Early Black Friday Deals! Black Friday Preview! Black Friday Week!

This year, I received my first Black Friday email on November 14 — a full 10 days before the most frenzied shopping day of the year. At first, my heart raced (The sales are coming!). My FOMO kicked in (What if I miss a deal?). And then I tuned out (It’s all too much, too early!).

As a branding expert, I work with retail companies every day. I know that holiday starts in January, that you might be screwed if your campaign isn’t finalized by July and that your yearly sales numbers are CRAZY dependent on these mission-critical November days. I also know that you’re willing to do almost anything to get those numbers where you need them. Hence, MORE sales, BIGGER discounts, and EARLIER reveals.

But when everyone is screaming SALE-SALE-SALE, it’s your opportunity to do something different. They zig, you zag—you win. Here’s how to do it using the principles of persuasion.

The First Principle of Persuasion: Scarcity

In the classic book, Influence, Dr. Robert Cialdini identifies Six Principles of Persuasion that are proven to help guide human behavior.

The first is scarcity: people want more of things that there are less of. You could say that Black Friday, the single day to get the best deals of the year, was founded on this principle.

When Black Friday first became a thing, times were simpler. Black Friday was a special day when we shook off the turkey hangover, set the alarm extra early and lined up in the cold to see what kinds of surprises retailers literally had in store for us.

As shopping shifted to digital, the competition got more fierce. Retailers realized that they didn’t need to wait until the actual day to start their deals — and they all tried to get the jump on each other earlier and earlier. And as consumers, our feeling of scarcity also began earlier and earlier, triggering mass anxiety and overwhelm.

But what if a company, instead of trying to show us deals earlier and pressure us into sales, used the other Principles of Persuasion as a way to woo?

The Second Principle of Persuasion: Reciprocity

Dr. Cialdini’s second principle is reciprocity: people are obliged to give back to others if they have received something first. If you’re the first to give, people will want to give you something in return — especially if that gift is personalized and unexpected.

To apply this principle to your holiday marketing, think about what kind of gift you could offer your customer before Black Friday. Maybe it’s something physical that you get in the mail: a travel sized product or surprise sample or a fun piece of swag (Example: Pins and stickers are all the rage this year). Or perhaps it’s something digital: a holiday playlist, a photo filter or a code to redeem for an IRL treat that’s somehow tied in to your company (Example: A code for a free juice at a local shop, perfect for after a workout if you’re, say, a spin studio).

Getting a little something unexpected/personalized/special in the days leading up to Black Friday instead of yet another sale preview email will make your customers happier and help them associate that happiness with you once it’s time to shop for holiday — whether you’re running a mega sale or not.

The Third Principle of Persuasion: Authority

According to Dr. Cialdini’s research, another way to persuade your audience is to establish yourself as the voice of authority in a given field — because people follow the lead of credible and knowledgeable experts.

This may seem like a tricky one to incorporate into your pre-holiday marketing. When companies are yelling “sale!” and covering their marketing in glitter, how do you become an authority? There are two ways to think about this.

First, the zig/zag approach. As I just said, everyone and her mother is talking about discounts, cramming tinsel into crannies and wrapping everything up with a bow. If you decide to streamline your message — focus on say, the numbers that make you better (Example: 97% saw a visible improvement in fine lines after using our skincare) or the experts + knowledge behind your product (Example: Meet our garment technologists), you can cut through the tinsel.

Second, you could think about the voices of authority that people trust most during the holidays. Every blog/magazine/publication has a gift guide these days. It’s a no-brainer to try and get on as many of these as possible. Do that — then let people know. Send out messages highlighting all of the top gift guides you appear on and really flaunt the credentials of those associated with them (Example: The #1 cooking blog named our cast iron pot the Top Gift of 2018). Show off how much those in the know are recommending you and let their authority prop you up throughout the season.

The Fourth Principle of Persuasion: Consistency

Once people commit to something, they want to follow through, even if it costs them. And as Dr. Cialdini points out, people like to be consistent with things they’ve previously said or done.