Black Friday SMS Marketing: Tips, Templates, and Best Practices

Black Friday and Cyber Monday, sometimes referred to as BFCM, are historically some of the highest-revenue days of the year for retailers. Thanks to increased competition among ecommerce businesses, retailers need to set themselves apart from the crowd and reach consumers where they spend most of their time — on their mobile devices.

With 90% of text messages opened within three minutes, SMS marketing is a simple yet highly effective way for retailers to connect directly with customers during the busy holiday shopping season. Today, we’ll share our SMS marketing tips for Black Friday, along with some Black Friday SMS campaign templates, to help you get started.

Jump to:

• The Importance of SMS Marketing for Black Friday
• Best Practices for Black Friday SMS Marketing 
• Black Friday SMS Marketing Campaign Ideas
• Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them 

The Importance of SMS Marketing for Black Friday

The holiday season gets busier every year, and consumers have adjusted their shopping habits because of it. In fact, most consumers get started on their holiday shopping early, looking for attractive deals as early as the first week of November. If you create a specific marketing strategy that promotes unique Black Friday sales, you’re sure to see a boost in your revenue as well.

In 2019, Black Friday online sales reached $7.4 billion worldwide. With online shoppers estimated to have spent around $11 million per minute, BFCM is a significant source of revenue that can set up retailers for the rest of the holiday season.

As consumers shop more frequently on their mobile devices, Black Friday and Cyber Monday also lend more of themselves to mobile shopping. According to 2019 data from Adobe, 58% of traffic to online retailers came from smartphones, compared to just 7 percent in 2018. The transition to mobile shopping means it’s more important than ever for retailers and ecommerce businesses to invest in customer-focused channels like SMS marketing to stay ahead of the curve.

Best Practices for Black Friday SMS Marketing

While Black Friday can increase any retailer’s sales, taking the time to plan out your holiday SMS campaigns will generate the most ROI for your business. Below are 5 marketing tips for Black Friday SMS to help you get the most out of your text message marketing strategy.

1. Start Planning Your SMS Campaigns Early

Build the excitement for your customers by starting your SMS campaigns as early as possible. Promote early Black Friday deals in October — yes, before Halloween — to capture as many prospective customers as you can.

With an SMS marketing campaign platform, you can easily set up a drip campaign, which will automatically send a series of time-delayed text messages to your subscribers. With an automated drip campaign, you can regularly connect with your customers and update them about upcoming sales. Because drip campaigns run in the background without requiring extra attention, you can save time and effort while continuously driving your conversion rate.

2. Create a Sense of Urgency

SMS marketing’s true power is its ability to quickly convert subscribers into paying customers. Because SMS text messages reach people right away — rather than sitting buried in an email inbox — your customers are very likely to open and read your text messages as soon as they receive them.

You can boost this fast-moving conversion rate by adding a time limit to your special offers, to create a sense of urgency for your audience. Whether it’s a 24-hour period to use a discount code or an additional BFCM discount after a customer’s previous purchase, restricting your sales will push customers to act sooner rather than later.

3. Boost Loyalty With Exclusive VIP Offers

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday are tremendous opportunities for sales, they also allow you to nurture existing customer relationships and build new ones. With other holidays just around the corner, retailers can use their BFCM sales to grow customer loyalty.

To build these customer relationships, encourage people to join your subscriber list or loyalty program in exchange for exclusive offers, like holiday season sales alerts or limited-time offers. Make sure that your customers have consented to receive promotional SMS text messages from your business, and you’ll quickly build a loyal customer base.

4. Send Abandoned Cart Offers

Because text messages reach customers almost instantly, they are the most effective tool to recapture customers who have abandoned their online carts. In 2019, the cart abandonment rate during BFCM was a whopping 71.36% — meaning online retailers lost around 7 out of 10 customers.

With the increase in ecommerce sales, retailers need to recapture their abandoned carts as fast as possible. You can easily set up automated text messages to go out within 10 to 15 minutes of cart abandonment. If that doesn’t work, try sending another SMS message 30 minutes to an hour later, and include a limited-time discount as an extra incentive.

5. Personalize Your Communications 

While text messages are the easiest way to reach your customers directly, it’s not all about speed and convenience. Consumers are looking for a personalized shopping experience; in fact, 91% say they are more likely to shop with brands that offer personalized offers and recommendations.

Include personal information fields in your text message sign-up form to collect data like a subscriber’s name, ZIP code and product preferences so that you can build profiles about each person. With an SMS marketing platform, you can easily add this information to your marketing messages to create more personalized customer communications.

Black Friday SMS Marketing Campaign Ideas

With mobile shopping expected to increase, text messages have become the most reliable, effective way to reach customers and drive sales. Here are the top 3 ideas for Black Friday SMS marketing campaigns:

1. Flash Sales

By nature, a flash sale starts and ends quickly, so you’ll want to reach customers right away. The average open rate for SMS marketing campaigns is 98%, compared to 20% for email marketing campaigns, so sending a text blast to your subscriber list is sure to drive sales.

Black Friday lasts all weekend long! Get started with our first sale: Our best-selling speakers are 25% off today only with FREE SHIPPING. Get yours now: [Link] 

2. Exclusive Offers

With an SMS marketing platform, you can easily segment your subscriber list into groups, enabling you to send more personalized messages based on people’s preferences or shopping habits. You can also generate unique discount codes to see which segments drive sales more than others and adjust for future SMS marketing campaigns.

Hi [First Name]! As a token of our appreciation for your support, here’s an exclusive 30% off discount with code WERJS-789. This one-time discount expires Sunday, November 28 at 11:59 pm PDT, so don’t miss out!

3. MMS Graphics

The best marketing text messages are short and sweet, so consider using images to save space and capture your audience’s attention. You can (and should) include easy-to-reference details like sale information or a unique offer code.

[Graphic]

In Case You Missed It

BLACK FRIDAY

ADDITIONAL 25% OFF

CODE BFCM25

Don’t miss out: [Link]

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them 

Compliance Issues: Compliance issues are a critical concern in SMS marketing. To navigate these effectively, ensure you obtain explicit opt-ins from recipients and adhere strictly to TCPA guidelines. Always provide clear opt-out options in your messages to maintain transparency and trust. By staying informed about regulations and implementing robust compliance practices, you can safeguard your campaign from legal complications and build a positive relationship with your audience.

Timing: Timing your SMS messages correctly is essential to maximizing their impact. Avoid sending messages too early, which might catch recipients off guard, or too late, which could result in missed opportunities. Aim to schedule your texts during peak engagement times when your audience is most likely to read and act on them. By fine-tuning your timing strategy, you can enhance the effectiveness of your campaigns and better connect with your recipients.

Over-Saturation: Over-saturation is a significant challenge in SMS marketing, where excessive messaging can lead to customer fatigue. To avoid this, strike a balance in your message frequency, ensuring you communicate value without overwhelming your audience. Carefully monitor engagement metrics and adjust your messaging schedule based on customer responses. By maintaining a thoughtful approach, you can keep your audience engaged and responsive while preventing message burnout.

Measuring ROI: Measuring ROI in SMS marketing can be challenging, but it’s crucial for assessing campaign success. Implement tracking tools to monitor key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Analyze these metrics to gauge the effectiveness of your messages and make data-driven adjustments. By effectively tracking and evaluating your campaign performance, you can optimize your strategies and ensure your SMS marketing delivers measurable results.

Get Started with Your Black Friday SMS Campaign Today 

Simplify your marketing campaign for Black Friday sales using Textedly’s easy-to-use SMS marketing platform. With powerful features like auto-reply texts, two-way SMS and automated SMS campaigns, Textedly provides retailers with all the tools they need to send Black Friday SMS messages to their customers.

From scheduling pre- and post-BFCM sales texts to following up with abandoned carts, you can harness the power of text marketing to grow your business. Get started with a 14-day trial of Textedly today.