The Black Friday countdown

Now a highly competitive commercial carnival, Black Friday has become the ultimate ecommerce revenue opportunity for publishing companies, not to mention a driver of colossal search traffic.

And so, for us digi journos, the ride starts earlier than for shoppers, with some SEO stories landing as early as September in a bid to get them ranking well in the lead up to the big event. When the day finally dawns (eight days and counting!), it’s a scrum to add live links and promote the featured deals across various platforms.

It’s, err, intense.

Though lots of you are already doing the following, for those about to press send on a Black Friday-themed email, I thought it worth noting what we find helpful:

Think early: the earlier you’re able to share details of a brand’s discount strategy, the better. Even if the info is embargoed, or it’s merely a heads-up with more information to come, it helps our planning (ergo maximising potential of inclusion).

Target the right person: there are often separate editorial teams responsible for producing ecommerce content across publishers’ websites. BF is the biggest day in their calendar and they’ll welcome your contact with open arms.

Hold the hype: promoting hype is not our aim. With BF content we want to help readers cut through the noise and find genuinely good deals from trusted retailers. As always, think of a brand’s audience before pitching to their editors. The same goes for promoting authentic alternatives such as Small Business Saturday or Turning Black Friday Green.

Consider affiliates: when prioritising which retailers to link to, editors will identify not only where readers are more likely to make their purchases (by looking at conversion data), but also where offers the best commission rate. So if you’re representing a brand that sells direct-to-consumer, consider getting it to set up with an affiliate network if it isn’t already. If the brand retails on more than one platform, list the ecomm sites, helping us identify the best to link out to.