6 strategies to increase sales during Black Friday 2022

November is just around the corner, and for retailers that means one thing.

Black Friday.

In 2021, it was predicted that the UK alone would spend a staggering £9.42bn over the infamous weekend. 

That’s a lot of potential Black Friday revenue. 

But Black Friday is more competitive than ever, meaning brands need to have a solid strategy in place to make the most of this once-in-a-year opportunity.

And email is the channel to achieve just that.

Email is essential to promoting sales, pushing specific products, engaging current customers, and guiding new customers through the Black Friday process.

Read on to learn our favourite email marketing strategies for making the most of your Black Friday in 2022.  

• Empathy
• Timing 
• Subject lines
• Personalisation
• Urgency
• Abandoned basket reminders

Empathy

Before we get stuck into some of our favourite Black Friday strategies, it’s important to acknowledge the current situation that many consumers are in.

We are facing a cost of living crisis and a looming recession. All factors that will influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. And also factors that should inform brands’ email strategies.

Empathy is key to ensuring that your emails hit the right tone. 

It’s essential that brands acknowledge the situation that many consumers are dealing with, whether that be within their strategy, or directly within their emails.

Strategically, this may mean stretching a sale out over a longer period of time. Offering customers ongoing discounts that they can take advantage of. 

It may also mean carefully considering the types of products promoted this year. Consumers are likely to appreciate discounts on their daily essentials as opposed to luxury items which are currently out of reach. 

Timing

Gone are the days when Black Friday was limited to one day. Now, Black Friday is stretched out to a week or even month-long event. 

To keep up with the competition, brands need to get their timing right. 

Launch a campaign too early, and recipients may not be in the mindset for a sale. Launch too late, and they may have already spent their cash with competitors. 

Given the current economic climate and financial struggles many consumers are predicting, this year some brands are even drip-feeding their Black Friday campaign, to make it more manageable and less of a ‘splurge’ for consumers. 

Whatever your timing strategy, we advise creating a dedicated campaign for Black Friday. Incorporating teaser emails, countdown timers, pre-sale offers, and follow-up emails post-campaign.

Subject lines

Let’s get back to basics.

We don’t have to point out that Black Friday is a very busy time for inboxes. And before we even get into what to include within your emails, you need to encourage recipients to actually open them.

47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. Meaning they shouldn’t be an afterthought, instead, they deserve a strategy in their own right.

Fortunately, subject line strategy can be particularly fun and creative. 

Brands can use emojis to make their emails immediately eye-catching. They can promote specific offers and discounts to whet recipients’ appetites. Or they can use humour and controversy to offer something a little different to the other Black Friday emails. 

Personalisation 

Engagement is key during Black Friday.

Because if your email doesn’t entice a recipient to buy, you can guarantee a competitor’s will.

To make the most of your email real estate, ensure that as many elements are as tailored and personalised as possible. From subject line to product suggestions, and even local store recommendations.

As long as your data is in order, this doesn’t have to be a big job. By utilising dynamic content, you can create one email which dynamically populates based on the individual’s demographic, behavioural, and purchase data. 

For example, if a recipient has recently browsed handbags, businesses can send emails dynamically populated with the best Black Friday handbag deals. 

Urgency

When it comes to sales, reinforcing a sense of urgency is key to encouraging recipients to make a purchase.

And there are lots of creative ways that businesses can spark urgency within their emails.

They can utilise messaging, imagery, and countdown timers to reinforce that their Black Friday sale is ending in days or hours. 

Or, with the use of dynamic content, businesses can populate emails with real-time availability and pricing of specific products. As well as general communications, these emails can also be used to notify recipients about out-of-stock products they have browsed or gone to purchase, that are now back in stock. 

Abandoned basket reminders

You can pull out all the stops with your Black Friday emails, but sometimes the hardest part is guiding a customer through the post-email purchasing journey. 

Abandoned baskets are a significant issue for retailers. 69.57% of online baskets are abandoned, which equates to roughly 70 out of every 100 customers leaving without purchasing.

And there are many reasons why consumers add items to their basket but never purchase. They may have forgotten, found a better deal, have uncertainties, or they may not trust your brand.

Fortunately, all of these issues can be addressed in abandoned basket reminder emails. 

These emails are triggered when a potential customer adds items to their baskets, but doesn’t check out. To make an impact, the emails should include the product’s details and benefits, key information such as delivery times and contact information, and even positive reviews from other happy customers. 

Are you ready for Black Friday?

November is just around the corner, meaning there’s no time to lose to get your Black Friday and festive campaigns ready to go.

If you’re feeling the pressure, then why not get in touch with us for some help and support?

We can offer everything from strategic guidance to campaign creation, and can slot in wherever you need us most. Get in touch with us to find out more.