Your Winning Black Friday + Cyber Monday Content Strategy: Planning 101
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the most exciting shopping events of the year! They offer a fantastic opportunity for businesses to boost sales, attract new customers, and engage existing ones.
To make the most of these events, careful planning and strategic execution are key. In this guide, we will take you through the steps to plan your Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) content strategy to see results!
Step 1: Start Planning Early
To ensure a successful BFCM, start planning well in advance. In the past, businesses relied on paid ads to drive sales during the holiday season. However, with changes in data privacy regulations, the effectiveness of paid ads has gone down. You’ll need to explore new strategies to keep reaching your target audience effectively! (No worries, we’ve got you covered.)
One proven strategy is to focus on email and SMS as a marketing duo. By segmenting your email and SMS lists, you can target customers who are ready to buy from your brand. Gone are the days of sending generic email blasts to your entire subscriber list.
Instead, successful BFCM campaigns mean dividing your audience into smaller, highly engaged groups. Tailor your messaging, offers, and promotions to these customer segments and you'll see more conversions from customers who absolutely love your brand!
Step 2: Master Email Segmentation
Let's take a moment to map out the concept of profitable email segmentation. Email segmentation is categorizing your subscribers into groups based on their behavior, preferences, or demographics.
Then you can send targeted messages that resonate with people, resulting in the higher engagement and conversion rates you want.
For this to work, start building your email list in August. Launch an early VIP campaign that entices subscribers to sign up for boosted offers or early access to the sale. This promotion allows you to create (and reach) a highly engaged audience–improving email delivery rates, enhancing your sender reputation, and increasing conversions!
These customers signal a high level of interest in your brand, so you’ll want to zone in on them during BFCM. They are more likely to buy and become loyal, repeat customers. Take advantage of this engaged audience for maximum Black Friday + Cyber Monday results.
Step 3: Engage Your Current Customers
While only attracting new customers during BFCM is tempting, it's also important to nurture and engage your existing customer base. After all, they are already fans of your brand!
Plus, Klaviyo's data from BFCM 2021 found that BFCM shoppers who have previously purchased from your online store spend 16% more on average compared to new customers.
To keep your existing customers engaged and excited about your BFCM offers, use these proven steps:
1. Define Irresistible BFCM Offers: Get creative! Think beyond traditional discounts and explore alternative offers that align with your brand and resonate with your target audience. You could launch a new holiday product, offer a free gift with purchase, create limited-edition bundles or collections, collaborate with partners for exclusive offers, run contests, or even provide incentives for charitable donations. Brainstorm offers that will capture your customers' attention and drive them to make a purchase. (Hint: Would you buy the offer from your own brand? If not, try again!)
2. Plan Your BFCM Email Cadence: Black Friday + Cyber Monday aren’t limited to two single days–they involve the entire weekend and sometimes extend beyond that. To boost engagement and sales, plan when you'll send emails in the weeks leading up to and during the weekend of BFCM. Start sending emails to your audience earlier in the month, as customers tend to spread out their holiday purchases throughout November.
Here’s a sample email cadence from Klaviyo for BFCM:
Last week of October: Kick off the season with an email highlighting discounted overstock or popular products. This will create a sense of anticipation and excitement for what's to come!
First week of November: Tis’ the season of giving! Send a gift guide email to help customers find the perfect presents for their loved ones. Include curated product recommendations and special promotions.
Second week of November: Try this classic offer: announce a free shipping weekend. This deal reduces buyer hesitation and increases sales.
Third week of November: It’s time for offers like bundle promotions, abandoned cart discounts, or exclusive VIP early access. Reward your current customers while creating a feeling of exclusivity ✨
Black Friday to Cyber Monday: Ready or not–here it comes! Unleash your Black Friday Cyber Monday announcements, highlighting your best deals and limited-time offers. Create a sense of urgency to drive immediate action. (Countdown timers are a fave.)
Giving Tuesday: Extend the excitement with one more day of deals or exclusive post-BFCM discount for remaining stock. This provides a last-chance opportunity for customers who may have missed out on previous offers. How many times have you just missed a sale where you would have happily spent your money?
3. Create Email and SMS Segments: To personalize your messaging and offers further, create targeted segments within your email and SMS lists. Tailor your messages to each group's preferences and behaviors for more relevant and appealing offers.
Here’s what a tight segment would look like for BFCM:
Engaged list: Your engaged list, if you send emails a few times a week, consists of persons who have opened or clicked on an email within the last 30 to 60 days. You may want to extend this list to 90–120 days if you only send emails a few times per month.
VIP List: Depending on your business strategy, you might categorize your VIPs based on the amount spent, the number of transactions made, or the duration of subscriptions. The VIP list varies from brand to brand, but they are all essentially your most loyal patrons.
Previous BFCM Purchasers: These are persons who previously responded to emails about Black Friday and Cyber Monday and converted.
This customization will pay off in increased engagement and conversion rates!
Step 4: Optimize Your Forms in Klaviyo
During BFCM, it's essential to optimize your signup forms to attract new customers and capture their information effectively. Klaviyo offers various features and tools that can help you optimize your forms without any additional cost.
Here are some tips for form optimization…
1. Keep It Simple and User-Friendly: Make sure your forms are easy to fill out and don't require too much information. Customers prefer forms that are quick and hassle-free. If you absolutely need several fields, think about using a multi-step form.
2. Use Eye-Catching Colors: Choose colors that stand out and make your forms visually appealing. This helps grab customers' attention and encourages them to complete the form.
3. Offer Incentives: Provide special incentives, such as exclusive discounts, dynamic coupon codes, or access to limited-time offers, to motivate customers to sign up. Everyone loves a good deal, and this can be a powerful way to encourage signups!
4. Mobile-Friendly Design: Many customers browse and shop on their mobile devices. These users account for almost 70% of all Klaviyo form views! Ensure that your forms are optimized for scrolling, with a responsive design that adapts to screen sizes. Don’t forget to test your forms on various devices for an easy UX.
5. Make SMS Signups Easy: If you offer SMS updates, make the signup process simple and straightforward. Consider using a "click-to-text" option that allows customers to sign up with just a tap, eliminating the need to manually enter their phone number.
6. Create Landing Pages: Build dedicated landing pages that embed your signup forms. These pages should also be mobile-friendly, visually appealing, and focused on capturing customer information.
7. Leverage Social Media: Utilize platforms like Instagram to promote email and SMS signups. Use engaging visuals and compelling captions to encourage your followers to sign up and stay updated with your BFCM offers.
Recommended Timeline of BFCM Preparation
To ensure a smooth transition into BFCM and maximize your results, it's essential to follow a timeline of preparation. Here's a recommended timeline to help you stay organized and make the most of your BFCM campaign:
August Prep:
Activate win-back flows and update profile status for subscribers who haven't been opening your emails. This can help re-engage them and increase the chances of their participation during BFCM.
Upload unengaged profiles to Facebook for retargeting purposes. This allows you to create targeted ads and re-engage these subscribers through different channels.
Identify and suppress emails that have bounced multiple times in the last 120 days or have shown no activity in terms of opening emails or placing orders in the last 365 days. Keeping your list clean and focused on engaged subscribers is crucial for successful email deliverability.
September Prep: Test the Audience Size:
Divide your unengaged subscribers into three groups. This segmentation helps you understand the impact of your campaigns on different subsets of your audience.
Split your campaigns into two sends. The first send goes to a 30-day engaged audience, while the second send, scheduled an hour later, targets the 120-day engaged audience along with a sample of unengaged subscribers batched across the next three hours. This testing approach allows you to compare engagement levels and conversion rates between engaged and unengaged segments.
After testing each group, return to your regular campaign send schedule. This ensures consistency and allows you to focus on optimizing your BFCM strategy for the next group of unengaged subscribers.
Clean up your lists by removing unengaged profiles. This keeps your email database fresh and prevents inactive subscribers from impacting your deliverability.
October Prep: Volume Preparation:
Begin sending campaigns to your engaged audience, gradually increasing volume with each subsequent campaign. Monitor the results and adjust the volume to maintain engagement and ensure that your email deliverability remains strong.
For each campaign, add a segment of engaged subscribers that keeps the volume within 1.5 times of the previous campaign's volume. This gradual increase in volume allows you to optimize your campaigns based on the performance of each segment.
Repeat this process until you've reached the full list of sends. It's all about finding the right balance between volume and engagement.
During BFCM:
Schedule your campaigns to be sent to each batch at four-hour intervals. This ensures a steady flow of email communication and avoids overwhelming your audience with too many messages at once.
Start with your engaged audience first. These subscribers have shown the highest level of interest and engagement, making them more likely to convert during BFCM.
Bonus Step: Make BFCM Your Best Yet!
Black Friday Cyber Monday presents a unique opportunity for businesses to boost sales and engage with their customers!
Remember, BFCM is not just about attracting new customers; it's also about engaging and delighting your existing customer base. With the right offers, email cadence, and segmentation, you can ensure that both new + existing customers remain loyal and enthusiastic during this shopping holiday.
So, prepare, segment, optimize, and execute your BFCM strategy with confidence. Happy planning and happy selling!
Want more? When it comes to developing SMS and email marketing content that converts, we're more than willing to help! Book a consultation to work with us.
