Every Day Is Black Friday

Let’s stop waiting. Imagine what would happen if you created a market moment to increase desire for your brand — on your terms rather than someone else’s. (We’re looking at you, Cyber Week and Prime Day.) It’s possible to reach beyond the holiday season — or any season for that matter — in creative ways to drive peak demand at any time. 

Case in point: H&M and their collaborations (whether that’s Alexander Wang, Moschino, or Giambattista Valli) bring exclusivity to a fast-fashion world through a capsule collection with an accessible price point. Or Adidas’s Run For the Oceans campaign, which makes waves by raising $1 for each kilometer run to stop marine plastic pollution, and encourages consumers to buy their products with a feel-good, purposed-led mission. Nintendo and Sony have also created strong demand through a limited supply of their consoles, which smartly creates the illusion of “now or never.” 

Here are three more thought-starters to make every day a holiday, from three of our favorite experts: 

1. Use your platform, product, and customer wisely

Tiffani Bova, Growth and Innovation Evangelist

How can companies grow and drive demand in a consistent, repeatable fashion? It’s challenging to generate awareness in a noisy space — but it’s more than possible. 

Kylie Cosmetics, the brainchild of Kylie Jenner, is a great example of what works. Sure, she has 147 million followers on Instagram and a hit reality show, so her platform gives her an advantage. But she’s also been smart about how she engages with her consumers.

Here’s what to ask yourself: How do I use the platform I already have? What is the product I’m trying to sell? Who are my customers and why are they loyal?

Kylie may be the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner empire, but she’s found a way to smartly introduce products to her audience in a way that makes sense and she stays in her perfectly curated lane. She uses Instagram — where her followers are — and brings them into a retail world. Say what you will about reality TV or the Kardashian family, but Kylie’s business results are impressive. She was able to take advantage of the benefits of technology to change consumer behavior.

By combining marketing with social media and the classic “scarcity” model, Kylie Cosmetics’ Lip Kits offers limited runs at premium prices and they sell out in minutes. And her success isn’t happenstance, it’s safe to say that everything Kylie does is intentional.

The bottom line for your bottom line? When you understand your customer and how to engage them, you’ll earn their credibility and they’ll continue to grow with you and buy from you for years to come.

2. Make any day your day

Rob Garf, VP of Industry Strategy and Insights

Amazon Prime Day is a monumental shopping day, but it wasn’t always that way. Why do they get to make the rules? Because they created an owned holiday. Why not define your biggest promotional day, too?

Once you’ve strategically picked that day, drive it — then stand behind it.

One of the biggest dangers is putting your brand on sale. Avoid it at all costs — it’s what I like to call a discount chicken, and it’s a game you don’t want to play. Creating an owned holiday is a strategy to counter this common trap.

A great example of a retailer that’s doing it right is Nordstrom, with its Half Yearly Sale. For a retailer that doesn’t often hold sitewide sales, this one is a big deal — practically a national holiday for diehard Nordstrom customers and casual shoppers alike.

Another brand that’s seen success is Chipotle, specifically with their campaign to give away thousands of free meals during the 2019 NBA finals. When a TV announcer said the word “free” on-air, Chipotle would post a message on Twitter with a code to redeem, adding up to thousands of free burritos and bowls throughout the series. This resulted in a successful viral campaign and new followers. (Side note: Go Celts!)

When you reverse engineer Black Friday, you can create demand and make any day your day. Develop your strategy by understanding what motivates your customers, and in turn, create inspiration, traffic, and ultimately sales — all on your terms.

3. Understand “the game of thirds”

Vinod Kumar, Product Management Director, Commerce Intelligence Platform

Herbert A. Simon was an American economist and cognitive scientist who said, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” This quote from the ‘70s is just as relevant in today’s market, if not more.

There’s a torrent of ecommerce data and information coming in daily, and there is a constant fight for attention with brands vying for shoppers’ attention. And, while I’m a data guy, there is merit to both analytics and gut feel.

Placing emphasis on the unconscious brain can increase speed, efficiency, and accuracy of performance — and result in smarter answers. And while shoppers and brands are unique, collective shopper behavior often aligns with that gut feeling. The general truth is that shoppers move through the journey funnel in what I call “the game of thirds.”

The rules are as follows:

• 1/3 of overall site visitors view products
• 1/3 of those shoppers add products to the cart
• 1/3 of those shoppers complete an order

Let’s translate this: Assume that a site gets 100 visitors. It would be reasonable to see 30 looking at product pages, 10 adding products to the shopping cart, and three completing an order.

This typically holds true to regular B2C ecommerce sites, though business model, brand affinity, demographics, and other factors play a role. But, as information comes toward us at a blistering pace, keep these gut checks in mind throughout the entire year to help you understand data and figure out how to continuously improve. More so during the holidays than other times. Imagine watching your conversion rate fluctuate wildly during the seasonal peak and not having an opinion on what is good and what’s not! If you make this a habit, you’ll continue to see improvement and an overall ability to handle the deluge of data and continue making data-driven decisions — during the holidays and beyond.

We can’t wait to see how you make every day Black Friday. In the meantime, review our 2019 Holiday Readiness Guide and visit the Holiday Readiness Headquarters for a month-by-month look at the tools and strategies to put in place right now. You can also text FLASH to 38767 to receive Salesforce Holiday Flash Reporting SMS updates.