6 tactical channel-based Black Friday strategies according to Adidas, Remix, DeFacto, Avon, and Watsons

Katie Morley

Aug 25, 2023

Katie Morley

Aug 25, 2023

A well-executed cross-channel strategy isn’t just a competitive edge for retail marketers; it’s a necessity. It empowers your brand to break through the noise and clutter, making a lasting impression amidst the most chaotic online shopping experience of the year. 

By harnessing the collective power of multiple channels, you’re not only increasing your chances of being noticed, but also nurturing a sense of brand familiarity that fosters trust and loyalty–you don’t just want to be a holiday novelty.

Our latest eBook, The big book of  Black Friday ideas shares 24 proven marketing strategies to make this Black Friday your best shopping period to date—and we don’t like to gatekeep. So, from mobile to app, Facebook to email, here are five channel-based marketing strategies to inspire you this Black Friday. 
And remember, you can download the ebook to gain access to the full collection of 24 proven marketing strategies.

Table of Contents
  1. Mobile: Reduce friction with category optimization

  2. Email: Increase key metrics with dynamic email campaigns

  3. WhatsApp Commerce: Leverage the world’s most popular messaging app

  4. App: Increase conversion rates with push notifications

  5. Web: Personalize onsite experiences with Smart Recommendations

  6. Social: Boost ROAS with AI-led Facebook ad targeting

  7. To reach customers this Black Friday, you need a cross-channel strategy

1. Mobile: Reduce friction with category optimization

More than 40% of shoppers use smartphones to make purchases on Black Friday. So, enhancing your mobile customer experience is a sure way to boost conversions and sales. If you’re not, you could be cutting your

revenue in almost half. Online shopping is fast, so let’s look at how one of the world’s biggest brands is keeping up.

How Adidas increased AOV by 259% with Category Optimizer

Adidas realized that, when viewed on a smaller screen, its website was not converting as well as it would like. The sports brand wanted to help users find desired products faster and enlisted the help of Insider. 

By using Insider’s Category Optimizer, the category menu was rearranged based on the user’s browsing history, with the most recently viewed category appearing at the top. This personalized approach helped Adidas improve the customer journey and speed up product discovery for its users who didn’t have the time or patience to scroll and scroll. As a result, Adidas saw a 259% increase in AOV.

“Our traffic grew exponentially during lockdown, but we were ill-equipped to engage and retain these visitors. We needed a solution that would help us deliver personalization at scale to boost engagement and drive conversions. Insider had just the right set of tools.

  • Senior eCommerce Manager | Adidas
Adidas increased AOV by 259% with Insider’s Category Optimizer

2. Email: Increase key metrics with dynamic email campaigns

Unlike other platforms that tend to catch users sporadically with ads and posts, email allows you to take customers on a step-by-step, highly intentional journey. 

Maximize the user experience via email this Black Friday by guiding your new subscribers through a nurturing process that both builds brand loyalty and drives purchases.

Download The Big Book of Black Friday Ideas for more inspiration.

How Remix increased first-time purchases by 104%

Remix, a popular resale and outlet brand, wanted to boost purchases from users who had registered their emails but weren’t following through with a purchase.

The company worked with Insider to develop an email onboarding plan tailored to user behavior. The onboarding plan sent three emails to the segment of users who had registered with the brand but hadn’t made a purchase. By focusing on user behavior and delivering relevant content, Remix and Insider turned registered users into loyal customers who were more likely to make a purchase, increasing first-time purchases by 104%.

“The team at Insider has cooperated with us enthusiastically throughout, and their proactiveness sets the golden standard for customer support. With full flexibility, Insider has helped us implement their suite of products to custom-suit our specifications and requirements. The team leaves no stone unturned in meeting our needs and helping us achieve our goals.”

  •  Trayan Petkov | Head of Growth at Remix
Remix increased first-time purchases by 104% by sending highly-targeted emails

3. WhatsApp Commerce: Leverage the world’s most popular messaging app 

Take one of the world’s most popular messaging apps, give users the ability to make purchases natively within the app, and what do you get? Easily one of the most powerful tools in the world.  

WhatsApp Commerce is Insider’s end-to-end buying experience that lives entirely within WhatsApp. No more URLS, just a seamless buying experience from start to finish, and you can incorporate Insider’s AI-led segmentation capabilities and pre-approved templates to create conversation triggers that are most likely to convert.

How one of Europe’s most popular pizza delivery brands increased profits by 32% with WhatsApp Commerce

One of Europe’s biggest pizza delivery brands was looking for a way to make ordering pizza as easy and persuasive as possible. It recognized the difference in customer behavior and motivations for ordering pizza, so it turned to Insider’s cross-channel customer orchestration tool, Architect, to deeply segment its audience. 

With Insider, the brand discovered it could also introduce WhatsApp to reach its customers, and create relevant, timely triggers that would be most likely to increase conversions.

The end-to-end buying experience enabled customers to buy their favorite pizza within seconds, and the no-fuss approach to ordering led to a 68% increase in click-through rate and a 32% increase in profits.

“When we first came up with WhatsApp as a potential marketing channel, we thought it was a big ask… but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Our customers now receive only the most relevant offers and promotions for them, and they can buy immediately within WhatsApp! Since using Architect and WhatsApp Commerce, our profits have risen by 32%, and the Insider support has been unbelievable.”
  –  Director of Marketing | Pizza delivery brand

One of Europe’s most popular pizza delivery brands increased profits by 32% with WhatsApp Commerce

4. App: Increase conversion rates with push notifications

86% of the world has a smartphone, and your brand’s app shouldn’t be forgotten on page four of your customer’s home screen. If you have an app, you need to leverage it this Black Friday to encourage purchases and keep your customers in the loop throughout the holiday season.

Download The Big Book of Black Friday Ideas here for more inspiration

How DeFacto saw an 8X increase in conversion rate

Fashion retailer, DeFacto, found that many users weren’t making a purchase within 30 days and weren’t engaged long-term. The leading retailer partnered with Insider to boost user engagement and increase those long-term purchases. It personalized the app user experience using behavioral and time-based push notifications. 

For new users, a welcome notification was sent on day one, followed by an offer-based notification on day three to reduce uninstall rates within 30 days. Existing users received customized notifications based on their buyer journey, including cart reminders and packaging progress updates. This personalized approach led to an 8X increase in conversion rates and a 7.5% rise in new user activation

Insider is more than just a Growth Management Platform that helps us achieve our marketing KPIs, they truly care about our success. Since we started using Insider’s Mobile App Push notifications, the growth team at Insider was “always on” helping us whenever we needed their support. Insider’s cart reminder Push Notifications proved to be highly effective in helping us realize our revenue goals and improving the retention of our Mobile App users.“

  • Abdulkadir Erkatranc | eCommerce Business Analytics Manager at DeFacto
How DeFacto saw an 8X increase in conversion rate thanks to Insider

5. Web: Personalize onsite experiences with Smart Recommendations 

Why would anybody want to receive ads for a product they’re not interested in? The rise of AI means there’s no excuse not to tailor marketing to an individual user’s experience. 

Insider’s Smart Recommender is built for this expectation; it uses previous behaviors to show only the most relevant products to each user so that you appear to know your customers better than they know themselves.

How Avon increased conversions by 13% and AOV by 11% with Insider’s Smart Recommender

Avon wanted to provide an unparalleled shopping experience that helped customers quickly discover relevant products and encourage them to purchase. Insider’s Smart Recommender enabled Avon to tailor which products were shown to each user, ensuring customers easily found more products they loved and made bigger purchases when checking out. Not only did conversions increase by 13%, but the AOV of customer purchases also increased by 11%

Insider’s platform proved to us how easy life can be when AI and machine learning-backed platforms are incorporated into the marketing mix. We can now optimize experiences on our desktop and mobile websites without extra IT effort. Insider’s Growth Management Platform has become an essential tool for us. The company really understands the challenges we face, and their ever-evolving technology enables marketers to boost vital KPIs.

  • Orkun Gul | General Manager at Avon
How Avon increased conversions by 13% and AOV by 11% with Insider’s Smart Recommender

6. Social: Boost ROAS with AI-led Facebook ad targeting

We all know Facebook is one of the most effective places to spend your marketing dollars. So, unsurprisingly, it’s also heavily oversaturated. To make the most of it this Black Friday, you need to cut through the noise of competitors and target the right audience of potential buyers. Increase your return on ad spend by following the lead of Watsons.

How Watsons increased ROAS by 50% 

Watsons is Asia’s largest beauty and healthcare retail chain. It was looking to increase its return on ad spend from Facebook; the goal was to reach potential bias without mistargeting users with the wrong products. 

Watson sought help from Insider, who applied its Predictive Ad Audiences, an in-house AI-powered ‘Likelihood to Purchase’ algorithm that creates predictive user segments and targets audiences most likely to purchase via Facebook ads. The beauty retailer capitalized on its Facebook potential, increasing its return on ad spend (ROAS) by and transforming its approach to ad channels.

“With Insider’s Predictive Ad Audiences feature for Facebook Ads, we got results that completely changed our approach in ad channels. The uplift of 50% in conversions with a mere three-figure pilot program was mind-blowing, to say the least. “
– Senior Digital Performance Manager | Watsons

Watsons increased ROAS by 50% with Insider’s Predictive Ad Audiences

To reach customers this Black Friday, you need a cross-channel strategy

Black Friday is no longer confined to brick-and-mortar stores. Shoppers now rely on digital experiences to find the best online deals. This shift demands a holistic marketing approach—you need a platform that can seamlessly integrate multiple channels into one single dashboard, so you can reach prospective customers no matter where they are or what they’re doing. 

Learn how the world’s biggest brands will be using Insider this Black Friday with our latest ebook, The Big Book of Black Friday Ideas (for marketers).

About Insider

Insider—a single platform for building individualized, cross-channel experiences—enables enterprise marketers to connect customer data across channels and systems, predict their future behavior with an AI intent engine, and build individualized customer experiences. Marketers use Insider’s platform to deliver consistent and engaging experiences across Web, App, Web Push, Email, SMS, WhatsApp Commerce, and more.


Katie is an award-winning content marketer with over eight years of experience in content strategy, development, and copywriting. As Global Content Director at Insider, she currently oversees content strategy across 26 regions. Fun fact: Katie read 64 books last year (for which she owes a long commute and two week-long holidays where she spent approximately six hours a day with her nose in a book).