The Content Marketer's Guide To Black Friday With Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping season quickly approaching, retailers and marketers must establish a game plan for arguably the two biggest shopping days of the year.

By Jon Salm

entrepreneur daily

This story originally appeared on Visual.ly

Canadapanda / Shutterstock.com

With Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping season quickly approaching, retailers and marketers must establish a game plan for arguably the two biggest shopping days of the year. Shoppers will be ready to spend on Black Friday (November 28) and Cyber Monday (December 1). Utilizing content marketing best practices can lead to big time wins. Follow these four best practices, and note one cautionary tale, to make the most out of the early holiday rush.

Related: For Service-Based Entrepreneurs, Here Are 9 Holiday Marketing Tactics to Boost Sales

Snapchat can help build tension and reward engagement among younger consumers.

Snapchat boasts a user base 30 million strong that heavily caters to the younger crowd – over 80% of users are aged 13-24, according to the company. With over 700 million photos and videos shared per day, the visual click-to-reveal platform shows no sign of slowing down. Brands are using the platform to interact with consumers, but some of the best, such as Sephora, are taking it one step further. By revealing Black Friday sales to their Snapchat friends first, Sephora is both building tension rewarding its most engaged fans.

The Content Marketer's Guide To Black Friday

Videos are more engaging and more cost effective than paid search tactics.

In 2013, photo sharing and printing service Snapfish utilized YouTube TrueView videos to boost their Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategy. It's no secret that online video is more effective than competing ad formats, and Snapfish's YouTube partnership proved this yet again. The campaign's CPC rate was 14% cheaper than paid search CPC over the same time period, as well.

Related: To Compete With Big-Name Brands, Here's How to Market Your Black Friday Sale Online

The Content Marketer's Guide To Black Friday

Make your emails urgent.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales exist for a limited time only, and the smartest marketers can use this to their advantage. Online electronics retailer TigerDirect included a live countdown clock in their Black Friday promotional emails to play to this sense of urgency. Furthermore, adding interactive and engaging elements to marketing emails can help reverse the trend of falling open rates and click-through rates.

The Content Marketer's Guide To Black Friday

Mobile is taking over, and the holiday season is no exception.

In 2010, mobile transactions were responsible for only 2% of all Cyber Monday sales, according to AppLovin. This number is expected to rise to nearly 30% in 2014. Consumers have smartphones glued to their hands and marketers are wisely investing in mobile-first marketing strategies. Best Buy built an opt-in service to deliver deal notifications via text messages in 2013 to clue consumers in on their best deals.

The Content Marketer's Guide To Black Friday

Risks are fine, but don't lose sight of what's important.

While Best Buy succeeded with its text message service, their other mobile play fell flat. The company encouraged Black Friday shoppers to use Vine and the hashtag #VineInLine to document their shopping experience, which was called a "creative gamble" and a "PR disaster waiting to happen". While there was no overwhelmingly negative backlash, Vines using the hashtag were few and far between and failed to help promote the brand. In this case, Best Buy failed to link the social promotion to their Black Friday sales and forced a social promotion where it wasn't needed.

Related: Marcus Lemonis's Top 10 Tips for Businesses This Holiday Season

Jon Salm

Associate Client Analyst at Millward Brown Digital

Jon Salm is an Associate Client Analyst at Millward Brown Digital in New York City and freelances for Visually, where he is a certified journalist in the Visually Marketplace and a regular contributor to the Visually blog. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Barbara Corcoran Sounds Off on NAR Settlement: 'It's a Scary Time for Real Estate Agents'

The "Shark Tank" star took to Instagram to share her thoughts on Friday's ruling.

Side Hustle

Her 'Crude Prototype' and $50 Craigslist Purchase Launched a Side Hustle That Hit $1 Million in Sales — Now the Business Generates Up to $20 Million a Year

Elle Rowley experienced a "surge of creative inspiration" after she had her first baby in 2009 — and it wasn't long before she landed on a great idea.

Starting a Business

A Side Hustle Consultant Shares the Most Lucrative Gigs Right Now

Plus, he answers the side hustle questions he gets most often from clients.

Starting a Business

She Never Wanted to Start a Business, But Chronic Insomnia Was Motivation — Here's How She Achieved $20 Million in Sales and 8 Hours of Sleep a Night

Dr. Kathrin Hamm, founder and CEO of sleep-wellness company Bearaby, wanted to find a solution for her sleeplessness — and the products on the market weren't cutting it.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.