There is no bigger retail event in the year than Black Friday. It trumps all spring and summer sales, makes Christmas look tiny and is far superior to any January sale – it is simply the biggest and best event of the year.
Every year retailers try and top their competitors with a bigger and more creative offer, but you don’t need to create the most elaborate offer to triumph on Black Friday. All you need is for your offer to be seen by as many of your customers as possible – it really is that simple.
There is no point having the best offer if it is only going to be displayed on your website. You need to shout about it from the roof tops, promote it through multiple marketing channels, social media, email, in your shop, on the radio, on TV, but most importantly and by far the most effective, via SMS.
Not only do your customers want to receive offers from you via SMS, but SMS is the perfect way to get your message straight into your customers pocket, knowing that your text message, unlike email, will be read almost instantly with 90% of all text messages read within 3 minutes.
Even though SMS is such a powerful marketing tool, it can still go wrong, especially if you don’t send your message at the right time. Sending a text message to your customers at 9pm on Black Friday, even if it is a catchy message with an amazing offer, will get you very little response, by that time the majority of your customers have already seen other offers and have made their main Black Friday purchases.
It is vital you send your Black Friday campaign at the right time of day. To help you get the most out of SMS, we have put together a guide on the best time to send your Black Friday SMS campaigns, which you can read in full here.
Handy Black Friday tips
Copy Amazon – Well don’t just copy Amazon, but they do Black Friday very well every year. They have timed Black Friday deals and don’t just have one big offer, they break it down, adding a timer and unique offers to different products. This gives consumers a sense of urgency that the particular offer they are looking at, will soon end and never be shown again.
Remind customers – Remind customers that you have your sale is still on. First send all your customers an initial text message as soon as your Black Friday sale has started, then again on Black Friday itself and again the day before your deal finishes. By contacting customers at different times may promote them into a second or even third purchase, and for those who didn’t make a purchase, it will give them a gentle nudge of your amazing deals.
If you aren’t ready for Black Friday this year, what are you waiting for, sign up for a free account now and start sending your customers text messages in minutes. Or for those who already use SMS marketing but don’t really believe in the whole Black Friday hype, have a read of our amazing stats below. We are sure once you have finished, you will be a believer.
