Black Friday is an essential highlight in the brand marketing calendar. Every year, more than 70% of consumers say they make purchases on this occasion, taking advantage of the exceptional promotions offered by retailers.

Imported from the United States this trade festival is becoming increasingly popular in France and abroad..
Il est donc très pertinent pour les marques de se positionner sur ce temps fort et de créer une stratégie marketing Black Friday efficace, qui leur permettra de recruter et convertir de nouveaux clients.

In this article, we take a look back at the main issues that companies need to prepare for in order to succeed with their Black Friday marketing campaigns. We also share some effective and original ideas to boost sales and prepare offers for the festive season.

SUMMARY

• The marketing challenges of Black Friday
• 3 marketing campaign ideas to boost sales during Black Friday

Black Friday is no ordinary trade fair. It offers companies a unique opportunity to hire new prospects and re-engage their existing customers (in the same way as sales). But the special feature of the Black Friday is that is takes place at a particularly strategic time of year.

It is indeed the last weekend of november the final stretch before Christmas shopping. Generally speaking, the 4th quarter of the year (the months of October/November/September) is a strategic time for companies, who generate 20 to 30% of their annual sales during this period.

Black Friday’s marketing challenges are therefore unique and brands have the opportunity to implement a strategy that will enable them to target the following four marketing objectives.

Stand out from the competition

An increasing number of companies are offering Black Friday deals. Brands must therefore redouble their efforts to make their campaign visible to their target audience

To capture attention, they won’t be able to rely solely on exceptional discounts (if they want to control the ROI of their Black Frday campaign). They’ll have to rely on other levers of visibility, such as originality and interactivity. Companies can set themselves apart by organizing a marketing competition, for example.

Engaging consumers at the right time

Brands are tending to communicate their Black Friday offers earlier and earlier. By spacing out their marketing campaign over several days, or even weeks, they can create a teasing effect and better manage consumer expectations .

Its also an effective approach to staying top of mind the big dayand guide shoppers more effectively towards the offers/products that best meet their expectations. The key is to strike the right balance to avoid advertising fatigue (and audience fatigue) by offering a variety of advertising formats that maintain engagement right through to Black Friday. A multi-channel approach will also be essential to reach consumers wherever they are.

Propose relevant offers based on customer preferences

To convert, Black Friday marketing campaigns can’t just play on discount percentages. They can also precisely target consumers’ product preferences, offering them a recommendation of items or services they are more likely to want to buy.

This means collecting, in advance of Black Friday, relevant customer data on favorite product categories, but also on the marketing channels, payment methods and delivery options that buyers intend to prioritize. To achieve this, brands can rely on marketing games such as Battle or Gift Finder.

Collect opt-ins and build loyalty to boost repeat purchases

As we’ve already mentioned, Black Friday is the start of a particularly intense period for consumers..
La fête commerciale se déroule en effet juste avant le Cyber Monday (qui a lieu le lundi suivant) et Noël.

To boost sales throughout this period, it’s very important that brands take advantage of Black Friday to collect opt-ins. Black Friday marketing formats can be used to this end (via a simple opt-in form, for example).

Brands can also take advantage of this opportunity to continue collecting customer preference (with a survey or swiper, for example), to optimize future campaigns. They can also encourage engaged prospects to create a customer account or download their application to boost their re-purchase rate for the rest of the year.

Gamification is a relevant lever for meeting the challenges of a Black Friday marketing strategy.

Depending on the brand’s objectives, these interactive and entertaining formats can help to achieve the following goals:

• Recruit qualified leads and optins to develop your customer database;
• Engage existing customers using games to showcase products and support promotions
• Increase sales by encouraging consumers to make a purchase in-store or on the e-commerce site.

1. Recruter des leads avec un instant gagnant

Simple mechanics such as Instants Gagnants are ideal for recruiting new leads and collecting optin. before or during Black Friday. Red By SNCF, for example, relied on the One-armed Bandit to boost the visibility of its Black Friday campaign.

The very simple principle of the game (aligning three identical patterns to unlock a gift or discount) is indeed perfect for engaging a wide audience. Prospects are also attracted by the prospect of finding out immediately whether they’ve won a reward or not.

What’s more, the interactive, fun aspect of this Black Friday marketing campaign helped the operator stand out at this particularly busy time of year.

2. Engage your community during Black Friday with a Shopping List

To engage existing customers during Black Friday, brands can rely on gamification mechanics highlighting their products. The idea here is to discover its offer in a fun way, the aim is also to collect customer preferences in order to offer more targeted product recommendations. The challenge is also to offer attractive prizes that capture the audience’s attention and make them want to participate.

Git, for example, offered its community the chance to win an exceptional basket made up exclusively of items that participants had already selected using a shopping list..
Pendant toute la semaine précédant le Black Friday, les acheteurs pouvaient ainsi tenter leur chance et remporter leur wishlist au tirage au sort.

3. Boost Black Friday sales with coupons

For Black Friday marketing campaigns to bear fruit, brands need to find effective levers to redirect their audience to their website (or in-store for a drive-to-store campaign).

Oui SNCF, for example, took advantage of its Black Friday gamification campaign (a one-armed bandit) to distribute 15-euro e-coupons. Participants could then win a voucher, to be used on the company’s website or app for their next booking.

With more than 2K clicks driven to its site, Oui SNCF boosted sales over the period..
Mais en plus de générer du CA pour le Black Friday, l’entreprise en a aussi profité pour collecter des adresses emails et des optins afin d’enrichir son CRM.

Conclusion

Gamification is one of the most effective strategies for creating an impactful marketing campaign. By choosing a playful, interactive mechanism to animate your audience, you can not only present your discounts more effectively, but also significantly boost your sales. Discover our catalog of playable formats to boost your Black Friday marketing strategy.

Promoting a product requires a distinctive marketing strategy of a classic brand awareness campaign. Indeed, the brand will need to focus its content on a very specific item, to highlight its features and make its audience want to buy it.

But a campaign to promote a product can also serve other strategic objectives for the company. It can be an opportunity to :

• gain notoriety,
• recruit new leads (especially if the brand extends its product range),
• retain existing customers,
• collect opt-in,
• or attract the public in-store (with product demonstrations, for example).

In this article, we propose 6 effective ideas for gamified marketing campaigns to promote a product.

SUMMARY

• 1.Offer an exclusive preview of your product
• 2. Answering customer questions with an interactive quiz
• 3. Share UGC to promote a product
• 4. Product launch: 100% winning coupons
• 5. Present the benefits of the new product
• 6. Immerse customers in your brand universe with a treasure hunt

The launch of a new product is a major event for brands. Some brands use the occasion to organize a physical event to present the new product to their audience. This is the case, for example, with Apple and its famous Keynotes.

Live shopping also offers a digital alternative to this product presentation, giving buyers an exclusive look at the item being used (or worn, for example, in the case of fashion marketing).
Les marques peuvent elles aussi en profiter pour répondre aux questions des internautes et présenter ainsi les caractéristiques et la valeur ajoutée de leur produit de manière beaucoup plus interactive et pertinente.

This product presentation, whether physical or digital, can take place before the launch. In the case of a digital product (such as software or a video game), the company can create a form of teasing by presenting a demonstration of its service, or by having its most committed users test an MVP (for Minimum Viable Product, i.e. a beta version). This is an excellent way of collecting feedback to improve the final product, and also of rewarding loyal customers.

The main added value of a new product, and what will make it stand out from its competitors, is its ability to respond to the problems faced by consumers. To encourage the audience to take an interest in a new product, and make them want to buy it, the brand can present its main features and what makes it unique, through an interactive quiz for example.

Consumers can discover the product interactively, through a gamified format at the end of which they can win a voucher or discount. This is what Savencia did to promote its 2 brands Giovanni Ferrari (mozzarella) and Islos (Feta) during the summer. The company shared a Mediterranean-themed quiz in which participants could test their knowledge while discovering the products.

Participants can ask questions via a shared form at the end of the quiz.
L’entreprise peut ensuite garder les questions les plus fréquentes et/ou les plus pertinentes pour organiser un Q&A et ainsi répondre aux préoccupations ou aux attentes de ses prospects.

What better way to promote a product than to share visual testimonials of the value it already offers your existing customers. In marketing, this is called UGC, i.e. buyer-generated content.
These could be photos or videos of your customers using (or wearing) your product.

This authentic content is highly effective in converting new customers, all the more so when shared with a dedicated hashtag on social networks. To collect UGC, brands can organize a contest (again, video or photo). Customers will be encouraged to enter for a chance to win an attractive prize fund and the chance to be rewarded on their favorite brand’s account.

This is what GoPro does, for example, to highlight the quality of its cameras.

Companies can also organize a promotional campaign to give visibility to a new product and boost sales at launches. Visit 100% winning instants, which distribute e-coupons, is particularly effective in this case.

All participants can win a discount (by a greater or lesser percentage depending on their result in the marketing game). The brand can do this via an interactive mechanism such as the A slot machine, for example, with motifs representing his new product, or a pinata, again in the shape of the item in question.

Many brands promoting a product tend to focus on its features and functionality. However, a much more effective marketing strategy is to present the advantages of a product and the added value it can bring to users. Users are thus encouraged to imagine themselves with the product in their hands, and better visualize what it can do for them.

An excellent gamification mechanic for presenting the added value of your product or offering is the Memory.
In fact, it makes it possible to showcase promotional content in an original way and informs consumers and maximize the time they spend with the brand.

Shuttle Freight, for example, has opted for this marketing game to highlight the benefits of their loyalty program. and recruit new members. By clicking on a new card, participants could discover the rewards to which they would have access according to the number of points accumulated (birthday gift, free crossing, etc.).

The game was followed by an instant win to earn loyalty points, a particularly engaging mechanic, since prospects knew exactly what these points would unlock.

When brands promote a product, they often use static formats that don’t engage consumers. Gamification allows you to create interaction and to encourage customers to interact with the product. They are no longer the passive spectators of a classic ad or tutorial video presentation, but the actors in the campaign, discovering the product from every angle and even in action.

The treasure hunt is a very interesting format for creating this interaction between customer and product. Participants are immersed in the world of the brand and can discover the product in a gamified environment linked to the article. This may involve a classic hidden object, in which the user searches for the object in a virtual world.

The brand can also opt for a more complex version, in which the user has to assemble the various components that make up the product. (like the ingredients of a beauty care product, for example). The customer discovers for himself the full potential of the product, its different functionalities/properties and use cases.

Conclusion

With the explosion of e-commerce and digital marketing, one of the challenges facing retail brands is to encourage their online prospects to visit their stores. Moreover, e-couponing is among the most effective marketing levers of the distribution of discount coupons and vouchers.

Indeed, by digitizing coupons, brands can boost their sales not only online, but also in their physical points of sale. In this article, we’ll take a look at the benefits of e-couponing, particularly in terms of converting and building loyalty, increasing in-store traffic and maximizing ROI.

Also, we’ll introduce you to a particularly effective gamified format for distributing coupons to your audience: the 100% instant win game.

SUMMARY

• What is web couponing
• Why opt for e-couponing?
• Organize a 100% winning game to give away discount coupons

Web couponing (or e-couponing) is quite simply the digital equivalent of the classic discount coupon. Rather than distributing paper coupons (after a checkout, via a catalog or by mail), brands can now digitalize their couponing.

Coupons can take many forms, such as a QR code or a barcode. Moreover, it can be printable, distributed via email or in the form of mobile coupons (known as m-couponing). The discount code is sent directly by SMS or MMS to the customer’s phone, or via the brand’s application.

Like any discount coupon, the main aim of this lever is to encourage consumers to make a purchase, buy more or buy again from the company.

While digital coupons were originally used by e-retailers to offer their customers a digital alternative, web couponing is now a popular tool in retail. In fact, it enables brands to increase traffic, boost sales in their physical stores and to build customer loyalty. It has thus become a highly effective web-to-store lever.

Finally, at the checkout, customers with a digital coupon present the QR code or barcode. The discount is applied immediately via the store’s computer system. It can be used online (in which case it takes the form of a unique discount code).

Web couponing offers many advantages for brands. Before implementing a strategy, it’s worth understanding what results a company can expect when distributing digital coupons to its audiences.

1. Acquire new customers

Offering discount coupons, whether digital or paper, is always a good way to attract new customers. For example, the brand can offer exclusive discounts valid only on a first purchase. It can also send a promotional code when a customer subscribes to its newsletter. In general, the opportunity to take advantage of a discount can convince prospects who have never purchased from the company to place a first order.

2. Boost in-store traffic

A recent study conducted by CPA revealed that over 90% of Internet users say they are ready to use a discount voucher found online. In order to make a purchase in a physical store. Offering digital coupons is therefore an excellent way of increasing in-store traffic and converting online-activated prospects into retail customers.

To maximise its drive-to-store strategy, the brand can offer coupons that are only valid in-store, or only on offers available at its points of sale.

3. Build customer loyalty and increase repurchase rates

Coupons can also be a way of rewarding loyal customers. In fact, this will encourage consumers to return to the store or buy from the brand. The coupon can be integrated into the company’s loyalty program, or sent by SMS at a strategic period in the marketing calendar.

To make the most of the loyalty-building benefits of coupons, the key is to personalize campaigns. The brand can distribute discounts on customers’ birthdays or when they reach a new level in their loyalty program.

4. better track and maximize campaign ROI

Measuring the performance of retail campaigns can be more complex. Couponing enables brands to better target their efforts and track their ROI in-store, as each coupon can be encoded in the checkout system.

This marketing strategy is therefore agile and easier to implement than printing and distributing paper coupons. Companies can therefore test different approaches  (triggers for distributing a new coupon, discount amounts, etc.).

After analyzing the results of each A/B testing campaign, companies can adjust their strategy and maximize their results.

5. Increase your customer’s average shopping basket

A survey carried out by LH2 reveals that 67% of French consumers have already added a product to their basket in order to take advantage of a discount. 25% have even postponed a purchase in order to use a discount coupon.

E-couponing is therefore an excellent way to increase the average shopping basket of in-store shoppers (both physical and digital).

6. adopt more ethical maketing

One of the main disadvantages of physical coupons is that they are printed on paper. Even if it is printable, the e-couponing allows you to reduce the ecological footprint and adopt a more eco-responsible approach.

6. Improve your shopping experience

It’s also a good way to improve the customer experience by avoiding the risk of customers losing or forgetting their discount voucher before going to the store. Coupons can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Companies can even send reminders by SMS, email or via a notification on their app to ensure that consumers don’t miss their discount deadline.

However, to achieve these results the company must identify effective levers for distributing its coupons. It can rely on its application or loyalty program to achieve average basket increase objectives. Gamification and competitions will be effective in attracting and converting new prospects.

Marketing games, broadcast on social networks or in the form of pop-ups on your online/in-app store, are excellent levers for spreading an e-couponing campaign. This is particularly true for instant wins, which enable participants to find out whether or not they’ve won a gift (and the nature of the reward).

As part of a web couponing strategy, the brand can even opt for a 100% winning competition. As the name suggests, this mechanism promises all participants the chance to win a prize. The prospect will be able to launch a wheel of fortune or play the one-armed bandit and find out how much your discount will be (-30, 40 or 50%, for example).

Showroomprive & Rituals example

Showroomprivé’s strategy for boosting engagement and sales of the Ritual brand on its app. In this in-app game, participants were invited, through a Flip&Win, to choose their favorite product. After clicking on it, they automatically received a voucher to be used on any order over 45 euros.

In addition to boosting the conversion rate of its campaign and increasing the average shopping basket, this 100% winning game was also an excellent way of collecting customer preference and promoting products.

Conclusion

Launch a 100% winning game with instant win contests to boost your e-couponing strategy and achieve the results your brand has set itself (conversion, loyalty, customer knowledge, etc.). Easily organize your own instant win campaign thanks to our interactive mechanics!

A brand that can maintain its profitability over the long term is a brand that knows how to engage its customers. Notably by optimising the purchasing journey. Indeed, engagement (the depth, quality and frequency of interactions) is the indicator of commercial performance.

In fact, engagement boosts a brand’s visibility, converts prospects into customers and builds loyalty. Engaged customers are more likely to buy regularly from the same brand and to recommend it.

To activate the neurons and engage their customers effectively, brands can rely on Playable Marketing. By taking up the elements traditionally associated with games (points, competition, level progression), brands can optimise the purchasing journey and boost their revenue.

In this article, we explain how you can make the most of the advantages of playable marketing at every stage of your customer journey!

SUMMARY

• What is playable marketing and what impact does it have on buyers’ purchasing journey?
• Creating an engagement loop through gamification
• Best practices for designing a gamified shopping experience
  

Whether in education, healthcare or marketing, organisations are looking for tools to capture and maintain the attention. Gamifying the way they speak to their audiences is a relevant strategy for achieving this objective.

Why ? It’s all in our brains. During the discovery phase, when a consumer starts to become familiar with a brand, the elements borrowed from the game can, improve information retention.

Neuroscience has shown that gamification acts as a catalyst, which encourages the store of new data in long-term memory. We also know that our brains are likely to retain information when it is associated with positive experiences.

During the consideration phase, when consumers are comparing an offer with that of its competitors, gamification can be a a differentiating element. The fun aspect, as well as the opportunity to unlock rewards, strengthens customer commitment.

In fact, Gamification releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that creates positive associations when we win something or achieve a goal. The feeling of happiness and satisfaction increases. We are therefore more motivated to buy from a brand that offers a gamified experience. Playable marketing is therefore a powerful loyalty-building lever.

By increasing the number of interactions, gamified campaigns enable comprehensive data to be collected. This information gives a detailed understanding of the needs, preferences and motivations. The brand can use this information to optimise the purchasing journey, improve customer experience and even perfect products.

One of the key mechanisms in gamification is the engagement loop. Users are motivated to carry out an action (e.g subscribing to a newsletter, buying a new product or leaving a review) because this action unlocks a reward. With each new action, customers can access even more interesting prizes. This strengthens their bond with the brand and their sense of belonging. Gamification also activates the reward circuit. Indeed, it makes customers prolong their interaction with the brand (by continuing to consume) to continue to reap the benefits.

The reward, but also the recognition offered by the brand (via a badge or access to a VIP club) becomes a motivating factor in itself. And the commitment loop starts all over again.

This is why Playable marketing is not just about converting new customers. More importantly, it builds loyalty among customers who have already bought from the brand and boosts their Lifetime Value. Brands that use gamification to optimise customer experience and their purchasing journey will see their incomes increase.

For example, with its gamified application Run Club, Nike has increased its customers’ sense of belonging. It encourages more frequent interactions and a higher re-pruchase rate. The same goes for Starbucks, whose loyalty program consists of accumulating points to move up to higher levels. This program has generated 40% of the company’s revenues and a 7% increase in sales in 2019.

Interactive marketing formats and the gamification of marketing content enable companies to optimise their purchasing journey. However, simply introducing game elements is not enough to move a prospect up the conversion funnel.

Here are the best practices to keep in mind to maximise conversions thanks to Playable marketing.

Getting to know your customers

The first step in designing a gamified experience is to understand your target audience. This knowledge is facilitated by gamification as a tool for data collection and enrichment. Brands can collect qualified data from forms or by asking their audience to choose their favorite product.

Using the data at its disposal, the company will be able to adapt its interactive animations. It’s also a good time to segment the data collected in order to personalise and boost the performance of its campaigns.

Setting clear objectives

The brand will then need to determine which stage of the purchasing journey it wishes to reinforce. It is more relevant and affordable to determine the strategic contact points where gamification will enable the company to boost its results.

Depending on which part of the conversion funnel is most problematic (awareness, consideration, purchase, loyalty), the company can determine which marketing games to offer and when.

Incorporate relevant game elements for each stage of the customer journey

When a brand adds gamified elements to its purchasing journey, it is crucial that they make sense in the context of the customer experience. For example, introducing a points and reward system is relevant in the post-purchase phase to build consumer loyalty.

On the other hand, interactive formats such as competitions and instant wins are effective at the moment of discovery and consideration. They will help to boost brand visibility and convert new prospects.

Enhancing the added value of gamified elements

The final step is to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of gamification of the purchasing journey. Tracking precise metrics (conversion, lead generation, retetention) will enable the company to optimise its shopping experience and achieve its objectives.

Conclusion

By following these best practices, you can create a gamified customer experience that is engaging for your customers and effective for your brand. We provide a complete catalogue of interactive formats to target buyers at every stage of your customer journey. Whether you want to engage your audience, convert prospects or build customer loyalty you’ll find a gamified animation to meet your needs!