Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year, and it’s a great opportunity for businesses to boost their revenue and attract new customers. But how can you stand out from the crowd and make the most of this busy season? In this article, we’ll share some of the best Black Friday marketing tools and strategies that you can use to create a successful campaign and increase your sales.
According to Statista, Black Friday worldwide sales reached $9 billion in 2020, an increase of 22% from the previous year. Moreover, online shoppers surpassed 100 million for the first time, indicating a shift in consumer behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With such high stakes and fierce competition, how can you make sure your online store stands out and attracts more customers on Black Friday?
In this article, we will introduce you to some of the best Black Friday marketing tools that can help you get the most sales on this special day. Whether you want to boost your SEO, improve your email marketing, or leverage social media, we have a tool for you.
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ToggleWhat is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, and it marks the start of the holiday shopping season. It’s also when many retailers and e-commerce stores offer huge discounts and deals on their products and services. According to Adobe Analytics, Black Friday online sales reached $9 billion in 2020, a 21.6% increase from 2019. This shows that consumers are eager to shop online and take advantage of the best offers available.
Read More: Bespoke Black Friday marketing ideas for small businesses
Why You Need Black Friday Marketing Tools
To make the most of Black Friday, you need to plan ahead and prepare a marketing strategy that will help you reach your target audience, generate interest and excitement, and drive traffic and conversions. However, this can be challenging, especially when you have to compete with thousands of other businesses that are also vying for customers’ attention. That’s why you need to use some effective Black Friday marketing tools that will help you create and execute your campaign more efficiently and effectively. These tools can help you with various aspects of your marketing, such as:
- Social media marketing: Social media is a powerful channel to promote your sales in advance, engage with your audience, and sell directly on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. You can use tools like Hootsuite to schedule your posts, monitor your performance, and manage your social media accounts from one dashboard.
- Email marketing: Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to communicate with your existing and potential customers, inform them about your deals, and persuade them to buy from you. You can use tools like Sender to create beautiful and responsive email templates, segment your list, personalize your messages, and track your results.
- Website optimization: Your website is where you showcase your products or services, provide information about your deals, and convert visitors into buyers. You need to make sure that your website is fast, user-friendly, mobile-optimized, and SEO-friendly. You can use tools like HubSpot to optimize your website for shopping, audit your product pages, install a chatbot for customer support, and analyze your data.
- Other tools: Depending on your goals and needs, you may also want to use other tools for different purposes, such as creating a holiday marketing calendar, offering referral codes or free gifts, creating a sense of urgency, or following up with customers after Black Friday.
Read More: Black Friday: 8 Tips To Help Small Businesses Boost Sales
Best Black Friday Marketing Tools to Boost Sales
1. Social media marketing:
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Hootsuite:
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows you to schedule your posts, monitor your performance, and manage your social media accounts from one dashboard.
You can use Hootsuite to plan and execute your Black Friday social media campaign, track your results, and engage with your audience.
Hootsuite also integrates with various other tools and apps, such as Canva, Google Analytics, Shopify, and more. You can try Hootsuite for free for 30 days or choose a plan that suits your needs.
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Buffer:
Buffer is another social media management tool that helps you create and schedule your posts, analyze your data, and collaborate with your team.
You can use Buffer to optimize your posting times, create eye-catching images and videos, and measure your social media ROI.
Buffer also offers a suite of products for publishing, engagement, analytics, and stories. You can start with a free plan or upgrade to a premium one.
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Sprout Social:
Sprout Social is a social media marketing and analytics tool that helps you grow your social presence, reach new customers, and provide excellent customer service.
You can use Sprout Social to discover relevant hashtags, create custom reports, and respond to messages and comments.
Sprout Social also features a social listening tool, a content calendar, a CRM system, and more. You can request a free demo or sign up for a 30-day trial.
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Later:
Later is a visual marketing platform that helps you plan, schedule, and publish your Instagram posts and stories.
You can use Later to create a stunning Instagram feed, preview your posts, and drive traffic to your website. Later also supports other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and TikTok.
You can use Later for free for up to 30 posts per month or choose a paid plan for more features.
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Canva:
Canva is a graphic design tool that helps you create beautiful and professional-looking graphics for your social media posts.
You can use Canva to design eye-catching banners, flyers, logos, infographics, and more. Canva has a library of templates, fonts, icons, and images that you can use for free or for a small fee.
You can also access Canva Pro for more advanced features such as branding tools, animations, backgrounds removals, etc.
You can try Canva Pro for free for 30 days or stick with the free plan.
2. Email marketing:
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Sender:
Sender is an email marketing tool that helps you create beautiful and responsive email templates, segment your list, personalize your messages, and track your results.
You can use Sender to inform your subscribers about your deals, persuade them to buy from you, and increase your conversions. Sender also offers features such as A/B testing, web push notifications, transactional emails, etc.
You can use Sender for free for up to 2,500 subscribers or choose a paid plan for more contacts and features.
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Mailchimp:
Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms that helps you build your brand, grow your audience, and sell more online.
You can use Mailchimp to create and send effective email campaigns, manage your contacts, and measure your impact. Mailchimp also offers features such as landing pages, forms, surveys, ads, etc.
Read More: How to add mailchimp newsletter popup with Elementor
You can use Mailchimp for free for up to 2 000 contacts or choose a paid plan for more options.
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Constant Contact:
Constant Contact is another email marketing platform that helps you create and send effective email campaigns, manage your contacts, and measure your impact.
You can use Constant Contact to inform your subscribers about your deals, persuade them to buy from you, and increase your conversions. Constant Contact also offers features such as e-commerce tools, event marketing, social media integration, etc.
You can try Constant Contact for free for 60 days or sign up for a monthly plan.
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AWeber:
AWeber is an email marketing tool that helps you connect with your audience, build relationships, and drive conversions.
You can use AWeber to create and send engaging email campaigns, segment your list, personalize your messages, and track your results. AWeber also features a drag-and-drop email builder, a landing page creator, a smart designer, etc.
You can start with a free plan for up to 500 subscribers or upgrade to a pro plan for more features.
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ConvertKit:
ConvertKit is an email marketing tool for creators that helps you grow your list, send targeted emails, and sell your products or services.
You can use ConvertKit to create and send email campaigns that match your audience’s interests, preferences, and behaviors. ConvertKit also offers features such as landing pages, forms, automations, integrations, etc.
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You can use ConvertKit for free for up to 1 000 subscribers or choose a paid plan for more options.
3. Website optimization:
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HubSpot:
HubSpot is a marketing, sales, and service software that helps you optimize your website for shopping, audit your product pages, install a chatbot for customer support, and analyze your data.
You can use HubSpot to make sure that your website is fast, user-friendly, mobile-optimized, and SEO-friendly. HubSpot also offers features such as CRM, email marketing, social media marketing, content management, etc.
You can use HubSpot for free or choose a premium plan for more functionality.
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WordPress:
WordPress is the most popular website builder that helps you create and manage your website with ease.
You can use WordPress to showcase your products or services, provide information about your deals, and convert visitors into buyers. WordPress also offers thousands of themes, plugins, and extensions that you can use to customize your website and add more features.
You can use WordPress for free or choose a paid plan for more benefits.
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Shopify:
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that helps you sell your products or services online with a customizable storefront, secure payment processing, and integrated marketing tools.
You can use Shopify to create an online store that reflects your brand, offers a seamless shopping experience, and boosts your sales. Shopify also offers features such as inventory management, order fulfillment, analytics, etc.
You can try Shopify for free for 14 days or choose a plan that suits your needs.
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Wix:
Wix is another website builder that helps you create stunning websites with drag-and-drop features, hundreds of templates, and advanced design options.
You can use Wix to create a website that showcases your products or services, provides information about your deals, and converts visitors into buyers. Wix also offers features such as e-commerce tools, SEO tools, marketing tools, etc.
You can use Wix for free or choose a paid plan for more features.
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Squarespace:
Squarespace is a website builder that helps you create beautiful websites with award-winning design, powerful e-commerce features, and professional domains.
You can use Squarespace to create a website that showcases your products or services, provides information about your deals, and converts visitors into buyers. Squarespace also offers features such as email marketing, analytics, blogging tools, etc.
Read More: 9 Content Marketing Strategy for Small Business Growth
You can try Squarespace for free for 14 days or choose a plan that suits your needs.
4. SEO TOOLS:
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SEMrush:
This is an all-in-one SEO tool that helps you conduct keyword research, analyze your competitors, audit your website, optimize your content, and monitor your rankings.
You can also use SEMrush to create SEO-friendly landing pages and optimize them for mobile devices. You can try SEMrush for free for 7 days or choose a plan that suits your needs.
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Ahrefs:
This is another comprehensive SEO tool that offers similar features as SEMrush, plus a powerful backlink analysis tool that helps you identify and acquire high-quality links from other websites.
You can also use Ahrefs to find content ideas and analyze your niche. You can try Ahrefs for free for 7 days or choose a plan that suits your needs.
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Google Analytics:
Google Analytics is a free web analytics tool that helps you understand how visitors interact with your website, where they come from, what they do, and how you can improve their experience.
You can use Google Analytics to track your website performance, identify your best sources of traffic, optimize your conversion funnel, and measure your ROI.
Google Analytics is free to use and integrates with other Google products such as Google Ads, Google Search Console, Google Tag Manager, etc.
5. Other tools:
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Trello:
Trello is a project management tool that helps you organize your tasks, collaborate with your team, and track your progress.
You can use Trello to plan and manage your Black Friday marketing strategy, assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor your results. Trello also offers features such as boards, lists, cards, power-ups, etc.
You can use Trello for free or choose a paid plan for more features.
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Asana:
Asana is another project management tool that helps you plan and manage your projects, workflows, and goals.
You can use Asana to plan and execute your Black Friday marketing strategy, coordinate with your team, set milestones, and measure your outcomes. Asana also offers features such as timelines, calendars, dashboards, automations, etc.
You can try Asana for free for up to 15 team members or choose a premium plan for more functionality.
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Google Calendar:
Google Calendar is a time management tool that helps you schedule your events, appointments, reminders, and deadlines.
You can use Google Calendar to plan and organize your Black Friday marketing strategy, sync with your other tools, set alerts, and stay on track.
Google Calendar is free to use and integrates with other Google products such as Gmail, Google Meet, Google Tasks, etc.
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ReferralCandy:
ReferralCandy is a referral marketing tool that helps you reward your customers for referring their friends to your business.
You can use ReferralCandy to create a referral program that incentivizes word-of-mouth marketing, increases customer loyalty, and boosts your sales.
ReferralCandy also offers features such as referral widgets, email templates, analytics, etc.
You can try ReferralCandy for free for 30 days or choose a plan that suits your needs.
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OptinMonster:
OptinMonster is a lead generation tool that helps you capture more email subscribers, reduce cart abandonment, and increase conversions.
You can use OptinMonster to create and display pop-ups, banners, slide-ins, and other opt-in forms that entice visitors to join your email list, complete their purchase, or take another action.
OptinMonster also offers features such as A/B testing, exit-intent technology, targeting rules, etc. You can try OptinMonster for free for 14 days or choose a plan that suits your needs.
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FOMO:
FOMO is a social proof tool that helps you display real-time notifications of customer activity on your website to boost trust and sales.
You can use FOMO to show social proof, create a sense of urgency, and encourage visitors to follow the crowd.
Read More: 24 low-cost business ideas with high profit to start
FOMO also offers features such as customization, analytics, integrations, etc. You can try FOMO for free for 14 days or choose a plan that suits your needs.
How to Choose the Best Black Friday Marketing Tools for Your Business
There are many Black Friday marketing tools available in the market, but not all of them are suitable for your business. To choose the best ones for your campaign, you need to consider some factors, such as:
- Your budget: How much are you willing to spend on these tools? Some tools are free or offer free trials, while others require a subscription or a one-time fee. You need to compare the costs and benefits of each tool and see which ones fit your budget.
- Your objectives: What are you trying to achieve with your campaign? Do you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive sales, or retain customers? You need to align your tools with your objectives and measure their impact on your key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Your audience: Who are you targeting with your campaign? What are their preferences, behaviors, needs, and pain points? You need to understand your audience and choose the tools that will help you reach them effectively and deliver value to them.
- Your competitors: What are your competitors doing for Black Friday? How are they promoting their deals and attracting customers? You need to research your competitors and see what tools they are using and how you can differentiate yourself from them.
Conclusion
Black Friday is a great opportunity for businesses to increase their sales and grow their customer base. However, it also requires a lot of planning and preparation to create a successful campaign that will stand out from the crowd. By using some of the best Black Friday marketing tools and strategies that we’ve shared in this article, you can make your campaign more efficient and effective. Remember to choose the tools that suit your budget, objectives, audience, and competitors. And don’t forget to have fun!
