Digital Media Team’s staff are well-versed in Black Friday proceedings. We asked the team to share some of their tips, strategies and coping methods (bevs), so that you can gain some insider insight on how to prepare your own Black Friday marketing. Let’s get to it.
1. Preparation is KEY
“If you don’t prep, you’re gonna regret it. The vast difference between this year and last year for us is immense. This year we prepped so much that Black Friday was dare I say… okay. Whereas last year I think I cried before lunchtime.” – Ruby, Content Writer.
2. Sign off your budgets and promotions in advance
“The accounts that were able to scale efficiently over Black Friday were the ones where budgets and offers were signed off in advance. This meant we could ramp up activity in line with offers launching early, increase traffic in the run-up and capitalise on this over the weekend.” – Lauren, PPC Manager
3. Start early
“We set a Black Friday request deadline of October 21st, which may seem early, but it helped us to manage the huge feat of designing and uploading hundreds of client campaigns. Hard work and careful prep really pays off.” – Kirsty, Marketing Manager
4. The 6 P’s
“This was my first eCommerce Black Friday and it was an amazing experience to undergo it with the ever growing DMT team. Before anything else, the 6 P’s – Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. The accounts that had a solid plan in place that wasn’t too complicated excelled this Black Friday.” – Rhyse, PPC Executive
5. Push through in the face of adversity
“The accounts who kept pushing through the ongoing pandemic were the ones that reaped the rewards further down the line. This really showed that consumer behaviour hasn’t actually changed a great deal. People love a bargain and they love to treat themselves, this year even more so as it was a record year for DMT.” – Rhyse
6. Stand out from the crowd
“My Black Friday tip would be to make sure your ads are original. Try to stray away from the generic sale style and try to stand out in the feed and you’ll be more likely to get that conversion.” – Regan, Designer
7. Communication is key
“Communication with clients is key, you need to make sure you are updating clients with how their accounts are going, in order to effectively scale and optimise accounts.
“All that’s required after that; is a full working weekend, continuous eyes on the accounts and a few glasses of wine in the evenings. Next, simply enjoy watching the ROAS pour in!” – Lewis, Paid Social Executive
8. Gather client assets ahead of time
“It was my first Black Friday. I think what I learnt most was organisation and planning is KEY! Making sure clients have sent in their promos, assets and budgets in good time was definitely helpful.” – Sam, PPC Executive
9. Be brave
“My tips for business owners would be: Be willing to adapt but be confident with your offer; be prepared with your content – spend time in the months leading up gathering strong content that will stand out; and look at the overall picture and decide the roles of the channels and how they help your overall marketing funnel, don’t just throw money at them.
My tip for marketers: Good luck.” – Cam, Paid Social Manager
10. Project management tools are a game-changer
“My lesson for BFCM is ORGANISATION. Anyone who works with me knows how much I preach about breaking down your days into a nice list, but I can’t stress it enough over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday madness.
“Monday.com kept me sane (shameless plug) and quite honestly, there’s nothing more satisfying in life than checking ‘complete’. It’s a great way to keep on top of everything – and also make sure you’re not stretching yourself too thin either.” – Aimee, Head of Content
11. Be meticulous with your notes
“Considering this was my first Black Friday it was pretty daunting, but the thing that kept it all in order for me was noting everything down in table form. I had a table for each step in the process – requesting copy/creative, uploading everything, scheduling the ads, checking everything was live, updating Smart Shopping – and checked off each account when it was done. This approach helped make sure I didn’t miss anything out or get too flustered.” – Jamie, PPC Executive
12. Think ahead
“My tip is definitely don’t forget that Black Friday isn’t the end of the madness – there’s still Advent/Christmas/Boxing Day/January Sales waiting around the corner and preparing early for that helps too!” – Joe, Content Writer
13. Don’t make any site updates during BFCM
“During black Friday any maintenance work on the website is a bad idea! A website can throw errors or even break during the busiest shopping time of the year, making the business lose huge amounts of potential profit. With any eCommerce website you should save the maintenance for the quiet period.” – Martyna, Web Developer
14. Look after yourself
“My other tip? Make sure you’ve got some sort of stress relief on standby. Be it a crate of wine, some plates to smash, or some chocolates in a hidden drawer. Trust me, you’re gonna need it.” – Aimee
And there you have it – our top tips on how to have your best-ever Black Friday. BFCM shows no signs of slowing down, and with eCommerce on the rise, competition is fierce. We absolutely can’t stress enough the importance of careful planning – last minute plans will get you nowhere, whereas time and effort will see you exceed your KPIs.
If you need an extra hand with your digital marketing, holla at us. We’ve refined our services to offer the ultimate eCommerce toolkit, helping brands smash it year-round.
