The Complete Black Friday eCommerce Checklist
For most brands, luxury or otherwise, Black Friday is one of the biggest events of the year. Most Black Friday shopping now occurs online, but that doesn’t make it any less competitive. If anything, it makes it more competitive, with the world’s brands available at a consumer’s fingertips. So how can you stand out from the crowd? Follow our comprehensive Black Friday ecommerce checklist to get your brand seen by the right audience at the right time.
How to Build a Black Friday eCommerce Strategy
During Cyber Week, consumers are usually at their highest point of purchase intent. They’ve done most of their brand, product, and service research in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, and now they’re ready to spend.
Meeting your Black Friday targets isn’t just about putting offers on your website, though. There’s a lot more you need to take care of to pull it off.
As an ecommerce brand on Black Friday, you need to make sure:
Your ideal customers are aware of your Black Friday campaigns
Customers pick you over your competitors
New customers are able to discover you
Your website functions well on the day
Your customers have a pleasant experience
That’s just a high-level overview of what you need to do to get your website and campaigns ready for Cyber Week. Below, we’ve broken it down into a more specific checklist for you to run through to ensure that your brand sells on the day.
Your eCommerce Black Friday Checklist
Once you’ve made your way through this Black Friday to-do list, your brand’s website will be in an excellent position for the promotional period.
MAKE SURE YOUR WEBSITE'S SEO IS UP TO SCRATCH
Never underestimate the importance of your website’s SEO. Search engine optimization (SEO) is how customers find your website online. Whether they’re searching directly for your brand name or the products and services you sell, you want your website to rank as highly as possible (ideally in the top three) on search engine results pages (SERPs).
So how do you make it into the top three?
Prepare early
Review your website’s technical performance
Improve your website’s search and navigation functions
Create a dedicated Black Friday and Cyber Monday landing page
Write new blog content, or update old content
Collect and display reviews
Track your performance in the lead-up to the event
SEO is an ongoing process. So, once you’ve laid the foundations, you can keep it ticking over while you move on to the next point in the checklist.
CREATE BANNERS AND GRAPHICS TO PROMOTE YOUR BLACK FRIDAY EVENT
Now it’s time to get creative. Whether you’re going at it alone or using a graphic designer, banners are an essential part of your Black Friday campaign. Not only do they help to promote your campaign across social media, but they also act as a signpost on your website to let customers know they’re in the right place at the right time.
It’s likely that your graphics will be the first thing your customers see when they land on your website, so you’ll want them to be clear and eye-catching.
It’s also best to include the details of your Black Friday offer in your banner. Whether you’re offering an attractive discount, a free gift with purchase, or taking a stand against Black Friday, visually communicate your campaign in a quick and digestible way through these creatives.
HAVE A BUILD-UP STRATEGY
One of the only successful launches that didn’t have a build-up was Beyoncé’s Lemonade album. While that was iconic, now is not the time to attempt a Beyoncé.
Customers will research Black Friday offers in advance, so they know what they’re buying on the day. Otherwise, they risk missing out when things sell out. That’s why it’s critical for your brand’s Black Friday campaign to start early.
You don’t have to start the offers early, or even tell them what you’ll be offering, you just need to generate awareness that you are participating in Black Friday. You can also communicate when the offers will go live so customers can be ready.
Don’t assume customers will think of you during this research phase. You want to make sure that you get your Black Friday communications in front of them as early and as frequently as possible in the run-up.
USE EMAIL MARKETING
Besides social media and the website itself, it’s also important to utilize email marketing. Construct an email flow that makes them aware of your Black Friday campaign, then build up anticipation for the big day. You could include a countdown timer to really build hype among your customers.
Only your most loyal customers are subscribed to your email list, so a great way to reward them is with an exclusive Black Friday early access incentive. This could mean sending an email an hour before you post on social media, allowing subscribers to get a first look.
Of course, don’t forget to schedule the official launch email, letting subscribers know when the official Black Friday event is live. Finally, you may wish to include a ‘last chance’ email in your flow, notifying customers how long they have left to make the most of your offers.
TEST, PLAN, AND SCHEDULE YOUR PAID ADS
Your organic Black Friday social media strategy is a given. But have you considered paid ads? Customers are most likely to convert and make a purchase during the Black Friday period, so with the right paid ad strategy in place, you can win a lot of orders.
Before Black Friday
Review your data from last year’s campaigns to see what lessons can be learned
Conduct A/B testing in the lead-up to Black Friday, but not on the day
Create high-quality creatives
Write enticing copy
Schedule campaigns in advance
During Black Friday
Pause your usual ads
Increase your paid ad budget
Update your product feed more often
Track and review your data
Run retargeting campaigns
MAKE YOUR OFFERING ENTICING
You can imagine Black Friday to be like a marketplace, with every stall shouting customers down with their deals and prices — quite literally, noisy. The same goes for online sales. Ads, social media posts, and emails are popping up everywhere for your customers. During this seasonal promotion, it’s usually the best offers that win, so make sure you’re offering customers something worthwhile.
This could be in the form of a generous discount, however, many luxury brands prefer not to offer discounts as it risks devaluing their brand or products. There are various approaches your luxury brand could take towards Black Friday, including offering free gifts, exclusive offers, or even taking a stand against the day as a whole. Go with whatever best aligns with your brand, but whatever your campaign is, make sure it’s compelling.
STREAMLINE YOUR CHECKOUT PROCESS
The checkout can make or break your sale. A poor checkout experience can lead customers to completely abandon the order, right as they are at the finish line. The simpler your checkout process, the more likely you are to actually make the sale.
One way to do this is to implement one-click checkout, which automatically fills in your customers' details, saving them time and removing an element of friction.
PREPARE A BLACK FRIDAY SHIPPING AND RETURNS PLAN
Customers want to know when they’ll receive their items and if they can return them. Delivery and return times can often be longer during these busy seasonal periods, but most brands and retailers will be in the same boat here. As long as you can communicate accurate timelines to your customers, they’ll be understanding.
Make your order cancellation, return, and exchange policies easy and clear. If your customers have a poor experience, they may not purchase from you again, so this is vital to get right.
ADD EXTRA CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Quick customer service is critical on Black Friday. You want to answer new and returning customers’ questions promptly to avoid them shopping with a competitor instead.
You could do this by adding a live chat function to your website or installing an AI customer support bot. But make sure there are always humans on hand and that it’s easy for your customers to contact them, otherwise they might get frustrated and give up. Bots are just an easy way to filter down customer service queries that can be answered quickly.
FAQ pages are also a simple way to answer common customer questions. If you can preempt what they want to know, they might not need to contact customer support at all.
Let Us Prepare Your eCommerce Website For Black Friday
If you’ve managed to work your way through this checklist in time for Black Friday, then congratulations! You’ve set yourself up for a very successful busy retail period. If you need an extra hand in ensuring that you meet or even surpass your Black Friday targets, look no further than the experts at Block & Tam.
Get in touch with our friendly team of digital marketing specialists today!
