October 28, 2019   |   Vol. 18   |   Issue 8
By Jana Sabol, MGI Senior Account Director

It's Not too Soon to Start Making Plans for Black Friday.

Once considered the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, Black Friday marked the beginning of the most profitable time of year for traditional retail stores.

Through the years, and with the assistance of the internet, the nature of Black Friday has evolved and expanded. Many brick and mortar stores are now open on Thanksgiving Thursday, Small Business Saturday provides an opportunity for local businesses to kick off the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday is now the internet’s version of Black Friday, and Giving Tuesday is the Black Friday for charitable giving.

With the intensity of Black Friday increasing, getting the best deals in the days around Thanksgiving has grown from the traditional door-buster sales at brick and mortar retail stores, to over $24 billion in spending in the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.

Shopping during this period is no longer just about buying holiday presents or getting the best deal on those new electronics you’ve had your eye on, but a much larger market where people have come to expect the best offers, including from their professional associations.

If you’re considering marketing campaigns during this period, we have a few useful tips to keep in mind to improve the success of your emails:

• Stand Out. Email volumes spike during this time period. Increase the likelihood of your email being opened by using a recognized sender as your “from” name.
• Put your best foot forward. The market expects the best deals during this time, and with competition for dollars high, you can’t afford to have an offer that is not highly desired by your audience or something they’ve seen many times throughout the year.
• Persuade your audience to look for your emails. The holiday shopping season begins earlier than most would think. Create anticipation and warm up your audience by sending out teasers in the weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday.
• Create urgency. The offer should be limited in time. If you’ll consider extending the deadline, make sure to have that scheduled out in your initial planning. Consider sending a few emails the day the special offer is live to the same audience with a countdown – increasing urgency with each email sent.
• Make a week of it. Consider a “Cyber Week” campaign with different amazing deals featured each day, starting on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday.
• Don’t forget gift giving. Traditionally this was the kickoff of the holiday gift shopping season. Create a way for recipients to give membership or products as a gift.
• Test. As we always say, don’t forget to test!

If you have any questions or would like more information on how MGI can partner with you on your marketing campaigns—contact Jana Sabol, Senior Account Director at jsabol@marketinggeneral.com or 703.706.0349.