35 Black Friday Marketing Ideas for E-commerce Sales (2024)

Looking to boost your Black Friday marketing ideas in 2024? This blog will explore 35 Black Friday marketing ideas to help you maximize your sales and stand out from the competition. 

35 Black Friday Marketing Ideas for 2024

1. Early bird discounts.
2. Social media frenzy.
3. Countdown timers.
4. Sneak peek emails.
5. Limited time offers.
6. Reward loyalty with VIP-only discounts.
7. BOGO deals.
8. Mystery discounts.
9. Gamified shopping experiences.
10. Influencer partnerships.
11. User-generated content.
12. Engage with interactive quizzes.
13. Captivate with video marketing.
14. Craft killer email campaigns.
15. Supercharge sales with SMS marketing.
16. Nudge with push notifications.
17. Boost traffic with affiliate marketing.
18. Dominate social media ads.
19. Speed up your site for Black Friday.
20. Mobile optimization.
21. Simplify navigation to boost sales.
22. Streamline checkout to maximize conversions.
23. Build trust with social proof.
24. Retargeting ads.
25. Recover cart abandonment emails.
26. Gather insights with post-event surveys.
27. Create product bundles.
28. Upsells and cross-sells.
29. Tiered Discounts.
30. Dynamic pricing
31. Free shipping
32. Team up with complementary brands.
33. Charitable Collaborations.
34. Real-Time Support With Live Chat.
35. Leverage Social Proof.

1. Get Ahead With Early Bird Discounts

One of the first effective Black Friday marketing ideas we recommend is to launch early bird discounts. Imagine yourself organizing a surprise party for a friend. You start giving away hints and clues a long time before the event. It builds excitement and expectation. Just like early deals by building a sense of surprise and excitement.

You can refer to the early discount launch strategies we suggest:

• Timing is everything, so start offering early bird discounts a few weeks before Black Friday. This gives customers enough time to plan their purchases and creates a sense of limited availability.
• Leverage multiple channels such as your email list, social media, and website. You should use targeted advertising to reach specific customer segments.

Take inspiration from the success of cosmetics brand My Minimo, which sent out a 50% off discount code early via email marketing. In their email, they offered an early big deal before black Friday to get members excited and to buy sooner.

2. Create A Social Media Frenzy

A great way to get people excited about your Black Friday sale is to use social media. You can get customers interested in your brand and your Shopify store by using interesting Black Friday marketing ideas and content.

• Countdown to Black Friday using a countdown timer on your social media profiles.
• Sneak peeks and teasers to pique your customers’ interest.
• Host live shopping events on platforms like Instagram or Facebook to showcase your products and interact with customers in real time.

For example, Bath & Body Works teased the “best haul of all” and the “ENTIRE STORE” being Buy 3, Get 3 FREE on Black Friday. 

These popular social media platforms may help you plan and optimize Black Friday marketing:

• Buffer is a user-friendly tool that allows you to schedule posts across many social media platforms.
• Sprout Social is a powerful tool with advanced features like listening, engagement, and reporting.
• Bitly is a link shortener that provides analytics to track the performance of your social media content.

When selecting a tool, consider your budget and specific needs. Many of these tools let you try them out for free before you sign a contract.

3. Add Urgency With Countdown Timers

As the timer counts down, customers feel compelled to move quickly to ensure they get the best deal on their desired items. When you use countdown timers for Black Friday marketing ideas, you can follow our tips:

• Coordinate the countdown timer with your other marketing campaigns to create a consistent message.
• Make the timer stand out using a big, eye-catching countdown timer that’s easy to see and understand.

You can refer to the following: How do you add a Shopify countdown timer FREE & without coding?

4. Tease Your Best Deals With Sneak Peek Emails

It’s that time of year again when you really want to push your email marketing to the max right now because Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming up. Even if you know your current email marketing plan, your BFCM emails are very different.

We recommend you read Mailchimp’s blog, The Final Black Friday E‑commerce Checklist.

No matter what your Black Friday deal is, you should send out your first email at least a week ahead of time, ideally two. Don’t worry if you haven’t decided on your Black Friday deal yet. A first email for Black Friday that doesn’t give away all the information is great, like this Apple case.

5. Drive Urgency With Limited-Time Offers

All limited-time deals make people feel rushed and think there aren’t many. It makes them fear of losing out (FOMO). This forces customers to decide faster to buy and to do so now instead of later. If you do it right, this method can help you increase sales and keep customers.

These are some well-known types:

• Flash sales with steep discounts, often lasting for a few hours or even minutes.
  Hour-by-hour deals offer that change every hour, keeping customers engaged and checking back frequently.

Read six tried-and-true ways to make limited-time offers (with examples) to learn how to set up and promote these deals in the best way.

6. Reward Loyalty With VIP-Only Discounts

You can show your most loyal customers that you value their business by giving them special deals. Customers will be eager to take advantage of special deals, which can convince them to buy more. This could lead to more sales and money coming in. Also, it can help them feel closer to your brand and make them more likely to tell others about your goods or services.

In another article, we have guided you on how to set up your loyalty program for the Shopify store.

There are many loyalty program platforms out there, but we suggest you look at BON Loyalty for Shopify shops like yours. This Shopify loyalty app offers a built-in feature for creating VIP tiers within your loyalty program. 

TRY BON LOYALTY NOW

7.  Double The Fun With BOGO Deals

A Black Friday deal where you buy one item and get another free (BOGO) is suitable for buyers and stores. According to AMG research, about two-thirds of customers (67%) say they like BOGO deals the most, and 95% have used one at least once.

It is a great way to make revenue and cut your stock. If you want to make your price even, just give away something for free with the item that costs the same.

Here are some ideas about product categories and types where BOGO offers work particularly well:

• For the food and beverages industry, for example, coffee and pastries, pizza and drinks, or ice cream and toppings.
• For beauty and personal care, such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, or makeup brushes and sponges.
• For clothing and accessories, such as shirts and pants, socks and underwear, or hats and scarves.

In our experiment, you can combine the BOGO campaign with VIP-only discounts to increase the attractiveness.

For example, Victoria Emerson, an accessible luxury jewelry brand, launched a Black Friday BOGO sale targeting only VIP customers.

8. Spark Curiosity With Mystery Discounts

Mystery coupons are a type of advertising deal that secretly gives customers a discount at the checkout when they buy something. You might call them secret codes, scratch-off offers, or hidden deals. People value something more when they think it is limited or rare. This is called the psychological principle of lack.

We will recommend some tips for creating and implementing effective mystery coupons:

• Select the best surprise coupon for your company. You may surprise the deal in numerous ways depending on your wants and budget. You can give a specific amount off, a percentage off that changes, or a free gift with purchase, among other things.
• Use different channels to distribute your mystery coupon. Your mystery voucher may be sent by email, social media, SMS, website, or mobile app. You may use digital or physical media. You may email subscribers a secret discount code, publish a scratch-off coupon on social media, or show a pop-up with a hidden bargain on your website.

9. Gamified Shopping Experiences

You can use game ideas and features in your marketing to increase interest and change people’s behavior. This is called e-commerce gaming. To turn shopping into a game, you need to use key elements like events and rewards to get people to do the same thing repeatedly, which is what the dopamine reaction is for.

We suggest gamified elements like spin-the-wheel, quizzes, and scavenger hunts.

You can find tools to create gamified experiences at the 9 best Shopify gamification apps.

10. Amplify Your Reach With Influencer Marketing

Many people like to shop on social media, especially during big sales like Black Friday. So, collaboration with social media influencers can be a great way to get more people to see your deals.

If you want to find these influencers, you should look for ones whose people like the same things your customers do. How they talk and what they say should fit your brand’s mood.

For example, Tangle Teezer worked with some really cool social media influencers who talked about and showed off their products in their own way.

11. Harness The Power Of User-Generated Content

User-generated content acts as real recommendations, which helps potential customers trust you. Reviews from friends and family may have an effect on them. Sharing information about your deals can get more people interested. It can lead to more sales, which is good for both your business and your regular customers.

You can use hashtags (like Starbucks’ ideas) to reward user-generated content. In April 2014, Starbucks held the #WhiteCupContest, which was a big hit.

12.  Engage With Interactive Quizzes

In the busy buying days before Black Friday, engaging quizzes help turn people who take them into buyers by gathering leads. So, here are some tips on how to use quiz marketing to make your Shopify store more successful:

Use a quiz to send bespoke product recommendations. This will help your customers find the right products for them. Make an online quiz. This will not only increase your sales but also be very helpful to your viewers. They’ll trust and like your brand even more because you saved them time and kept them from having too many options.

Integrate your E-commerce quiz with your social media strategy:

• Link to it in your bios.
• Make the most of platform-specific features (like Instagram stories or highlights).
• Use it as a call to action in your posts and videos.
• Create new content around it consistently.

Another way to get more people to share your quiz on social media is to ask people to tell others about their results. 

13. Captivate With Video Marketing

Video content effectively showcases popular products. It helps customers visualize what they’re buying during Black Friday. 

When sharing your videos, here are some important things you should do:

• Use keywords, descriptions, and tags to optimize it for search engines.
• Share it on social media and blogs.
• Send it to your audience via email.
• Interact with viewer comments and feedback.
• Find the best content distribution channel for you.

Remember that multichannel marketing is needed for video promotion to work. You can get more people to see and interact with your videos by making them search engine-friendly and using social media and blogs.

14. Craft Killer Email Campaigns

We encourage you to read NineTailed GmbH’s guide to crafting the perfect Black Friday teaser email. In this part, we will show you some tips to send focused, relevant messages to your followers and get the most out of your email marketing, you should segment your emails well.

• Collect the right data. You need to get the right user information to split your email group well. This can include psychographic data (like hobbies and values) and demographic data (like age and place).
• Use multiple segmentation criteria. Instead of depending on just one factor for segmentation, use more than one to create more specific parts. For instance, you could divide your list into groups based on past purchases and involvement.
• Keep your segments manageable. While making specific parts is important, you don’t want to make too many, as it might become too hard to handle. Pay attention to the groups that can help you reach your email marketing goals the most.

In our experiment, sending out emails from the last week of October is the best time to promote your Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers. Don’t worry if you started later than planned. Your emails can also begin the first or second week of November.

15. Supercharge Sales With SMS Marketing

Did you know that people are much more likely to read a text message than an email? In fact, studies show that almost everyone opens text messages, while only about 39% of people open emails, according to Klaviyo’s report.

Text messages are a great way to stay in touch with your customers. You can send them birthday wishes, let them know when their order is on the way, or just send a quick hello. This personal touch can really make a difference and help you build stronger relationships.

The best time to send text messages is during the day, especially between 9 AM and 12 PM or 5 PM and 9 PM. Try to send about 10 to 12 messages a month, but don’t bombard people with texts. A few messages a week is usually enough.

16. Nudge With Push Notifications

How do you make your mark when a lot of brands are trying to get customers’ attention at the same time during the busy time of the year? If you want to stand out and connect with your audience this Black Friday, we’ve covered you with the best push notifications practices.

First, choose the right push notification power words. Your pushes can quickly get lost in the BFCM flood if they don’t stand out from the other brands and competitors trying to get your users’ attention.

The key terms that perform best during Black Friday sales include:

• Deals.
• Last chance.
• X% off.
• Save.

Also, use your customers’ location data to trigger timely notifications about your Black Friday offers when they are within a specified distance from your physical store. 

For instance, a coffee shop might have an online sale of goods and an in-store sale of drinks. A department store might offer free gift wrapping or have a bartender serve coffee to customers while they shop, which you can’t do online.

17. Boost Traffic With Affiliate Marketing

A good Black Friday marketing idea is affiliate marketing, which uses outside platforms and leads to get people interested in your online store. Here are some important things to remember:

Look for affiliates with a strong reputation and audience that overlaps with yours. They can be existing customers, bloggers, influencers, or even non-competing sites like coupon or loyalty platforms.

You can also join an affiliate network (like Shopify collabs) to streamline partner discovery. But, be aware of potential fees and the need to compete for affiliates.

For more information, we recommend reading an in-depth guide on managing affiliates.

18. Dominate Social Media Ads

At the moment, Facebook is still the most common place where ads are placed. The blog for K6 Agency, on the other hand, found that Black Friday Facebook ads don’t really work well over the weekend. You have to pay twice as much to reach the same crowd when the CPM doubles. Since other brands have “tougher competition” and “higher budgets,” this is the case.

That’s why we recommend spending on Facebook ads throughout the whole year, no matter what.

For more insights on ad formats and targeting options for different platforms, read Social Media Advertising: Cost, Benefits, and Tips.

19. Speed Up Your Site For Black Friday

During busy times like Black Friday, site speed is very important because any delay can make users angry and cause you to lose sales. Customers are also less satisfied with slow websites.

We will tell you tips for optimizing website performance:

• Update your CMS and plugins to ensure optimal performance and security.
• Optimize image sizes to reduce file size without compromising quality. We recommend some tools like TinyPNG and JPEG Optimizer.
• Minify CSS and JavaScript from these files to reduce their size and improve load times.
• Leverage browser caching to store static content locally, reducing server load.
• Enable Gzip compression, which can significantly reduce the size of your website’s files.

If you know how to code, you can evaluate the performance of your website using browser developer tools. Don’t worry if you don’t know the code. We suggest that you use tools like GTmetrix and Google’s PageSpeed Insights. These tools can tell you a lot about how fast and well your website works.

20. Mobile Optimization

Holiday shopping season statistics show that 57% of Black Friday sales made last year were done on smartphones. That means more and more people use their phones to shop. Even more so on sales days like Black Friday. That’s why you should make sure your website works well on phones and looks good.

Here are a few more tips to make sure your Black Friday mobile shopping goes smoothly:

• Responsive design adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes and orientations.
• Touch-friendly elements by making buttons and links large enough to be easily clickable with fingers.
• Streamline menus and navigation to avoid overwhelming mobile users.
• Compress images to reduce file size and improve loading speed.
• Leverage caching to store frequently accessed content locally, reducing server load.

21. Simplify Navigation To Boost Sales

It’s hard to find something in a messy room, right? Well, it’s the same with websites. People will leave if they can’t find what they’re looking for quickly. That’s why it’s important to make your website easy to use.

Here are some tips for making your website easier to use:

• Organize your products in a way that makes sense.
• Put your main categories in a clear and easy-to-see place.
• Use simple and clear labels that people will understand.
• Use drop-down menus to help people find what they’re looking for.
• Add a search bar so people can quickly find specific products.
• Keep your website clean and organized.

22. Streamline Checkout To Maximize Conversions

In today’s competitive online marketplace, customers have high expectations. If your website isn’t user-friendly, fast, and secure, they’re more likely to abandon their carts and shop elsewhere. This is especially true during peak shopping times like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

So, we recommend you follow ways to reduce cart abandonment:

• Simplify the checkout process by keeping forms short and easy to fill out.
• Provide clear information such as shipping costs, return policies, and other important details.
• Popular payment methods include credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

Lastly, pick third-party apps that work well with Shopify Checkout. For example, the BON Loyalty app we talked about in strategy #6 rewards loyalty with VIP-only deals. This app streams both the checkout process and the rewards process.

23. Build Trust With Social Proof

Trust signals including testimonials, customer reviews and security badges. These signals let people know that you’re not trying to steal their info or money. Somebody besides you thinks your business is trustworthy, and these badges let people know.

So, how do you prominently display trust signals on your Black Friday landing page?

• Place them above the fold without scrolling.
• Make sure your reviews and testimonials are easy to read and understand.
• Focus on the most positive reviews to create a strong impression.
• Incorporate images or videos of happy customers to make your testimonials more engaging.

24. Bring Back The One That Got Away With Retargeting Ads

During holiday sales, customers are looking for the best deals. They may forget about your product among the myriad of options. Therefore, you need to retarget ads before and after Black Friday.

Here are two effective retargeting strategies:

Retarget-specific URL visits:

• Target visitors who have shown interest in specific products or pages.
• Create personalized ads based on their browsing behavior.
• You can use tools like Facebook Ads Manager to set up targeted campaigns.

Retarget existing customers:

• Reconnect with customers who haven’t purchased in a while.
• Offer them exclusive deals or promotions to encourage repeat business.
• You can use retargeting to upsell or cross-sell additional products.

Find more tools for retargeting ads at 20 Best Retargeting Software to Re-Engage Customers.

25. Recover Lost Sales With Cart Abandonment Emails

As we said, people love a good deal. So it’s no surprise that they sometimes forget about things they put in their shopping cart. But don’t worry! Sending reminder emails can help you bring those customers back.

In our experiment, you should send 2-3 abandoned cart emails to engage customers effectively. It might remind them of what they were looking at and convince them to buy it.

26. Gather Insights With Post-Event Surveys

These days, it’s very important to pay attention to what your customers say. If you ask people what they liked and didn’t like about an event, you can make the next one even better.

Three basic structures of post-event survey questions are as follows:

• No/yes questions like “Have you attended one of our events before?” are either/or. Open-ended queries might come next.
• Numerical scale questions. People who answer these questions have to rate a feeling or event on a scale from 1 to 10 or 1 to 5. This gives us precise data that can be used for analysis.
• Open-ended questions, short or lengthy, allow extensive responses. Mood analysis might start with this.

Ryanair, a major airline, uses surveys after events to find out what customers think about their trips. 

From the comments, Ryanair has learned how to make things better, like how they handle bags and the services they provide on board. It has helped them stay ahead of the competition and keep their customers happy.

27. Create Irresistible Product Bundles

Bundles are a fantastic way to get customers to spend more, not just on Black Friday. Putting together things that go well together can save customers money and make them want to buy more.

Here are some ideas for creating great bundles:

• Bundle things that are often used together, like a phone with a case and charger.
• Focus on popular things that people buy a lot on Black Friday, like electronics, clothes, or home stuff.
• Show customers how much money they can save by buying the bundle. Use clear and simple language to explain the benefits.
• Offer discounts for buying more items.
• Promote bundles on your website and in your marketing campaigns. Use pictures and catchy words to highlight their value.

28. Boost Revenue With Upsells and Cross-Sells

People shop a lot on Black Friday, which is great for online stores that want to make more money. Giving people the choice to buy more things or a better version of what they’re looking at is one way to do this. 

To do this well, you need to understand what your customers want. Look at their past purchases and see what they’re interested in. Then, offer them products that go well with what they’re already buying.

When you suggest other products, explain why they’re a good match. Show them how these products will make their lives better. You can also offer special deals or rewards to encourage them to buy more.

29. Offer Tiered Discounts to Incentivize Bigger Purchases

Tiered discounts are a smart way to reward customers for spending more. It’s like getting something extra to buy more! The more you spend, the more you save at shops like Eddie Bauer.

Case in point: If you spend $100 or more at Eddie Bauer, you can get a discount. The deal gets better as you spend more.

30. Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing is a smart way to adjust your prices based on what’s happening in the market. This is especially helpful during busy shopping times like Black Friday.

If you want to use dynamic pricing on your Shopify store, we recommend Prisync. This tool can help you keep track of what your competitors are charging and make changes to your prices accordingly.

Our tip for using dynamic pricing tools effectively is to set pricing rules. Determine how you want to position your products about competitors (e.g., premium, competitive, or budget).

31. Seal The Deal With Free Shipping

An Invesp poll found that 9 out of 10 people who shop online say that free shipping is the most important thing. This means that giving away free shipping is a good way to get more customers and keep the ones you already have. 

One way to offer free shipping without losing money is to set a minimum order amount. This means customers have to spend a certain amount before they get free shipping. This can help you make more money per order.

32. Team Up With Complementary Brands

When companies work together well, they can create strong partnerships that help both businesses, not just during Black Friday. Here are some ideas for working together effectively:

• Set goals for the Black Friday campaign, like increasing sales or getting new customers.
• Use tools like Asana, Trello, or Slack to help teams work together smoothly.

33. Give Back With Charitable Collaborations

Businesses can join forces with charities to do good things during Black Friday. This helps the community and makes everyone feel like they’re working together. Many stores sell things that are good for the environment and plant trees when people buy something to show their care for the planet.

Here are some ways to help charities during Black Friday:

• Offer special deals that include a donation to a charity.
• Match what your customers donate.
• Work with charities in your area to plan events and promotions together.

34. Offer Real-Time Support With Live Chat

When it’s busy, like on Black Friday, live chat is a great way to help people right away. People won’t want to leave their shopping carts, which will make customers happy.

You can choose from good live chat tools like LiveChat, Zendesk, and Olark. Some of these tools, like automatic answers, make it easier to deal with new questions and make sure that no customer feels forgotten when you’re busy.

35. Leverage Social Proof To Build Trust

Social proof is like a seal of approval from other customers. It can really help people decide if they want to buy something, especially during Black Friday.

You can use customer reviews and photos to show how much people love your products. Ask your customers to share photos of themselves using your products, and you can even offer them a reward for doing so.

Post user-generated content to your website and social media accounts. As Alo Yoga does, you may even designate a specific area on your homepage or product pages to feature your finest customer images. 

FAQs About Black Friday Marketing Strategies

When Should You Start Your Black Friday Promotions??

If you can, you should have most of your Black Friday plans set in stone and at least partly made by early October. Some consumers start thinking about what they want to buy for the holidays in late October. So you should start selling Black Friday deals by then, or be ready to do so.

How can small e-commerce stores compete with large retailers during Black Friday?

Social media marketing is a great Black Friday Cyber Monday marketing idea for small businesses to get the word out about Black Friday deals without spending a lot of money. You can use countdown timers, sneak peeks, and live shopping events to get people excited and interested in your products.

Download Your Black Friday Marketing Checklist For Free

We’ve created a helpful checklist to help online stores improve their sales and compete better. This guide will cover important things that businesses need to focus on in 2024.