Black Friday weekend is coming, is your mobile messaging strategy ready?

But first, just a little head start for all our readers today. According to a Deloitte’s study, "53% of people will rely on Cyber Monday for discounts, while just 44% say they’re planning to snag promotions on Black Friday this year”. That means this year’s Monday is where the true sales records will be broken. Let’s dive into how to get those shoppers to break those records.

Make it personal

This might seem a bit obvious. But I don’t mean ‘make it personal’ in the sense of targeted offers and personalised writing. Because you already know that’s important. And you also know that creating rich customer profiles made with smart data tools for hyper personalisation help you do that. I’m talking about how to get interaction on that offer.

Sure, you can send an email with a list of offerings that match a certain group of customers. But just an email with a link to your website isn’t quite personal, right? Because that’s not the way you’d send an offer to your friends. You’d probably use WhatsApp, adding a link to the product you’re sharing with your friend.

Many successful companies have already discovered WhatsApp as a converting messaging channel. Using rich media, product specs and photos can be added, making purchase that much easier, one click away. Just make sure you have personalised offers standing by for when your customer asks for their personal Black Friday and Cyber Monday offer.

Make them feel special

Adding dynamic fields such as first name, last name, last bought products, and recommended for you, makes them feel special. But better yet, if they’re a loyal customer, let them know and add in a personalised coupon code. How would this work with WhatsApp you ask?

You could advertise your WhatsApp-only discount code on your website or in-store, asking customers to register on the WhatsApp VIP list in return for an added discount. This will start the conversation on WhatsApp, where you can help your customer find the perfect product to use that discount code on.

"Hey Justin! Cyber Monday is coming up. As our VIP member, we’re giving you 50% off on these selected items. Select the product you want before it’s sold out!”

Offer early access

Or how about early access to specific product groups? In return for some valuable customer data, for example by asking them to fill in a short survey on which products they have an interest, customers can get a special discount on a certain product group. That not only makes for happy customers, but it will help you retarget these customers with relevant offers after the Black Friday weekend is over, via other channels. For example, use this data for your future email marketing campaigns or to create segments for social media advertising.

Offer the gift of service

Sure, Black Friday weekend is a highly important moment to attract customers to your stores. And using consumer’s favourite messaging channel to give them access to your offers is key to success. But how about afterwards? For example, during Christmas, or any other shopping spree the customer may have in 2020? The experience any new customer has during your Black Friday weekend, will be a predictor for their intent to buy at your shop in the future. Luckily, the starting point of your Black Friday campaign offers a great opportunity to show just how good your customer service is. For example, use WhatsApp notifications to notify those customers that opted-in for delivery notifications on their product shipment. That makes waiting for delivery so much easier.

And in case your customer may have any questions regarding his or her purchase, whether it’s about a return or a ‘how to install’, with WhatsApp, he or she has your customer care team right in their pocket. Your customer will just send a question the same way he or she would ask a friend for help. This allows your customer to use all the features that the WhatsApp Business solution has to offer, offering the best possible service is easy as can be. The best service while reducing pressure on your customer care team: another reason to get started with the WhatsApp Business solution today. 

Offering all these services, throughout the Black Friday weekend shopping experience, within the same channel, makes for an easier customer experience. From intent to buy to after sales care, all within the customer’s favourite channel.