Black Friday 2022: Recommendations for Marketers

There is hardly any marketer who doesn’t know what Black Friday is. For most retailers and brands, it is one of the most important sales events of the year – Black Friday can “compete” only with Christmas and New Year.

For customers, Black Friday is a shopping celebration of sorts. Originating in the United States, Black Friday takes place the day after Thanksgiving (in 2022, it will fall on November 25). Despite its geographic origin, the shopping spree with the same name is now one of the busiest periods of the year all over the world, and competition among retailers is truly fierce. Shoppers used to line up early in the morning to take advantage of the best deals. But, as the world becomes more and more digital, so do marketing strategies and sales – most of the transactions are now online. This was greatly accelerated by the pandemic, and the trend is likely to continue.

As more consumers shop online for Black Friday, retailers have to shift their strategies to reach their audience. And it’s not just online – transactions taking place on mobile have been growing.

According to Adobe Analytics:

• 42.4% of Black Friday e-commerce revenue came through smartphones (about $3.7 billion)
   
• The average conversion rate on mobile devices rose to 3.3 percent on Black Friday, compared to 2.1 percent just two weeks ago.

And now, when the shopping season is just around the corner, it's time to finalize your holiday campaign strategies and score great results. It's also a great opportunity to win over the Gen Z audience. 58% of Gen Z usually rely on Black Friday for their holiday season buying – and we can expect that even more will do so in 2022. While Gen Z's are 2x more likely to shop on mobile devices than Millennials, a mobile marketing strategy is a must to win them over during the shopping season. 

In this blog post, we share some recommendations for marketers for Black Friday 2022 from our team at Rakuten Viber.

Be mobile-first

Mobile is no longer the future – it's the present. In order to make sure your Black Friday campaign is successful, you need to make sure ALL of its elements are mobile-friendly. People are using their smartphones to browse the internet and to make purchases. In fact, mobile commerce is growing at a rapid pace and is expected to reach $620,97 billion by 2024. This means that if your website is not optimized for mobile, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. First and foremost, your website needs to be responsive. This means that it should be able to adjust to any screen size. Additionally, your website should be easy to navigate on any mobile device – from large screens to small screens. All of the buttons and links should be easily accessible, and the overall user experience should be seamless. Finally, make sure your website is optimized for speed. No one will wait around for a slow website to load, so make sure yours is up to the task. 

Target Your Audience

In order to create a successful marketing campaign, it is essential for brands to know who their target audience is and what they want. By understanding your key demographics, you can create content and messages that resonate with your customers during the time when they are ready to buy and spend their hard-earned money. 

Additionally, knowing your clientele can help you better allocate your marketing budget and efforts. To make sure your Black Friday campaign is successful, take advantage of Rakuten Viber's targeting options. With us, you can make sure your ad or your message reaches the right people and that they're more likely to benefit from your deals. Whether you need to segment your customers by age, gender, interests, or other parameters, Rakuten Viber has got your back. With our targeting options, you can be sure that your ad is getting in front of those who are most interested in what you have to say.

What Rakuten Viber products and services to use during Black Friday and holiday shopping

• Rakuten Viber Advertising Solutions – when you want to reach a large audience, irrespective of whether they know your brand or not. You don’t need to have a customer base to get started with Viber Ads, branded Viber stickers or branded Viber Lenses.
• Rakuten Viber Business Messages – when you already have a database of customers who gave their consent to receive messages from your brand or business:
  • Promotional – send information before and during Black Friday, but don’t overdo it, as people could get easily annoyed and unsubscribe.
  • Conversational – to provide customers with any information they may need, and to close the sale with those who have doubts if they should proceed with the purchase.
  • Transactional – make sure the customers know about their order and delivery status.
• Rakuten Viber Chatbots – you will be getting thousands of requests and messages during the busiest sales day of the year. Automation is key to keeping customers happy and your staff sane.

Our website and blog section have many useful recommendations on the use of creative, case studies, and tips and tricks. 

If you are new to Viber, get started and open a Rakuten Viber Business Account as soon as you can to take advantage of the holiday conversion opportunities. You can always reach out to our team with any questions.

Maximize sales through personalization

When you create campaigns that speak directly to your clients, you can connect with your audience on a personal level and encourage them to make purchases. Your client data from previous years can be extremely helpful in this case. By understanding what part of your clientele is most likely to make purchases on Black Friday, you can focus your marketing efforts on them and maximize your conversions. For example, if you see that your sales are strongest among women aged 25-34, you can concentrate your advertising and promotions on this group. Besides, you can use this data to target similar segments and even create multiple creative variations for ads and messages.

Build an emotional connection – be creative

Black Friday is a great time for brands to create a personal connection with potential and existing customers. Think about how you can make your brand stand out from the crowd and create a strong emotional link with your audience. Instead of just trying to sell them your products, try to focus on the value your brand brings. And remember – it is the most crowded and noisy marketing landscape of the year. How will your brand stand out? Visually and contextually?

Creativity is key here, so try something different. Try to create a human side to your brand and show that you are empathetic and understand the needs of your target audience. Give your ads and promotions a personal touch. Provide your audience with the information they need and make sure to be as clear as possible and to use simple and very short sentences.

Don’t be too aggressive – focus on building lifelong relationships

Black Friday is an opportunity for brands to boost their sales. However, the aim of the day could be to create lifelong customers rather than one-time buyers. By offering exclusive promotions, discounts, and value they won’t find anywhere else, you can add another brick to forming a lasting relationship.

Compete for attention

On one of the busiest shopping days of the year, it is important for businesses to keep up with the latest trends and be ready to adjust marketing strategy and creative materials accordingly. With so many names and deals around, it can be tough to stay ahead of the competition. You are not competing within your category only – you are competing for attention and for a share of the Black Friday budget your customer plans to spend on all sorts of things. When you use Rakuten Viber for the holiday season marketing efforts, you get more chances to reach your audience in various parts of their customer journey.

Get the Timing Right

Black Friday is a busy time for everyone – businesses are preparing for the holiday rush, and buyers are searching for the best deals out there. With so many retailers and brands competing for attention, it's more important than ever to make sure your campaign is timed perfectly, so your potential customers don't get overwhelmed. 

There are a few tips to help you make the most of Black Friday and avoid being lost in the shuffle:

• Start with a soft launch. Don't try to reach everyone at once. Instead, start with a small group of people who are likely to be interested in what you're promoting.
• Build up gradually. Once you've got a few people on board, you can start to ramp up your marketing efforts. But don't go too crazy too soon - you don't want to annoy your potential customers.
• Schedule your campaigns wisely. Make sure you're not bombarding clients with too many notifications at once. Space out your ads so that they have time to digest what you're saying and take action.
• Keep an eye on your results. Pay attention to how people are responding to your marketing messages. If you see that they are starting to tune out, it's time to scale back or try something new.

By following these tips, you can ensure that your messages are well-timed and effective, engaging your customers and boosting your sales. And be sure to post about your deals on all of your social media channels and encourage your followers to share your posts with their friends and followers.

Track results and learnings for future campaigns

Be sure to measure your sales, conversion rates, and other key metrics. This will allow you to see what's working and what's not. By doing this, you can continually adjust your approach to ensure that you're getting the most out of your Black Friday campaigns, and apply learnings next year.

In a world where customers are bombarded with marketing messages from every direction, Black Friday is the perfect opportunity for businesses to break through the clutter and connect with their target audience on a personal level. And there's no better way to do that than with Rakuten Viber. With us, you can send one-to-one messages that are tailored to the particular customer, making the message feel individual and intimate, or reach millions of people with Viber Ads. Plus, with Rakuten Viber's rich media capabilities, you can really bring your communications to life. Whether it's a video, an image, or even a GIF, our app lets brands add a touch of personality to their messages that will make customers take notice. So if you want to make your Black Friday campaigns stand out, be sure to use Rakuten Viber. 

We wish your brand lots of success and sales in the 2022/2023 holiday season!