Black Friday 2020 – Redefining Ecommerce Marketing Experience

"This pandemic situation and social distancing have aggravated the FOMO among individuals. And the only thing that humans don’t like is missing out on something - and so is it with BLACK FRIDAY." Every year, around this time businesses are engrossed in designing lucrative Black Friday campaigns. Every business, no matter big or small, offers the best discounts to amplify their Black Friday sales. This year is likely to be a bit different due to the pandemic. With the pandemic effect, your loving customers are less likely to walk by your store and get to know about the exclusive sale that you want to offer. 

Will Black Friday 2020 Be The Same As In Previous Years?

With the social distancing norms, several companies as well as individuals are keen to avoid crowded spots for Black Friday 2020. Although the norms of social distancing are different here, but in-store Black Friday will appear different this year.  First time in the history of the retail business, Walmart has sublimely shared its intention to keep its doors closed for Thanksgiving. This is one of the rare scenarios and Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette also stated that he expects to trigger sales through an online platform in 2020.

Yes, Black Friday 2020 Moves Online

An increased number of retailers are switching to online deals so that their consumers can reap the benefits of the sale from the comforts of their homes and safely. They also aim to kick-start the sale earlier with a pull-forward strategy for two prominent reasons -

• First, to avoid the in-store crowd so that customers present in the store can shop at ease and without violating the norms of social distancing. 
• Second, this strategy helps to attract an increased number of customers and maintain market share. With this strategy, the retailer is less likely to experience downsides of restricted in-store capacity and disappointed customers.

A well-designed eCommerce platform with a marketing strategy for Black Friday can help you to reach them for Black Friday 2020.  A drastic transition is experienced in the shopping levels from April 2020- May 2020. As compared to the previous holiday season an upsurge of 7% has been observed this year (from April-May 2020) in the shopping spree.  

Millennials are notably inclined to do their holiday shopping from online stores, while even 65% of Gen Zers are predominantly planning to shop online for safety concerns. Though ruralities are eager for holiday shopping in-store, due to pandemic impact, ruralites also have their strong preference to shop online. Retailers will have to be mindful of when to start. For instance, starting the sale way too early can ruin the holiday shopping excitement. Remember, this is the first time customers are going to experience an unusual Black Friday sale. Prior planning for the strategies to redefine the eCommerce marketing strategies this Black Friday 2020, must know three important statistics for the crowd behavior to online shopping. 

Brands Focusing on Positioning Themselves for Online Selling

In this unpredictable year, eCommerce marketing happens to be a promising and an optimal solution for a majority of retailers. Amazon’s Prime Day sales cross $10 billion this Holiday season 2020 with Ecommerce Marketing  Ecommerce marketing is the act of promoting awareness and action towards a company that sells its product or service online. To attract visitors and facilitate online purchases, e-commerce marketers can use social media, digital content, search engines, and email campaigns.

Hereby revealing the tips and tricks for Ecommerce Marketing to gear up your Sales this Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy -

Top 13 Ecommerce Marketing Tips for Brands for BFCM 2020

1. Product page optimization in Search Engine Optimization According to PowerReviews, 35 percent of consumers begin their shopping journey on Google search. Making sure your eCommerce store is search engine optimized is key. Both on-site and off-site SEO efforts need to be put in place and tweaked constantly as search algorithms change. Research will help any product page in the way customers are looking for that product. Hence, keyword research is critical when it comes to SEO. You need to know the search terms, which attract the most search traffic, before optimizing the product page.

Product names largely impact search rankings. To build concise product names use the keywords. Ensure that they are updated and have the correct details that consumers may be searching for. The simplest way to ensure that is to do a Google search for related products, and see how they are called by the most visible pages.

Moz.com is a perfect place to start learning about everything SEO has to offer.

2. Turn Likes into Sales by  Selling on Instagram

Search marketing is intended to drive sales and social media is designed to create brand awareness. Although searching (including Google Shopping) is certainly a good way to transform low-funnel prospects, social is definitely a good way to reach new audiences.

Basically, doing away with friction is what makes social shopping such a successful ecommerce marketing strategy. Instagram has essentially introduced the power of discovery to social media by allowing the followers to make effortless purchases.

SEM or paid search (PPC) is the perfect channel if you are looking for immediate short-term results and simply can't wait for search engines to rank you.

Google Adwords is a great way to target search queries on Google.com and retailers should be focusing on it among the top paid search channels.

3. Encourage Social Purchases

By creating shoppable content you can take your social media posts a step further, which is content that allows visitors to buy immediately. These can include everything from strategically positioned display ads inside a social network to add tags that explicitly take users to a shopping cart. Such strategies help you remove tension from the purchase process.

You might think of blogging and video marketing when you hear "content marketing". It involves content that is meant to improve the ranking of your website in search engines and answer questions relating to your industry.

Using social media to improve shopping is a great way to increase sales. Instead of trying to compel individuals to go to your platform, let them purchase your goods directly from their feeds. This option can be found on Facebook and Instagram.

4. Behavioral Emails in Email marketing

Email isn't dead. This is also one of the most successful digital marketing platforms to generate positive ROI for retailers.

An interactive type of email to add to your e-commerce marketing ideas list: the Wishlist Reminder Email. The wishlist reminder email is closely related to the email from the abandoned cart. While triggered emails can certainly help boost your sales, scheduled email campaigns can help you communicate with the value and promotions of the shoppers.

More than 69 percent of the time this applies directly to extra costs like shipping.  By making your check-out simple, you will reduce cart abandonment by making your customers' transactions simpler.

You can send a series of emails when someone leaves a cart, encouraging customers to complete their transactions. According to a report by Sales Cycle, nearly half of the recovery emails are opened and nearly one-third result in a completed sale.

5. Content Marketing

As an online retailer, you can't just be focused on sales. You need to provide value without asking customers to make a purchase. That is where the promotion of content comes into play.

Creating useful content that helps them overcome their daily challenges is one of the best ways to cultivate and delight customers. Whether it's a simple purchase guide or a short blog post that explains how to cook a dish, it will help you create knowledge, grow your prospects and delight current customers by producing this form of content.

6. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing has taken hold of the world, and hardly anyone is involved in social media. Posting on Instagram or Facebook regularly has become a daily habit.  Social media has made it easier for companies to reach out to consumers. As social networks become stronger, it has become part of the strategy of digital market professionals to include paid social media.

Brands, advertisers, contractors, and companies launch their pages on the most popular social networks to communicate with their customers and post content that attracts customers.

You can do the same thing as an ecommerce marketer but the campaigns you run might look a little different, and not every social network fits your needs well.

Ecommerce websites are highly visual, after all, you have to show off the product, so your social media success depends on your use of imagery to push attention and traffic to your product pages.

7. Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing focuses on the people or brands that affect your target market. The word is widely used to describe Instagram accounts that have several thousand followers, but it can also indicate a celebrity or group that follows or belongs to your target audience.

Influencers build communities of people who know, like and believe in them

Therefore, it is easy for them to gain attention through a recommendation, or "sponsored post," around your online product.

8. Affiliate Marketing

81% of companies use affiliate marketing, and ecommerce sites are particularly strong candidates. Affiliates are individuals or companies that help you sell your product online for a commission.

Affiliates generate interest in products through old-fashioned (yet effective) marketing tactics, unlike most social media influencers. They frequently use paid advertising, content marketing, and other means to drive traffic to their product pages.

9. Google Shopping Ads

For any ecommerce service, Google Shopping campaigns are a no brainer. You can advertise your goods prominently with a Shopping advertisement at the top of the Google search results at the exact moment people are trying to purchase the kinds of items that you sell. Your Shopping Ads should include product photos, price points, reviews, deals, and other key information that makes it easy for customers to "add to cart".

Meanwhile, all you need to know is that launching a Google Shopping campaign is a great way to get a lot of traffic to your site — fast.

10. Upselling & Cross-Selling in Retention Strategy

Another way to improve the digital marketing campaign for ecommerce is with pop-ups: the windows that briefly take over screens of site visitors to bring additional deals to them. You may use pop-ups to lure a potential shopper with a discount deal or add a particular product to your shopping cart.

Especially when used to present legitimately relevant offers to people – a time-limited discount, a BOGO sale. Using them properly and they can drive up a lot of extra revenue for your company.

11. Boost Product Visualization

Consumers have come to expect access to just about any sort of information. Not just that, but they have become really visual. Using excellent product visualization allows you to show off your goods quickly and conveniently so buyers can look at the specifics without even having to learn about them.

Use tools that allow people to zoom in, spin your product for a 360° view, and add tools for roll-over and pop-up info. According to the Fourth Source, when using 3D over flat imaging, their customers registered a 25 percent to 30 percent increase in sales. Use it to increase engagement and enhance the shopping experience when 3D technology is available.

12. Personalization is Key

AI can impact your e-commerce sales considerably. It has the ability to gather info and use it to predict exactly how a client will react based on past behavior. Measurable measurements such as conversion rates, bounce rates, and engagement rates provide valuable insight into your site's effectiveness and how people use it.

Algorithms predict which items visitors may want to purchase, making it easier for them to shop from your site. The products will be presented at the front and center. You can also use AI to improve your backend logistics from purchase to delivery for satisfying customer experience.

Within Artificial Intelligence, chatbots will be the first point of contact that can make or break your relationship with customers. Not only are chatbots excellent customer service reps, but they can also create great salespeople. They provide on-the-spot upselling options while letting customers know when there's a discount or deal.

Chatbots are also experienced in inventory, so they can track top sellers so you'll never run out of stock.

13. User-Generated Content

Nothing sells a commodity better than a satisfied customer. User-generated content offers realistic feedback from former clients who work in and use your goods. According to Salesforce, fifty-four percent of consumers are more likely to support a fellow user than their own marketing.

User-generated content can be leveraged with the help of hashtags that are relevant to your business. It will help customers find products when they search with the same hashtag or keyword.

Captivating Achievements Brands received by Brainvire Ecommerce Marketing Strategies

Healthy Planet, Health & Wellness Brand in Canada

Established in 1995, Healthy Planet sells the highest quality vitamins, supplements, and remedies to suit all lifestyle needs. The client was facing issues while generating leads on the eCommerce website. We ideated the app to reach a wider audience and increase leads. 

After the website audit, Brainvire’s team optimized the website and its content with a curated SEO approach that would target the brand on the appropriate keywords. We developed proper shopping campaigns for different products and product categories of the client. These campaigns were tracked for performance and ROI by using retail-centric metrics and tools.

441.34% Increase in Revenue in a month with 74.19% Increase in Organic Traffic with segment centric approach is followed by many more achievements!

Brian Gavin, Jewelery Giant in USA

Brian Gavin diamonds has quickly become a pioneer in the inspiration industry, continuing to innovate and impact the world of papercrafts. Altenew aims to inspire craftsmen through the art of papermaking to share their own special creativity.

The client approached Brainvire for a digital marketing campaign to improve its online presence. We updated the meta title and description on the website to make it more searchable for Google. Brainvire’s digital marketing pros conducted a thorough keyword analysis to identify important and relevant keywords to rank them and improve the business’ digital presence.

We have helped them improve their content marketing by posting quality blogs, and guest posting on authority websites to increase their online visibility. This has led to a hike in their brand awareness and in targeting the right audience.

72.39% Increase in monthly revenue with 69.74% boost in sales from organic website traffic through creative content marketing strategies

Couponchief, Aggregator for Coupons Codes for 80K Stores in USA

Couponchief is a global workgroup that comprises 20+ coupon contributors and auditors. The main purpose of the client is to help customers save money. They offer coupons and deals for over 60,000 stores.

The client approached Brainvire so that they could reach out to its customers swiftly via an efficient website.  Our team was quick to notice the lagging issues on the client’s website. The website design was not SEO friendly, so the team made optimal use of the SEO tactics to update the website and reach the right audience.

Brainvire carried out a detailed analysis of the client’s customers and their user behavior with paid tools and analytics. Based on that, we released personalized weekly newsletters to inform customers about the latest deals that might interest them.

Running ahead with 2.5 Million visits per month with 2000+ coupons redeemed every day through triumphantly increased keyword ranking

Warehouse115, USA Based Wholesale Supplier

Brainvire developed a new Magento website for a wholesale supply store and increased sales through digital marketing efforts. Warehouse 115 has over 50 years of experience in distributing food services.

Brainvire experts hatched a creative marketing strategy to hike the number of leads for the client. We proceeded with a social media strategy to boost user engagement. A conscious on-page SEO plan and off-page were hatched to improve the ranking of each product page.

In order to hike rankings on search engines, our digital marketing experts analyzed the websites of competitors. A list of relevant keywords was prepared and content was made to rank on suitable phrases to boost SERP results.

Increase in sales to 100k this year, a sale of 6 months in only a weeks’ time with organic and paid marketing tactics.

Tentandtable, leading US-based Party Equipment Brand

TentandTable supply premium quality commercial outdoor products right from slide inflatables, party tents, bounce houses to wedding tents across the US. Brainvire launched an effective digital marketing campaign that would maintain its brand visibility even in these uncertain times.

Brainvire proposed an email marketing campaign for the client. After completing domain verification in the SendGrid, the email was linked with the CRM to track incoming leads. The sender’s email was set up in the SendGrid to shoot emails for different campaigns.

 

America’s Leading Commercial Party Rent Equipment Providers Increases Sales Amid Pandemic

Brainvire’s an-inclusive digital assistance allowed the brand to reach more audiences and double the sales during the pandemic and post-pandemic

View Session

 

The email marketing campaign was executed with over 400k contacts. The campaign was a huge success with 0% bounce rates and more than an 80% open rate.

 Increase in subscriptions by 50% with 38% decrease in cost per conversion for the paid marketing campaign

Right Time to Start Spreading it Out

Imagine, if things were normal, then you would be counting days for Black Friday sale and expecting a pool of customers to visit your store.

Well, it's never too late, you can still invite your customers for sale but to your eCommerce platform. A comprehensive and well-tailored digital marketing strategy can help you to grab attention of your customers and reach them on time. Don’t miss-out this brilliant opportunity to stay connected with your customers through this season sale! Connect Brainvire today for strategizing your brand’s Black ecommerce marketing activities to boost revenue this holiday season.

References

• Online Shopping During COVID-19 Exceeds 2019 Holiday Season Levels, by Adobe

• How COVID-19 Is Changing the Holiday Shopping Season, by Morning Consult

• Every Day Is Black Friday: Is Your Online Store Prepared?, by Forbes

• How Customer Behaviour Prediction Can Improve Your Brand Presence, by Sales Cycle

• Black Friday Statics, Market Share & Data Analytics

• Black Friday Ideas for Ecommerce