Black Friday 2024: Get Referrals and Advocacy Data Now to Ensure Success

Read time: 4 minutes

Black Friday is critical in 2024. After tough trading conditions and low consumer confidence, it’s the breakthrough chance you’ve been waiting for. But you need to act now to ensure success.

You wouldn’t wait until September to order Black Friday stock. Or to redesign your checkout. So why put off collecting insights that could make or break your biggest sales opportunity of the year? 

Get ahead of the competition by integrating the right data early. This will allow you to create irresistible offers, clever cadences, and smart segmentation. Read on to learn why investing in referral and customer advocacy now is essential for closing 2024 with a bang — and kicking off 2025 on a high note. 

Why lead with referrals this Black Friday?

Why access advocacy data now?

Roundup

Why lead with referrals this Black Friday?

Referral marketing is the best way to get high-quality customers.

Last year, the 400+ brands we work with gained 11,500+ new customers on Black Friday — and 83,000+ in the two-week period — all thanks to trusted referrals. 

On average, referred customers:

• Spend 11x more on their first order (and 8% more on subsequent orders).
• Are 5x more likely to refer others.
• Have up to a 2x higher lifetime value.

So, through referrals, you’re more likely to get volume and quality when it comes to acquisition. 

Imagine: after years of turbulent trading, you start leveraging referrals now to acquire quality customers for not only Black Friday but for December, January and February. 

In fact, we’ve generated over eight million successful referrals and $2.5 billion in incremental revenue so far. Want to become part of those Black Friday stats? Well, here are four ways our platform can help you be BF/CM (Black Friday/Cyber Monday)-ready:

1. Create effective BF/CM campaigns with A/B testing 

A/B testing teaches invaluable lessons about your customers. It tells you what made them take the desired action, helping you optimise not only your BF/CM campaigns but also your future projects. This should make it easier to attract even more loyal customers. 

Our unique A/B testing capabilities help drive a 4x boost in customer acquisition in the first six months, leveraging data from over 45,000 experiments and A/B testing.

Testing can take some time. You need to set up, find results, and take action to ensure maximum impact from your BF/CM campaigns. So, the sooner you start testing, the better. 

2. Boost referrals by 34% with NameShare™

When it comes to word-of-mouth referrals, it’s often inconvenient for customers to share links. Would you want to find and share a link when simply chatting at the gym? Name Share™ removes this hurdle.

Unique to Mention Me, this feature makes it easy for customers to generate referrals without using links — all you need is a name. In fact, it’s helped our clients increase referrals by 34%, which is ideal for quickly building your BF/CM customer base before you start advertising.

Another tip? During the holiday period, try something new and bulk out your referral incentive to really drive engagement during your busiest periods.

For example, during Black Friday, offer free delivery or an even larger gift card amount to encourage more engagement and more referrals.

3. Target the right customers with AI-powered segmentation

Your brand advocates are your most loyal and valuable customers. The key to a successful BF/CM  is acquiring more of these dedicated fans through effective segmentation, ensuring you spend time and money attracting brand fans on Black Friday, not apathetic customers.

With our AI-powered Audience Builder, you can seamlessly create audience segments and integrate them with Meta or Google, making it easier to target lookalike audiences and boost your return on ad spend (ROAS) by up to 90%, as demonstrated by Moss, a leading clothing retailer in the UK.

Again, to give your brand the best chance this year, it’s important to start segmenting your customers now before the BF/CM rush.

4. Create well-timed offers with Propensity to Refer™ 

Should you prompt customers to buy another item or refer a friend? It can be difficult to know which lever to pull. Propensity to Refer™ solves this dilemma.

Our AI modelling predicts when it's best to encourage customer advocacy or to offer a purchase incentive. It’s already helped some of our clients increase repeat purchases by 2x, and AOV (average order value) by 14%.

Using this AI, you’ll ensure that your BF/CM offers are well-timed and relevant to your customer's current context, helping to maximise conversion rates during the BF/CM boom in traffic. 

Why access advocacy data now?

Referrals get you high-quality customers. Customer advocacy maximises value from existing ones, giving you the data to swiftly transform satisfied customers into brand promoters. 

But why is it so important to access this data now? Here are three reasons:

1. Swerve Google’s ban on third-party cookies

On 4th January, Google rolled out its Tracking Protection feature, which will ban all third party cookies this year. If you rely on targeted advertising via cookies, you need to rethink your tactics.

The solution? First-party customer data.

Access these insights now before the cookies crumble away, helping you future-proof your targeted advertising efforts, ensuring maximum value from your Black Friday campaigns, and bolstering your business during tough trading conditions.

With our best-in-class referral platform — and by leveraging features like NameShare™ and Propensity to Refer™ — you'll gather all the first-party customer data you need to build a profitable BF/CM.

2. Stay ahead post-recession

In May 2024, the UK emerged from recession with the fastest growth in two years. As the economy turns a corner, it’s crucial to find new ways to beat the competition and finish the year with a bang.

Customer advocacy is the ticket.

By accessing advocacy data now, you can intelligently segment and target customers to ensure personalised and relevant engagement for the year ahead.

This fosters customer delight, loyalty and satisfaction. Why start behind your rivals when you can burst out of the blocks?

3.  Maximise customer value through advocacy

Leveraging the power of advocacy can significantly boost customer lifetime value (CLTV), turning brand fans into active promoters who drive new business.

As we mentioned, in today's recovering market, having robust advocacy data is crucial to staying ahead of the competition post-recession. 

Why? It’s simple: the higher your CLTV, the stronger your performance and sustainable growth. So, integrate and use advocacy data before your rivals do.

Roundup

As brand competition intensifies post-recession, leveraging referrals and customer insights is your ticket to outperforming your rivals. But act quickly.

Start today, and you'll not only reap rewards during Black Friday but, most likely, also sustain growth through January and February.

Don't miss the chance to become the hero of your brand — take the first step towards record acquisition this BF/CM. At Mention Me, we're at the forefront of transforming Black Friday and holiday shoppers into loyal, year-round advocates.

Our cutting-edge referral solutions and advocacy insights will help you exceed modern consumer expectations and turn every Black Friday into a milestone for enduring brand success.

Find out how customer advocacy can revolutionise your BF/CM and the upcoming year. Speak with our experts today to get started.