Black Friday on Twitter - Embrace the power of data and deliver the ultimate e-shopping experience
This year more than ever before, e-commerce is being redefined and reaching new heights. Worldwide lockdowns forced consumers to stay out of physical stores and plunge into the virtual world, with online shopping at their fingertips. Our predictions proved correct. From buying toilet paper and food to clothes, technology and home improvement materials, people around the world are now harnessing the internet like never before.
Only in June 2020, retail websites generated almost 22 billion visits globally. In the first half of the year, traffic surpassed even holiday season traffic peaks!* In the UK, over 66% of adults say they will continue both current levels of spend and the frequency of online shopping even after lock-downs are lifted. Some even say (26%) that they will increase their digital spending after restrictions are lifted.**
Now, just imagine the magnitude of opportunities that this year’s Black Friday brings to online retailers! But as more advertisers move online, it becomes even harder to stand out from the crowd. So what is it that makes your Twitter Black Friday campaign successful and ensure that customers not only click on your ad but follow the path all the way to the purchase?
Plan, plan, plan
TechCrunch estimates that the pandemic accelerated the shift to digital shopping by roughly five years. In a way, online retailers were just projected five years into the future almost overnight. And so, the business as usual models won’t work for this year’s biggest shopping events.
Stores have to brace for record-breaking online sales during this winter. They can do so by focusing on optimization of their processes, but also by:
- Revisiting and upgrading online experiences, simplifying, and optimising online stores.
- Merging in-store experience with a strong online presence, being where people come to discuss and look for offers.
- Polishing social media profiles and posts.
- Harnessing the full potential of targeted performance advertising campaigns on social media channels.
You can have amazing business, top-notch products but in the flood of information, offers and opportunities that consumers are bombarded with every day, you have no checkouts if you don’t stand out.
In a digital world, your digital image is what will get you going and pacing for amazing results. In 2019, “Black Friday Ads” was the fourth most searched keyword on Google during that period.*** This shows that people are actively looking for ads!
And the best platform to reach out to a curious audience is Twitter.
Leverage the curiosity of people on Twitter
Twitter had 186 million monetizable daily active users in Q2 2020, and the number is growing 34% year over year. They are engaged in conversations and proactive in making their choices. Way more so than uses of other social media. People on Twitter are explorers and are open to new ideas, products and deals.
Black Friday is THE event for those that are looking for deals. Almost every Twitter user (9 out of 10) will influence the decision of their family member or friend on what to buy.****
Now that you know where to find your curious audience, here are three golden rules for engaging with your customers on Twitter:
- Leverage E-commerce moments. On Twitter, these moments last up to almost two weeks. And so, placing an ad is good, but placing recurring ads, with specific targeting segments, is even better.
- Guide the whole purchase journey. Make sure you get the attention, but most importantly, lead your customers to your site, have them put their articles in the cart and make the transaction. Twitter offers a range of products that you can leverage to that effect.
- Start early. Holiday shopping can start as early as October! Be ready, be among the first, who remind the community that the special time of year is coming. Black Friday can be an amazing opportunity for people to do big purchases and Twitter is the ultimate tool for conversations about events.
Now, let’s take these golden rules and apply them to stages that will help you stand out in the crowd and guarantee the success of your Black Friday campaign on Twitter.
The recipe - Stage 1 - Do your homework
To play the game, you have to understand the rules and do your research.
- Get your profile in order. Add all info, including your bio, photos and links. Make sure that links reflect your holiday promotions and specific Black Friday hashtags. Create a Tweet with your key message for Black Friday and pin it to the top.
- Research and use relevant hashtags. Know what your customers will be using to look for deals. #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday are the most important, but there are others you might wish to use. Include them into your posts and promotions.
- Create Twitter-only deals to explode engagement. Make your customers feel special, build anticipation. And don’t forget that many will already be looking to purchase Christmas gifts.
- Invest in great content. Use high-resolution images, videos, prepare well written posts and shine out your competition. Do your very best to make sure that your content is special and delivers the key messages. Use data that you’ve gathered throughout the year and put it to work.
There are a number of products that Twitter offers to leverage e-commerce events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And there are additional exclusive Wise.Blue products that will make sure that your campaigns are rocketed to the sky.
The recipe - Stage 2 - Leverage Twitter products across the funnel
If you want to become a Twitter advertising ninja, you have to think like your customers, create amazing deals and keep audiences interested. But most importantly, you also have to make sure that you use the right Twitter products.
Knowing what to say and to whom you want to say it is crucial for the performance of your campaign. When used well, an array of Twitter products can help you stand out from the crowd, generate visits to your website, and drive action.
The recipe - Stage 3 - Use Wise.Blue to get ahead of your competition
The Wise.Blue solution starts where Twitter’s own products end. This enables you to go the extra mile in your advertising efforts, using a range of products that make your campaigns work smarter, more efficiently and deliver results at scale.
Wise.Blue products for Black Friday advertisers focus on constant communication with the audience. They create awareness and drive action at the same time. The trick is in continuously talking to your customers, reminding them of your brand and your offers.
#H2R (Heart to Remind)
Once somebody likes your initial campaign tweet, they will be automatically reminded of the offer that you are announcing, when it happens. This keeps audiences engaged and in anticipation of something new.
Image & Video Carousels
Allowing you to showcase several products at the time, Carousels are amazing at driving traffic to your website and leading your customers to the final purchase.
The recipe - Stage 4 - Go Pro with a full Wise.Blue solution
Besides individual products, Wise.Blue, an official Twitter API Partner, is in fact a massive performance tool for advertising on Twitter. It tracks and matches data with MACTs and Google Analytics and automatically optimizes campaigns using its own proprietary machine learning technology.
Wise.Blue allows you to manage countless audiences and ad permutations at the same time, with just a click of the mouse. It’s specific ad products make sure that each one of your campaigns is optimized to the fullest extent and delivers incredible results.
The proprietary Autopilot based on machine learning technology automatically tests permutations of your campaigns and uses the best-performing ones to achieve full performance potential. It also automatically informs you about any changes that might affect your performance and constantly syncs data for optimal tracking of how your efforts are paying off.
Working with the Wise.Blue team, one of the biggest fashion and lifestyle e-shops achieved amazing results.
Access the full case study here.
*Source: Statista. ** Source: Modern Retail. *** Source: Printful **** Source: Kantar, 2017
Media contacts:
Spela Majcen Marusic, Httpool PR Manager, marusic@httpool.com
About Wise.Blue
Wise.Blue is a comprehensive Twitter Ads solution that drives results at scale. Its technology relies on machine learning driven algorithms for optimization of accounts, campaigns, ad groups and creatives, while deep learning prediction models drive automation for bid and budget allocation, control volume, efficiency, target KPIs and spend limits. Moreover, Wise.Blue includes advanced analytics tools and an enhanced campaign management dashboard. Finally, Wise.Blue clients have access to on demand, 24/7, hands-on support provided by the most advanced Twitter performance team in the world.
https://partners.twitter.com/en/partners/wiseblue
About Httpool
Httpool, an IMS corporate company, represents the leading digital media platforms across Europe and Asia. It supports their growth as well as drives business results for traditional and native advertisers across 30 markets. Jointly with IMS, it is the largest global Twitter sales partner, covering 40 markets across three continents. Based on an innovative set of technology and performance solutions, seasoned vertical teams, and extensive market know-how, Httpool enables advertisers to connect with their audiences in the most efficient and effective ways, consistently maximizing their ROIs. Leading media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Warner Music, Outbrain, Quora and Brainly appointed Httpool as their exclusive ad sales partner across selected European and Asian markets. Httpool is headquartered in the UK and has offices in Austria, Switzerland, Russia, India, Hong Kong, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia and Bangladesh. Jointly, IMS and Httpool exclusively represent over 20 media platforms in more than 45 countries worldwide.
www.httpool.com, www.imscorporate.com