Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the year’s biggest shopping days. Consumers spent over $70 billion globally on Black Friday online sales last year, with 55.3% of shopping sessions occurring on mobile devices. And 2023’s Cyber Monday raked in a record-breaking $12.4 billion, with up to 94 million customers shopping online that day.
These staggering statistics aren’t lost on brands. Most businesses put their digital marketing efforts into overdrive well before mid-November rolls around to entice savvy holiday shoppers. However, with over two-thirds of consumers complaining about receiving too many Black Friday ads too soon, brands must strike the perfect balance between communication cadence and outshining their competitors to make—and leave—a positive impression.
Even the most well-planned efforts can face unexpected challenges during the high-stakes shopping season, particularly in communication. This comprehensive guide addresses brands’ top five pitfalls during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It also offers actionable insights into preventing these issues and optimizing your marketing campaigns for memorable engagements to delight consumers and encourage them to spend, spend, spend.
Pitfall #1: Avoiding Message Overload and Decision Fatigue
Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) season sees a significant spike in SMS texts, emails, and chat app communications. Due to the overload, brands that rely on one channel to engage customers can experience delayed or undelivered messages. This is especially true if they use a communication partner lacking the infrastructure to handle peak demand across multiple channels.
On the other hand, consumers’ inboxes, social media feeds, and mobile devices can become saturated with offers and promotions. This leads to decision fatigue, with online shoppers trapped in a paradox of choice due to the constant stream of ads.
Solution: Businesses must choose a communications provider that can handle high volumes across various messaging channels to mitigate the risk of missed messages. Partnering with Mitto means working with a platform capable of managing high throughput across multiple channels, ensuring your messages reach customers when they’re most likely to engage. Additionally, our proprietary AI-routing platform continuously analyzes and prioritizes traffic to ensure the fastest delivery speeds at the lowest rates.
To combat decision fatigue, brands must steer clear of generic, one-size-fits-all messaging and tailor their campaigns to customers’ unique needs and wants. Use data from your customer relationship manager (CRM) system to segment customers by demographics, purchasing patterns, and past brand interactions. You can then send highly personalized content that deeply resonates with your target audience.
Pitfall #2: Not Using the Right Channels
Email inboxes are flooded with Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions, meaning messages can easily get lost or overlooked. During peak shopping days, open rates drop as consumers are bombarded with dozens—sometimes hundreds—of offers. Brands sent over 183 million emails on Black Friday last year alone.
Solution: Adding a mix of messaging channels like SMS, WhatsApp, and Viber improves your chances of reaching customers where they’re most attentive. With 2.95 billion active WhatsApp users and 1.1 billion Viber users, businesses can significantly expand their reach and get more eyeballs on their messages with these two channels alone.
It’s also wise to use SMS as a fallback channel if others are congested. This will ensure consistent customer communication across multiple touchpoints.
Pitfall #3: Failing to Optimize Timing
Sending messages too early or late can mean missing the critical Black Friday/Cyber Monday buying window, causing customer fatigue, or failing to adhere to global SMS compliance laws. The TCPA stipulates that all business-related texts must be sent between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipients’ respective time zones. With carefully timed outreach, brands can avoid losing engagement while maintaining complete compliance.
Solution: Mitto’s solutions allow users to deploy their marketing campaigns immediately or schedule them for a later date and time. This enables brands to precisely time messages to ensure they arrive when customers are most likely to interact. Additionally, Mitto’s analytics reveals when consumers engage with your content the most. Real-time analytics allow you to track engagement rates, delivery success, and customer responses as they happen. Brands can leverage these valuable insights into action by timing their outreach to perfection.
Pitfall #4: Impersonalized Communications
As previously mentioned, an influx of generic BFCM communication can quickly lead to consumer fatigue, causing messages to be ignored or deleted. With 71% of customers expecting personalized brand experiences, businesses that fail to deliver will miss out big time.
Solution: Mitto’s CRM integration tools for HubSpot, Zoho, and Salesforce enable you to personalize messages and create targeted workflows based on customer behavior, purchase history, and preferences. Connecting your CRM to Mitto’s communication channels allows you to send relevant, personalized messages that stand out during Black Friday and build stronger customer connections.
Pitfall #5: Not Turning BFCM Buyers into Repeat Customers
After Black Friday and Cyber Monday come to a close, many companies may overlook the opportunity to engage customers further, either for feedback or upselling. This can lead to missed opportunities to nurture new relationships, drive future purchases, and transform one-time buyers into brand ambassadors.
Solution: Planning a follow-up campaign allows brands to gather insights, ask for feedback, and suggest products customers will likely buy. By reaching out after the holidays, you increase the chance of repeat business and reinforce a positive brand experience, converting first-time shoppers into loyal customers. Brands can also implement an SMS loyalty program to reward returning customers with exclusive deals and discounts, boosting retention.
Drive Sales This Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and All Year Long with Mitto
Through thoughtful, personalized outreach strategies, Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be highly lucrative for brands. The success of your BFCM communication hinges on finding a quality communications partner like Mitto. Our intelligent suite of tools allows you to customize messages, monitor results, and schedule your campaign for the optimal engagement time.
Contact Mitto today to boost profits this Black Friday and all year long.
