Current Trends in Peak Season Shopping & How to Prepare
As with all my articles, this is taken directly from my marketing journal. However, I would like to preface this article by saying these notes were taken while I attended Google's peak season shopping conference in London in Q4 2024. So, this is my interpretation of what the fine folks at Google had to say on the topic. It was a privilege to be invited to attend such an event, the insights and statistics were fascinating, and the Google offices in London are incredible.
Some Emerging Trends with Peak Season Shopping
Between 2022 and 2023, around 38% of consumers wanted to start their Black Friday / Cyber Monday (BFCM) shopping earlier. This reinforces a growing trend in impulse buying becoming less and less prevalent, making it more crucial than ever to stand out to your customers as they begin their shopping journey and at every step along the way.
Back during the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw an unprecedented level of research that consumers would do on a product before making a purchase. Now in 2024, we are seeing consumers researching potential purchases just as much - and there's no sign of this slowing down.
Do You Have to Market Differently During BFCM?
The short answer is, it depends. However, what I will say is that many brands fall into the trap of changing their strategy completely during sale periods like BFCM and shift into marketing that only talks about the price and how cheap they are. You might be thinking, surely the price of the product is the most important thing during sale periods, what could be more important than price? The answer, value.
Google reported that only around 10% of transactional search queries refer to price - even during BFCM. The customer's journey does not start with the price, most of the time it begins and ends with the value. Consumers are often seeking answers and inspiration to find the perfect product for them, the one that provides the most value for the price - even if it's not the cheapest option on the market.
The only thing that changes is the statistically significant uptick in 'promo' and 'sale' branded keywords. But that's the key, branded keywords. Consumers investigate the best value option for them, or perhaps a few they would consider. They pick the brands they want to buy the product from, and only then do sale and promo-related searches happen. If your brand and products aren't present during this investigative period, you won't see the same uptick in sale and promo searches. It's more important for you to show off your brand and product while consumers are researching and deciding which company they want to buy from than it is to spend all your marketing budget shouting about your cheap prices.
So, How Do You Market During Black Friday?
Be salient
Be present
Show value
Be different
Google reported that 58% of growth during the BFCM period (and likely beyond) comes from the differentiation of your brand and products. Making it the paramount contribution to long-term growth. How do you differentiate your brand and products from the competition?
Show your purpose - Why did you make the product? What problem did you want to solve?
Be distinct - What are you doing differently from your competition? What makes you stand out in the crowd?
Be unique - Show off your product in a way that's not been done before
Be disruptive - Make content and ads that are going to catch people's attention (in a good way)
More than any other period, full-funnel marketing is especially important during the BFCM period. You should be present at every stage of your consumer's journey as they explore options, differentiate your brand and your product from the very beginning of the journey and you'll drastically increase your chances of getting the sale at the end of the journey. If you'd like to know more about the marketing funnel, check out my other article, titled: The Marketing Funnel & Funnel-based Advertising. Where I explore each part of the funnel and make some recommendations about what kind of content works well at each stage.
