This year, Black Friday is taking place on the 26th November. Although introduced as a single-day event, the now widely recognised Black Friday period has grown, with businesses quoting ‘Black November’, and some launching sales as early as Amazon’s Prime Day.
However, with UK shoppers set to spend up to £339 per person, across Black Friday and Cyber Monday, no matter when businesses decide to kick off their Black Friday offers, its essential campaigns are organised for the most critical days.
To help our customers identify these dates, our research below analyses SMS campaign volumes for November 2020.
What were the most popular days for Black Friday campaigns during November 2020?
UK and Ireland SMS Volumes – November 2020
NB: Data shows SMS volumes for active, UK customers, within the Commify brand umbrella.
During November 2020, more than a quarter of our UK customer base increased their SMS sends by at least 20%, when compared to the monthly average. As expected, Black Friday (27th) was the most popular day for SMS campaigns during November 2020, closely followed by Cyber Monday (30th).
Our research shows that Monday’s are one of the most popular days to send SMS messages. Even excluding SMS send volumes on Cyber Monday, on average, Mondays saw almost five times the daily average.
To capitalise on seasonal excitement, brands should consider launching ‘Black November’ campaigns as early as possible. In particular our data shows that Thursday the 5th of November, was our third most popular day to send campaigns in November last year.
Global SMS Volumes – November 2020
NB: Data shows SMS volumes for active customers, across all territories, within the Commify brand umbrella.
Comparing SMS sent internationally, campaigns were much more centered around the week of Black Friday. 13% of our customers doubled their monthly SMS volume in November, and 7%, actually tripled this figure. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and November 5th maintained the top spots for most popular days to send. However, compared to the UK, our global customer sends were much more focused on the week leading up to Black Friday.
How to run an effective Black Friday campaign
Start campaigns early
If you haven’t started thinking about your Black Friday campaigns yet, time is of the essence. Communicating offers early helps to build interest, excite your customers and drive conversion opportunities throughout the entire month. Starting early will help ensure your brand stays front of mind when consumers come to making their purchase decisions.
Make sure you’re campaigns are mobile optimised
Before launching a campaign, particularly on a mobile channel, it’s crucial to make sure your mobile experience is seamless. Last year, a quarter of all web traffic came from mobile on Black Friday, and 18% on Cyber Monday. With 39% of mobile shoppers abandoning their cart because of difficulty completing their order – a poor mobile experience can cost your business that all-important sale.
Moreover, introducing SMS could really help your business stand out. Not only did some customers see SMS campaigns boost order rates by almost x7, when compared to a single email campaign, but they are also 35 times more likely to be seen by a customer than a brand’s email.
Remember the essentials
When creating your Black Friday SMS campaigns, or indeed any SMS marketing campaign, keep these essential tips in mind:
- Clearly identify your business
As SMS marketing continues to gain popularity, it becomes even more important to ensure you clearly identify your business within the sender ID, or text message itself.
- Keep your message concise
With 160 characters, it’s vital your message is to-the-point and has a clear call-to-action.
- Ensure your campaign is relevant
Businesses have access to multiple customer data points and it’s vital these shape recipient lists, ahead of campaign send dates. While a generic Black Friday discount may seem like a good solution, sending messages which are properly tailored to a customer’s interests and previous purchases, is much more likely to evoke a positive response.
- Enhance campaigns with rich messaging
With 80% of shoppers more likely to purchase from a retailer that offers rich, mobile-marketing, utilising WhatsApp, RCS, and even SMS Landing Pages, could enhance link click-through to 27%, and conversion rates to as much as 42%.
For a full demo on how to create an SMS Landing Page with Esendex’s Studio, view our short video.
- Promote SMS opt-in across all channels
The most effective way for a business to grow their SMS recipient lists, is to provide customers the opportunity to opt-in, at every point of contact:
- Website – A simple pop-up or form can ensure your SMS opt-in is a prominent feature on your website.
- Newsletter – Adding a button to the footer of newsletters, can prove really successful – particularly for businesses with an engaged audience.
- Social Media – On Facebook, businesses can actually add a ‘Mobile Number’ field to their page sign up and an opt-in button for customers to join the business’s SMS campaign lists.
- Newsletter – Make SMS opt-in visible on your newsletter.
- SMS – Companies could also send a text to customers asking if they wish to opt in: “To be the first to find out about our exclusive SMS-only discounts, text LOYALTY to 12345 to opt-in to our SMS loyalty programme.”
Need some extra help in planning your Black Friday SMS marketing campaigns? Then check out our webinar – Personalisation in Retail: How to up your game this Black Friday, or contact our expert team at [email protected].
