Last-Minute BFCM Advice from the Fluency Firm Team
OCTOBER 2024
By Cassidy Coleman
In honor of Halloween week, I’ve got a jumpscare for you:
Black Friday is a month away.
Depending where you’re at in your planning and preparation, that reminder might be exciting, terrifying, or a bit of both.
Whether you started dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s early in the year, or just decided to run a BFCM promotion, experts from across our team gathered to share learnings from their own experiences of holiday seasons past to ensure that whatever your promotion looks like, it creates a seamless experience for your shoppers that’ll keep them coming back long after the holiday season is over.
Optimize for Mobile Engagement
Amber Chambers Creative Strategist, Fluency Firm
“Ensure creative is optimized for mobile-first viewing. During BFCM, most consumers are shopping from their phones, so designs need to load quickly, be visually appealing, and include clear, direct calls to action. Text and visuals need to be legible with this in mind.
I feel sometimes it falls to the wayside with brands that most shopping is done via phone - in fact, some statistics indicated that as much as 79% of 2023’s BFCM ecommerce traffic was from mobile phones.”*
Schedule Email/SMS Flow Updates Ahead of Time
Alec Pobiega Lifecycle/CRM Strategist, Fluency Firm
“If you’re using Klaviyo for email and/or SMS, take advantage of the new flow scheduling feature.
It simplifies the process of launching your themed BFCM Welcome Series, Abandonment Series, and more, and allows you to easily switch back to your evergreen versions once the sale is over, so you don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to switch versions back and forth.”
Learn how to bulk update or schedule flow statuses here.
Know Your Strengths, but Have a Backup Plan
Haley Daniels Paid Social Manager, Fluency Firm
“Typically speaking, BFCM week is not the time to test brand new strategies. I recommend setting up campaigns and audiences based on learnings from throughout the year and sticking to creative themes and messaging that are tried and true for your brand.
With that being said, I always recommend having a contingency plan in your back pocket in case things don't go according to plan, such as popular items selling out or certain ads or audiences not delivering the desired results. Having a solid strategy ahead of time is crucial for success, but being flexible if needed is just as important.”
Create Urgency in Google Ads
Meabh Scally Paid Search Manager, Fluency Firm
“Leverage countdown timers in your Google ads’ headlines. This creates a sense of urgency with your customers to shop your limited time offers.”
Learn how to highlight upcoming events with countdowns here.
Don’t Neglect Creative Diversity
Zoe Green Creative Strategist, Fluency Firm
“Creative diversity is still imperative when it comes to BFCM because you want the right ads to target all parts of the funnel. Add bold stickers or banners to your UGC videos for your upper funnel, product-focused statics for your mid funnel, and text only ads for your lower funnel.”
Always Have a Second Set of Eyes
Alexis Woerdehoff Lifecycle/CRM Strategist, Fluency Firm
“Don't skip on QA - it's so easy to get caught in the rush this time of year that it becomes easier to miss things than ever. We're all human and that's why it's so important to get multiple pairs of eyes on things before sending or scheduling.”
Get more of Alexis’ QA process insights here.
When Everything Feels Ready, Put Yourself in Your Customers’ Shoes
Cassidy Coleman Head of Client Success, Fluency Firm
“It’s all about attention to detail, which is obvious when it comes to checking every email, ad, and so on for accuracy, but might be less obvious when it comes to the holistic customer experience. As marketers, it’s easy for us to get so entrenched in our own brand that we can become disconnected from the experience of a new user—so try to put yourself in their shoes.
Set up a new email address and subscribe for emails, click around on your site, even make a purchase. See what shows up in your inbox and if it makes sense - is there any duplicative content? Any conflicting promotions? Anywhere you’d expect to receive an email but didn’t? Any touchpoints with outdated products, old branding, or out-of-season creative?
Do the same with your ads, on a different device than usual if you can - click around, check landing pages, and see if the experience would make sense to someone who’s never heard of your brand before. Take note of any points of friction or odd experiences so you can iron them out before traffic starts to peak.
There’s a lot of noise this time of year and shoppers’ attention is being pulled in so many directions. The easier your brand is to shop and the less friction customers experience along the way, the more likely you are to stand out and succeed.”
All of us at Fluency Firm wish you an exciting, fruitful, profitable BFCM.
This season is the culmination of so much hard work over the course of the year, and we hope you can find some moments to sit back and enjoy it.
If you need help distilling learnings from this year to carry into 2025 and beyond, or building year-round strategies that prime your audience to shop during the holidays, we’re here for you. Get in touch here.