Black Friday revenue boost: 10 best strategies powered by Things Solver

Anja Bojic | 05. 11. 2024.

Black Friday is one of the greatest shopping events of the year. It is a perfect opportunity for businesses to attract consumer attention and drive revenues upwards.  

Due to the huge, sudden surge in consumers’ activities, you should prepare well in advance to meet such a sudden rise in demand. Approaching this time of the year without a plan might translate into lost opportunities. But a well-thought-out plan could mean outstanding sales and more customer involvement. 

Of course, reaping maximum benefit from this shopping frenzy calls for an advanced armory that grants deep customer insights and simplifies your marketing efforts. That is where a suite of solutions from Things Solver comes in, allowing you to meet great demand with real precision. 

With predictive analytics, personalized recommendations, advanced segmentation, and real-time performance tracking, we will help you guess customer needs and fine-tune your campaigns to ensure seamless shopping experiences during the hectic Black Friday week. 

Read on for the best practices that will allow you to drive your Black Friday revenue in 2024. 

Use lookalike audience to target high-value customers shoppers during Black Friday weekend 

One of the biggest challenges on Black Friday is about how to uncover new high-value customers that will respond well to Black Friday promotions. Using the lookalike audience feature in Thing Solver’s Segmentation Studio can help you find new shoppers by matching key traits from your most valuable customers of past Black Fridays. 

This feature allows you to analyze high-spending customers from last year and find similar buyers in this year’s audience. Then you may address this lookalike group via premium channels like Viber and offer them exclusive deals, together with personalized product recommendations. 

This will drive more value for your Black Friday campaign by targeting these lookalike audiences, reaching new high-quality leads, and delivering the products that matter most to them. 

Example 

Let’s say an electronics retailer is getting ready for Black Friday. They realize through Segmentation Studio’s lookalike audience feature that last year’s high-value customers bought gaming consoles and wireless headphones. With this insight at hand, they make sure to create a lookalike audience of this year’s shoppers whose profiles closely resemble those of last year’s big spenders. 

The company launches a lookalike audience targeting with personalized Viber messages, offering special promotions for complementary products like gaming controllers, charging docks, and noise-canceling headphones. This campaign will make sure such high-demand products reach the right potential buyers and increase the opportunities for cross-sell to drive higher revenues and customer satisfaction with relevant product suggestions tailored for that high-value audience. 

Personalize every single touchpoint for the Black Friday frenzy 

Another very frequent problem many businesses have on Black Friday is sending just the same messages that can’t make your customers feel special. Among the huge competition, generality in advertisements can lead to lost opportunities, low engagement, and poor conversion rates. 

To avoid this, you have to make sure that each of your customers feels they are receiving personal attention in his or her shopping. That is where our AI-driven segmentation tool can make all the difference.  

For example, you can use our Segmentation Studio to offer customized product recommendations and messaging for every customer using their unique behavior, demographics, and purchase history. 

Moreover, you can also use the Segmentation Studio to dynamically create customer segments in real time and predict what each customer is most likely to buy, then use that insight to engage them where they are with: 

• Product suggestions on your website that speak directly to their interests, 
• Personalized emails, or  
• Customized ads. 

Example 

An e-commerce store owner specializing in home appliances is using Segmentation Studio to segment the behavior of their database customers within weeks before Black Friday and identify the really loyal customers that have been browsing categories like washing machines and fridges quite often. Equipped with this knowledge, they send targeted emails offering special discounts on their favorite appliances, and make sure that when they come to the website, there will be recommendations for related products or accessories, such as dryer sheets or refrigerator organizers. This kind of targeting helps to increase the rate of traffic into sales; thus, it will help them maximize their revenue during the chaos of Black Friday shopping. 

Automate personalized email campaigns during the Black Friday week 

It would be time-consuming and inefficient to send emails manually to each customer during the busy Black Friday week.  

You need a system that can trigger personalized email campaigns at abandoned carts, product views, or even based on previous purchases made during Black Friday for maximum outreach and conversions. 

By using Things Solver’s Automation Studio, you will be able to automate these email sequences for timely, targeted messaging. Automation Studio enables the creation and planning of emails automatically triggered at the right time by customer actions. This will make sure that the right message is getting to the right person at the right time.  

Automated email campaigns help you stay in touch with your customers at every critical moment, making sure that communications are timely and relevant. This, in turn, drives more conversions and boosts Black Friday revenue. 

Example 

A beauty retailer used Automation Studio to automate their Black Friday email campaigns. Whenever a customer viewed a specific product but didn’t make a purchase, an email was triggered offering personalized product suggestions based on their browsing behavior. Similarly, for customers who had abandoned their carts, a follow-up email with a special Black Friday discount was automatically sent. By automating these sequences, the retailer saw a 25% increase in cart recoveries and a 15% boost in overall sales during the Black Friday weekend. 

Improve Black Friday up-sell and cross-sell with related products recommender 

Black Friday is not only a chance to increase sales thanks to discounts but also a perfect time to raise the order value with cross-sell and upsell. However, manual identification of the right products to suggest may be a hassle, especially in the Black Friday rush when customer activity spikes. 

That’s where our related products recommender comes in, focusing on real-time complementary product recommendations.  

While your customers are browsing, adding items to their cart, or even during checkout, this recommender identifies products that would complement what they are selecting at that moment.  

For example, if a customer searches for black sports shoes, it will recommend socks, shorts, or some other workout accessories (not other types of shoes). It automates this to make sure relevant and valuable suggestions are shown at every stage of their journey. 

With this tool in place, your cross-sell and upsell will be automated to offer personalized recommendations to every customer at every touchpoint for maximum revenue and customer satisfaction when Black Friday hits. 

Example 

One e-commerce natural beauty brand ran a Black Friday campaign using the related products recommender. With every purchase of organic skincare sets, there were complementary offers of facial oils and moisturizers provided to the customer. The recommender analyzed real-time customer behavior in order to make these suggestions while the customer was browsing. As a result, numerous customers couldn’t help but fill up their shopping carts with these complementary products. The result was an astonishing plus 20% average order value increase. 

Optimize website search for Black Friday shoppers 

Black Friday means a high volume of traffic, which usually results in a number of frustrated customers just not being able to find what they are looking for because website search functions are overwhelmed.  

This is where Things Solver’s AI search tool can let you optimize your website searches for real-time customer intent recognition and deliver more accurate, relevant results as the customer queries evolve. This means that when customers do rush to shop on Black Friday, they’ll be able to find exactly what they are looking for in an instant without friction, helping to bring your conversion rates up. 

Advanced features of our search tool go beyond searching per se: 

• It recognizes search intent through understanding of the context and categories relevant to any search. For example, if a customer searches for a model of a TV, the system should be able to suggest complementary items that he or she might want to consider, such as wall mounts or soundbars, offering enrichment of his shopping experience through up-sell and cross-sell. 
• It also removes errors while performing searches, like typos, and detects the context of the misspelled word to provide the right product for a smooth customer experience during typing errors. Its synonym detection means the customers will still see relevant products even when using other terms. 
• It avoids unmatched searches by leveraging a wide array of content, including blog posts and categories, in order to better match search intent to the right results.  

This has a dual benefit: it enhances the overall customer experience by making the shopper journey frictionless from search right through to purchase and drives the conversion rates higher. 

Example 

An e-commerce fashion retailer improved its Black Friday performance by implementing our AI search. During this period of high sales, many customers were searching for specific clothes but either spelled keywords incorrectly or used synonyms, like using “jacket” instead of “coat.” As a result of typo correction and the detection of synonyms with the help of this tool, the customers precisely found what they were looking for. For example, searching for “blak jackit” correctly returned black coats and jackets. This strategy led to a 15% increase in search-to-purchase conversions and kept customers on the site longer, meaning much more overall volume. 

Segment high-value customers for exclusive Black Friday offers 

Black Friday is about the rare opportunity not only to attract new customers but also to reward your most loyal ones. That is where precise segmentation will play its role. 

Using our Segmentation Studio, you can identify your high-value customers who  

• Make repeat purchases,  
• Frequently engage with your brand, or  
• Tend to have a higher spending.  

Giving them early access to special sales, higher discounts, or even limited-edition products will make them feel special and at the same time give a reason for repeat Black Friday purchases that boost loyalty and lifetime value in the process. 

Moreover, our AI-driven CLV filter assesses the future value of each customer. This feature gives an informed forecast about how much revenue a customer is likely to generate for your brand in the long run by viewing past interactions with predictive modeling of future behavior. 

At the same time, the CLV filter enables the segmentation and prioritization of customers with the highest value to make certain that this marketing effort addresses those who will be of most value to your brand. This keeps revenue maximized and loyalty deeper by focusing on very active customers who can easily return for more, spend more, and contribute a lot over time. 

Example 

One luxury fashion brand used Segmentation Studio to identify who their most valuable customers were going to be around Black Friday. Building a segment from previously high-spending customers let this brand give those customers early access to Black Friday offers, complete with personalized product recommendations. This yielded a 30% increase in repeat purchases and increased the average order value across Black Friday, as high-value customers were incentivized to make a purchase since the special offers were for them alone. 

Boost online sales with special Black Friday discounts and free shipping 

You will really be able to drive Black Friday sales by including personalized incentives, such as free shipping or exclusive discounts, into your marketing mix. Once you’ve identified your high-value customers using Segmentation Studio, you’ll have the ability to craft targeted campaigns offering these perks to them with our Broadcast Studio. 

To give you an idea of how you could do this, let’s imagine you create an automated campaign for a free shipping offer for your loyal customers once they put items in the cart on Black Friday. You can hit them with a Viber message or SMS that convinces them to push through with their purchase because it is free delivery.  

Alternatively, you send a special notification about Black Friday discount notifications like “15% off” to get your highly engaged clients stirring urgency and driving conversions. 

By using personalized offers through the most effective channels, you can drive sales and maximize the impact of your Black Friday campaigns. 

Example 

A home decor retailer used our Broadcast Studio and gave free shipping to customers on Black Friday who previously purchased over $ 100. At the right time, Viber messages were sent to remind the customers about their special offer. The high-value customers also got an SMS with a 20% discount on Black Friday. These targeted incentives yielded a 30% larger average order value and 25% more completed purchases than their previous performance on Black Friday.  

Run high-converting retargeting Black Friday campaigns with smart automation 

The main challenge on Black Friday is converting those visitors who engage with your site but never complete a purchase.  

Missed touches could begin piling up, considering how many potentials browse and then leave your site without buying. Retargeting campaigns turn missed interactions into conversions. 

We take this to the next level with our Automation Studio. It helps you select your most effective campaigns and find the best-converting audiences across a variety of channels, whether email, Viber, push notifications, or SMS.  

It automatically chooses the most efficient retargeting campaigns for your customers by analyzing customer insights such as browser patterns, past interactions, and abandoned carts. These ads remind the potential buyers about the products viewed and recommend other related or complementary items based on the preference of a buyer.  

Based on customer data, Automation Studio can make your retargeting very personal in real time, increasing the probability of conversions over Black Friday. 

Example 

An electronics retailer relied on Things Solver’s Automation Studio to execute SMS and Viber Black Friday campaigns for cart abandonment. The tool monitored browsing behavior and abandoned carts. Afterward, non-completers were sent personalized SMS or Viber messages. Some of the messages included reminders of the products they viewed, along with personalized recommendations of items related to these. This razor-sharp focus saw conversions increase by 20%, as customers were steered back to completing their purchase, given the direct and immediate nature of communications over SMS and Viber. 

Track real-time campaign performance during Black Friday sales 

During the fast-paced Black Friday period, tracking your campaign’s performance in real-time is crucial for optimizing your marketing strategies on the go.  

With Things Solver’s comprehensive analytics, you can monitor customer interactions and campaign results across different channels — email, Viber, or SMS.  The platform offers detailed insights into how well your offers, ads, and promotions are performing, allowing you to make data-driven decisions. 

Whether a particular campaign isn’t converting as expected or a specific customer segment is responding more positively than others, real-time tracking lets you adjust your strategies on the fly. You can tweak messaging, reallocate ad budgets, or boost promotions based on live data to maximize revenue. 

 Real-time insights give you the agility to pivot strategies mid-campaign, ensuring you seize every opportunity for increased sales. 

Example 

An online retailer using Things Solver tracked their Black Friday campaigns in real-time and noticed a higher-than-expected engagement with Viber messages compared to emails. By shifting focus and budget toward Viber, they were able to capture more sales, ultimately increasing their Black Friday conversion rate by 25%. 

Learn from meaningful reports to optimize Black Friday impact 

For any retailer or brand to most effectively exploit Black Friday sales, deep understanding of their customer segments, purchasing behavior, and the entire customer journey is very important. It’s an uphill task without deep insights into whether you’re targeting the right audience in the most effective way possible. 

Things that Solver’s Broadcast Studio provides: detailed, easy-to-use reports needed to get a 360-degree view of your customers. These reports will also let you gauge the performance of each campaign and segment, hence knowing what works and what doesn’t.  

You can make use of such information to create tuned marketing strategies and construct focused, high-impact Black Friday campaigns. For instance, if some segment seems to respond more to SMS reminders and not emails, you will immediately know where you should shift attention to improve engagement and conversions. 

These valuable reports will make sure you’re making decisions based on real data, so every step of the Black Friday campaign brings maximum revenue. 

Example 

Using the reporting capability within Broadcast Studio, a pet supply store wanted to understand customer behavior over Black Friday. By segmenting their high-value customers and tracking the actions of those users against various message channels, they determined that their SMS campaigns drove more conversions than their email campaigns. Armed with this information, the retailer started sending timely purchase-completion SMS prompts to those customers, which lifted sales for that customer segment by 25%. 

Ready for this year’s Black Friday boost?  

Integrate Things Solver’s tools into your Black Friday strategy if you want to gain an edge over your competitors. 

Segmentation, recommenders, and automation will be in place to serve customers personalized experiences, optimize sales, and maximize revenue. Don’t fall behind: book your free demo today and let’s get started on planning your Black Friday success.