Preparing for Black Friday With Video Advertising

This 2017 season, it’s projected that there will be a total of 156 million shoppers the weekend of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. The total revenue for Black Friday will be $3.52 billion, a 5.39% increase from last year; Thanksgiving day $2.05 billion, up 6.22% to LY; and Cyber Monday $3.81 billion, up nearly 10.4% from last year.

You’re probably looking to grab a chunk of this 5-day $9.38 billion total projected spend.

But so is everyone else. Every company, big and small, is running some kind of Black Friday or Cyber Monday deal. They’re sending out sales and promotional emails. They’re cutting prices by 100%. They’re giving away thousands of dollars in sweepstakes just to get people in the door.

So how can you stand out from the promotional crowd this Black Friday?

Video. Your customers will be getting thousands of emails about deals and promotions from companies they’ve only sort of heard of. They’ll be seeing 50% off in every pamphlet or email they receive. All the numbers and phrases start to blend together.

But a well-planned, well-executed, and well-marketed video can get your promotion noticed and remembered above all your competitors.

Below you’ll find our favorite Black Friday videos and a breakdown of their marketing strategy, which you can apply to your own Black Friday video content.

1. Slickwraps 2016

You don’t need to give away your budget in order to compete with big companies this holiday season. But SlickWrap’s promotional campaign is primarily based on sweepstakes, so they’re showing off these Black Friday promotions with a luxurious, intriguing, upbeat video.

The best part of this video is that it addresses every promotional audience member. The promotion that people will most want—for me, it was Disney with the Mickey hands—will stick in their brains. The promotion is discussed in a visually exciting way to help them remember that deal aligned with Slickwraps. Slickwraps shows off their brand personality and their Black Friday promotions with a cohesive approach.

2. Target 2014

Black Friday has become a competition that this Target-clad woman is preparing to win. This video uses humor and storytelling to show off the importance of the Target Black Friday 2-day sale.

Despite the humor, this video also shows the practical approach to shopping Target’s Black Friday sale, like how you can look at the catalog for great deals or how you should put the 4am start time on your calendar. This is a great way to integrate branding, storytelling, and promotion.

3. Amazon 2016

Amazon is optimizing on their ease and convenience of online shopping this Black Friday. They use their branding of the Amazon box to get the narrative across. They’re offering an entire week of deals, with those dates displayed proudly on a cardboard box computer screen in this video. The Amazon box physically builds the different types of products you can buy during the sale, with “new deals popping up every five minutes.”

This short video quickly grabs the customer’s attention with a unique design and consistent branding. In just fifteen seconds,they’re able to reveal three key points of Amazon’s Black Friday promotion: the dates of their Black Friday week, the ease of online shopping and home delivery, and the range of products for purchase.

4. JC Penny 2015

JC Penny is known for their holiday commercials. The “hurry in” phrase is a staple of holiday television and (now) social media. This type of Black Friday video focuses solely on the promotions and the products, rather than on the brand. This is intentional, as JC Penny knows that their ideal customer is a “deal shopper.” This type of shopper wants to know when they can have early access to the best deals on the products they want— which is exactly the information this video provides them with.

5. Macy’s 2015

Everyone knows Macy’s for their Thanksgiving Day Parade. Thus, Macy’s is optimizing on that distinction with their celebrity-clad Black Friday promotional video. Macy’s too is playing to their unique audience. The Macy’s shopper knows the different celebrity brands that the store carries—a number of which pop up in various cameos throughout this ad. This tactic not only calls on the star-power of the celebrities but also shows the celebrity-designed products that available in store with the Black Friday promotions (like Ariana’s perfume or Martha Stewart’s bake ware).

Even if this video weren’t filled with celebrities, it focuses on the Macy’s brand rather than on the products or promotion. What does it feel like to walk into a Macy’s store? It feels like a parade party with a bunch of your best (celebrity) friends.

Key Takeaways

There are three key takeaways your can apply to your own Black Friday videos:

1. Know your audience. What do they want this Black Friday? A luxury customer probably cares more about the feel of the event rather than the promotions itself. A super saver wants to know the specifics of the deals, from exact pricing on products to the additional savings they can rack up. Play to your audience.

2. Don’t be afraid to tell a story. The best videos use their visual platform to engage the audience with an interesting and intriguing experience. Pamphlet emails list the promotions; videos tell a narrative around those promotions.

3. Focus on what makes your brand and promotion unique. Your potential customer has just invested their time watching your Black Friday video—why should they now invest their money into your product or service as well?

The Bottom Line

Optimize on the craze of the holiday season with a strong video campaign. You can gain new customers and huge sales this Thanksgiving weekend with a video perfectly tailored to your brand, your customer, and your promotion.

Do you want to differentiate yourself and see a strong return on marketing investment this season?

Contact True Film Production right now to begin producing the storyboard for your ultimate Black Friday video promotion.