Your Black Friday Buyers Are Hiding in Plain Sight
You’re probably dusting off your Black Friday marketing strategy and crafting your plan to acquire new customers during the shopping frenzy. But acquisition costs keep climbing, increasing by more than 25% during the 2024 holiday season. How will you find new customers with the same old budget?
The answer to this dilemma is hiding right in front of you. Your most profitable Black Friday buyers are often look-alike audiences already hiding in your own database. With the right mix of Black Friday direct mail and digital touchpoints, these hidden buyers can be activated through insightful, data-driven Black Friday campaigns.
The Changing Black Friday Landscape
Black Friday has evolved from a single day to a full shopping season. Research shows that 54% of consumers begin their shopping at least seven days early. That longer window expands opportunity, but also multiplies the overwhelm.
Meanwhile, mobile dominates. In 2024, 69% of Black Friday online sales happened on smartphones. But conversion rates lag behind desktops (3.5% vs. 6.9%). Layer in inbox overload and soaring ad costs, and it’s clear: traditional digital-heavy playbooks aren’t enough. To stand out, marketers must rethink their omnichannel Black Friday campaigns.
Where the Hidden Buyers Are
Hidden buyers aren’t invisible, they’re just overlooked. Common sources include:
- Existing customers who only buy once a year.
- Cart abandoners who engaged but didn’t convert last season.
- Look-alike audiences modeled on your highest-value buyers.
- Overlooked demographics, like Gen X, the generation currently leading global consumer spending.
These buyers already know your brand. They don’t require costly digital impressions. What they need is relevant, channel-agnostic outreach.
Why Marketers Miss Them
Many Black Friday campaigns skip over these audiences for predictable reasons:
- Digital over-reliance: Retailers pour budgets into crowded platforms, where rising costs reduce efficiency.
- Data silos: In-store, digital, and direct mail insights rarely connect, obscuring valuable buyer patterns.
- Short-term discount focus: Chasing first-time buyers at the expense of profitable retention.
- Generational bias: Assuming physical mail doesn’t resonate, when in fact 65% of consumers are more likely to engage with Black Friday direct mail from brands they know.
How to Spot Buyers Hiding in Plain Sight
The most effective Black Friday marketing strategies begin with better visibility. That means:
- Leveraging first- and third-party data to identify customers due for reactivation.
- Identity resolution to tie online browsing behavior to offline records.
- Direct Mail insights like QR codes, PURLs, and matchback analysis to measure engagement.
- Predictive modeling to anticipate who’s most likely to shop this season.
This approach transforms scattered advertising into data-driven Black Friday campaigns that target the right audiences at the right time.
Bringing Them into the Light: Winning Strategies
- Anchor Campaigns in Direct Mail
Black Friday direct mail provides physical presence at the exact moment when digital inboxes are overflowing. Timed to arrive 7–10 days before the holiday, mailers keep your brand top of mind as shoppers enter their decision window. - Integrate Channels for a Seamless Journey
Strong omnichannel Black Friday campaigns coordinate direct mail with follow-up email, social retargeting, and mobile-optimized landing pages. Consistent offers across online and in-store channels (including buy-online-pay-in-store and real-time inventory) reduce confusion and improve trust. - Personalize Beyond Discounts
Real personalization is about relevance, not just price cuts. Use purchase history to recommend products, geographic data to highlight the nearest store, and loyalty data to offer exclusives. Data-driven personalization can increase repeat purchases by 25%.
Conclusion: Stop Overlooking What’s Right in Front of You
A successful Black Friday marketing strategy shouldn’t depend on outspending competitors on digital ads. Success comes from revealing the hidden buyers already familiar with your brand and engaging them with coordinated, data-driven Black Friday campaigns.
By using Black Friday direct mail as the orchestrator of your omnichannel Black Friday campaigns, you can get noticed across channels, reach overlooked segments, and build customer relationships that last far beyond Cyber Week.
Ready to uncover your hidden Black Friday buyers?
Download the Black Friday Omnichannel Playbook to access the perfect Black Friday strategy
Sources:
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- The Perfect Black Friday Strategy for Omnichannel B2C Organizations: A Direct Mail-Centered Approach
- Black Friday Research Findings (2019–2024)
- https://www.ignitepost.com/blog/the-true-cost-of-customer-acquisition-during-the-holiday-season