6 Marketing Lessons We've Learnt from Black Friday

Black has taken South Africa by storm, and all of us at nichemarket would like to thank you all for your fantastic response. From reader's suggestions to business contacting us directly, your response has been overwhelming, So much so that it resulted in nichemarket being featured on the SABC news:

Trends Relating to campaign implementation

While we tried out best to install protocol and made sure our readers were only exposed to useful and legit information, there was a common trend among most small business. This simply put was lack of knowledge on how to effectively run an online marketing campaign - shockingly enough even some of the more prominent brands showed these signs as well.

How to run an effective Black Friday Campaign

(or any campaign for that matter)

Although Black Friday is the inspiration behind this article, it is merely an example of a campaign. The below steps can help you execute any online or digital marketing campaign. If implemented correctly, your campaign should take off in no time. Follow our simple steps below so you can campaign like a pro, after all, you don't want to land up like McDonald's:

Black Friday **** Need copy and link****

andmdash; McDonaldand#39;s (@McDonaldsCorp) November 24, 2017

Above: McDonald's tweet went live on Black Friday morning with Dummy Content. The result of poor planning and lack of effort. I'm sure Ronald was not Lovin' it!

Have a plan (even if it's last minute)

Don't just jump on the bandwagon because everyone else is doing it. It's great that you have identified an opportunity, but now you have to plan how you will communicate your message to your customers? What will be your draw card?

Have a smoking hot deal

Is your deal attractive enough to customers and potential customers to spread the word like wildfire? Free delivery is excellent, but come on guys; it's Black Friday, you need to pull out the big guns if you want to stand out from the crowd. If you don't think this deal is the best thing since the internet, then it's not worth running the promo. You are wasting your time and resources = ultimately waisting budget!

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

I cannot stress enough how important communication is. This was probably the most prominent element businesses did not understand or seemed to be struggling with. Many retailers decided they wanted to partake in Black Friday, had lots of deals lined up, but failed to communicate this with the public.

If your primary income stream is digital and you are promoting your campaign online, make sure you and your team are not the only ones who have the details of your sale. If users cannot find this online, how are they supposed to indulge in your offer?

This can be done in many ways, create a landing page, a facebook event, send out an email or post about it on social media. Do what you must, but get the word out on public platforms!

Send your users to one single point

Now that you have spread the word and enticed users to come and check out what you have to offer, where will you send them? We noticed many Businesses just provided links to there websites which showcased nothing related to Black Friday.

Some even just sent users to specific product pages, also not referencing much. The best way to do this is to create a dedicated landing page showcasing your offering, think of this as the sale section or promotion corner in your store. Users can use this as a point of reference for their shopping and save for a later stage.

Compiling this useful point of reference will better communicate what you have to offer and if you get them excited the chances of them sharing with their networks are much higher!

Don't forget to tease

We know that nobody likes a tease, yet they get all the attention don't they? That's because like it or not, teasing works! With a big event like Black Friday, keeping your sale a secret until the day is not always the best plan.

Big brands have already been campaigning for weeks, teasing and enticing users. While some brands just acted like nothing was happening and then popped up on the day, many resulting in poor sales.

If online is your main or only revenue driver, you have to play your customers. Tease them well in advance, so they are ready to spend their cash with you! If you have an offline presence, make sure you have teasing material present on your physical location so customers can be prepared!

Make sure your Campaign Messaging Makes Sense

If you are advertising for Black Friday, but you starting on Wednesday how does this make sense? If you are planning to run your campaign over a more than one day (the actual day) make sure it makes sense. Black Friday is seen as a single day and not a season like Festive or Christmas.

Choose something generic that incorporates the spirit of the sale, e.g. "Black Friday Every Day", "Blackout Sale Week". Or be bold and have your campaign name, e.g. "Mega sale week!" or "Festive Cyber Sale." 

Try something different if you have to as long as your message is relevant. Don't use "Black Friday Sale" and indicate the sale ends in March 2018. Laugh all you want, but it's sadly real life example.

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Tags: Blog, campaign strategy, How to, lessons learnt, marketing strategy