Last Minute Black Friday Improvements

I know, its already that time of year. Black Friday arrives on Friday 24th November, and hopefully you have been planning for this over the last 2/3 months. It’s important to plan ahead for a major event, but you can still have an impact if you’re running out of time.

Speed it up

One of the first things to look at is speeding up your site and your target pages. This applies to Organic and Paid campaigns, with speed playing a major role in both.

You should look to be doing the following for your target pages:

1. Optimise Images – Images can make up 75% of a pages weight. To make your upload smaller, choose a size that fits your needs and use plugins to compress images.
2. Use a CDN – A content delivery network can help speed up your website’s delivery around the world, something that is particularly important if you sell in multiple areas.
3. Remove old/unused/crap plugins – This is particularly important for wordpress users, but plugins weigh the page down. If you don’t need them or can replace them with something lighter then get rid.
4. Remove unused tracking – Did you do Facebook once and left all the tracking data on there? Used hotjar a few years ago and never got rid of the code? If you don’t use it, get rid of it and it will speed up page load.
5. Use caching – Make sure its all switched on and being used effectively. This can be particularly important when retargeting.
6. Tidy Up Redirects – Redirects slow down the journey, so dont use more than needed. Also, check the URLs you use in Paid Campaigns, you would be surprised how often they redirect.

Make it easy to buy

Next you need to look at anything that might be making it that little bit harder to purchase. It’s best to test and learn but there are a few things that would quickly improve performance

1. Fix broken things – Go through the check out process yourself and look for anything that breaks or is broken. Fix 404s, broken plugins and copy that doesn’t make sense. Use a tool like Screaming Frog or a free trial on SEMRush to find those issues.
2. Add detail to descriptions – Think about the questions people may have about an item and answer them within the copy. This cuts doubt in their mind and increases the likelihood of them purchasing.
3. Match copy with your advertising – Consistency of your messaging and visual continuity is key to making a user feel comfortable on your landing page. If they liked the copy and visual enough to click on it, the reflect that look and feel on the landing page. Consistency has consistently been proven to improve advertising performance so make sure it’s a part of your plan.
4. Add Social Proof – Whenever you can, add reviews. Be they for your company or the product, social proof helps remove a barrier to purchase that a user may have.
5. Remove the unnecessary – Cut down on the amount of work people have to do on the page. Make the form simple with few fields. Let them auto fill and remove unnecessary elements on the page. This cuts the effort of making a purchase.
6. Clear returns and delivery information – Give people a clear understanding of what they are getting into. This cuts questions and helps them feel more comfortable purchasing.

Get in front of people

Black Friday and the build up to it is incredibly noisy for advertising, making it hard for your ad to stand out. Look at using alternate channels and methods to improve performance.

1. Use your email list – If you have an email list, use it. During the period, send 3 or 4 emails. First, send a teaser of the offer. Then, announce its start. Next, send one during the deal. Finally, send one right at the end, highlighting the limited time left.
2. Abandoned cart email nudges – If you can, use nudges around abandoned carts to try and get people back and making a purchase.
3. Make the most of your social media – Highlight the offer on social, put it in your reels/stories and try to make sure that people engage with it in some way. You will get bored of this, but your audience will probably only see the message a handful of times at most.
4. Use non-traditional channels – TikTok, podcasts, Spotify are all great ways to get in front of an already engaged audience. People don’t really skip Podcast or Spotify ads as they are already listening. If you can make an engaging audio ad, it’s a great way to inform people of your offer. TikTok is highly visual and a great way of showing off a product.
5. Other Peoples email lists – If you know industry publications or advertisers you’ve worked with before, ask to join their Black Friday email list. They have done the hard work cultivating an email list of relevant customers, so make the most of them.
6. Making the most of micro influencers – Micro influencers still get more engagement than the bigger “social media influencers” on the web, so look to them for cost effective and engaging pieces. They are also less likely to be booked up by other brands which is very helpful when looking for options at the last minute. There are numerous options for this including Twirl, Popular Pays and The Influence Room.

Summary

If you’re gearing up for Black Friday and time is running short, the above are some quick, effective strategies to boost your performance. First, speed up your website. Consider optimizing your images, using a Content Delivery Network (CDN), cleaning out old plugins, and activating caching. This will make your site faster and more user-friendly.

Next, focus on making purchasing as easy as possible. Go through your website, fix any errors, enhance your product descriptions to answer potential questions, and ensure that your ads and landing pages are consistently styled. Adding customer reviews can also build trust and encourage purchases.

Lastly, let’s get your deals in front of as many eyes as possible. Utilize your email list to send out a series of targeted messages. Make your presence felt on social media, consider advertising on platforms like TikTok, podcasts, or Spotify, and collaborate with micro-influencers. These steps can help you stand out in the crowded Black Friday market and attract more customers to your business.

Remeber, there is always time to improve. Good luck!