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Black Friday as we know it, is hopefully back this year. After last year’s Black Friday, which fell at the height of the pandemic, shoppers and retailers are now looking to get back to normal while holding on to some new habits.
In 2021, according to predictions, consumers are excited to shop like never before—both in quantity and how they do it. Of course, that means that there is a lot of pressure to make sure you hit sales targets hard.
Black Friday SMS messages can come in handy in helping you meet your sales target. It is a great way to immediately get the attention of your customers, let them know about promotions, and encourage them to shop from their phones. It’s also a way to reward loyal customers with perks and discounts, and drive in-person foot traffic.
But, to succeed you should have a solid SMS strategy in place, well before you take the turkey into the oven. So, let’s see how you can use your SMS campaigns to win big this Black Friday.
8 tips on how to use your SMS strategy for profitable Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns
1. Build up excitement with your audience
Once people have opted-in to your SMS campaign and you are happy with your subscriber base, it’s time to inform them about your upcoming Black Friday deals.
They have shown interest in you, so you want to keep them up to date on upcoming sales, deals, product launches and the like. So, start building buzz early and give them plenty of notice on upcoming deals, in order for them to have you top of mind as Black Friday approaches.
As they are concise and immediate, text messages are a great way to quickly notify customers about what is to come. Let customers know in advance about the exciting deals you are preparing for them. Make them mark their calendars to get your discounts before they are gone.
2. Develop a sense of urgency
After all, this is the biggest sale of the year and you want your customers to spend big. This sense of urgency makes people act fast while the offer still stands.
Reports suggest that by developing a sense of urgency in promotional emails companies have doubled their sales. Of course, the same strategy can be applied to SMS promotional messages. This strategy can persuade consumers to buy at the right time.
There are a few things you can do to build on this sense of urgency:
- Start your sale a few days early to stand out from the competition, as shoppers are more motivated to grab their items before they’re sold out
- Send bulk SMS messages informing them about products that are limited in stock, exclusive sales, and flash sales, available only for a short time. This will elevate their sense of FOMO – the fear of missing out, and increase purchases as consumers will be afraid of missing out on limited stock items or discounts.
- Invest in the element of surprise to generate excitement with your customers, by promoting last-minute sales when they don’t expect them.
3. Ιnsert media-rich, fun content
Don’t just use plain text. Try using a lighter tone to connect with your customers, grab their attention and make them want to learn more.
Photos, videos, GIFs, emojis and links can be easy ways to engage your audience further. With an automatic URL shortener, you can include short links in your text to keep messages concise and direct customers to targeted landing pages.
As the holiday season approaches, people might be looking for Christmas presents, vacation wear that tends to cost more. Create gift guides and add a link to them on your text message or if you want to promote a new product, introduce it to them including a link on the landing page.
However, you should be cautious. Do not overdo it with photos and/or GIFs, as they can do more damage than good if overused or used incorrectly.
4. Use two-way texting for better customer service
The customer service experience you offer on Black Friday can directly impact your sales, as customers who receive “excellent” service are likely to spend more at a retailer and may turn into repeat customers.
1:1 texting is an ideal way to allow customers to know you are there listening to them and to offer them added assistance with your product or service. It shows you care about them, and you offer services above and beyond what else they may be able to find. So, use 2-Way Messaging to connect with customers on Black Friday and encourage them to shop with you.
5. Combine your SMS communication with email
Using a combination of text and email marketing can provide your customers with a seamless communication experience. Not only that, it can help your score higher on engagement rates and customer retention.
When the two are combined, they can be a powerful duo, enabling you to vary between different ways of spreading information, adjusting to different consumer habits.
Here are some ways you can combine SMS with email marketing for your Black Friday campaigns:
- Use email to showcase upcoming offers and SMS to remind them to act on them.
- Introduce top-selling products via email and send SMS discounts to encourage purchases.
- Share advice on how to effectively plan the Black Friday shopping budget in your email and send SMS reminders for them to open it.
6. Track campaign success
SMS platforms provide users with rich reporting features.
By tracking various metrics, you will understand which strategies and tactics were most effective with your audience for your Black Friday campaigns, and use these insights to optimize your future SMS campaigns. Christmas is just around the corner!
7. Follow-up and strengthen your relationships
After the Black Friday frenzy is over, don’t just let your customers go. Thank them and ask for feedback. However important metrics may be, nothing beats feedback and insights from your loyal customer base.
This is especially true for Black Friday, where consumers take advantage of the best deals but do not feel truly connected to your brand. You have a unique chance there to build this relationship and acquire loyal customers, so don’t miss out.
8. Don’t forget Cyber Monday
Finally, think of merging Black Friday and Cyber Monday into one short sales period. Before the digital revolution, Black Friday was associated with physical stores and Cyber Monday has with online sellers. This has changed drastically due to Covid-19.
So, it might make more sense for your business to combine these two occasions, in order to broaden your audience and extend your sales through the three-day weekend, increasing the possibility to sell more.
Set up your Black Friday SMS campaign
Black Friday is just around the corner. Give your sales a boost with these SMS marketing tips and with WayMore’s help.
Get started With WayMore, create and send a campaign in 8 easy steps and reach your customers! Happy selling!
