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Thanksgiving weekend is one of the biggest shopping events of the year, with over 165 million Americans shopping in stores and online in 2018. This 5-day holiday spending event kicks off Thanksgiving Day (sometimes earlier!) through Cyber Monday with multiple outlets reporting last year’s Thanksgiving weekend broke sales records for the retail industry.
Multichannel shopping was up 40% and buy online, pickup in-store (BOPUS) up 73% in 2018, leading experts to predict this year’s holiday weekend will see similar results. That’s a lot of potential for businesses willing to plan ahead and capture sales from eager consumers during the Thanksgiving weekend.
Plan Your Black Friday Marketing Campaign Early
Historically, Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season with early bird specials luring shoppers out of bed before dawn. Many retailers are now opening their doors and firing up the online sales on Thanksgiving and extending their sales through Cyber Monday, providing businesses with even more opportunities to capitalize on their marketing efforts. Consumers are also shopping for the holidays earlier, with 1 in 5 starting in October.
Last-minute marketing plans are significantly less effective than those that are fully developed 1-2 months prior to when Black Friday marketing campaigns will run. The earlier you have all your promotions planned and ads designed, the less risk you run of missing deadlines and potential customers.
Know Your Customers’ Shopping Needs
With an increased reliance on technology, consumers spend more time searching for great deals. Save them time by integrating a digital marketing strategy with your print ads. Reach local shoppers online with display ads, or drive more consumers to your website with a search engine marketing (SEM) campaign.
Many shoppers also turn to their inboxes to learn about the holiday weekend deals and promotions. Give individuals the opportunity to learn about what you will be offering and send reminders as the date approaches with an e-newsletter. Remember, inboxes will be inundated with special Black Friday ads and Cyber Monday deals, so before you begin reaching out to customers, make sure your approach fits the needs of your target audience. A failure to recognize what your customer is looking for will likely result in a loss of sale.
Start Your Holiday Advertising Today
Have you started developing your marketing campaign for the holiday shopping season? If not, now is the time to start! Take some time to analyze what you’ve done in the past: What seemed to resonate with your customers and what didn’t?
Once you have an idea of the type of campaign you would like to run, determine which items or services you’ll need to promote early and how you can set yourself apart from your competition. Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be here before you know it. Make sure you are prepared. The marketing consultants at Valpak can help. We’ll walk you through how you can reach thousands of local consumers who earn 32% more income and hold 20% higher purchasing power than the national average just in time for the holidays.1
1. Compared to the average national consumer. Claritas data with current year projections, January 2019.
