How to Sell More with Black Friday Music

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the largest annual shopping events. Some brands use them to clear stocks before the end of the year. Others express their social position, by publicly denouncing consumerism (Patagonia) or closing stores to let employees spend one more day outside (REI).

Almost every brand is trying to share a Black Friday message, which makes competition for people’s attention incredibly high and expensive for small and medium-size businesses.

If you do not have the budget to reach your audience via common channels like banner ads or social media posts, consider Black Friday music and sound effects. You can incorporate them into your website interface or create an amusing sales podcast that may go viral.

In the Depositphotos library, there are over a million tracks. Learn how to choose music that will help you stand out of the crowd on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Why is it called Black Friday?

November 26th — Black Friday 2021

November 27th —Small Biz Saturday 2021

November 29th — Cyber Monday 2021

November 30th —Giving Tuesday 2021

Black Friday is almost 100 years-old. At the beginning of the past century, it became apparent that people in the US started preparing for Christmas right after Thanksgiving. The number of people who wanted to shop increased on Fridays, turning shopping districts into entire traffic jams.

From the 1960s, salesmen began embracing the American tradition of Christmas shopping at the end of November. They began to offer customers shocking specials and discounts, and competed to see who would clear their stocks first.

The term Black Friday goes back to the tradition of filling out ledgers.

When financial statements were handwritten, losses were written in red ink and income in black. Black Friday allowed entrepreneurs to increase their income and use black ink more often.

Cyber Monday is the equivalent of Black Friday in the eCommerce world. The phenomenon first appeared in 2005. When people returned to their offices after Black Friday and the weekends, employees continued to look for great deals online and spend large sums of money.

In 2021, users are spending comparable amounts on online and offline purchases, making Cyber Monday no less important for marketers than Black Friday.

Explore dozens of tips for marketers here — Get Ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Marketing Checklist to Drive Sales.

4 ways to integrate Black Friday music [real cases included]

Music and sound effects were added to the Depositphotos library this year, in response to the growing demand for immersive, budget-friendly marketing campaigns. The 2021 Guide on Choosing Music for Ads, Videos, and Podcasts described all possible use cases for stock music, and provided links to curated collections of sound effects and music. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how you can use audio this November.

#1 Run early, sound-only advertising

For inspiration — Marc Jacobs’ imPULSE playlist for Black Friday and Cyber Monday (2013), MeUndies Facebook-hosted online event on Black Friday (2016), and Black Friday Pump-Up Playlist on Spotify

You’ve probably noticed that every year, brands promote their Black Friday deals earlier. Why? Buyers who know what they want brings more profit. This approach allows businesses to sell more on sale days, while avoiding the risks of a technical collapse. It also motivates customers to spend more money, since the second product is always easier to sell than the first.

Banner and video ads that you start to distribute in advance often require a huge budget. Try to create a sense of joyful anticipation by using recognizable Black Friday audio jingles and spreading thematic tracklists.

Broadcast recognizable tracks composed of stock audio files. You can even insert short announcements about Back Friday discount items. Another low-budget option is to offer a branded playlist on streaming music platforms. And if you have a larger budget, try recording a Black Friday podcast.

Use Back Friday stock music to create compositions that feature your brand name or announce key deals.

The Innovation podcast by Johnson & Johnson

#2 Go beyond with the landing page experience

For inspiration — Kategora’s website on sustainable building and The Race Car Project

A landing page, where clients get acquainted with your key marketing message, is the main eCommerce tool. Businesses that focus on offline sales also use landing pages to promote discounts and new arrivals.

The advantage of a landing page in comparison to a social media post is flexibility. You can publish photos of goods and their descriptions on it, and provide customers with the opportunity to buy them in one click. You can go beyond and present a creative project with interactive elements (see our recent project Hidden Messages in Children’s Books).

By interacting with prospects, you have a better chance of being recognized. That’s why adding themed sounds to highlight the value of your Black Friday offer is a great idea. Relaxing sounds of nature have the greatest positive effect on netizens.

#3 Turn shopping into a game

For inspiration — the Sign It With Oreo online campaign and #Unwrapthedeals by Walmart

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are also about having fun, not just buying new items.

Some brands have learned to bring sales to the level of entertainment, or even art. For example, in April 2021, Oreo teamed up with Lady Gaga and offered cookie buyers to record a song for their loved ones using OREOgram.

On the eve of Black Friday 2020, Walmart launched the #Unwrapthedeals TikTok campaign that had fun gamification elements. Its shoppable VR filter enabled users to “unwrap” virtual offers and record reactions. The campaign received 5.5 billion hashtag views and made its way to the top.

Building a simple social media game or landing page is about having creative ideas and understanding your audience. However, if you already have an idea in mind, give it audio accompaniment to increase engagement. Explore video game sound effects here.

#4 Don’t underestimate notifications

For inspiration — Wish and Letgo shopping apps

According to Statista, the global mobile commerce share in eCommerce is expected to reach 72.9% by 2021. The world of mCommerce has its own laws, and one of them is communication through notifications and short sound effects.

There are two types of sounds in apps: notifications and interactions.

The right interaction sounds can speed up a shopping decision, help a user feel comfortable and secure (for example, confirmation sounds for a successful payment), or increase screen time.

As for Black Friday, we recommend that you use sounds to share messages with Black Friday offers and discounts. Design audio communication with your audience carefully: you shouldn’t sound annoying, and your messages shouldn’t look like spam. The best strategy often includes personalized deals based on what your customer has already bought from you.

Search for UX sound effects on Depositphotos.

How to find music for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday ads

Buying ready-to-use audio tracks for your video ads, podcasts, games, apps, or websites is a budget-friendly solution for businesses. And it has several other advantages over recording branded music from scratch.

First, you get a file right away and avoid wasting time on production, which is critical in November. Second, you always know exactly what you get, since there is no risk of a misunderstanding.

This year, Depositphotos is offering stock music under their Unlimited Subscription for one month or one year ($19 or $199). You can also purchase downloads through an On Demand plan, which is valid for one year.

To start searching for an audio track, go to the Music & SFX section. Search for files using keywords, navigation by sentiment, genre, length, curated collections, and more.

stock music

Start your search for Black Friday stock music here

Wrapping up

Black Friday is no longer an event all about clearing stocks and earning more. An important task for marketers is to acquire new customers and learn new things about those who have already purchased from them.

Commercial songs embedded in Black Friday marketing will help you become more noticeable and recognizable, while car commercial songs and creative Black Friday campaigns in the form of podcasts will reach the hearts of audiences, even if your budget is limited.

We wish you a productive sales event, and invite you to enjoy even more articles and curated collections on Black Friday.