It's that time of year when retailers expect a huge spike in their sales and revenue!
This year’s Black Friday is on 27th November. But every year customers start building their carts a week or so in advance.

So, to rev up the sales, as a retailer, I'm sure you are carefully planning discounts and have a proper Black Friday Sale marketing plan in handy much before D-Day.

But one thing is different this year and that is covid-19. Now let us see how it can impact you this holiday season and what marketing hacks you can follow to boost your sales.

What impact of COVID-19 can you expect on this year's Black Friday Sale?

2020 has been a year full of surprises. But one thing is for sure that this Black Friday most of the shopping will be on laptops and phones, and much less in shopping malls or stores. According to a recent survey conducted in September, 47% of U.S. adults plan to do most of their shopping online while nearly a third, 31%, plan to split their holiday shopping between online and in-store, and 22% plan to do the majority of their holiday shopping in stores.

Now let's look at few hacks that can really boost your online sales!

Some Marketing Ideas To Rev Up Your Sales In 2020

1. Introduce live streaming and videos

This method has recently gained a lot of popularity because of covid-19 crisis. It is a way to digitally recreate the shopping experience at a physical store and customers are using it for buying decisions. By making their experience more authentic and interactive, you can surely expect that spike in sales this year as the customers will be able to view the product in a holistic manner in terms of quality, colour, fabric, and other details and then decide whether they want to buy it or not. It is easy and convenient for them as compared to just an image along with the product information that is available on the site.

Here is a list of platforms which can be used -

a. Amazon Live - It is a live-streaming project to help brands and influencers engage with shoppers in real-time with interactive shoppable video. You can create, capture, and manage live streams using Amazon Live Creator. Viewers can find products directly next to the video player. Deals and special prices are also available on the screen.

Let us see how Shop LC is using this platform to have an interactive engagement with its audience through a live session.

b. Livescale - It helps brands to engage, convert, and attract customers, through a customisable and brand-owned live shopping solution. Livescale features a seamless experience from checkout, synced product feed, to real-time transactions and inventory updates sent to your online store.                                

c. Bambuser - It lets you provide live video shopping with chat, likes, and direct shopping options on a website. You can promote their products and have their customers add to the cart without leaving the live stream. You can interact in real-time with your customers and include them in the conversation by having one-to-one live-streaming for personalised experiences with product display, product comparison, add-to-cart, and more.

2. Smarter social media marketing and using hashtags to attract customers

There is a significant increase in number of people who are buying online inspired by social media and its content. Using scheduling apps, you can schedule the post for a suitable time, i.e., time of the day when people are most active socially. And also using the right hashtags at the right time can benefit, whether tagging a community, a brand or an  influencer. It can cause an immense impact on the number of people reaching out to you through those hashtags.

Let us see an example of Macy and how they are all geared up for this Black Friday with their instagram handle and started their active engagement through stories. And this is just the beginning!

3. Sending newsletters with personalised subject lines and offers

Personalisation has proved to be always effective when it comes to establishing a connection between you and your customer. As soon as the customer feels related to the product or realises that the offer was just made to them, it makes them go buy their favourites that they have saved to cart. This is how Overstock sends emails with a personalised subject line and then offering personalised coupon code. You can always create a FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) by making those coupon codes valid for a limited time period like for 5-6 hours which will create a sense of rush and urgency to buy  within that time period as the coupon will expire after that.

4. Introduce a surprise element in your offers (scratch cards/spin the wheel etc.)

The surprise element can be influential in Black Friday marketing. Having scratch   cards and spin the wheel created using gamification tools like Wheelio,                       Spin-a-Sale etc. can be fun as well as appealing for your customers. When you     offer a discount to your customers through gamification your customers may stay     on your site for a little longer and it can even help prevent an abandoned cart.

Now it’s time to get started on these Black Friday marketing ideas. Start planning and implementing your strategies if you want to make the maximum sale in the biggest shopping event of the year. Use these strategies to see that spike this shopping season. Good luck!

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