social Media
From inspiration to purchase
The benefits of a Social Strategy
Black Friday, celebrated in the United States on the first Friday after Thanksgiving, has successfully landed in Italy as well, transforming year after year into a veritable sales marathon that can last even several days, so much so that in some cases it is referred to as Black Week.
During Black Friday, low prices are the main motivation for consumers to buy, causing a sharp increase in demand and, consequently, high involvement by brands and a wide variety of sectors. Precisely because of this, however, the risk of getting overwhelmed by so much euphoria and arriving unprepared for Black Friday is really just around the corner!
Taking part in the initiative by taking advantage of the excitement that discounts can generate can be a good opportunity for your business, but promotions alone are no longer enough to get noticed and chosen by consumers.
The wide range of offerings generated by competitors, coupled with consumers’ increasing autonomy in finding the best purchasing conditions and managing their own customer journey, make it necessary to have an effective and structured communication strategy to differentiate themselves and increase the likelihood of achieving sales goals.
Black Friday and social media: the race for sales goes digital
In 2020, the real star of the digital scene was only one: e-commerce.
At the beginning of the year – according to data collected by We Are Social and Hootsuite – there were already more than 50 million people connected to the Internet. Even more important was the increase on the social platforms front, with more than 2 million new users: a rise to 41 million.
In Italy, we spent 24 percent more online than in 2019 in the macro-world of consumer goods, registering a homogeneous propensity to purchase for all age groups, from 16 to 64.
And 2020 is precisely the year in which we can say we have witnessed the definitive shift of the biggest year-end shopping event from physical locations to digital platforms. There is no denying it: the Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on lifestyles and shopping habits, leading to the adoption of new technologies and behaviors. Online commerce and digital platforms have held increasing centrality, profoundly changing the relationship between people and brands.
Therefore, a simple offer is no longer enough! The relevance and quality of the content offered and the timeliness of communication – fundamental values all year round – for Black Friday become essential conditions for being chosen over a competitor, and thus making a sale.
It is in this scenario that social channels come into play, excellent allies of your business if you want to prepare in the best possible way and exploit the online potential of the Blackest Friday of the year!
From inspiration to purchase: the social media ecosystem in the sales process
One mistake people often make is to consider social channels as independent, isolated channels from other digital buying channels (website, e-commerce). In reality, they are part of an ecosystem: in fact, all communication channels work best when they work together.
Social channels perform very well in the first part of the customer journey-that is, in what in technical jargon is called acquisition. At this stage, social media do the “first job,” that is, of finding a potential customer within a much larger audience.
During Black Friday this represents a double opportunity! Not only will you be able to stimulate latent demand from your target or potential audience, but you will also be able to find new, non-regular customers among the many users who will be online looking for the best offer available.
A sound acquisition phase will therefore benefit the entire brand ecosystem, facilitating the conversion process.
The benefits of a social strategy to prepare for Black Friday
Let’s now look at the real benefits of creating a communication strategy on social channels and how this can help increase Black Friday-related sales.
Anticipate and plan
As in life, one of the benefits of having a strategy in place-and not having to resort to the art of improvisation-is being able to prepare in advance.
For your business, this translates into the ability to:
- choose what messages will be conveyed, defining the timing, methods and formats best suited to each communication channel and objective
- identify the target audience most likely to buy, hence your target audience
- set clear and measurable objectives
During Black Friday, moving early through a social strategy means, above all, having a competitive advantage. It is important to remember that consumers are now aware that deals, especially those related to Black Friday, are limited. That’s why they want to be first, and in the front row, to be able to buy products at the best price. Be found!
Set the right goals
Since Black Friday is generally tied to the purchase of goods and services, it is very likely that your social campaign goals will be tied to a specific number of sales, conversions, or revenue.
Don’t forget that goals related to social activities should be S.M.A.R.T. (stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Based), meaning specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based.
At this stage, alongside the goals, it is essential to establish the relevant KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to measure the success of your online business and possibly take action to improve the strategy.
Set up your social campaign
Once you have selected your goals:
- identify the products on which to apply a promotion
- choose the social channels to use to communicate your offers
- name your social campaign
- add the official hashtags
Creating teasing content helps you intercept customers before the big chaos. Start by revealing some details about the products that will be promoted and let your audience know that “getting in line” will mean access to unique bargains.
Remember to start a countdown to communicate your Black Friday deals. Define the start date and duration of online promotions and explain to your audience how they can access them.
Promote
Even the best product, at the best price, will not be purchased if it is not presented to the right buyer. Another important advantage of having a social strategy, in fact, is that you can plan ahead a budget for advertising campaigns and choose how to divide it up, based on the goals to be achieved.
The advertising strategy can be set up either to promote your page’s organic content or to initiate independent advertising campaigns that will appear as ads to your target audience, but without being published in the feed of your social channels.
In this way, you can choose specific advertising goals that are different from the boost goals of the editorial plan and set up effective creative and placements to reach the target audience you are interested in, in line with the characteristics of your product and therefore more likely to buy.
Manage your community
Obviously, the more you expose yourself online, the more you will be subject to user inquiries related to your business, your promotions, offer deadlines, schedules… no worries! This activity is also part of a social strategy.
Community management allows you to better manage communication with customers before, during and after Black Friday. Social channels, in fact, are effective customer care tools because they ensure short response rates and quick problem resolution, representing a direct and simple channel to get in touch with users, understand their needs and provide adequate and comprehensive answers.
Handling community inquiries professionally and accurately helps you to meet user expectations, positively influencing their perception of your brand, but also to guide them through the buying process, increasing the likelihood of making a conversion.
Being ready and being found is critical to not losing potential customers and maximizing sales, especially during such hectic times.
Gather the data
Black Friday is also considered the event that kicks off Christmas shopping, creating all the conditions to be able to save money and move ahead on Christmas gifts. We could, therefore, say that it has no real end date.
Knowing how to make effective use of all the data, information gathered and results obtained could be a great way to boost sales in the months ahead.
Through reporting, for example, you will have an overall view of the performance of your online content. You’ll be able to accurately track results and understand whether your communication and sales goals have been met, but most importantly, you’ll have insights to set up an even more effective strategy for the future.
Read also: E-commerce analytics: boost sales with data tracking
Managing the community through your business’ social channels also allows you to create a database of valuable information for your future communications. Knowing the needs and demands of your target audience, in fact, is key to knowing what to offer, when and how.
In addition, through retargeting campaigns, you can create ad hoc content to be conveyed to users who have already visited your site or channels but have not completed a purchase. With a conversion retargeting strategy, for example, you can leverage this audience with special offers or reserved promotions, convincing them to finish what they had started.
In the digital age, knowing how to set up a social strategy to manage your online communication can really make a difference. With strategic content planning, a careful advertising strategy, and ongoing community management, you can be better prepared to deal with the peak demand and competition of Black Friday.
There is no time to waste!
Need support in setting up an effective and high-performing strategy? Contact us!
Our teams of professionals are available to guide you and offer advice tailored to your business needs.
