10 Creative Black Friday Campaigns For 2021

Creative Black Friday Campaigns 💣

Black Friday, is one of the biggest shopping days of the year and it falls just one day after Thanksgiving - it’s a shopper’s dream come true. Nearly every business offers discounts and incentives for customers both old and new to buy from their store.

We’re pretty sure that the timing is one persuading factor that encourages consumers to take the plunge and make purchases on Black Friday, if not for themselves, for their friends and family in the form of holiday gifts and what could be more incentivising than products that double up as seasonal gifts at discounted prices?

What started as an American tradition is now a worldwide phenomenon which means that consumers around the globe are counting down to the big moment so, great deals are expected and it’s the job of the brand to deliver deals that customers cannot resist.

However, alluring prices alone may not be enough for stores to make record sales offline in 2021 and due to the pandemic, it is expected that this year’s event will differ from what we have experienced in the past.

Camping out in front of shops, joining extensive queues and record-breaking visits to local stores are all things that we’ve come to know and expect from Black Friday, but it’s unlikely that the stores will attract the same volume of customers on the high street this year.

So, what’s the alternative? We’re expecting the biggest shopping event to move to a safer space that falls within the lap of retail websites and social media platforms, but offering discounted products alone may not be enough for retailers to swing it up against the wave of competition who are going to be doing the same thing.

To stand out from the crowd, online stores are going to need an effective Black Friday marketing strategy and we think that the creative Black Friday campaigns listed within this article are the best way to provide you all with some inspiration as to how to could approach this major shopping event.

N0.1: Create A Gift Guide 🎁

Late November is usually the time of year that people start thinking about holiday shopping and we’ve all entered the phrase ‘ Christmas gift ideas’ into Google at one time or another, haven’t we?

Well, the idea of putting together a gift guide is to help the consumers who are looking for something special. As the Christmas excitement starts to kick in browsing the internet for gift ideas becomes a common occurrence.

Detailed gift guides are the perfect way to attract browsers, especially if they’re aesthetically pleasing and provide value with their carefully curated suggestions.

Posting gift guides on social media is a great way to get your brand and its products noticed by those who are seeking gift inspiration around the festive period. If you’re thinking of putting a gift guide together, why not create one as part of your Black Friday marketing strategy?

N0.2: A Sense of Urgency

Around any kind of buzz, there is always some sense of urgency so, why not try to create that vibe around your store’s creative Black Friday campaigns? Start early and make sure customers know that what you’re advertising will be available for a limited time only while stocks last.

We guess that you’ll also want to keep your customers on their toes and the solution here is to make them want to shop as soon as an offer becomes available. So, keep the excitement going by providing your followers with sneak peeks of what’s coming.

There are several ways to do this which includes; email marketing, publishing blog posts and social media posts, but many other brands will be utilising these methods too, so be sure to make your campaigns fun with countdowns and get creative with slowly revealed details through Instagram Stories.

N0.3: Free Gifts 🆓

Who doesn’t love a free gift the checkout? Your customers will enjoy a freebie so, if you’re planning on adding free gifts to purchases as part of your store’s holiday sale, make it known to everyone and anyone by building it into your social media strategy. Then, all that’s left to do is sit back and watch your followers become customers. Now, that’s a smart Black Friday marketing strategy, wouldn't you agree?

N0.4: Instagram Shop

So it’s not long now until Black Friday and every Instagram user is out there hunting for deals. Want to know how to bring the shopping experience directly into their feeds by making the most out of the Instagram Shopping feature? You're in the right place.

Instagram Shop is the new way for merchants to receive orders and customers don’t even need to leave the platform to make them. The feature was released as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggle it has caused for many ecommerce businesses. We guess that the platform wanted to make things easier for the merchants on the app and this feature can pull a few strings if used well.

Instagram Shop allows brands to create product catalogues and curate their products into collections. Creating a Shop is free and simple but it needs to be submitted for review which usually takes a few days, so make sure to prepare your shop long enough before Black Friday hits, otherwise, your store may just miss out on this particular marketing strategy outlet in 2021.

N0.5: Extend To Cyber Monday 🌐

Black Friday isn’t the only shopping event worth mentioning around here because it has much of the same sales potential as Cyber Monday. The main difference between the two events is that most Black Friday campaigns apply to brick and mortar stores, as well as the stores which can be found online, but Cyber Monday has emerged as a shopping event that focuses solely on the stores that make ecommerce sales.

If you didn’t already know, Cyber Monday deals are usually a continuation of creative Black Friday campaigns so, if you’re up for continuing the discount party for a little longer, we’d suggest letting your customers know that they can still take advantage of the amazing prices.

They'll be worth sticking around for.

N0.6: Keep Customers Coming Back

If your Black Friday offer is attractive enough to consumers, we believe that you’ll finish the day with a high order count. A thought-out Black Friday marketing strategy is like a gift that keeps on giving which can bring customers back for more before the holiday season is over.

How is this possible? Well, it’s really simple to pursue. All a brand has to do is set up a short promotion that will start after Black Friday for instance around mid-December. This promotion can be anything from; marking down select items, offering a percentage off an entire store, or adding free gifts to purchases over a certain order amount.

However, the most important part of running an online promotion is to make use of social channels to let existing customers know about the deals that will be coming their way, not to mention being able to reach an entirely new audience who might just convert to first-time customers after learning about your store's promotion plans.

To add a pinch of exclusivity to your offer, we’d recommend sending out exclusive promotional codes to digital users via a private message.

Setting up automatic replies is quick and easy and brings outstanding results in the form of high engagement rates and increased sales for many ecommerce stores. Merchants can create up to 20 different replies for human touch and that’s how many brands in online retail gain returning customers during peak shopping events like Black Friday.

N0.7: Free Shipping 📦

Hefty discounts are pretty much a standard aspect of Black Friday so why not add a little extra frill and win more customers over with the offer of free shipping too?

Free shipping can tip the scale for a customer who’s deciding between two similar offers and one of those offers may not be with your company so, it’s worth thinking - what makes your deal better than the rest?

If you decide to elevate your offer with free shipping, ensure that you have sufficiently set up the logistics because once a high volume of orders start to come in, upsetting the customers who have made a purchase is not a good way to start.

So, keep in mind that delivering orders on time is a key way to keep your customers happy and coming back for more.

N0.8: Use Hashtags

As we’ve established, many people will be actively looking for online deals when Black Friday arrives and in many cases, this includes searching for #BlackFriday and related hashtags across social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

So, do your business a favour and start using hashtags across your brand’s social channels to increase the success of its creative Black Friday marketing campaign. The more consumers you reach, the more sales your brand is likely to make.

N0.9: Do-Gooder Businesses 👍

It’s no surprise that customers love a good deal, but they also love the feeling of giving back to the community. This year more than ever, consumers are expecting the brands that they support to do good and give back.

So, to become what we call a do-gooder business by setting up a partnership with a local charity or a bigger nonprofit organisation to help your customers support a good cause.

Additionally, thinking about how we can help others is just one way that a business can spread the holiday cheer and joy to those who they reach and ‘Giving Tuesday’, - the Tuesday right after Black Friday, is the perfect time to be charitable.

N0.10: Send A Message

While Black Friday is a great opportunity for ecommerce stores to make additional sales, the shopping holiday won’t be the right route for every online business to focus on as a strategy.

As big as the shopping event is, certain brands choose to not participate in Black Friday as a protest against consumerism. While this approach might not bring them that magical spike in November sales, this refusal to take part in such a widespread phenomenon speaks volumes about a brand’s socio-environmental involvement.

As we’re sure you all know, many consumers are becoming more socially conscious so if your brand is not planning on taking part, use the platform to send a message to your customers and others who may hear about your peaceful protest. This strategy might just give your brand the edge it needs to find a tight niche of people who are also socially conscious.

To send out a strong message, create a landing page that explains your decision. This will provide your loyal customers with the chance to better understand the brand and its philosophy.

Then, once you’ve put together a strong content strategy, make sure that you follow the basic but best practices when carrying it out.

However, if you are going to take part in this event, an early start is essential. So, get going by generating a buzz around your store’s upcoming deals well in advance of the Black Friday event with; countdowns, sneak peeks, lists and hashtags across social media.

Then, once the promotions kick in, it’s time to check that your team is available and well equipped to provide eager shoppers with amazing customer service on-site and on social media.

In short, speedy response rates and a quick problem-solving approach is the best way to maximise sales, especially during busy holiday periods.

Finally, we’d suggest looking into the results of your social media marketing campaigns with an analytics tool such as Polar Analytics for in-depth performance insights and drawing conclusions that will allow you to have an even more successful Black Friday in 2022.

What are your thoughts on these creative Black Friday campaigns? Have they piqued your curiosity about how you can reap additional sales for your business during one of the biggest shopping events of the year? Reach out and let us know.

If you’re actively looking to work with a Shopify agency designer or developer to assist you with your business, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch to get started!