So, you're a local business owner or marketing agency and you're looking for amazing Black Friday results using viral marketing hacks. So, sit back and take in this brief (7 min) article that lays out the secrets to success, step-by-step.
In fact, inside this Black Friday Results article you're going to get:
- The simple plan that blends two proven techniques into one for unprecedented results
- The four simple web pages you'll need to be ready for launch
- The list of basic and easy-to-use digital tools that will make your Black Friday Results out of this world!
The simple plan that blends traditional marketing and viral marketing for Uber Black Friday Results
Here's a quick overview of the customer journey through a series of web pages and marketing messages. And, since the image below might appear complicated at first review, I thought I'd spend some time below breaking it down into simple steps and the 4 easy-to-build pages that'll give you amazing Black Friday results.
As we move forward, I've broken down the diagram below into two very easy to understand smaller groups.
JOURNEY ONE: The Viral Journey & How To Build Gobs of Great Leads For a Fraction of the Ad Spend of The Other Guys
First things first, if you'd like to read more about viral marketing you can...
>> Read my "Viral Marketing: The Ultimate Guide" - blog post. It's so popular it's ranked #1 in Google!
Okay, so back down to business.
In this diagram, you see a series of elements that deliver highly-targeted traffic to precisely designed pages.
VIRAL PAGE ONE: The Lead Capture Page
This is the first and most essential page in every marketing campaign. For our example, we selected a giveaway of a physical product. And, I've even given you the exact page we recently used on a very successful sweepstakes. In this sweepstakes we generated hundreds of leads in the first few days - all with free traffic!
As you can see above, THE 4 CRITICAL ELEMENTS TO THIS LEAD CAPTURE PAGE include:
Strong. Relevant. Benefits-Driven Headline - this type of headline prequalifies anyone that might enter into your giveaway. And, having a list of prequalified leads is the name of the game!
Actual Product - this is one of the most overlooked features to any viral campaign. Those that visit your page want to see exactly what they can win. And, for you digital product owners, this means you'll have to be creative and do actual product mock-ups to get the best results.
Authority / Proof - if your going to generate a ton of buzz with your viral campaign, you're going to want to make sure that it's a proven product or service. And, nothing provides this type of confidence like social proof! So, grab some testimonials, reference where else the product or service has been talked about, or show logos of highly-respected brands that have used or reviewed the product.
Simple & Effective Call To Action - let's face it, we're all distracted online. That's why you're going to want to make your call to action and entry form drop dead simple. Don't over-complicate it with too much information or small buttons. Make it a no-brainer!
Once you've crafted your lead capture page, you're going to want to develop the second (and last) page of the viral campaign.
VIRAL PAGE TWO: The Share Page
This page confirms that your visitor entered the campaign, repeats the major benefits, and (most importantly) incentivizes your leads to share the campaign with their friends.
There are TWO ESSENTIALS TO MAKING YOUR SHARE PAGE AMAZING...
Remind Them! Yes. You might think this is a waste of time. But, we've found that when people come back to this page to get their stats and links to share again, they find themselves reviewing the page to remind themselves why they're going to the trouble of sharing! It's strange, but true.
Add a Bonus! If you're really trying to goose your campaign, then simply sharing for extra chances to win the prize isn't good enough these days. In fact, what we've found over time is that if you offer two additional prizes, you get great viral results. The first bonus goes to the person that earns the most points. The second bonus goes to the person the referred the front end prize winner. This way, you get your audience motivated to share. If they don't win the random prize, they get a chance to refer the random prize winner. And, if they still don't get those two, they have a chance to earn the prize with the most points. Win! Win! Win!
So, that's it for the viral page, but what about...
JOURNEY TWO: The Special Offer For Uber Black Friday Results
After you get the leads from your viral campaign, you're going to want to send them directly to a special offer. And, since Halloween is just around the corner, think Black Friday. If you're reading this after Black Friday, don't worry, there's a whole list of occasions that make for great sales days!
Here's the part of the customer journey we're going to build next...
PAGE THREE: The Black Friday Special Offer!
It's simple and effective. One message. One emotion. One way to save! Here's an example from our friends over at Unbounce. With this example you see an offer the right customer just can't refuse. And, it's only available for a limited time.
The TWO ESSENTIAL PIECES TO A GREAT BLACK FRIDAY offer page are:
Limited Time Offer - this one has a countdown timer. It creates a sense of urgency and limits your customer's ability to get this offer anywhere else or at any other time.
Special Access - to get to the order page, you have to use a coupon code and click a special link. While I don't like having to do both, it creates a little "hoop" for someone to jump through to get the offer. I'd rather just have a special check-out page only available to people that come through the Black Friday offer link. And, at whatever time you specify, you can make the page go away or the pricing on the page to jump to normal retail.
PAGE FOUR: A Simple Thank You Page or Order Tracking Page!
Whenever you spend money online, you'd like to know how to get your stuff. So, you'll want to do the same thing for your customers. And, our friends over at AfterShip have some really great examples of tracking pages. Here's one.
Now that you've seen how 4 pages can boost your Black Friday results, you're probably wondering how to get the tools we use for our client's campaigns.
The list of basic and easy-to-use digital tools that will make your Black Friday Results out of this world!
Plan Your Campaign - there's no better tool on the market than MarketPlan.io for planning and collaborating on your campaign. It's the same tool we use to show our client's what we're doing and have them be part of the solution. (click the image to visit the MarketPlan.io website)
Create Your Viral Campaign - there are a number of tools on the market that do this well. Each of these options has its pros and cons. But, we regularly use UpViral. (click the image to visit the UpViral website)
Create Your Special Offer Funnel - page builders seem to be a dime a dozen these days, but if you want to connect directly with the planning tools and analytics without having to learn new tools, then do what we do... use ConvertPages - it's amazing! (Click the image to visit the ConvertPages website).
Send Traffic To Your Campaign - we're partial to sending email messages to drive traffic. While we manage pay-per-click campaigns for our clients, we leverage our viral campaigns and huge email list to send free traffic to start the viral process. You can grab a special FREE account of MysticMailer here. Yes, it's a bold face offer for our own email platform. What else would you expect?