4 quick wins to boost Black Friday and Cyber Monday revenue

Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are critical times for retailers to maximize sales and engage with customers. To ensure you’re making the most of these shopping holidays, it’s essential to leverage ratings & reviews, user-generated content (UGC), social media, and excellent customer support.

Here are four key strategies to boost your BFCM success:

1. Optimize ratings and reviews

Customer reviews and ratings are often the deciding factors for consumers choosing between brands. New shoppers trust and rely upon the opinions of other customers, whether shared through star ratings or detailed reviews.

Ensuring that your products have a healthy number of reviews can greatly influence purchasing decisions. Before BFCM hits, consider the following steps to make the most of this content:

• Check for sufficient reviews: Ensure the items you’re highlighting have a good number of positive reviews. If they don’t, it’s not too late to accelerate review collection. Consider implementing a sampling program or offering targeted incentives or sweepstakes to encourage customers who have purchased to leave reviews.
• Prioritize recent reviews: Ensure your reviews are sorted by “MOST RECENT” to show recency of purchase. Consumers trust current reviews more than older ones, as they better reflect the state of the products today and confirm that people are buying your products now.
• Utilize ratings in marketing: Including product ratings and standout reviews in your marketing emails can increase click-through rates, drive sales, and build trust with customers. Make sure to highlight your best products and customer experiences to capture attention.
• Curate your image galleries: Review the image galleries associated with your best-selling items. Are the best images being showcased? Providers like Emplifi allow you to curate images separately for reviews and galleries, ensuring that only the most appealing visuals are featured.
• Prepare for a surge in content: The BFCM period will generate a large amount of content, including new reviews. Make sure your moderation filters are optimized to handle this influx effectively, saving you time and effort during the busy season.

2. Leverage UGC

UGC plays a crucial role in influencing purchasing behavior, especially during shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Shoppers are more likely to trust content created by other consumers than they are traditional brand advertising.

By strategically incorporating UGC into your BFCM campaigns, you can build trust and drive conversions. Here’s how to make the most of UGC during BFCM:

• Collaborate with influencers: A surprising 58% of BFCM shoppers say they’ll purchase products or deals recommended by influencers and bloggers they follow. Schedule your influencers with the largest followings to create content around your products in the weeks leading up to BFCM.
• Utilize micro-influencers: If you’re looking to extend your UGC content creation budget, consider working with micro-influencers. They often charge up to 90% less than macro-influencers, providing great value and engagement.
• Maximize UGC usage: Make sure you’re actively publishing UGC to your product detail pages and including it in your marketing emails. This not only enhances product credibility but also leverages social proof to drive sales.

3. Enhance your social media strategy

Social media will be buzzing during BFCM, making it the perfect platform to connect with your audience and amplify your promotions. But with so many brands competing for attention, it’s essential to go beyond basic product posts.

Crafting a strategic social media plan can help you stand out and turn followers into customers, and those customers into additional sources of reviews and UGC. Consider these tactics to maximize your social media impact during BFCM:

• Promote ethical practices: Many consumers today are more ethical and conscientious in their choices. Leading up to BFCM, highlight your sustainable and ethical practices on social media to position your brand as a responsible choice when shoppers are deciding where to spend their money.
• Create anticipation: Start teasing your offers before the actual event in order to build anticipation and buzz. Share sneak peeks or countdowns to generate excitement among your followers.
• Show behind-the-scenes content: Drive engagement by posting behind-the-scenes content of your team preparing for BFCM. This type of content is often well-received by customers, creating a more personal connection with your brand.
• Optimize social SEO: Don’t forget to use relevant BFCM hashtags to help your users find your offers and deals. Include highly relevant captions and keywords in your posts to boost searchability and reach.

4. Elevate your customer support and service

Outstanding customer support can make all the difference during BFCM, when shoppers are looking for fast answers and seamless service. A great customer experience can lead to repeat purchases, positive reviews, and fewer returns – key elements for BFCM success.

Here’s how to ensure your customer service stands out:

• Prepare your support team: Ensure your customer support team is well-prepared for the increased volume of inquiries. This includes training on common questions, troubleshooting, and using a customer-centric approach to service.
• Implement live chat and chatbots: Consider deploying live chat or chatbots on your website to handle frequently asked questions quickly and efficiently. This can improve the customer experience by providing immediate assistance and freeing up your support team for more complex issues.
• Listen and monitor on social media: Many customers turn to social media for support during BFCM. Monitor your social channels closely, and respond promptly to customer queries and concerns. Being proactive can help you resolve issues quickly and maintain a positive brand image.

How to boost BFCM with these tools

By implementing these strategies, you can enhance your BFCM efforts, boost customer engagement, and drive sales. Remember, preparation is key – start planning now to make the most of these critical shopping days. If you need help getting started with tools to boost your Black Friday or Cyber Monday now, let us know.

Monica Maltby is a Director, Commerce Strategy at Emplifi. She can be reached at monica.maltby@emplifi.io.