Posted on October 11 2016
It’s hard to believe that Black Friday is right around the corner. As the snow flies in the high country of Colorado that can only mean one thing:
Hopefully you’re already deep in planning mode for both your offers and content. We’ve been busy researching trends and studying results from last year’s campaigns to try and identify opportunities for our clients.
The holiday season can often make or break a year for small business. That’s why it’s important to understand what’s happening around you before committing to a plan.
To help your company get ready for Black Friday and beyond, we’ve examined a few unusual trends that hopefully you can use to your advantage. Read on to learn how your business can start tapping these trends and build successful holiday program.
3 trends you should pay attention to:
1- Open and Click Through rates decrease during the holidays.
Remember that time the BWOs were coming off so thick and fish were rising everywhere but on your fly? That’s pretty much what your customer’s inbox looks like during the holidays. With everyone blasting out marketing campaigns it’s hard for customers to open every single one, and most float by untouched. There’s not much you can do. Just be aware that your rates will take a hit this time of year… it’s natural. I’ve got a bonus trend for you: open and click through rates the weekend after Black Friday are some of the best times to send emails. The open rate was 15.7% over the weekend vs. 14.5% the week of Black Friday.
2- People start holiday shopping early, way early.
If we look at Google Trends we can see the people start looking for Christmas Gift Ideas in August.
In fact a whopping 40% of shoppers begin looking before halloween. At this point in the year it’s not to early to start filtering out more emails highlighting end of season sales and promotions. Shoppers are already tuned into deals and thinking of holiday savings.
3- Creating a sense of urgency helps.
We’ve already touched on the importance of sending an email after Black Friday. When you combine that message with a sense of urgency you’ve really got a winner.
Subject lines that focused on urgency and fast-approaching deal deadlines largely contributed to the high engagement rates of these post-holiday Black Friday campaigns.
4- Bonus tip: make a plan.
It’s not too late to develop a plan for the upcoming rush of the holidays. Things are going to be hectic and hopefully you’ll be to busy helping customers to also be cranking out Facebook posts. Taking the time to plan out your strategy now will be time well spent. We’ve been busy putting together a free guide to help you create a Black Friday marketing strategy on our website. It’s full of data from last year’s Black Friday, common messaging hints, a weekly checklist, and posting ideas to insure you get the most opens and clicks.
