As the end of November approaches and Christmas is on the horizon, millions of shoppers around the world eagerly anticipate a single day that is renowned for its frenzy and unbeatable bargains; Black Friday, which is arguably one of the most significant promotional events of the year for retailers and businesses
As the end of November approaches and Christmas is on the horizon, millions of shoppers around the world eagerly anticipate a single day that is renowned for its frenzy and unbeatable bargains; Black Friday, which is arguably one of the most significant promotional events of the year for retailers and businesses. On this day, shoppers take to stores or eagerly search the web for the best deals on their most wanted items as a wave of discounts and deals suddenly hit most stores. But what makes Black Friday so irresistible?
Yearly, retailers offer a limited quantity of highly discounted products, and the anticipation of possibly securing one of these items at an incredible price can be highly motivating to shoppers. This anticipation triggers a release of dopamine in our brains creating a sense of pleasure and reward, even before we make the purchase. Discounts create a perception of increased value. This perception can make the offer more attractive and encourage the consumer to buy the promotion even if it’s unnecessary. Promotional marketing often helps drive this sense of urgency. Black Friday deals are usually time-limited, encouraging customers to make quick purchasing decisions. Limited-time offers are effective at driving sales during this event. Flash sales are a brilliant example of these promotions' effect on people. Since it creates a sense of urgency by putting a time limit on your offer, customers are incentivised to act right away.
Scarcity is a fundamental psychological principle that plays a significant role in Black Friday promotions. Limited-time offers and limited quantities tap into people's “Fear Of Missing Out” (FOMO). When we perceive an opportunity as scarce, we are more likely to act quickly as we fear the chance of missing out. This sense of urgency links with loss aversion. Many retailers are mainly focusing on e-commerce this year, Black Friday creates a fresh opportunity to attract new customers, increase profits, and get rid of old stock. Although not all that glitters is gold, you should expect to see a high bounce rate and cart abandonment; according to SaleCycle insights ‘The global average cart abandonment rate on Black Friday was 79.8%’. Here the use of a follow-up email comes in very helpful to push customers to think again about making a purchase.
Promotional marketing can be used in many ways this season. For brands who already have loyalty programs, businesses can use Black Friday as an opportunity to reward loyal customers with exclusive deals or early access to promotions. Not only will this increase brand engagement but also customer retention. By running contests and giveaways during the Black Friday period can generate a buzz and attract potential customers. These promotional activities can be used to encourage participation and engagement on social media.
Microsites can be a powerful tool for Black Friday promotions, they allow you to create a dedicated and focused online presence. These microsites can be used effectively to showcase exclusive deals and previews of deals. By doing this, it can generate excitement and anticipation among your audience. This can also be rocketed by creating interactive content by incorporating interactive elements on the microsites such as gamifying the page and including popular and engaging games such as 'Spin the Wheel', or quizzes and surveys. This not only engages customers but can also help provide customer data for future campaigns. Which will allow for data-driven decisions to be made easier. In addition to all of this, you can use a microsite to be a deal highlight page, which will feature the best deals and codes for people to use at checkout on this page. Creating a visually appealing layout to showcase the deals and offers and incorporating a clear CTA (Call To Action) may help encourage visitors to shop. At Promotions Interactive we have years of practice in creating and powering these with PromoNow.
URN (Unique Reference Number) Codes can be creatively used when it comes to Black Friday, whether they are used to enhance engagement or provide personalised special offers to customers. With URN codes, we can create a customised landing page that the URN code will direct the customer to. These pages can be used to showcase exclusive deals and offers on products that your customers may have been looking at previously or what they may have recently been looking at. With the use of URN Codes, it allows personalised discounts to be made easier especially limited-time-only codes. These codes can be utilised to create a sense of excitement and urgency - with the URN codes being mystery discounts so the customer won't be aware of what the discount will be until applied. URN codes are extremely versatile and can be used for countless things, find out more here.
This can be a valuable tool for managing and optimising promotions in general, not only for Black Friday. The use of this software helps streamline the process of submitting and managing promotions across various channels, ensuring the campaigns are executed efficiently and effectively. When using promotional submission software, it allows for centralised campaign management where you can, organise, and manage all in one place. Take advantage of fast moving below the line opportunities and stay in control with centralised campaign management, automation, integration, and reporting all in one place. Promotion submission software helps you coordinate these efforts, ensuring consistent messaging and branding. At Promotions Interactive, we run on PromoNow.
In this digital age, ALL brands can capitalise on these psychological drivers through strategic email, social, urgency amplifying, scarcity-based promotions, and leveraging the social proof phenomenon to make Black Friday a shopping extravaganza that continues to captivate consumers worldwide.
We’re happy to answer any of your questions or to tell you more about what we do and how we could support your next promotional campaign.
