If you have a consumer product and are retailing as an e-commerce business, high street/mall store or a hybrid of these, missing out on Black Friday could be a costly mistake (however, it is also not the time to get rid of your crappy leftovers in the stockroom, warehouse or distribution centre). It is consistently being seen by your customers, both current and ones you are wanting to convert, as the kick start to Christmas gift shopping. The savviness of your customer has increased, they are on the hunt for a great discount for a great product. But how do they get to hear about it? We put together a guide to mastering Black Friday consumer marketing.

Here is your quick glance guide to Black Friday marketing and PR:

  1. Get your discount organised early (mid October) and make sure it’s one that you can afford. 
  2. Decide which two or three products to prioritise (or just go with the full range if you’re feeling confident).
  3. Decide if there should be an extra special discount or code you will provide for repeat customers.
  4. Go out to the press and media with your PR – if it is US PR, you need to go out by the end of the first week in November, then repeat, and repeat again, maybe with a paid newswire service. If it is UK PR, your own media list and going out two times should do it.
  5. You need to be visible on those coveted shopping guides, so put effort into getting published listicles.
  6. Plan in your email marketing to your databases, send out A/B tests ahead of time to assess performance, and pick the winning formula. Do a countdown, including 24 hours to the hour before, one hour before, then at the launch.
  7. Get the promo onto your website – do this early to get subscribers – then blast once live.
  8. Same goes for your ads – Google and paid social are great for this kind of communication.
  9. For your influencers, get them coordinated to do a social media boom at the point of going live.
  10. Finally consider your owned social media, warm up the audience and tease the upcoming deals, then press go with the best ads and posts you have tested.

No matter where your market is in the world, you can orchestrate these actions from wherever, including our Bristol-based PR and Digital Marketing group – as we have global reach.