5 conversion-boosting tactics from global retail brands to inspire your Black Friday strategy

With over $9.2 billion spent last Black Friday in the US alone, there’s no time like the present to start planning how you’ll capture your customers this season. Our latest eBook, The big book of  Black Friday ideas (for marketers) shares 24 proven marketing strategies to make this Black Friday your best shopping period to date.

From MAC Cosmetics to Samsung to Coca-Cola, some of the world’s best-loved brands partner with Insider to craft their peak season marketing strategies. And, this year, we want other marketers to learn and benefit from their success, too. So, if you want an overview of what to expect from the eBook, we’re using this blog to share five of their most successful strategies.

Download our eBook, The big book of Black Friday ideas for marketers, to access the full collection of 24 proven marketing strategies.

What is Black Friday (and why is it so important)? 

You’d be forgiven for thinking Black Friday is exclusively a US tradition. It’s where it started—the day after Thanksgiving, as the start of the holiday shopping season. 

However, fueled by enticing discounts and (sometimes literally) doorbuster deals, Black Friday quickly gained popularity and is now recognized by 60% of countries around the world. Today, it has become a worldwide holiday of its own, transcending borders and cultures. 

From bustling shopping malls to online marketplaces, consumers from all over the world eagerly await the opportunity to snag the best deals on Black Friday. For marketers, this means that Black Friday is no longer just an American event—it’s an international retail event that presents immense opportunities for growth. 

To tap into this global shopping phenomenon, savvy marketers need to tailor their strategies to reach and engage consumers on a global scale. This is the opportunity of the year to expand your customer base and boost sales.

The challenge is that every marketer will be trying to do the same thing, so how do you stand out? 

The following strategies will help you build Black Friday marketing campaigns that resonate with your customers. If you want more, download our ebook.

1. Use gamification to increase engagement

Effective marketing goes far beyond mere enticement; it creates an experience. 

One powerful approach to engaging potential customers is through gamification, which transforms mundane interactions into playful experiences. And the data supports the strategy’s effectiveness: according to one study, gamifying free trials increased usage by 54%, purchase clicks by 15%, and revenue by 29%.

How MAC Cosmetics improved its ROI by 17.2X with Insider’s Memory Game

MAC Cosmetics was looking to switch up its marketing style to promote a limited-time offer. It opted for Insider’s Memory Game template: customers play the game on the site and ‘win’ an offer. The brand wanted to improve customers’ likelihood to purchase and found that introducing the Memory Game saw a 17.2X ROI.

“At MAC, we are constantly looking to innovate with new trends and features to make a consumer’s shopping journey memorable. Through Insider, we have been able to further strengthen gamification and through the exciting ideas deployed on our website, we aim to be seen as a forward-looking brand with a long-term desirability to purchase.”

• Karen Thompson | Brand Head at MAC Cosmetics

2. Leverage personalization to reduce cart abandonment

People want tailored experiences—it’s become an expectation that brands must meet. In fact, 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that offer relevant suggestions.

The best way to do this is for brands to harness the power of data to understand individual customer preferences and deliver personalized experiences, including tailored product recommendations, offers, and content. 

By personalizing omnichannel customer experiences, brands can improve Black Friday outcomes: reduce cart abandonment, increase average order value (AOV), and foster better customer loyalty.
Next up, we’re going to explore two ways Insider’s Architect tool has revolutionized digital marketing for brands with its powerful personalized cross-channel capabilities.

💡WAIT! What is Architect?💡

Architect is Insider’s cross-channel customer journey builder. It uses AI-backed technology to create the most effective individualized journeys based on your customer’s behavior. 

Don’t forget, you can always download our ebook for more examples of improving AOV and reducing cart abandonment with personalization.

How Samsung increased conversions by 275% with personalization

Samsung was preparing to launch its Galaxy Note 9 and turned to Insider to help provide highly-tailored user experiences across its digital channels. Prospects who visited the Galaxy Note 9 product page or microsite or showed interest in the Galaxy Note 9 promotional emails were served with overlays offering exclusive deals. 

These segmented overlays contained personalized offers based on user behavior and included relevant, free items such as Samsung’s fast wireless charger or the Dex Dock, adding extra value to their purchase. The personalized segments increased conversion rates by 275%, and in the 20 days post-launch, the Galaxy Note 9 contributed to 9% of the total sales on Samsung’s website.

“Insider’s global team of growth consultants worked closely with us to carve out a multi-channel marketing strategy during the launch of Galaxy Note 9. Insider helped us deliver highly-tailored experiences across our digital channels and improve our conversion rates significantly, reaching as high as 275%. Galaxy Note 9 contributed to 9% of the total sales on Samsung’s website within the 20 days after the device launched globally.”

• Baris Gokpinar | Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung

3. Display social proof to boost PDP conversions

Social proof highlights the significance of recommendations and reviews in influencing consumer buying decisions. Research reveals that 87% of purchasing decisions begin with online research, and the average customer reads ten reviews before making a purchase. Additionally, it’s crucial to maintain relevance, as 85% of customers consider reviews older than three months to be irrelevant. 

No matter the number of reviews on display, one thing is clear: social proof requires a thoughtful strategy. Here’s how you can make sure yours is effective.

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

How Hunkemöller increased conversions by 20% with social proof

Hunkemöller wanted to discover the impact social proof could have on encouraging customers to purchase. It launched a selection of Insider’s social proof templates on its website, including star ratings and the number of people who had added the item to its basket.

The reviews clearly influenced whether customers took action right then and there. A/B tests proved that pages with social proof saw a 20% increase in conversions on desktop and a 13% increase on mobile.

“Our goal was to drive conversions and purchases. When we were introduced to Insider’s Social Proof technology, it sounded like we found what we were looking for. However, we had our doubts about how effective it might be. We were pleasantly surprised when we saw the results from just one month. A 20% increase in conversions on the desktop Web using only Social Proof is truly remarkable. We also loved that Insider’s Social Proof campaigns are customizable—which enabled us to personalize it to our brand requirements.”

• Bert Middendorp | Manager eCommerce at Hunkemöller

4. Reduce friction to improve CVR

There’s no such thing as patience during the peak shopping season. Removing barriers to purchase is essential to guaranteeing Black Friday sales, and will impact your overall success throughout the busy shopping season. 

When you make it difficult, shoppers can (and will!) go elsewhere to spend their money on brands that care enough to make purchasing easy.

Examples of creating friction for buyers online include:

• Confusing coupon codes that are difficult to apply.
• Price points that drive consumers to look elsewhere.
• Not recognizing returning customers.
• Not offering relevant search predictions.
• Delivering irrelevant offers without considering the user.

Here’s how to make ‘simple’ the name of your game…

How Coca-Cola increase conversions by 19%

Coca-Cola was struggling with low conversion rates on its website and its bounce rate was higher than it wanted, despite the constant flow of traffic. Insider suggested using coupons for both new and returning customers to entice users to make purchases quickly and reduce bounce rate. To further improve the coupon campaign, first-time buyers were asked to provide feedback through a survey after their purchase. 

The results were then analyzed to guide future offers. The coupon code saw a 19% increase in conversion, while the survey results could then be used to guide and improve future offers from Coca-Cola.

“Our experience with Insider has been outstanding from the beginning. It has allowed us to work with a team that is constantly concerned with bringing us new ideas to improve the performance of our site. They’re always there to help us optimize our campaigns and teach us how to use Insider’s tools to help us become independent and scale our expertise and growth.”

• Macarena Arriagada | Manager of Digital Channels at Coca-Cola

5. Create irresistible offers to reduce cart abandonment

Whether it’s an easily distracted shopper or stock that’s sold out before checkout, many users go through the motions of finding and securing a product they love, only to abandon it at the final screen.

The great news is you know your customer likes your products. Now you need to leverage that to make sure they hit purchase next time.

Follow-up emails alone have shown you can recapture over 30% of cart abandoners with an email reminder. So, let’s look at the other innovative ways to ensure you don’t become abandoned too. 

Download the big book of Black Friday ideas here!

How Marks and Spencer increased cart recovery rate to 15%

Marks and Spencer aimed to improve its cart recovery rate by working with Insider to successfully apply its cart abandonment web push notifications and recover lost sales.

By complementing M&S’s email abandonment strategy, cart abandonment push notifications provide a faster, more direct communication channel—and it works. M&S increased its cart recovery to 15%—5X the industry standard, and making it the company’s most successful cart abandonment strategy to date.

“Working with Insider has been a great process. The account management team is always really proactive and Insider’s Web Push complements our existing tech stack, providing a new and effective way for us to communicate with our customers. For many companies, I can see this being a great quick win to boost traffic and conversions.”

• Senior CRM Loyalty, & Channel Innovation Manager |  Marks & Spencer

To get ahead this Black Friday, you need to start now

Black Friday is every retailer’s prime opportunity to generate incredible revenue, so it’s crucial to be prepared.

To maximize your profits, you need to pair strategy with the latest technology to compete this season. With AI becoming more widespread and available, having a first-rate technology platform is the key to beating the competition and driving the results you’re aiming for.

It’s our job as marketers to know what customers want and be prepared to give it to them when they want it. An aligned, focused strategy combined with Insider’s cross-channel marketing platform is a recipe for holiday season success.

Learn how the world’s biggest brands will be using Insider this Black Friday by downloading our latest ebook, The big book of Black Friday ideas.

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.