It’s become a day that is celebrated far and wide. Retailers, brands, broadcasters, and marketers mark the day, helping to bring it to the forefront of mainstream media. But has its recognition turned International Women’s Day into something it was never intended to be?

Is International Women’s Day becoming little more than another opportunity to sell?

The origins and significance of International Women’s Day

I hear some of you wondering “So what”? Surely all publicity is good publicity for the day, right?

Let’s think about it.

International Women’s Day (IWD) was established over 100 years ago in 1911, during a time when women were fighting for their right to be seen as equals among men. A series of events, including the 1908 Women’s Day protest in New York laid the foundation for the day to be recognized far and wide.

Over the years, women have made incredible strides to level the playing field. Rosa Parks lit the spark that would become the civil rights movement. Frida Kahlo used art to communicate and connect with people. Althea Gibson broke the color barrier in tennis and Billie Jean King successfully advocated for equal prize money for men and women. I could go on all day listing the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, Aung San Suu Kyi, Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie, and Maya Angelou who have helped break barriers and shatter the glass ceilings that have been holding women back for centuries.

Despite all these amazing, notable accomplishments, gender inequality persists. Women around the world still face issues like the wage gap, limited access to healthcare, inadequate representation in leadership roles, and gender-based violence.

To truly honor International Women’s Day, we must acknowledge how far we have come while remaining committed to addressing the challenges that persist today.

The commercialization of International Women’s Day

So are brands using International Women’s Day as an opportunity to market their products or services?

Pinkwashing, a term that has been gaining traction over recent years, refers to the practice of brands using feminist causes – like International Women’s Day – as a marketing tool without genuinely supporting the empowerment of women and equality between the sexes.

As popularity for the day has grown, there are an increasing number of companies that employ IWD messaging to boost their brand image or sell products, over genuine support.

Pinkwashing detracts from the critical conversations that need to be had and dilutes the importance of the day.

Authentic vs. sale-centric email marketing

Let’s have a look at some examples.

There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with these emails, per se. They’re beautifully designed, engaging, all-round nice emails. But what do they have to do with International Women’s Day? Absolutely nothing. They’re simply promoting their products.

On the other hand, this example from the Italian jewelry brand, Pomellato, truly promotes IWD. Its video, which features inspirational women including its female CEO discusses the issues and struggles women are experiencing every day. It’s paired with a small promotion about the brand’s charity work empowering women survivors of domestic violence.

Reclaiming the meaning of International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is an opportunity for brands to celebrate the achievements of women around the world. However, it’s important to go beyond simple gestures like “get 10% off today” and look at tangible actions that advance gender equality. Whether that’s opening up safe spaces to have important discussions or working with existing charities to make an impact, International Women’s Day is a day for action.

Moving beyond tokenism

IWD is a chance to showcase your brand’s support for women, but sadly, these one-off gestures end up feeling superficial. Companies need to adopt a sustainable approach. Thinking about IWD as a one-day affair isn’t going to make the change we need.

That’s not to say you can’t run sales or offers on the day. We’re marketers, after all, and clicks, conversions, and sales are what we’re measured on. But it’s about balance. How your brand supports and encourages women throughout the year should be a prominent story you tell alongside any sales or promotional messaging.

How brands can make International Women’s Day more than just a hashtag

So, has International Women’s Day become a sales gimmick? It can be tempting for brands to view it that way. But there’s a crucial opportunity here. By using IWD as a springboard for genuine action and year-round support for women’s equality, brands can make a real difference.

Here’s what you can do:

• Challenge yourself to move beyond tokenism. Plan initiatives that extend far beyond a single day.
• Support organizations working towards gender equality. Partner with charities or foundations that align with your brand values.
• Amplify the voices of women. Feature stories and achievements of women throughout the year, not just on IWD.

International Women’s Day can be a powerful tool. Let’s use it to celebrate the incredible achievements of women and push for a future where equality is not just a slogan, but a reality.

Between the Chiefs back-to-back wins, Taylor Swift chugging her drink, Jason Kelce’s dungarees, Beyonce’s new album announcement, and Usher’s half-time show it’s fair to say this year’s Super Bowl was iconic. But were the commercials?

Let’s have a look at some of the winners and losers from this year’s offerings and see if we can learn why some made more impact than others.

The best Super Bowl commercials 2024

Watching over this year’s commercials, I noticed one distinct differentiator. Those that did well this year had a clear direction. Essentially, their storytelling was on point. Whether they decided to go kooky and weird or tug at the heartstrings, the goal was clear and the result was memorable.

Google Pixel

The importance of accessibility cannot be understated. We all want to live in a fairer world where no one feels segregated or disadvantaged. Of course, a smartphone isn’t going to solve the world’s problems, but it’s a step in the right direction.

This commercial from Google tugs at the heartstrings and forces many viewers to see the world from a completely different perspective – one where we don’t take clear vision for granted. The story was strong and heartfelt, the goal was clear and the message memorable. An all-round winner in my eyes.

REESE’S

This is a great example of a brand that knows its customer base. As a big fan of REESE’S Big Cups, I totally get the reaction, why mess with something so perfect? I know a lot of people who would agree with me too, don’t go changing something so perfect. But hold on… adding caramel, yes, please.

It’s wonderfully weird which makes it memorable. Plus, the voiceover is provided by Will Arnett. Any Arrested Development fans out there will certainly enjoy the parallels in humor.

Dove

I can’t deny that this commercial appeals to me greatly. Amid the male-dominated Super Bowl comes a poignant reminder that young girls often stop playing sports because they lack body confidence. This advert is a continuation of Dove’s campaign empowering women and promoting body positivity and acceptance. Its goal wasn’t to promote its products but to share its brand values. We love to see it.

Microsoft

Microsoft spent its Super Bowl slot promoting its AI assistant, Copilot. The beautiful thing about this commercial is how it furthers user creativity.

There is still a lot of uncertainty around AI. People are worried about AI displacing human roles, but Microsoft dedicated its 60-second slot to showcasing all the ways Copilot can be used to help people achieve their goals.

Dunkin’ Donuts

This commercial deserves a shout-out for the cast alone. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jennifer Lopez, Jack Harlow, Fat Joe, and Super Bowl Alum Tom Brady – it’s an outstanding line-up. It has widely been declared the best ad of the Super Bowl and the garish pink and orange tracksuits sold out within 19 minutes of being added to the shopdunkin.com site.

All in all, it’s a genius stroke by a marketing team who knows what will appeal it its audience.

CeraVe

For those of you like me, who love regularly checking in with all things related to celebrity gossip, you’ll have noticed strange pictures of Michael Cera lugging around bags of CeraVe around New York. Well, what was considered to be a semi-successful publicity stunt turned into a genius marketing event.

The best thing about this ad is that even if you’re not familiar with CeraVe products, they make it explicitly clear it is dermatologists, not Michael Cera behind the brand.

The worst Super Bowl commercials 2024

Conversely, the worst Super Bowl commercials of 2024 lacked any clear goal or story. Despite many of them having some truly a-list star power behind them, the actual commercial and poor.

Snap

Social media giant, Snapchat produced an ad that tries to set it apart from other photo and video-sharing apps. It is (apparently) the app for authenticity. No faking, stripping back on the inauthentic content produced by influencers, just allowing people to be themselves, however weird and wonderful that may be.

Unfortunately, it’s just a bit hard to swallow. While it may not be a channel that’s all about the ‘likes’ and is more private, the ad doesn’t sell it. It may be because I work in marketing, I see friends and family using Snapchat daily, but I don’t believe it’s a more authentic channel and the commercial does nothing to convince me otherwise.

Squarespace

Talk about disconnected – what is this commercial actually saying? The only time the Aliens capture people’s attention is when they broadcast to their phones. So, people are always connected to their phones. How does this convince anyone to use Squarespace to create their website? Every time I watch this ad (and for the purpose of this article, I have watched it more than I care to) I just left with more questions. The biggest of them all: where does Martin Scorsese fit into it all?

Homes.com

Three days ago, I would have said Dan Levy could do no wrong. Then I watched this commercial. I just don’t get it. What are the benefits of using Home.com? Why are they in a salon? Why do they remove her eyebrows? What are they even saying?

Are Super Bowl commercials still worth the money?

No matter what, there will always be winners and losers during these kinds of events. In the UK, it’s the holidays, in the US, it’s the Super Bowl, but with so many people streaming movies and series these days, is it worth a $7 million price tag?

Well, I would have to say yes. And not just because I love reviewing them after the fact. There’s an excitement around them that can’t be denied. Viewing figures are at an all-time high. Plus, if Travis and Taylor stay together, we could be watching a damn dynasty being created before our very eyes.

Temu is a prime example of how valuable these commercials are to brands. The Chinese-owned ecommerce company spent nearly $21 million on ad slots and according to Google Trends data, it may have paid off. Web searches for the brand spiked when its commercials played.

On Apple’s App Store, Temu was in the top three most downloaded free apps, alongside Copilot and Paramount+, all brands that utilized the Super Bowl commercial slots. There’s no denying the power of the Super Bowl. The price tag is hefty, and paying superstars like Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, and Lionel Messi certainly adds to the production costs, but it’s still well worth the money.

To check out all the ads from this year’s Super Bowl (and years gone by), click here.

This year’s Black Friday was influenced by a range of economic factors and channel developments, which emphasizes how essential it is to be aware of the evolving landscape. These factors included:

• High interest rates: As shoppers face financial pressures that impact their spending habits, you need to adapt to these challenges and recognize the increasing popularity of buy now, pay later (BNPL) and loyalty rewards options.
• Heavy discounting: Throughout the year, brands have adopted a more aggressive discount strategy than ever before. Encouraging customers to shop when they have already enjoyed many sales this year is a significant challenge.
• The Apple impact: Seasonal email marketing is now even more complicated thanks to Apple’s Mail Privacy Policy (MPP) and Link Tracking Protection (LTP). Not only does it make targeting more challenging, it makes measuring the success of your campaigns harder.
• ‘The fifth quarter’: Post-holiday promotions and seasonal clearances are more significant now as budget-conscious consumers seek deals and redeem holiday gift cards. This new ‘fifth quarter’ is another important avenue to capture additional sales.

With all that in mind, let’s explore some of the top trends we saw this year, dive into the numbers, and see what we can take away from the sales this year.

Black Friday trends 2023

1. The extended shopping period

The most prominent trend in 2023 was the extension of Black Friday deals. In the past couple of years we’ve seen a gradual extension beyond the traditional 24-hour sale window. But this year, even we were surprised to see brands beginning their Black Friday sales on November 1. Even more so that they continued them to the end of the month, six days after Black Friday.

Early access to sales is a tactic we promote to foster loyalty and engagement among your existing customers, but did brands go too early?

Normally, early access gives customers ample opportunity to peruse and plan their shopping activities. However, going too early can have the opposite effect. Rather than inspiring spontaneous action with limited-time offers, an extended sales period gives customers the time to talk themselves out of making a purchase.

Overall, Dotdigital experienced a 6% increase in emails sent over the whole month of November compared to 2022. Black Friday itself saw an 8% increase in email sends and the weekend as a whole increased by 2.5%.

2. Black Friday sales figures are strong

Merchants across the globe enjoyed all-round growth over Black Friday weekend, generating an 8.5% increase in revenue. This is an incredible feat, and during a time of financial uncertainty is something to be celebrated. Congratulations to all our ecommerce merchants who created engaging marketing campaigns that appeal to today’s savvy shoppers.

It’s even more impressive when we compared it to results reported by Barclays Bank which noted that transactions were down 0.63% compared to BFCM 2022. The same report also cited that the number of shoppers had fallen by 1.6%.

3. Email engagement increases

With shoppers looking for a great deal over Black Friday weekend, it’s no surprise that people of engaging with your marketing emails over this period. There has, however, been a lot of talk and speculation about Black Friday fatigue.

Customers are bored of getting the same messages over and over again (especially if you’re running your sales for a whole month). But, looking at the numbers, this doesn’t appear to be the case.

This year there was a marked increase in unique email open rates. Up by 11%, it’s clear that shoppers spent Black Friday 2023 perusing their inboxes looking for the best deal. The average open rate throughout the sales period, from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, was an incredible 31%.
In contrast, we did note a decline in click-through rates, down 13% to 3.6%. Don’t worry, though. 2023 saw the launch of another privacy update from Apple, also known as Link Tracking Protection. While its impact on Dotdigital users is minimal, it’s important to be aware of it as you report on your 2023 Black Friday results.

4. Abandoned carts drive sales across the line

It comes as no surprise to us at Dotdigital that merchants are increasingly adopting abandoned cart programs. After all, a personalized abandoned cart campaign can increase sales by 31% and average order value by 16%.

Over Black Friday, we saw a 47% increase in the number of cart abandonment emails being delivered compared to 2022. This growth can be attributed to increased awareness among merchants about the benefits of implementing this automation program, as well as the continual improvements in Dotdigital that make it easier than ever to deploy personalized campaigns in real-time.

In the US, this marked increase in abandoned cart sends generated a 28% increase in revenue. This further emphasizes the cost-efficiency and effectiveness of this strategy. Brands that embrace abandoned cart automation are not only recovering potentially lost sales but are also experiencing a positive impact on their bottom line by boosting customer lifetime value and fostering stronger customer relationships.

5. SMS is an action-packed channel

SMS sends increased 19% month-on-month, indicating that early adopters are really beginning to understand the channel.

Text message marketing is a strategy designed to cut through the noise. There isn’t a noisier time of year than Black Friday and the ensuing holiday season. The uplift in SMS sends over the whole month of November is a clear indication that marketers see significant benefit from adding SMS to their marketing strategy.

There was a significant increase in the number of brands offering new subscribers discounts when they signed up for SMS. It’s a brilliantly smart tactic. SMS messages are fast to build and concise, perfect for communicating flash sales and exclusive discounts to loyal customers. Plus, offering discounts at the point of sign-up is a strong list-building tactic, encouraging shoppers to turn to SMS as a form of communicating with their favorite brands

What can we learn from Black Friday 2023?

Despite an extended shopping period and potential customer fatigue, merchants still experienced impressive sales figures, increased email engagement, and reaped the benefits of implementing effective cart abandonment programs this Black Friday.

As competition to capture customers’ attention intensifies each year, brands should focus on crafting innovative campaigns that stand out from the crowd and appeal to increasingly savvy shoppers. Real-time, moments-based marketing, like cart abandonment campaigns, is vital during these busy periods. The significant value of this approach is already evident, with increased revenue generated from these campaigns during Black Friday.

Black Friday 2023 has re-emphasized the need for brands to be proactive and adaptable, leveraging the power of personalization and real-time marketing strategies to maximize customer engagement and drive sales. By focusing on the whole customer experience, and paying close attention to consumer behavior and trends, you will be better equipped to create compelling campaigns.

Black Friday 2023 in numbers

• Global email sends increased by 6%
• Emails sent on the day of Black Friday increased by 8%
• The open rate for Black Friday weekend was 31.2%
• Open rates increased year-on-year by 11%
• The click-through rate (CTR) for Black Friday weekend was 3.6%
• CTR rates declined by 13% year-on-year
• Revenue generated over Black Friday 2023 increased by 8.5%
• The number of cart abandonment campaigns increased by 47%
• Overall revenue generated by abandoned cart campaigns increased by 4.5%
• SMS sends grew 19% month-on-month

Methodology

Figures for this Black Friday debrief came from data pulled from the Dotdigital platform. Comparative data (2023 vs. 2022) was pulled from a pool of Dotdigital users who were active during both time frames. We define active as using the Dotdigital platform to send email, SMS, or other marketing activity.

2023 Black Friday figures were based on activity from 00:00 Friday 24 November to 23:59 Monday 27 November across our three core regions: Australia, the UK, and the USA. They were compared against figures pulled from 00:00 Friday 25 November 2022 to 23:59 Monday 28 November 2022 across the same regions.

The stories and messages they impart impact the mood of the season.  

The game was changed one November day back in 2011 when John Lewis released ‘The Long Wait’, a masterpiece that made John Lewis adverts a ‘thing’. Since then, supermarkets have been vying for the top spot of the season. Millions are being spent on a single 60-second clip that needs to be just right.  

The year of the cameo

This year, more than ever before, brands have spent a healthy wodge of their advertising budgets on getting some famous faces to support their Christmas messages. The music has also shifted this. There’s a notable lack of twinkly, nostalgic tunes that hit us in the feels. Instead, brands are opting for something more upbeat and reminiscent of a Christmas office party.  

Maybe it’s the fallout from all the doom and gloom of the past year, but there is a celebratory feel to most ads this year. And, as a lover of sparkly dresses and sipping bubbly with friends, I have to say I’m all for it.   

But that’s not to say all the ads this year were stellar. As always there were some haves and have-nots and some that missed the mark by a mile.  

Let’s go through this year’s most notable Christmas ads and see what we can take from the messages this year.  

John Lewis: Snapper, The Perfect Tree 

It would be remiss of me not to start with John Lewis. So, here we are.  

The big message: Let your traditions grow  

Festive feels: 5/10 – There’s snow, presents, a Christmas tree, family, etc.  

Overall verdict: 3/10 

This is a hard one to wrap my head around. For so long John Lewis has dominated the Christmas ad game but this year it feels lucky to get a three. I have to admit, it’s grown on me the more I’ve watched it, but I still don’t get it.  

I’ve read all about how John Lewis decided to go in a new direction this year. They worked with a new agency to shake things up. And in that vein, it has created this ad about embracing new traditions. Traditions – a theme other brands have embraced this year and succeeded. This one did not.  

My biggest issue with it is the lack of coherent storytelling. I can understand why the boy might be attached to this destructive plant, but why the rest of the family? To be brutally honest, the kid comes across as a bit of a brat stomping out the house on Christmas morning to be with his plant.  

His family has undoubtedly worked hard to make the day memorable for him (as anyone who has hosted family at Christmas can attest to) but he doesn’t even spare them a Christmas morning hug. So why do they go out and join him and Snapper in the cold garden? 

I’m at a loss – where are the John Lewis ads of the days gone by? 

M&S Christmas Clothing & Home 

The big message: Love Thismas, not Thatmas 

Festive feels: 7/10 – snow, sparkly dresses, and sipping champers 

Overall verdict: 7/10 

Don’t hate me when I say I actually like this one, despite the early controversy around it.  

I feel like it got the ‘traditions’ message right. Stick to the old traditions that make you happy, and don’t waste your time on the ones that don’t.  

M&S really laid down the gauntlet here in terms of its Christmas cameos. We’ve got Hannah Waddingham (the official face of Christmas 2023), Sophie Ellis-Baxter, Tan France, and Zawe Ashton all saying goodbye to the traditions they hate the most. Plus, the music, a fun cover of Meatloaf’s ‘I Would Do Anything For Love’ is a perfect pair with the message.  

The thing that I really like about this is how well M&S knows its audience. Maybe it’s from years of M&S Food ads, but it feels like an indulgent brand and the ‘do only what makes you happy’ is in perfect keeping with it. I’m all for protecting your peace during the holidays.  

A Magical Christmas with Lidl 

The big message: Gift a toy to Lidl’s Toybank and share the magic. 

Festive feels: 8/10 – adorable animals, snow, fairy lights, and a little sprinkle of newfound friendships.  

Overall verdict: 8/10 

What can I say, this is giving me big John Lewis vibes. It’s sweet, and sentimental, and brought a tear to my eye.  

My big question – why a raccoon? Not a very festive animal but oh well.  

It’s a sweet story about the power that gifting a toy can have. It’s about being kind to everyone, even the stray orphaned raccoon who drops off your owner’s son’s missing toy. The music is soft and sweet, there’s a happy ending. Overall, it’s a cutie.  

Waitrose: It’s Time For The Good Stuff 

The big message: Is there one? If I had to give it one, it would be to feel no shame indulging this holiday season.  

Festive feels: 7/10 – it’s party season 

Overall verdict: 7/10 

To be totally honest with you, Waitrose gets a whole extra point for the Graham Norton cameo alone. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to say on this one. There’s no poignant message or tear-jerking moment. It’s just a bunch of friends, having a good time over the holidays – and isn’t that what we really want, anyway? 

The song is a certified banger – Depeche Mode’s ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ – and the jokes are cheesy as hell. I love it.  

Aldi: Kevin And The Christmas Factory 

The big message: Share the love this Christmas 

Festive feels: 4/10 – it’s got a Christmassy message in there, lots of Christmas dinner staples. 

Overall verdict: 3/10 

Fine, I’ll say it – I’m not a fan of Kevin The Carrot. It’s aimed at children and families, I know, but there’s something wholly unappealing about a talking carrot. Give me a talking dog any day. I also don’t like the past couple of years where they’ve simply parodied an existing movie. It feels flat. Like they couldn’t be bothered to come up with their own idea so copied whatever was on the TV that day.   

Asda: Make this Christmas Incredibublé 

The big message: No one loves Christmas as much as us at Asda 

Festive feels: 7/10 – Michael Bublé – need I say more?  

Overall verdict: 6/10 

Oh, jingle my bells that’s great.  

This is simply a joy to watch. A Michael Bublé cameo in a Christmas ad. Brilliant. Why hasn’t he been doing it for years? 

What I like about this ad is it gives a lighthearted glimpse at the work going on behind the scenes to stock the shelves with festive fancies. Asda has Bublé discussing food trends, holiday clothes, and more. It’s a smart way of showing off its holiday products whilst recognizing the delivery drivers and warehouse staff that make grocery shopping over the season possible.  

Sainsbury’s: The Big Fella’s Christmas Dinner 

The big message: It’s another one that doesn’t really have a message and I think it’s a stretch to find one amongst all the overt product placements.  

Festive feels: 5/10 

Overall verdict: 5/10 

Another ad, another cameo. This time it’s the turn of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up Singer’, Rick Astley. There’s a cheeky little pun in there about the song and that’s about as good as it gets for this one.  

Tesco: Helping you #BecomeMoreChristmas 

The big message: It’s Christmas, enjoy yourself. 

Festive feels: 9/10 – the only thing that would make this more Christmassy is if the big man was in it himself. 

Overall verdict: 9/10 

What can I say except that I love it? It’s funny and happy, simply brimming with Christmas joy. Seeing that burly, grumpy-looking dad poof into a joy-filled Christmas tree was unexpected and delightful. Seeing the star pop up when he heard the glorious words “Clubcard accepted”, in perfect timing with OMC’s ‘How Bizarre’ – pure brilliance, get the director an Oscar.  

Underneath it, you have a similar message to that which we’ve seen in M&S and Waitrose Food – do what makes you happy. And if that’s embracing the gaudy Christmas decorations, or taste-testing all the festive foods before the big day, who cares?  

I love the contrast with the angsty teen, trying to hold back and deny his love for the holiday. He’s all eye rolls and angsty expressions until he’s given the star he made a child. Then poof. He’s a Christmas tree too.

Morrisons: The Christmas Ad 

The big message: Celebrating the Christmas hosts and their oven gloves – the quiet heroes of the holidays 

Festive feels: 5/10 – pigs in blankets, mince pies, and a cat outside in the snow.  

Overall verdict: 6/10 

I’ve never included Morrisons in my Christmas ad round-up. They never really rank, there’s not a lot of chatter about them, but this one, I really enjoy this one.  

Okay, it’s not overly festive. Starship’s ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ is not a renowned Christmas song. But having been running the kitchen for many Christmases now, it’s nice to get some acknowledgment of the hard work that goes into it.  

Plus, I love the oven mitt that looks like a crazy cat.  I want it. I need it. 

Boots: #GiveJoy 

The big message: The spirit of giving  

Festive feels: 8/10 – Christmas tree, snow, presents, and the big man himself 

Overall verdict: 8/10 

This is a really sweet advert about a girl’s road trip to deliver a present to Father Christmas. Along the way, they drop off some quite tongue-in-cheek presents to the people who give them a helping hand. The music is jolly and upbeat. The feel is warm and cozy. It’s an all-around great ad. Well done, Boots.  

Side note: For all our American readers, Macy’s and a very adorable similar ad this year too. Check it out. 

Are you feeling festive yet?  

Well, what do we learn from the ads this year, other than how great the holiday season is?  

Not much, really. One thing that really comes across is that sentimentality is out. There aren’t many tear-jerkers this year, and after the past couple of years, maybe that’s a good thing.  

My main takeaway from this year’s ads is the remember to take the time to treat myself. Too often we find ourselves running about trying to make everyone else’s Christmas magical that we forget about ourselves.  

Maybe it’s time to update your holiday marketing with a ‘treat yo’ self’ message, to encourage your audience to indulge in that item they’ve been eyeing up.  

Bonus ads 

If this year’s ads didn’t hit the mark for you, check out some of my festive faves below:  

• John Lewis: Excitable Edgar 
• Sainsbury’s: 1914 
• John Lewis: Moz the Monster 
• Sainsbury’s: The Big Night  
• John Lewis: Buster the Boxer 
• Irn Bru: Snowman 
• Allegro: English For Beginners 
• M&S: Mrs Claus  

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend is not only overwhelming for you but also for your customers. Their inboxes are overwhelmed with marketing emails filled with competing promotions and seemingly endless sales.

To help you stand out, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of 20 unbeatable marketing hacks that will supercharge your Black Friday marketing strategy. By implementing these marketing hacks you can elevate your brand and achieve impressive results during the busiest shopping season of the year.

20 Black Friday marketing hacks

What is responsible marketing?

Responsible marketing is a customer-centric marketing approach. It’s about building trust between you and your customer, meeting their needs, and thinking about more than the business’s interests to positively impact the community.

For B2B brands, building trust is imperative. Trust and credibility are central to customer retention, lifetime value, and optimizing investment in sales and marketing.

Organizations must demonstrate their commitment to protecting the customer’s best interests to build trust. That means meeting regulatory responsibilities and putting the customer at the center of everything you do.

Responsible marketing for B2B

B2B responsible marketing involves promoting products and services ethically and transparently to other businesses. You need to understand the needs and values of your target audience. In addition, you should use accurate messaging, protect customer data, privacy, and stick to industry regulations and standards. 

No matter the industry or vertical, customers want to be treated fairly, uniquely, and with respect. In fact, more so in B2B than in any other sector.

In many cases, B2B sales rely on a human connection; the real relationships between your prospects and your sales team. For this reason, responsible marketing is vital for B2B marketers.

The principles of responsible marketing

Now let’s break it down. What does it mean to put customers first?

1. Data security

In our report, we found that 75% of people believe brands could do more to protect their personal data. These are the same people you’re reaching out to. It goes to say that they’re taking this into their work life and letting it influence their opinions of brands they’re looking to do business with.

Customer awareness has grown, particularly during the COVID pandemic. Over half the people surveyed (51%) claimed they were more aware than ever about the data brands are collecting. There has been a corresponding rise in mistrust in brands, with 63% of respondents claiming to be increasingly wary of giving out personal data.

2. Privacy regulations

With privacy regulations sweeping across Europe and the US, it’s fair to say that email subscribers are more informed about their privacy rights. They know what brands should and shouldn’t be doing with their data.

Combined with some very public data breaches and people have every reason to be wary of brands collecting their personal data. 36% of email marketing subscribers claim they’ve continued to be marketed to even after they’ve unsubscribed and asked to be removed from the database.

You must demonstrate your commitment to meeting these regulations and respect their right to privacy if you want to earn their trust.

3. Appropriate use of customer data

37% of people claim to have unsubscribed from a brand’s mailing list because the messages they were receiving were irrelevant. With recipients more aware of the data you’re collecting, they demand to see it being used appropriately. Failing to do so will lead to high churn rates for your marketing database.

As long as there is a clear value exchange, people are willing to give brands their data. Using the data, you have to improve the customer experience is a must. Collecting and not using information that will improve the customer experience will only damage your reputation, making it harder for you to create a strong, loyal customer base.

4. Good citizenship

Responsible marketing isn’t limited to your data practices. Good citizenship is also essential. 74% of those surveyed said a brand’s impact on society determines whether or not they trust them.

Clients and prospects want to hear more about how brands are supporting charitable causes or what they’re doing to be more sustainable. By incorporating this into your core brand messaging customers will find it easier to make an instant connection with your business. These connections keep you top-of-mind when the time comes to make purchase decisions.

Responsible marketing for B2B in action

So now you know the core principles of responsible marketing, how can you apply them to your B2B business? These are our top tips for adopting a responsible marketing approach to your strategy.

1. Be open, honest, and transparent

Our report makes it clear that consumers want transparency. They expect this when they’re sourcing new partners to work with too. Customers trust and believe you when you are honest and responsible when marketing. 

They are more informed and conscious of the products or services they choose to purchase. They often value transparency and authenticity in the companies they engage with. This helps build a positive image and fosters long-term customer relationships. 

Email subscribers want to know why you want their data and what you’re going to do with it. This kind of transparency will help recipients feel more confident to part with their data.

2. Give control to the user

Recent data security and privacy changes have empowered users to take control. By giving them control over how and when you contact them, you’re actually helping to build trust in your brand. Offer them the choice to pick a channel they want to correspond via. Would they prefer email, SMS, or over the phone?

Asking new subscribers what stage in the journey they’re at – looking around, actively shopping for new services, etc. – will help you deliver a unique journey for every subscriber. Rather than making certain data fields mandatory, allowing subscribers to choose what information they give you will give them more confidence in your brand.

You can even give your customers the ability to opt-in or opt-out of data sharing. Users will have more control over their customer data and can share only the information they are comfortable sharing.

3. Be clear about the benefits of data sharing

Nothing says open, honest, and trustworthy like explaining what you’re going to do with customer data. It’s easier to collect extra information by outlining the benefits of them sharing it with you.

If you’re collecting office locations, then explain it’s because you’ll be delivering treats and goodies to valued prospects and clients. Even basic information like name and job title should come with an explanation. But remember, you have to do what you say.

When customers understand why their data is being collected and used, they will be more comfortable sharing it. Being clear about the benefits of customer data sharing is an important part of building a strong relationship with your customers and establishing your brand as a trustworthy and reliable partner. 

4. Use data to create experiences

What’s the point of collecting customer data if you’re not going to use it to improve the customer experience? Understanding your customer lifecycle will help you know what data you need to collect to improve pivotal touchpoints.

As well as leveraging zero-and first-party data you should be using browsing behavior to trigger personalized campaigns such as abandoned browse automation programs. Experience is key, especially for B2B. You want to make every transaction as human as possible to drive prospects through the funnel.

We can no longer concentrate on experiences in silo. Email marketing is consistent in every customer journey. It’s there throughout every key touchpoint but it’s not good enough to focus on improving the email experience alone.

Modern customers are more impatient than ever. They want things now and they want it across every channel. For brands to meet and exceed these expectations, we need to dive deeper into the customer experience. What do customers want, what are their motivations, what potential pain points might get in the way, and how can you anticipate these to drive customer retention and loyalty?

What is the customer journey?

The customer journey tells the story of your customer’s experiences and interactions with your brand across all touchpoints. Traditionally customer journeys can be considered to have five key stages:

1. Reach: this is your chance to reach new customers while their deliberating, researching, and comparing products and propositions.
2. Acquisition: when customers land on your website or subscribe to your email marketing they’ve officially been acquired. This stage should be about building trust.
3. Conversion: after you’ve educated your new audience and customers are ready to convert you should be providing value and building a strong relationship.
4. Retention: to retain your newly converted customers you need to be showing customers that you care about how they feel and the benefits that come with their loyalty.
5. Loyalty: brand loyalty is of the utmost importance; loyal customers turn into brand advocates and that’s the name of the game.

Mapping the customer journey

Whether you’re an ecommerce, B2B, or non-profit business, how your customers interact with your brand will be unique. You need to consider all experiences customers have when interacting with you.

Mapping your customer journey can be particularly helpful to identify motivators and potential obstacles across customer touchpoints. While customer journey maps are often depicted as timelines, modern customer relationships are lifecycles.

The cyclical nature of lifecycles means there’s no end to the journey. Driving customer loyalty is the ultimate goal. Brands have to continually deliver relevant, timely, and personalized messages to retain customers. If you don’t, you’ll not remain at the top of customers’ minds and brand awareness will quickly fade.

Visualizing the customer journey will help you pinpoint key channels for each stage. When you know which channels to target, conversion and retention will be easier to optimize.

Why are customer journeys important?

Understanding your customer journey makes it easier to determine what customers expect from their experiences with your brand.

In marketing, emailing especially, expectations keep changing. From personalization to privacy, we’re in the middle of an irreversible revolution. Customers want personalized experiences, one-to-one conversations, relevant messages, and timely notifications. At the same time, they’re increasingly wary of brands, reluctant to hand over their personal information unless they get something in return.

The needs, wants, and motivations of your personas will vary according to the channel they prefer at each touchpoint. Customer journeys are also important for you to develop a customer-centric approach to your marketing. By understanding your customer’s journeys, you can tailor the experience to their needs.

The more you offer personalized, relevant marketing across your marketing channels, the happier your customer will be. And a happy customer is a loyal customer. Ultimately, you’ll find retaining customers and turning them into brand advocates far easier.

How to improve the customer journey

Maintaining good marketing results requires continuous optimization. As customer expectations adapt, so must your strategy. You should be regularly reviewing your customer journey to ensure you’re providing customers with the most seamless experience possible.

Stage 1: reach

To effectively target your audience, it’s important to collect customer data such as zero-party data. This is information customers willingly and intentionally share with you. It’ll help you build personas for your audience that can be used to create targeted ads on Google and social media.

Ensuring you’re reaching the right people will provide you with a much stronger list of engaged contacts. But, remember, you should only be collecting necessary customer data and you shouldn’t be collecting any information you don’t need to use.

Stage 2: acquisition

You don’t want to lose a newly acquired customer by sending them irrelevant messages. 37% of customers are willing to unsubscribe from brands sending them impersonal and generic email marketing.

Ask customers what they want to hear. Or, better yet, offer a self-service content model where your subscribers can pick and choose what subjects they hear from you about. Irrelevant messaging will only make customers lose trust in your brand, so avoid it as much as you can.

Stage 3: conversion

Conversion is the point where marketing and customer service come together. Both departments should be working in tandem to ensure customers have as smooth an experience as possible.

Channels such as live chat can help remove blockers on the path to purchase, but can also be used as a data collection tool. You can discover areas on your website that need improving or find out frequently asked questions about your products or services.

By collecting customer data along the way, you can create engaging and delightful post-chat email automations to improve overall experiences and help build strong, long-lasting relationships with your new customer.

Stage 4: retention

This is the stage where your customer data really takes on a life of its own. You should only be collecting data that you intend to use to personalize experiences and post-purchase is where you should be focusing.

Using explicitly expressed interest as well as purchase history data you can deliver personalized product recommendations or content to keep customers engage and retain them for longer. You can also team zero-party data with eRFM or lead scoring to create distinct pathways for highly specific and targeted customer segments.

By using customer data to personalize your marketing messages and offers, you can create a more relevant customer experience that is more likely to drive conversions and build customer loyalty.  

Stage 4: loyalty

The loyalty stage is all about making the customer feel valued. By optimizing the earlier stages in the customer journey you’ve already earned their trust, demonstrating your commitment to using customer data appropriately and that you value customers’ privacy. Now you need to level up the relationship.

Inviting loyal customers to join review panels or loyalty programs can create even stronger bonds with your customer. It will help them feel more invested in your brand giving them a reason to stick around and continue to choose you over your competitors.

As a result, it would be safe to assume that marketing budgets are reflecting this opportunity. Unfortunately, not. Marketing budgets have shrunk as businesses tighten their purse strings. The average share of a company’s revenue that’s spent on marketing declined to just over 6% in 2021. 

What is customer retention?

Customer retention is an important part of any successful business strategy. It involves building and maintaining positive relationships with your existing customers to keep them coming back. 

What is customer acquisition?

Customer acquisition is the process of acquiring new customers for your company. The goal of customer acquisition is to convert your customers into paying customers who will generate revenue for your company.

Customer acquisition or customer retention?

The rise of marketing opportunities online may make it feel like acquiring new customers and growing your marketing database is the answer to business growth. If there are more customers online looking to discover new brands, then you have a better chance of converting them, right? Not necessarily.  

While the acquisition is still a big priority for a lot of brands, competition is rife. You’re not the only brand to see the revenue opportunities offered by the new increased activity online. Brands like Google, Facebook, and TikTok want to keep users on their channels and clicking on revenue-generating paid ads rather than surfacing new brands organically.  

That means big brands with bigger budgets are the ones succeeding in converting customers. 

It’s also important to note that customer acquisition can be more costly and time-consuming than customer retention – so it’s good to focus on both strategies simultaneously.

The benefits of customer retention

Investing in customer retention is a smart move for any company looking to achieve long-term growth and success. Improving your customer retention has many benefits: 

Reduces rising customer acquisition costs

Research carried out by Profitwell found that customer acquisition costs (CAC) had increased by 60% in the half-decade from 2014 to 2019.  

During the recent pandemic, when online demand for goods first surged, ecommerce giants like Amazon and supermarkets ramped up their tactics, investing massively in paid search and delivery fulfillment. With 74% of online searches starting on Amazon nowadays, it’s been made nearly impossible for brands to compete with these industry leaders for new customer acquisitions.  

Lowers churn rate

When customers leave because they’re unhappy with their experience, it costs businesses money each time they lose one — not only because they have less revenue coming in but also because they have to spend money on marketing campaigns aimed at acquiring new leads (which usually don’t work as well as retaining existing ones).

How to improve customer retention

To retain customers, marketers need to shift their focus from acquisition to retention. The most effective way to do this is by using customer data. Customer data can be used for personalization, improving customer experience, and making data-driven decisions.

Harness your customer data to segment

Your data literally holds all the answers. Want to set your marketing team’s KPIs clearly? Check out your data. Want to know what products or services to develop? Your data will tell you. Want to know which customers are of the highest value? The answer is in your data.  

You can calculate your customer lifetime value (CLV) to help you increase sales and profit as well as boost customer loyalty. It can help identify segments that will generate the most revenue over time, enabling you to justify spending on your marketing campaigns. 

Thankfully, improved data capture, understanding of the importance of first-party data, and better access to predictive analytics tools mean that CLV can be forecast with greater accuracy.  

A great example of this is Dotdigital’s RFM customer modeling tool. By pulling in customer data from across your marketing stack, it intuitively groups customers based on the recency, frequency, and monetary value of their interactions with you. You can then build segments to target high-value and loyal customers or even customers who need nurturing.  

The end goal is to never let a customer go after you have invested in their initial acquisition.  

Whether through CLV, RFM, lead scoring, or NPS, you need to harness your customer data to target the right customer with the right message at the most optimal stage of their journey.  

Personalize your marketing for memorable experiences

Personalization is about more than addressing your email subscribers by their first names. Truly personalized messages and content take user behavior as they interact across your digital touchpoints into account, as do user preferences such as specific product recommendations, choices, and interests. 

This ensures that customers are seeing deals, promotions, and content that is relevant to them, on the channels, and at the frequency, they want to see it.  

Recent research found that customers are 80% more likely to make repeat purchases when brands create personalized experiences. These experiences can be anything from relevant product recommendations, to location-based updates. Overall, personalized communication on your website or in your email marketing campaigns can increase brand loyalty —particularly among millennials—by around 28%.  

Personalized experiences help you nurture your customer relationship by being useful, informative, and relevant to their specific stage in the journey. This will keep customers returning to your brand time and time again, leading to higher retention rates.

The long-term value of customer retention

Marketers must understand the long-term value of customer retention. Nurturing your existing customers is just as vital to your business’ success as acquiring new ones. Not only is it cost-effective, but the likelihood of converting an existing customer is 60–70%, whereas you only have a 5-20% chance of converting new prospects. 

The results will not be immediate, unlike measuring the growth of your marketing list. You need to ask yourself how you can improve the customer experience to keep customers coming back and turning into brand advocates. 

Calculating and tracking CLV and customer behavior will help you identify high-value segments and where you need to direct your marketing resources. In turn, this will ensure you’re getting a higher ROI for your marketing campaigns. Additionally, ongoing data analysis can help you identify trends and set clear KPIs for your marketing team.

Customers want and value personalized experiences. Using your customer data and intent signals, you can segment and target existing customers with experiences tailored to their needs and desires. With a strong core customer base of loyal customers, you will ultimately see customer acquisition rates improve, as they turn into brand advocates and spread the word about your business.  

We know that the customer experience is essential. So much so, that recent years have seen the number of companies with a Chief Experience Officer (CXO) or Chief Customer Officer (CCO) grow from less than 65% to 90%. The value of a good customer experience (CX) is widely acknowledged and fully accepted.  

But theories on how to achieve it are varied, conflicting, and ever-changing. Every year, we’re told about new tools that will help us create the experiences that will drive conversions, ROI, and retention.  

• SCV 
• DMP 
• CDP 
• AI 
• CRM 
• PWA 
• CMS 

The list is as long as it is endless. But one thing all of these buzzwords and tools have in common is customer data. 

What is customer data?

Whether you’re communicating with customers, businesses, donors, fundraisers, or your own internal members of staff, every organization has a wealth of data at its fingertips.  

Customer data is more than a simple email marketing contact. A contact’s email address is just one of many invaluable gems of data that businesses collect to better understand their audience. Customer data ranges from behavioral to demographic and personal information about them.  

Connecting your data

Today’s cross-channel customer can interact with your business anywhere, at any time, and on any device. You can send out surveys to collect data, build preference centers, and track browsing behavior. The ways you can collect data are vast and varied. As are the systems that house it.  

The data you collect can be housed in your email service provider, CRM, ecommerce store, CMS, and more. To gain quick and practical insights from your data, you need a tool that can pull them all together. 

What is a customer data platform (CDP)?

Today’s marketers are faced with a particular problem that affects every business, everywhere. Disparate data. To resolve this issue, we’re seeing more and more companies emerge referring to themselves as a CDP – but what is a CDP? 

A CDP – customer data platform – is a piece of software that brings together disparate and disconnected customer data into a single unified source. This allows for information to be easily shared and accessible to other systems which empower marketers to target customers with personalized and relevant marketing messages.  

As the internet enabled brands to flourish online, companies have collected more data from more sources than ever before. With all this big data, demand for a tool that can process multiple data sets and deliver actionable insights has grown. Similarly, the need to share data across teams and departments has increased.  

Compliance with data privacy regulations requires legal teams to easily access a customer’s personally identifiable information (PII). The need to deliver relevant marketing messages means that marketing teams need to be able to pull insights about customer behavior and preferences. Customer service agents need to access personal information in order to provide a personalized experience.  

CDPs have emerged as the answer to solve all our problems. But is this really the case? Are CDPs really the only customer data tool we’ll need in the future?  

Segmentation, automation, cross-channel

What are we really after when we talk about customer data tools?  

We’re after a single source of truth. Once place where everyone can get the answers to the burning questions stopping them from achieving their goal, objectives, and KPIs. 

When we strip that back, we’re looking for a platform that can consolidate multiple data sources, creating insights that will help us build experiences that convert and retain customers. As package software, it needs to play well with others, unify customer profiles, manage PII, and have open access to grow with your business and your marketing stack.

As marketers, we have three core areas of concern that must be considered when sourcing a new customer data tool. 

1. Segmentation

Segmentation is essential for marketers looking to deliver personalized experiences. Creating groups of customers based on common characteristics – i.e., segments – is an invaluable but underused marketing tactic.  

Customer data tools need to be able to highlight, categorize, and group customers based on their common traits. How often do they shop with you? When did they last engage with your email marketing? Are they a high-value customer with a large contract with your business or do they need nurturing?  

The quicker and more accurate these insights can be drawn, the timelier your marketing communications will be. Has a high potential customer abandoned completing a price request form? You will be able to retarget them with a personalized and relevant message that will drive conversions.  

When considering which customer data tool to buy, these customer and segment insights should be at the top of your consideration list.

2. Automation

Automation, much like segmentation, is essential for marketers in every sector and every vertical. Marketing automation uses triggers to deliver messages in a timely and relevant fashion. These triggers can be any touchpoint across the customer journey; they could be date-driven (birthdays, anniversaries), behavior-based (abandoned carts, abandoned browse, page views), demographic (location, job title), and so much more.  

A customer data tool will be able to process these actions, identify customer intent, and enable marketers to send timely automated messages. You’ll never miss a conversion and retention-building opportunity again.

3. Cross-channel capabilities

As well as segmenting your audience and automation your messages, you need to be able to extend your reach. Today, customers are unpredictable. They can change devices and channels at any point along the customer journey. Cross-channel marketing enables you to manage multiple channels under one roof. No matter where the customer is, whether that’s geographically or in their individual customer journey, having cross-channel capabilities means you will always be able to connect with your customers. 

You need a customer data tool that can follow customers across their channel of choice, deliver messages – be it automated or single sends – and return actionable insight into customer behavior on each channel you offer.  

Choosing a customer data tool

The types of tools, systems, and software you can use to connect your data are varied but one thing is certain: it needs to work for your audience.  

As marketers, your job is to create customer experiences that engage, convert, and retain customers for the long haul. To do this, you need a data-driven marketing tool that can do it all; connect with customers on any channel, deliver insights you need to create a personal and relevant message, and help you target the right customer every time.