With more than $10 billion spent on Black Friday in 2021 in the US alone, Black Friday is a golden opportunity for business owners.

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday come around, merchants try to get ready to make the best out of this once-in-a-year opportunity to drive new traffic, attract more customers, and raise profits. Stores, no matter if they are brick-and-mortar or online, advertise their BFCM deals. And customers are looking for the best opportunities to buy whatever they need to start the new year.

So the competition is tough and you need to be ready for it weeks ahead. Otherwise, how are you going to stand out among all your competitors?

But don’t worry. Even though it sounds intimidating, standing out in a crowded sales environment is easier than you think.

As a Shopify merchant, you may wonder how does Shopify Black Friday work? Are there any tips or tricks you can use to make the most of the Shopify BFCM?

The answer is YES! Here are 10 Black Friday marketing strategies to try for your Shopify store this year.

What is Shopify Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

In the U.S, Black Friday falls on the Friday following Thanksgiving. This is an annual shopping holiday during which retailers offer steep discounts for the start of the holiday season.

A Cyber Monday is an online shopping event held on the Monday following Thanksgiving in the U.S. Online retailers usually offer special promotions, discounts, and sales on this day in the same way brick-and-mortar stores do on Black Friday.

In recent years, the distinction between Black Friday and Cyber Monday has become blurred as the two days have evolved into a combination of in-store and online shopping experiences. With many retailers now running multiple-day online Black Friday sales, consumers can take advantage of exclusive deals more than ever before.

This is why BFCM is particularly important for eCommerce businesses. Due to the extended weekend sales, the risks are higher, but customers are also looking online for discounts more than ever before, which provides more potential opportunities. So if you're planning to hold a BFCM sale, you must be prepared.

Shopify merchants are not an exception to this tradition. On Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Shopify stores also participate in the shopping season and offer special deals and discounts to their customers.

If you as well are a Shopify merchant trying to get ready for the big sales, here is how.

10 Black Friday marketing strategies for Shopify BFCM 2024

1. Don't wait until the last minute to start preparing

The sooner you start, the better prepared you will be. The best time to start planning for Black Friday is in July or August. But if you have not started yet, the best time is right now!

You want to have enough time to think about your marketing strategies and Black Friday campaign ideas and plan enough inventory for the shopping holiday.

Decide if you want to sell new products or promote the existing ones and start brainstorming ideas about how to do it the best way possible.

2. Promote your sales on Social Media

Your social media accounts hold so much power. Nowadays people get their information from social media. So if you want them to get informed about your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, promote them on your socials. How?

A business can drive traffic to its store on Black Friday by sharing previews of exclusive deals, countdown timers, and other engaging content. Using social media to connect with customers and answer their Black Friday questions is another great way to maintain customer relations.

Instagram and TikTok are probably the most popular platforms for BFCM online shoppers. So you may want to be more active on those platforms.

3. Organize Black Friday Social Media Competitions

You can ask your customers to involve actively on your Shopify store’s black Friday sales. By organizing social media contests you can gain valuable social proof, brand loyalty, and free promotion.

For example, If you want to promote the Black Friday campaign on social media, you might ask your followers to create a tagline. Aside from that, you might want to ask them about the shopping season or tell them to reshare your campaign post and reward the winners with some unique discounts, gift cards, or freebies.

If you can think and come up with a new creative idea for these kinds of black Friday campaigns, you may get lucky enough to go viral and gain so many sales.

4. Create fear of missing out (FOMO)

To gain the attention of shoppers, you need to create excitement around your deals, discounts, and products. For that purpose, write a copy that would make your customers believe they are missing out on something valuable and popular and for so much less than its actual price.

Rather than allowing customers to wait, you can persuade them to act right now. You can motivate your customers to take advantage of Black Friday deals by offering a limited-time discount or exclusive access to sale items.

5. Send Email alerts when the discounted out-of-stock product is restocked

When you apply Black Friday's exciting discounts to your products, they go out of stock faster than ever. Especially the products that have been already popular with your customers. So there is a big chance that they go out of stock on your Black Friday sales. This will cause a lot of disappointment for your customers. But if you have the plan to restock the product within a few days, let your customers know that by adding a “Notify me” button to those products. So when the product is restocked you can send Back in stock Email alerts to those who are waiting for the product.

6. Set up Email marketing campaigns

Your customers would love to receive discounts and deals in their inboxes. Why wouldn’t they? With $36 for every dollar spent, Email has a higher ROI than any other channel. So take advantage of this opportunity and set up an Email marketing campaign with offers for subscribers a few weeks before Black Friday.

7. Give long-term customers exclusive offers

Some of the customers who come to your store for your Black Friday sales are those who have been loyal to your brand for a long time. Black Friday is a good opportunity to show that you appreciate these customers and their loyalty. A marketing tactic that builds customer loyalty and drives repeat business is offering exclusive deals and discounts to these customers. After all, Black Friday is not just about one day or week, it’s also about building long-term relationships with customers.

8. Make your Shopify website more interactive with a chatbot

With more customers come more problems! It’s all fun and games until shoppers face a problem on your website. So you need to be ready to support them. Instead of making customers confused about FAQs, you can put a chat robot that can answer your customers’ questions as soon as possible. To automate tasks, Shopify chatbots can pull data from your store. Communicating with customers, checking inventories, completing returns, and promoting sales are some of these tasks.

9. After Black Friday, follow up with customers

Having a high level of sales on Black Friday is great. Customers, however, grow in value over time. So it is important to turn one-time buyers into loyal, lifelong customers. Send a quick thank-you email, a customer service survey, or ask for feedback on their experience to follow up after Black Friday. This will make customers feel so much better about your brand which can pay off in the future.

10. Send freebies with the orders

People love to receive free surprises. So when you want to ship those Black Friday orders, consider putting some small free gifts for your customers. That way your customers feel rewarded and feel that they can trust your brand.

No matter how small the free gift is, make sure that it is something your customers want and will find useful.

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