Black Friday represents a huge opportunity for many luxury hotels. For the past two years, it’s been the biggest sales date of the year (based on the sales data of over 300 luxury hotels) and venues with a successful campaign achieved, on average, an increase of revenue 12x greater than any other Friday!
NB: This is an article from SK Chase
Fast forward to November 2020 and things look very different and in truth, nobody knows how this Black Friday will play out.
However, with shoppers spending more time at home and online & with people seeking uplifting Christmas gift ideas, with the thought of loved ones (or themselves!) having something wonderful to look forward to, we recommend having a Black Friday presence.
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Our cloud-based software makes it very easy to create a gift voucher Black Friday offer – on your terms, that will enhance your brand, whilst enabling your venue to take advantage of the increased consumer spend. With just ten days till Black Friday, there’s still time to create a successful Black Friday offer (but be quick!).
TOP TEN TIPS
- Let people know your Black Friday offer is coming
Create a bit of hype about your fabulous offer coming soon, creating a countdown via social & email until you can reveal what the actual offer is. Encourage sign ups to your emailing lists by letting people know that you’ll share your most exclusive and sought-after offer with them, before anyone else, urging them not to miss out. - Create a Black Friday offer
Keep your Black Friday offer simple & strong. Be selective, tuning into how people are feeling right now & connect with them. Clearly mention in the copy the saving (percentage or amount saved). You know you created a voucher with a great offer, make sure it is clear to buyers too. Our promo code feature makes it easy (and quick) to setup a last-minute offer, with either an amount or % off and you can set a minimum spend before the code applies. - Reassure customers
Nobody likes the thought of their money being wasted or a gift unused, so reassure people that your venue will be flexible in line with Government guidelines, enabling people to enjoy their gift experience, when the time is right. We recommend extended expiry dates with added flexibility on T&C’s, such as ‘Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, extensions may be offered if facilities are temporarily closed and redemption is not an option. Similarly, if reservations have to be cancelled due to closure, vouchers will be accepted at a later date.’ - Limit the availability
Limit the number of vouchers available, creating scarcity so more people act quickly to not miss out. Our clients can limit the number of gift vouchers available, whilst adding a ‘Limited Availability’ macaron to the voucher card on their gift shop, helping the voucher stand out. In addition to this, clients can view a ‘real time’ dashboard showing sales, enabling them to respond to buyer behavior and adapt quickly. - Make it un-missable!
Make sure your Black Friday offer is easy to easy to find, both on your own website and on your gift shop. We are able to create a ‘Black Friday’ carousel, filter & banner add on, making it un-missable on our gift shops. In addition to this, clients are able to choose which order their gift vouchers are seen, so that any offers are positioned in exactly the right place. - Get in early with your email campaign
Consider opening up your offer a little bit earlier to ‘closed groups’ such as VIP gift voucher buyers, members, etc. giving them them exclusive access and the chance to purchase before Black Friday, particularly if your offer is limited. Our data reveals that the busiest sales time is between 8am and 11am, so be sure to send your email early. - Post on social & create ads
Social media is likely to be an essential part of your gift voucher marketing strategy, with the giants Facebook and Instagram at the forefront. The UK has approximately 45 million social media users or 66% of the total population, with the average daily social media usage as 1 hour 42 minutes. Our clients are able to share their Facebook pixel with us, enabling them to retarget people who view have viewed their gift site (whilst being logged onto Facebook). - Sell the dream in your campaign!
Sell the ‘whole story’ in your copy & images. Our clients are able to use multiple images on a gift voucher detail page, enabling potential buyers to see the many elements of their gift experience. - Encourage action
Give an order by date i.e. is the offer available for one day only (on Black Friday). This creates a sense of urgency, with time limits encouraging action. - Track results
Use the Campaign URL builder to track the impact of your campaign. UTM codes can be added to the end of regular URL’s and are designed to tell Google Analytics a little bit more information, helping you track clicks and performance of marketing activities.
It’s going to be a different sort of Black Friday, but it can still a good one for our clients and the people looking for an offer for themselves or buying gifts and connecting with loved ones.
