Marketing Techniques to Boost Your Black Friday Sales

November 8, 2023

Consumers set a new record in 2022, spending $9.12 billion online on Black Friday. While Black Friday closely competes with Cyber Monday for the most shoppers, both are critically important times of the year for businesses of all sizes.

With that in mind, companies should consider building a marketing strategy to drive as much business as possible during Black Friday and the crucial days around it. We offer some marketing tips to help.

Plan Early

For smart marketers, Black Friday doesn’t start on the Friday after Thanksgiving. You can expect many customers to shop before Black Friday doorbusters even begin.

Weeks ahead of time, develop a plan that includes content, deals, and promotions to help build interest in your Black Friday initiative ahead of the event. Consider creating a budget for spending your marketing dollars and coordinating activities using a schedule for the maximum marketing effect.

Be Everywhere

The competition for holiday sales is intense. Try to get into the fray by communicating with your audience across multiple channels using a synchronized set of campaigns.

These can include:

  • Direct mail. You can send coupons to highlight your big-ticket deals ahead of time.
  • Email. Email is a cheap way to hit a segmented audience more frequently than direct mail. You can use it to highlight a range of forthcoming deals but try not to overdo it with too many emails.
  • Social media. You can build a social media strategy with Black Friday campaigns featured around product selections.
  • Website. Using the other channels, you can point to more detailed, flashier promotion material on your site, such as gift guides.
  • Paid advertising. If your budget allows, consider search or social advertising.

Crunch the Numbers

Customers accessing your omnichannel content will generate a lot of data. Remember to monitor visitor sessions and tie them into your customer relationship management (CRM) system to get better intelligence on each customer’s interest over time. You can use this and demographic and previous sales data to segment your email and advertising campaigns.


Build Credibility

With so many retailers competing for Black Friday customers, credibility is key, and social proof is valuable. Try to work far ahead to build a solid base of legitimate customer reviews for your products and services and make it easy for customers to like you on social media.

Consider taking updated product photos or highlighting satisfied customers and sharing them on social media.

Be Creative

Smaller retailers may be unable to slash prices as much as the big players. You can still be creative in your marketing efforts, though. Consider offers like:

  • Specialized coupon deals for segmented customer groups
  • Free shipping (for online stores)
  • Gift cards with minimum purchase
  • Sneak peeks for loyalty cardholders

Stoke the Fire

Mid-November is the time to take your Black Friday marketing up a notch with various activities designed to introduce a sense of urgency and get customers excited to visit your store.

You can create a countdown to Black Friday on appropriate channels and punctuate it with promotional offers every day leading to your big Black Friday sale. As the countdown continues, consider upping the frequency to each hour. Complement this with social sweepstakes campaigns that can help your long-term marketing efforts by gathering customer emails.

You can hold some online products back if you’re a mixed brick-and-mortar/online vendor. Highlight products only on sale in-store to encourage shoppers to turn out in person.

By combining these techniques, you can supercharge your Black Friday campaign and be sure to draw new and existing customers through your doors, both online and on foot.

About the Author

Danny Bradbury has been writing about technology and business since 1989. His clients have included the Financial Times, the Guardian, and Canada's National Post.

All content provided herein is for educational purposes only. It is provided “as is,” and neither the author nor Office Depot warrants the accuracy of the information provided, nor do they assume any responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.