Black Friday has become an essential part of retail, especially in e-commerce! In 2023, “Black Friday” reached an awareness level of 94%, with 49% of Germans planning to participate in the event. The potential for businesses and e-commerce shops is tremendous. Use this checklist to unlock the full potential of your Black Friday social media marketing.
1. Your Black Friday Social Media Marketing Checklist
1. Preparations (2–4 weeks before Black Friday)
Planning is one of the most critical aspects of any project. Gather your team and discuss the various elements of a Black Friday campaign, for example:
- Define Goals: Set measurable objectives (e.g., increase revenue by X %, grow reach by Y %, sell Z units).
- Outline Your Offer Strategy: Select specific products to feature or discount and decide whether you’ll offer tiered discounts, exclusive items, or “one-day-only” promotions.
- Choose Social Media Platforms: Research the unique strengths of various platforms. Then, focus on those that align best with your goals.
- Develop a Content Plan: Schedule Black Friday-specific content for each platform, such as “doorbuster” deals, countdown posts, and exclusive follower discounts.
- Prepare Social Media Formats: Plan your social media posts to promote your Black Friday offers, incorporating formats like Stories, Reels, and carousel posts to maximize effectiveness on each platform.
- Time Your Posts Strategically: Schedule your social media posts at optimal times for each platform.
Early planning ensures a smooth campaign and helps you stay organized, so nothing is overlooked on this high-energy day.
2. Countdown (1 Week to 1 Day Before Black Friday)
- Build Anticipation: Share “sneak peeks” of the Black Friday sale to spark excitement.
- Create Countdown Posts: Use countdown stickers in Stories or post regularly to announce the sale’s start.
Many companies use countdowns in their Black Friday social media marketing to create a “fear of missing out” (FOMO). This boosts the sense of urgency, motivating people to buy before the opportunity passes. Important: Avoid posting a countdown too early, as potential customers who might have bought beforehand may instead wait for the sale to save money.
3. On Black Friday itself
On Black Friday, posting frequently can increase your visibility and give the algorithm fresh content to boost. Some classic Black Friday posts include:
- Sale Kick-Off Post: Share a bold, eye-catching post announcing the start of the Black Friday sale to inform your followers.
- Inventory Updates: If you’re promoting a limited product, post occasional stock updates to maintain urgency.
- Midnight Countdown: In the evening, post a “last chance” countdown leading up to midnight to attract last-minute buyers.
4. Follow-Up (After Black Friday)
Proper follow-up is one of the most important steps you can take.
- Tease Cyber Monday: Hint at upcoming offers for Cyber Monday to encourage ongoing engagement. If there are more deals, extend the momentum from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.
- Thank Your Followers: Show appreciation to your followers for their support and purchases, fostering a sense of community.
- Measure Success: Analyze whether you reached your goals. If not, consider what could have been improved or any new insights gained. Document these takeaways to refine your approach next year. Review which posts performed well and which didn’t, so you can adjust content and strategy for future campaigns.
2. Leveraging Social Media Strengths for Your Black Friday Campaign
Different social networks have unique strengths that you can tap into. It’s also essential to consider which platforms your target audience primarily uses, so you can reach them effectively. Here are the strengths of various networks:
1. Facebook
- Reach: Facebook still boasts the largest reach among social networks.
- Variety of Content Formats: Facebook supports multiple formats such as images, videos, carousel posts, and live streams, allowing you to post different types of content to appeal to various audience segments.
- Broad Audience Targeting with Hashtags and Sharing: With the right hashtags and sharing features, you can organically boost the reach of your Black Friday deals. Followers can easily share deals with friends, amplifying your reach.
2. X (Twitter) / Threads
- Real-Time Updates and Announcements: Perfect for quick updates on new deals, sold-out items, and inventory status.
- Utilize Hashtags & Trends: Use Black Friday-relevant hashtags to gain visibility in trending topics and attract attention.
- Boost Engagement with Shares and Retweets: Encourage followers to share deals and discuss with friends to expand your reach.
- Leverage Trending Keywords: Include Black Friday trend keywords in your descriptions to appear in targeted search results.
3. Instagram
- Visual Storytelling: Excellent for capturing attention with appealing product images and “today only” posts.
- Stories & Countdown Stickers: Perfect for countdown posts and reminders to keep customers aware of the upcoming sale.
- Reels and Carousel Posts: Allow you to showcase products in short videos or multiple images, offering different perspectives.
- Hashtags: Using Black Friday-specific hashtags like #BlackFriday2024 helps your posts reach a wider audience organically.
4. Pinterest
- Discoverability: Black Friday-specific pin boards on Pinterest allow users to collect inspiring offers and product ideas for the event day, making it easier for your deals to be found and shared.
5. TikTok
- Creative Product Presentations: Use humorous and creative videos to provide a quick overview of the best Black Friday deals.
- Challenges & Trends: Leverage Black Friday-related trends or create a challenge to boost engagement and excitement.
- Countdown Videos and Teasers: Exciting teaser and countdown videos perform exceptionally well on TikTok, encouraging followers to stay tuned for the upcoming sale.
6. YouTube
- Product Videos: YouTube is perfect for longer, in-depth product showcases. You can demonstrate the functionality and benefits of your Black Friday offers through detailed videos, building trust with viewers.
- Reach Through YouTube Search and Discovery: As the second-largest search engine, YouTube is ideal for attracting new customers by optimizing keywords and titles. This helps you reach potential buyers searching for Black Friday deals who may not yet follow you on your other social media platforms.
7. LinkedIn
- Business Audience and B2B Deals: LinkedIn is ideal for promoting business products or services relevant to Black Friday offers.
- Storytelling for Offers and New Products: Use posts to share the story behind your product, especially if it offers value to businesses.
- Networking and Organic Sharing: Followers often share compelling Black Friday deals with their professional networks, boosting your reach in the B2B sector.
In general, you should adopt a multi-platform approach, as this allows you to leverage the wide reach of different platforms. Additionally, your target audience is likely to be present across multiple social media channels, increasing your chances of engagement and visibility.
3. The Right Formats for Black Friday Social Media Marketing
To ensure your posts stand out and reach your audience effectively, it’s essential to consider image sizes and posting times. The ideal image sizes vary from platform to platform and depending on the type of post. For classic square image posts on Instagram, 1080 x 1080 px is optimal. Meanwhile, Reels should have an aspect ratio of 1080 × 1920 px. Using the correct image sizes ensures that your visuals appear crisp and properly framed, avoiding any blurriness or cropping.
4. The Right Times for Your Posts
The timing of your posts is also a crucial factor in their performance. After all, how can your post reach your target audience if they aren’t online when it’s published? It’s important to determine when your audience is active on social media, which can vary based on both the platform and your target group. As a general guideline, Facebook tends to see high engagement between 8 AM and 12 PM, while Instagram is most active between 10 AM and 12 PM. It’s best to experiment with different times and see what works best for your audience. Here’s an overview of the optimal posting times for various social media platforms.
5. Extra Tip: Make Black Friday Social Media Marketing easier
Social media management tools can help streamline the execution of your social media marketing strategy. Social media calendars provide an organized overview, ensuring that everyone on your team knows what will be posted, when, and on which platform. This level of planning reduces last-minute stress and ensures your Black Friday content is timely and cohesive across all channels.
Screenshot of the Social Media Calendar from Blog2Social.
Additionally, social media management tools like Blog2Social allow you to schedule posts in advance and automate their publishing. This ensures no post is forgotten, and it saves you the hassle of manually posting across various networks. Blog2Social also features an “Best Times” function, ensuring that all your posts are published at optimal times. The best part is, all of this can be managed directly from the WordPress dashboard.
