Black Friday is one of the greatest opportunities for brands to utilise promotional marketing. But it's not only brands and consumers that benefit from this annual event. The Black Friday campaign trends of 2024 give marketers key insights into modern marketing and how to reach the modern consumer.
Marketers and marketing enthusiasts rarely know what they have in November. It's the only time of the year where almost every brand is running the same race at the same time.
This means that the competition is tougher than ever, and every challenge faced by marketers throughout the year is amplified during this time. As a result, the marketing solutions in response to these challenges give us normies a zoomed-in look at what's happening at Marketing HQ.
These insights are not just applicable to this specific event. They can also be applied to any marketing goal or venture because they give marketers insights into consumer behaviour and marketing best practices as these evolve.
media update's Joreke Kleynhans investigated the biggest Black Friday marketing trends in 2024, and below is what you can learn from them.
The USP Has Never Been this Important
You may have noticed that big promotional sales in 2024 have been distributed more widely throughout November. Many brands have sales for the whole month or even opt for dates other than the customary last weekend in November.
This points to the fact that nowadays, brands have to work extra hard to be distinguishable from their competitors. Capturing the attention and desire of consumers takes more determination and uniqueness in this context — bright colours and bold text are no longer enough.
When every brand is competing for the same thing — high profits over the last weekend of November — your brand needs to pay extra attention to determining and leveraging a USP, or Unique Selling Point.
The modern consumer is much more empowered than ever before, and makes decisions based on how brands can fulfill their needs. The brand that wins over the most consumers will be the one that can most clearly communicate its unique benefits.
The best way to stand out from the rest is to boast a bit and lean into your USP.
Consumers Seek Convenience
Just like how most brands have strayed from the traditional last weekend in November to put items on special offer, they have also started to make Black Friday sales more convenient to access.
This is done by providing multiple points of access to savings.
For example, brands have started to offer reduced pricing on their online platforms at the same time as in their brick-and-mortar stores. This is due to consumers' growing need for convenience in their shopping.
All things considered, the conventional Black Friday experience is far from convenient — long queues and putting your life on the line for an eye cream are no longer something consumers are willing to put up with just for a deal.
This is also in part because Black Friday deals need to compete with brands that charge such low prices all year round.
Urgency and Patience Can and Should be Balanced
It's common practice in marketing to create urgency to persuade consumers to complete the sales cycle. A great way to create urgency in consumers is with limited-time offers, AKA Black Friday as we used to know it.
However, there is a sweet spot where limited-time offers last long enough to allow enough shoppers to participate without chipping away at the urgency that motivates them.
Many South African brands, like Checkers, are extending their Black Friday deals for multiple days rather than sticking to just the Friday.
Almost All Brands can Benefit from Promotional Marketing
While such a thing as one-size-fits-all marketing doesn't truly exist, promotional marketing is as close as you’re going to get. And let’s be honest, brands aren’t going to take part in this fully optional annual event if they are constantly suffering losses at the hands of it.
And it's not just big brands partaking in this event. Small businesses and even brands with intangible offerings like streaming subscription services are offering Black Friday deals.
The fact that brands keep participating each year shows that the monetary return on promotional marketing is worth the initial investment.
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*Image courtesy of Canva