Black Friday 2020: a great creative challenge
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 8:51 am
High competition and aggressive offers will characterise a very dull Black Friday. Faced with the flood of discounts and offers, only those brands that opt for differentiation and creativity will emerge successful from this competition.
With just over a month and a half to go until the end of 2020, both large and small businesses face a key date in a few weeks, in which they hope to improve the results of what for many has been an annus horribilis . Black Friday is just around the corner, and for brands and businesses, this is the opportunity of the year to once again dye their results black, just as they did in their origins.
What can we expect from consumers this Black Friday?
This year, with the pandemic as a backdrop, we are faced with a much more forward-thinking and planned consumer. According to a study developed by Think with Google, 35% of consumers began pre-searching for Black Friday at the end of October, a month in advance, while 31% will begin their search this week.
Evolution of searches for the term Black Friday
Source: Think with Google
Demand is anticipated, and at this point the consumer has already made his shopping list. Now he needs to decide where to buy.
Similarly, the evidence of digitalisation that has been boosted by the current crisis means that we are seeing a much more connected consumer, who will opt for online shopping in 70% of cases.
For their part, the buyer who prefers to go to the physical store will plan their visit more carefully. In 68% of cases, they will search online for ideas that allow self employed phone number list them to plan and speed up their purchases, and real-time information that allows them to resolve doubts about opening hours, product availability, etc. is also important. Keeping this information up to date on our website or social networks will improve our perception in the eyes of the user.
Social commerce will be key
In 32% of cases, social networks become the main window, along with search engines, through which buyers will carry out prior searches.
Social commerce will be key
Source: Think with Google
Along these lines, and as has occurred during much of the pandemic, social media has become a driving force for sales assistance. Therefore, it will be especially important to take advantage of our presence and visibility on these channels during this important date to launch messages that connect with users.
The discount is key, but differentiation through the message will be even more so.
Offers are an implicit part of Black Friday. There is no Black Friday without discounts, and the more aggressive the better. This is the main motivator. But when all the brands launch discounts, and even more so in a highly competitive scenario like the one we are going to experience, differentiation will not come from the discounts themselves, but from the way in which we communicate them.
According to Nielsen, creativity in our communication can affect business results by 47%. The creative strategy with which we wrap the offer will be the key point that will allow us to make our communication memorable.
Differentiation through the message
Source: Nielsen Company
Along with creativity, there is a closely related variable: context. Knowing the context in which we operate and the stage in which the consumer is, will help in defining much more effective communication.
And if the relevance of context has always been there, in 2020, it plays a very relevant role. During this year, each and every one of us has gone through different emotional stages that have made us much more receptive to certain messages. In April, in the midst of an upward wave, highly emotional campaigns had a positive impact and high audience recall. But, today, the situation is not the same. The consumer shows clear symptoms of weariness and frustration in the face of a situation that seems to have no end.
Therefore, we must opt for messages that appeal directly to the lessons learned from the experience we are living, to what really provides a benefit to the consumer. Sustainability or issues linked to the CSR of brands are gaining value again.
Let's connect with the consumer through our values
We must focus on a positive message that allows us to connect with our audiences by transmitting our brand values.
Let's make our potential consumers live an experience through our content and actions. Let's appeal to their emotions and connect with their tastes and hobbies, provide valuable information, reward the most loyal consumers with special actions, refer to the feeling of loss with deadlines, personalize the message whenever possible... Only in this way will we be able to establish a bond.
For all this, of course, the star device of the campaign will be the mobile phone, with 71% use versus desktop computers.
Social Ads: essential for dissemination
All those actions that help to gain diffusion on social networks will be crucial this Black Friday, from actions with influencers, to diffusion through campaigns on Facebook Ads , both for Facebook and for Instagram, Pinterest,…
The segmentation capacity of these campaigns, combined with a very affordable cost per click, characterize social media campaigns, allowing us to multiply the reach of our publications or messages exponentially, as well as improve interaction.
Just one more fact: 71% of users who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are more likely to recommend it. And this recommendation will be key when making a purchase decision.
Therefore, developing a creative campaign on social networks will allow us to increase the performance of the actions and obtain a greater return.
In response to consumer anticipation, the competition for users' attention for Black Friday has already begun. Many brands have brought forward their discounts and advertising campaigns, taking advantage of what will also be an opportunity to bring forward Christmas shopping, which will be difficult to tackle.
With just over a month and a half to go until the end of 2020, both large and small businesses face a key date in a few weeks, in which they hope to improve the results of what for many has been an annus horribilis . Black Friday is just around the corner, and for brands and businesses, this is the opportunity of the year to once again dye their results black, just as they did in their origins.
What can we expect from consumers this Black Friday?
This year, with the pandemic as a backdrop, we are faced with a much more forward-thinking and planned consumer. According to a study developed by Think with Google, 35% of consumers began pre-searching for Black Friday at the end of October, a month in advance, while 31% will begin their search this week.
Evolution of searches for the term Black Friday
Source: Think with Google
Demand is anticipated, and at this point the consumer has already made his shopping list. Now he needs to decide where to buy.
Similarly, the evidence of digitalisation that has been boosted by the current crisis means that we are seeing a much more connected consumer, who will opt for online shopping in 70% of cases.
For their part, the buyer who prefers to go to the physical store will plan their visit more carefully. In 68% of cases, they will search online for ideas that allow self employed phone number list them to plan and speed up their purchases, and real-time information that allows them to resolve doubts about opening hours, product availability, etc. is also important. Keeping this information up to date on our website or social networks will improve our perception in the eyes of the user.
Social commerce will be key
In 32% of cases, social networks become the main window, along with search engines, through which buyers will carry out prior searches.
Social commerce will be key
Source: Think with Google
Along these lines, and as has occurred during much of the pandemic, social media has become a driving force for sales assistance. Therefore, it will be especially important to take advantage of our presence and visibility on these channels during this important date to launch messages that connect with users.
The discount is key, but differentiation through the message will be even more so.
Offers are an implicit part of Black Friday. There is no Black Friday without discounts, and the more aggressive the better. This is the main motivator. But when all the brands launch discounts, and even more so in a highly competitive scenario like the one we are going to experience, differentiation will not come from the discounts themselves, but from the way in which we communicate them.
According to Nielsen, creativity in our communication can affect business results by 47%. The creative strategy with which we wrap the offer will be the key point that will allow us to make our communication memorable.
Differentiation through the message
Source: Nielsen Company
Along with creativity, there is a closely related variable: context. Knowing the context in which we operate and the stage in which the consumer is, will help in defining much more effective communication.
And if the relevance of context has always been there, in 2020, it plays a very relevant role. During this year, each and every one of us has gone through different emotional stages that have made us much more receptive to certain messages. In April, in the midst of an upward wave, highly emotional campaigns had a positive impact and high audience recall. But, today, the situation is not the same. The consumer shows clear symptoms of weariness and frustration in the face of a situation that seems to have no end.
Therefore, we must opt for messages that appeal directly to the lessons learned from the experience we are living, to what really provides a benefit to the consumer. Sustainability or issues linked to the CSR of brands are gaining value again.
Let's connect with the consumer through our values
We must focus on a positive message that allows us to connect with our audiences by transmitting our brand values.
Let's make our potential consumers live an experience through our content and actions. Let's appeal to their emotions and connect with their tastes and hobbies, provide valuable information, reward the most loyal consumers with special actions, refer to the feeling of loss with deadlines, personalize the message whenever possible... Only in this way will we be able to establish a bond.
For all this, of course, the star device of the campaign will be the mobile phone, with 71% use versus desktop computers.
Social Ads: essential for dissemination
All those actions that help to gain diffusion on social networks will be crucial this Black Friday, from actions with influencers, to diffusion through campaigns on Facebook Ads , both for Facebook and for Instagram, Pinterest,…
The segmentation capacity of these campaigns, combined with a very affordable cost per click, characterize social media campaigns, allowing us to multiply the reach of our publications or messages exponentially, as well as improve interaction.
Just one more fact: 71% of users who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are more likely to recommend it. And this recommendation will be key when making a purchase decision.
Therefore, developing a creative campaign on social networks will allow us to increase the performance of the actions and obtain a greater return.
In response to consumer anticipation, the competition for users' attention for Black Friday has already begun. Many brands have brought forward their discounts and advertising campaigns, taking advantage of what will also be an opportunity to bring forward Christmas shopping, which will be difficult to tackle.