How Influencers Can Help With Black Friday Marketing

Statistics show 87.2 million shoppers rushed to their favorite store on Black Friday last year, and another 72.9 million made online purchases from the comfort of their homes, according to the National Retail Federation. While consumers are out in full force from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, none is more popular than Black Friday. With customers poised to shop, brands can’t ignore Black Friday’s importance. Marketers often spend months planning campaigns to entice shoppers to check out their merchandise, but if your plans don’t include influencers, you could be missing out. 

Here are a few ways to include influencers in your Black Friday marketing plans. Consider asking an influencer to:

Demo a product

Team up with an influencer like product reviewer Heidiisms to introduce your product to new customers. Ideally, you’ll work with a handful of influencers, which you can find on an influencer marketing platform like our Marketplace. With several influencers showcasing your product, you’ll reach a larger group of interested shoppers right before Black Friday. 

Here’s an example of a product review that you can tailor to your preferred Black Friday product:

In addition to reviewing a product, you could ask an influencer to share a unique promo code or link. As a brand, you can track the codes and links and see which influencers gave your sales the biggest boost. It could open the door for future influencer marketing campaigns.

Do a Shop With Me video

Invite an influencer or two to come into the store and shop. You could ask the influencer to shop for a specific loved one, like their kids or spouse, or let an influencer peruse your gift aisles and showcase great finds. 

Shopping influencer Carla Mackenzie took her followers on a shopping trip to explore Walmart’s Black Friday deals. The 17-minute video showcases everything from holiday-themed makeup to fun purses.

An influencer can shoot and share the video on Black Friday, or he or she can do something similar with pre-Black Friday deals. 

Helpful resource: How to Create a Great Shop with Me Video

Host a Black Friday giveaway 

Get your social audience excited for the holiday season with a giveaway. You could plan one big giveaway on Black Friday and ask an influencer to promote it and announce the winner, or you could create a multi-day giveaway with a handful of influencers involved. 

Here’s how. Send influencers your hottest Black Friday buys. Ask them to share a review or a picture of the product on social and invite followers to enter a giveaway for those products. 

Here’s an example of an influencer-hosted giveaway. To enter, participants must follow the influencer and the brand, tag three friends, and like the post. You can do something similar for Black Friday, but make sure it’s easy to enter to maximize participation.

Share a Black Friday sale guide

Serious Black Friday shoppers make a game plan. They check the fliers, circle their favorite deals, and prioritize shopping plans. 

With so many sales, it’s hard to stay on top of the deals. That’s where an influencer can help. Ask an influencer to share your brand’s Black Friday deals. Send them your digital flier along with a handful of products and discounted price list. 

Here’s an example of a Black Friday sale guide shared by beauty influencer Kelly Gooch sponsored by a cosmetic brand. 

Create an unboxing video 

Consider sending Black Friday products to influencers ahead of the sale and ask them to unbox the product on their social channel. Unboxing videos are a great way to create a buzz online about your product, which will strategically be timed right before Black Friday.

For a different take on an unboxing video, ask one of your employees to unbox new inventory your store plans to sell on Black Friday. SpinMeRoundStore, for example, shot and shared this collection of new vinyls that came in just in time for holiday shoppers.

Helpful resource: How to Make Great Unboxing Videos