The Black Friday Follow Up You Need To Be Doing TODAY
Just The Beginning
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. You've been fulfilling orders like a maniac and now things are calming down. The dust has settled somewhat and you're thinking, now what?
Maybe you collected a ton of new social media followers and email subscribers over the past few days. Maybe you have a lot of new customers who are patiently awaiting their orders. What do you do now to follow up and keep these people engaged and turn them into repeat clients?
We have assembled our list of the top Black Friday Cyber Monday follow-ups you need to be doing this week and in the coming weeks.
Let's dive in!
Email Campaigns
Engaging and consistent email campaigns are a great way to communicate with new contacts after BFCM. Email marketing campaigns are an important channel for encouraging future sales as we move towards the holiday season.
BFCM typically ignites the start of the holiday spending season, so it's important to try and keep that momentum going with these clients and turn them into repeat sales.
What to Communicate
Here are a few different examples of offers you can communicate to these contacts through drip campaigns:
- Free shipping on a specific date to create a sense of urgency
- Access to special events or in-store promos that may be going on (if applicable)
- Samples or bonuses items included with sales over a certain amount
- Discount codes for special seasonal collections or items you want to move
Targeting
In addition, make sure you are sending targeted communication to the appropriate segments of your list. If you have people who browsed but didn't convert, make sure you are communicating ongoing sales, holiday ideas, and so on to them after BFCM.
Managing Your Client Lists
Take some time to clean up your mailing lists in MailChimp, Hubspot or whatever CRM system you use. Getting this organized will help make your holiday communications much easier.
Don't use a CRM to manage your contacts? There is no time like the present. Find out more about Mailchimp here. It's easy to use and you can start for free.
Gather Reviews
If you have had a new block of sales over BFCM be sure to follow up with those who purchased asking for their feedback. Automated reminders are a great way to get those clients to take a minute and leave a review.
Using this time to gather a good number of testimonials and reviews will give you added content and social proof leading into the holiday season.
Secondly, asking your clients to share their experience will further connect them to your brand and product. If they loved the product, they will be reminded of that and want to share their experience with others.
Dealing with Negative Feedback
Worried about negative reviews post-BFCM? A negative review is a gift. Take that feedback, reach out to any unhappy customers, and learn from their comments and critiques. Negative reviews can be a way for brands to learn about failings in their packaging design, product, or communication. Take this learning opportunity and grow from it.
How to Gather Reviews
In terms of how to go about gathering review, there are a lot of different strategies when it comes to the best method. For most merchants, an email will be the best place to start. This article from Shopify has great advice when it comes to review gathering.
Engage on Social
If you have gained new social media follows over the course of your BFCM promotions it's important to keep them from bouncing from your channels once the weekend is done.
Engaging them on social will keep them around for the Holiday season and, ideally, beyond that into the new year.
Keep the Deals Going
Do your BFCM deals carry on through into November? If so, continue to promote these sales on social so people know there are still deals available for them to jump on. Use the hashtags and branding from your Black Friday sales so people recognize that your promos are still on.
Build Brand Advocacy
Nothing speaks more towards your brand than user-generated content.
Encourage those who made purchases over BFCM to share their unboxing and product experiences on social. Maybe let them know they will be entered to win a prize if they create this social content.
Once you see that amazing content posted, share it on your own feeds. Lots of brands share user-generated posts on Instagram and Facebook. It's a great way to leverage the content you didn't have to create, as well as engaging with your customers and encouraging brand affinity.
Full Steam Ahead!
While these steps are by no means an exhaustive marketing strategy, they will give you the foundation you need as you head toward the holidays.
Follow the steps above and by the end you should have:
- Email campaigns drafted and firing
- Organized and segmented lists in a CRM system
- Communication going out to clients asking for reviews
- Reviews posted on your store and social for the world to see
- Engaging social content being published on your channels
With this all in the works you will be well positioned to maximize your marketing communication for the holiday season.
Have questions about your Shopify store and how to configure some of these integrations? Contact us today!
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