The holidays are almost here, and Black Friday is right around the corner, calling for your company to take advantage of a fantastic Black Friday campaign.

The Cost of Living crisis is affecting large portions of the population, and holiday shopping will be difficult this year. For many potential customers, Black Friday holiday sales will be even more important than in previous years, as this is the only time they can purchase expensive holiday gifts.

Young people have already switched from worrying about climate change to worrying about the cost of living, so it is especially important to address value for money when marketing to them.

How can you make sure that your Black Friday marketing strategy is both considerate and effective, and stands out for all the right reasons as the shopping season gets underway?

In this article, we outline the smartest Black Friday marketing campaign ideas, as well as bold strategies to inspire your social media campaigns all the way through Cyber Monday and beyond.

1. WHAT IS BLACK FRIDAY?

Black Friday is a traditional event on the 25th of November.

It’s known for smashing prices and giving consumers outstanding bargains in preparation for the Christmas season.

Many stores give discounts throughout Black Friday weekend, culminating with Cyber Monday deals.

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2. WHY IS THIS YEAR’S BLACK FRIDAY IMPORTANT AS NEVER BEFORE?

Purchase behavior is already being affected by the Cost of Living crisis. In the UK, 57% of the population (around 26 million people) reported spending less on non-essentials (13% or 6 million people said they were using more credit than usual).

If your brand is seeking to connect with Generation Z, this is a critical issue. UK Gen Zers are driving a £25 billion drop in spending, as they are more likely to restrict their spending than older individuals.

A recent survey reveals that consumers are planning to spend less on Christmas gifts

Customers will be seeking Black Friday sales to assist them in doing so, as never before. In addition to being informed that 91% of Black Friday shoppers use sales to help them achieve their goals for Christmas 2022, experts anticipate that Black Friday shopping will rise by up to 25% this year.

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3. HOW TO MAKE YOUR BLACK FRIDAY CAMPAIGN STAND OUT?

Due to lots of competition, you’ll have to make sure your Black Friday deals stand out to be noticed. This is your best chance of capturing customers this quarter, especially Gen Zers.

97% of Gen Z consumers rely on social media to inspire purchases, so you need to be on top of your TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat marketing—as well as turning social experiences into sales.

The real challenge with Gen Z marketing is developing an engaging campaign. Knowing where to advertise is one thing; knowing how to advertise is another.

We prepared a list of things to be focused on this year;

Prepare and optimize your website

Last year, search engine interest in the term “Black Friday” had already started 12 weeks before the date.

Make sure to include product-specific Black Friday long-tail keywords in your content as well as title tags, headings, alt image tags, and image file names.

Your website must function correctly, so resolve 404 error pages, 301 redirects, and optimize page load times.

A website banner should be clear and should include memorable imagery to appeal to Gen Z consumers.

Because they have grown up online, a mere discount sticker on the homepage will not excite them.

It is especially crucial for Gen Z customers that your website is mobile-optimized.

68% of this younger generation shop 1-4x per week on their phone, and our research found Gen Z to be most likely to visit a brand’s website to complete their purchase.

Even if they initially discovered the product on social media.

Great mobile web experiences are therefore vital in turning young audiences into loyal customers.

Email marketing could make all the difference for you this year!

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53% of Gen Zers said they like to receive mail from their preferred manufacturers once a week.

You will gain a competitive advantage if you start directing your communication towards the Black Friday sales and pumping your audience. This is especially true now, as the Cost of Living crisis has caused Gen Z shoppers to be less likely to purchase from your brand at any other time of the year.

Positivity and thoughtful humor should be injected into Gen Z’s email marketing. They are short on time and have a lot of options, so be brief and offer something they want.

Provide exclusive early access to Black Friday sales and discounts by signing up. VIP early-bird specials indicate that you are providing value to your customers.

Make sure that your email subject lines communicate the benefits, and ensure that you are offering discounts that no one else can offer: Gen Z will appreciate it.

Higher AOV will increase your profits

Increasing Average Order Value will help you to increase your profits and prepare you for higher Cost Per Order.

What are the ways to increase your AOV?

Provide a free gift or service with every qualifying order, such as spending a given amount.

Offering more value with every purchase is a great way to incentivize purchases, as customers are getting more value from their shopping.

Prepare upsells that will be a no-brainer for prospects to buy.

Best way to do so is to offer products that improve primary orders with discounted prices.

Don’t limit your Black Friday offers to discounts only

Offering big discounts could cut deep into your margins. So think about what else you could offer to the prospects.

One of good choices is to offer free gifts and rewards.

It’s a great experience to receive free gifts and rewards, and good customer experiences are shown to result in repeat business. This is invaluable for building customer retention.

Small businesses can offer free gift packing as a Black Friday bonus to incentivize customers. It may be particularly effective for luxury brands, which may already suffer damage to their brand image during Black Friday sales.

It will cost you resources but might be less expensive than providing discounts, so it will not have as big an impact on your margins.

In the long run, the cost of a free gift is less than its perceived value, so you’ll recoup your investment. More importantly, attracting new customers is much more expensive than retaining current ones, so you’ll recoup your investment before long.

Variable rewards are effective at drawing in customers

Adding hourly deals is one way to do so. Create different sale items or discounts throughout the Black Friday weekend and advertise them on website banners to entice your customers. They will be motivated to buy because they will not want to miss out.

Gen Z values uniqueness in their purchases, so adding changeability to your Black Friday sale will convince them that they’ve grabbed a bargain that few of their peers have.

In 2022, 94% of UK consumers will seek advice on how to get the best Christmas deals. Customers will be seeking hour-by-hour deals with advertised specials, rather than unknown rewards. Items won’t be forgotten in shopping baskets—customers will be motivated to finish their purchases to secure the best price for themselves.

On average, 69.8% of customers abandon their shopping carts, and Gen Zs are the most likely group to do so. Keeping that clock ticking while providing complete transparency is a perfect way to ensure those sales occur.

Generate UGC to steer customers toward your brand.

Using social media marketing is a great way to accomplish this. For example, you can include a call-to-action (CTA) on your packaging that urges customers to post a photo to their Instagram or a video to TikTok with a brand hashtag, to win a prize.

An existing customer seeing an offer in their newsfeed boosts awareness of the offer in addition to providing organic social proof.

Working with influencers is a great way to supercharge this. A TikTok influencer has a large audience, so they will be well-versed in creating TikTok content that their followers will want to try for themselves, including recreating their video in UGC.

Working with influencers and you’ll have a UGC campaign that spreads like wildfire, increasing reach as well as sales conversions as more people trust your brand.

4. THINGS TO HAVE IN MIND WHEN PREPARING BLACK FRIDAY OFFERS FOR GEN Z

61% of Gen Zs say that coupons or discounts would entice them to try a new brand. In addition, Gen Zs allocate the highest proportion of their Christmas budget to their parents. Therefore, even if your brand does not normally target Gen Z consumers, Black Friday is still an important time to reach these younger customers.

Be aware of Gen Zers’ friends and family, and offer them relevant products to encourage them to be considerate.

Gen Z is especially responsive to brands that address their unique requirements. Understanding their perspective is an excellent method to improve brand reputation. A guide or discount might be the best Black Friday marketing campaign you’ve had in years if you help them out.

63% of Gen Z consumers prefer brands with a greener image in their marketing. Young consumers are twice as likely to purchase from companies advertising sustainable incentives for purchases.

It is a fantastic method to boost customer satisfaction. Purchasing discounted products from brands that “give back” through charitable donations feels good. Moreover, 9 out of 10 Gen Zers desire to donate to charitable or environmental causes when looking for bargains.

This generation of shoppers, who are passionate about conscious purchasing, can be won over by coupling discounts and promotions with charity donations.

5. SHOPPERS ARE LOOKING FOR MORE THOUGHTFUL GIFTS THIS YEAR

(Photo by Nicole Michalou on Pexels)

Because sales are so impersonal, Gen Z prefers personalized experiences and products.

Personalized bundle discounts can be used to achieve this. For example, shoppers may create their own 3 for 2 bundle and receive free shipping.

A bundle rather than a single product appeals to bargain-hunting shoppers on Black Friday, because it encourages them to make a purchase.

Whether you want to create urgency by showing off what great products you have or showcase your brand values by giving away the coolest-looking gift cards, TikTok is the best place to reach Gen Zs with your promotion.

Because 60% of TikTok’s over 2 billion users are Gen Z, a huge number report being inspired to shop for products they see on the app.

Using TikTok to get responses on preferred discounts prior to Black Friday is a great way to get your customers engaged. Ask them what product they would like to see on sale to get them ready for the holiday.

Alternatively, go live on TikTok and ask for responses to determine what discount they would like to see.

According to research, interactive content attracts twice as much engagement as static content, and Generation Z is particularly enthralled by it: 45% desire more interactivity with the content they consume.

You can use TikTok to host competitions and giveaways. These boost website traffic, are highly targetable, and allow brands to reach 34% of their new customers. Using a social media giveaway campaign, you’ll put yourself in front of your followers and gain new ones as over 60% of social media users share contests with their friends.

In 2022, Gen Zers will regard TikTok as their “new Google,” using it as a search engine. You must optimize your content so that it can be located on TikTok searches.

TikTok has also integrated with Shopify, so if your e-commerce store is hosted there, TikTok presents a fantastic chance to link discovery with the purchase and thus improve your conversion rate.

It’s time to embrace influencer marketing, especially if you want to capture Gen Z customers. 70% of teenagers prefer influencers to celebrities, and 90% of business owners agree that influencer marketing is effective.

Working with other people’s audiences and personalities allows you to build trust with new clients and come up with creative, forward-thinking marketing campaigns that suit your target audience.

Using an exclusive discount code with an influencer will create a feeling of exclusivity.  

Your brand can target the right influencers to connect with their followers, advertising to the people most likely to be interested in your product.

It’s also a fantastic way to expand your audience, particularly to those who might not be your primary consumers. Consider using a discount code for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and make sure it’s timed to create a sense of urgency and boost sales.

It’s one of the best ways to organically spread the word about your brand and items by providing solutions to frequently asked questions or creating tutorials about specific sale items. Having your influencer provide TikTok tutorials is one of the most-watched types of content on all platforms, so it’s crucial to use them.

People should be notified of your Black Friday deals as a bonus, so make sure that your influencer mentions them.

Developing your own creative solutions to Black Friday marketing campaigns can seem overwhelming, but by paying attention to key success factors, you can overcome this hurdle.

It’s a difficult climate out there, but brands that can connect with Gen Zers now will secure their loyalty for the long term if they take the time to comprehend their customers, create excellent customer experiences, and express their values.

Put on your thinking cap and begin planning how to get them on board with your brand.

Want to know how to get Gen Z to love your brand? We specialize in that. To get in touch to find out more, please don’t hesitate to contact us.