Mastering Black Friday: 5 Strategies for Sustainable Performance

#1 Lead with Your Brand Story, Not Your Discount

Well before you launch your weekend-specific campaign, you want to make sure you are delivering on your brand story. Making sure your consumer knows why they should buy from you at full price means that when the deal arrives, it’s an easy decision for the consumer, as they see the value before the Black Friday discount arrives.

Use these early campaigns to drive newsletter or SMS lists by offering early access to the Black Friday deals. This will help to grow your potential customer database and give you a great platform to tap into some of the early hype Black Friday can generate. By showing your value first, the discount feels more rewarding, and early access creates a sense of exclusivity that nudges people to act quickly.

#2 Frame Discounts as Value, Not Desperation

Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy to some tactics employed by companies when launching their Black Friday deals, they see it less as an exclusive offer and more as another cash grab.

When offering a discount, it should feel like a reward for the user for engaging with your brand, not just another dropped price to drive more sales. The goal with a good Black Friday deal is to drive up the AOV whilst ensuring you create new customer relationships and nurture existing customers at the same time.

Prioritising deals like “£50 off £200” over 20% off helps protect margins because the discount size is capped and motivates the customer to increase their basket size to hit the threshold.

Creating value-led bundles is another great way to reward users. If you have a hero product, a camera, for example, and you also sell accessories for this product, offering 20% off all accessories when purchasing a camera ensures you get your key product into customers' hands, whilst still offering value and clearing out inventory.

Another great way to reward users is with free products. Combining this with spending thresholds ensures you protect your margins whilst giving customers the incentive to spend more. If your business has repeat custom, this is a great reward to offer as a lifetime reward. For example, a skincare brand could offer a customer that if they order during BF and spend over £50, they will get a free gift, and then every time they order again and spend over £50 they will continue to receive a free gift, driving that repeat custom and giving you future hooks and communications you can use to drive those repeat orders.

By structuring deals this way, you tap into reward anticipation, and customers feel they’re earning something extra for engaging with your brand. Highlighting thresholds and gifts subtly encourages higher spending while making the offer feel like a win rather than a bargain hunt.

#3 Keep the UX Friction-Free

If your website isn't working as effectively as it could be every time users arrive you are missing out on revenue. Driving up your conversion rate is the best way to increase revenue whether you are driving paid traffic or just organic users. The higher the conversion success is on your website, the more money you will make.

During Black Friday, with so many people competing for the same consumer spending a poor experience on your site could drive that customer right into the arms of a competitor. During the weekend of sales, cart abandonment peaks at a whopping 75.6%, so making sure your user experience is as good as it can be is vital to succeeding over this period.

18% of cart abandonments happen simply because the checkout process takes too long. Ensuring you have things like mobile wallets, Apple Pay, Google Pay etc, set up reduces manual input and allows for instant checkouts. Offering guest checkouts is another way to remove friction during a high-urgency purchasing period.

#4 Plan for the Post–Black Friday Hangover

Looking at your Black Friday event as an acquisition event rather than a revenue event allows you to set yourself up for longer-term success. Over 59% of revenue generated during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales comes from new customers. This gives you a fantastic opportunity to grow your business well beyond the initial sales period.

Retaining as many of these new customers as possible is key to driving long-term sustainable success. Make sure you have a robust post-purchase communication strategy in place, which shifts away from the discounts to the value and benefits of your products even before they have received them. 

Recognising that everyone will be sending a huge number of emails during this time and that email fatigue is a real issue for consumers. Test other communication methods like SMS or WhatsApp to really get through to your customers, bypassing what can become a very busy inbox.

Make sure you know your product range, do customers who typically buy product A get product B, and make sure you segment your users so your communication can focus on this and deliver the most relevant messaging at the best times. 

#5 Be Intentional About How You Show Up

Every part of your customers' journey, from the ad creative the the checkout button, should align with your brand and message you want to own. You know why people should buy your product over everything else out there, make sure they know too.

Generic copy like “sale ends soon” or “get yours now” can devalue your brand. Use language that conveys exclusivity and status. For your pre Black Friday campaign, focus on the mailing list acquisition for exclusive access, invite potential customers to become a member and “join 25k like-minded people”. People want to be part of a group and fit in, and using this behavioural nudge can help push people towards the goal. Make sure once you have their details, that all your communication is personalised, if, for example, you sell makeup, ask them about their skin tone or favourite products when they sign up and ensure your communication matches this.
Make sure you use your post-purchase communication to affirm their decision, not push another sale, thank them for buying from you and keep them up to date and excited about when they will receive their product. Including things like handwritten notes in their shipping box can really boost customer retention, as they feel valued and not just another order through the door.

Showing up intentionally at all points of their journey and ensuring your brand message is clear makes sure you will be remembered for the amazing products you sell, not just the discount offered to grab a quick win, and the customer will be less focused on how cheap it was but how valuable it felt.

Key Takeaways

Black Friday has grown from a one-day bargain hunt into a global month-long sales frenzy. To stand out among the competition, brands need to move beyond simple price slashes and focus on strategies that are designed to drive sustainable long-term growth. To achieve this, brands must focus on their story, frame discounts as value over desperation, ensure a friction-free user experience and plan for what happens after the sales are over.

• Brand Story First: Communicate your brand story and value over discounts to make the purchase decision easier for consumers.
• Value Driven Discounts: Offer discounts that reward engagement and encourage higher average order values.
• Seamless UX: Make sure your website is working as well as possible and that every touchpoint is intentional and easy to navigate.
• Post Purchase Retention: View this as an acquisition opportunity to gain and, most importantly, retain new customers to help feed long-term growth.
• Intentional Branding: Ensure a cohesive brand journey for the consumers from ad creative to checkout button, making sure there is consistent messaging at every stage.

If you want to discuss any of the points above or if you would like to talk to us about how we can support your Black Friday goals, please get in touch!