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The biggest shopping event of the year is mere weeks away. And, with the uncertainty around the ability for people to physically step foot into shops right now, it’s essential that you get your digital marketing ready.

Black Friday promotions now stretch much longer than the original two days, flooding the online retail space with deals, extended offers, pre-sales and competitive messaging. So, how do you cut through the noise? Make the most out of your website this festive season with our top tips and how to drive more traffic to your site.

Pay Per Click advertising

If you’re not already using PPC (pay-per-click advertising) or shopping feeds, now would be a good time to start. Using online advertising provides greater brand visibility and higher website traffic. When setting up or adjusting your PPC campaigns, consider the following:

  • Increased ad spend – Advertisers spend more during this time, so space will be more competitive.
  • Ad copy – Create a feeling of urgency in your copy by emphasising the ‘limited time only’ aspect of the offer.
  • Landing pages – Optimise the main destination pages for your digital marketing campaigns with relevant information.
  • Creative – Don’t forget festive ad creative in line with your campaign!
  • Remarketing – Re-capture the people who have previously been on your site or converted. Since they already know your brand, they are less ‘cold’ to convert.

You can watch our Paid Advertising Strategist, Rhiannon’s, top tips on seasonal PPC in our latest IGTV video here.

Social media plan

There are already over 14 million social media posts mentioning Black Friday Cyber Monday sales on Instagram alone. That’s a lot of noise to cut through. Use a content calendar to plan social media posts across channels – it will help you manage what posts go live and when. When planning your calendar, think about:

  • Time – Find the best time of day to publish posts for optimal engagement.
  • Copy – Use creative and compelling copy to entice your customers.
  • Offers – Attract customers to your site by featuring products that best showcase the deals you offer.
  • Hashtags – Create a unique hashtag and use it across all your social posts.
  • Hashtags 2– Don’t go for the obvious, #BlackFriday is so popular that your post will be lost in seconds, search for smaller hashtag groups of a similar nature (around the 100k mark is the sweet spot!)
  • Variety – Boost traffic and sales by varying social posts before, during and after.

Make sure your site is responsive

Research has shown that people spend 51% of their internet usage on mobile. This means that any message you are promoting should be optimised for mobile. How does this look to a mobile user and is it user friendly? Ensure that all pages are easy to navigate around making purchasing on your site simple.

Email marketing

Make the most of your database by starting your email campaign on time and showcasing you Black Friday offers. Other emails will be competing for their attention, so make sure you follow these simple tips:

  • Subject line – Create an enticing subject line to encourage a high open-rate.
  • Product – Use the best of what your sale has to offer. The most enticing offers and products will maximise click-through rate.
  • Call to action – Tell your customers what to do next, whether it’s ‘view gift guide’ ‘sign up for email alerts’ or ‘find out more’.

Consider giving loyal customers a VIP incentive as added value to being in your database and a reason to engage. An exclusive chance to buy items before the sale launches or extra discounts will boost customer loyalty.

Gift guide

Gift guides help customers find the perfect gifts, inspiring them with purchase ideas and cross-selling extra items. Prepare your guide for Black Friday with these easy ideas:

  • Multiple gift guides – Create a range of guides for different audiences, including ‘Gift for Mum’, ‘Gifts for Grandad’ or ‘Gifts for the Kids’.
  • Imagery – Inspire customers to ‘get the look’ with high-quality imagery.
  • Inform and Inspire – Include product details to better inform the customer, along with ‘other items you may like’ for extra inspiration.
  • Links – Include essential links to ‘Buy now’ or other parts of your site.
    Why not include your gift guide in an email? Gift guide themed emails get 48% higher transaction rates than promotional lead emails!

Drive more traffic to your gift guides by featuring them on social posts and your homepage. Include links throughout to direct traffic to each product, as well as more details so the customer is well informed.

Discover more tips on ways to improve your e-commerce sales here.

Need help increasing e-commerce sales? Check out the Spindogs Ecommerce services to learn how our web development team can help you.

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