Report and platform from Twilio highlight how to talk to your customers this Black Friday and Cyber Monday

We are approaching Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is one of the most important times of the year for commerce, and knowing how to speak to your customers, meeting their preferences, is very important to ensure engagement, loyalty, and, above all, to maximize sales. That's why the latest data from Twilio points out important details about how this communication should be done, considering message content, personalization aspects, and preferred channels.

In 2023, during Cyber Week, the Twilio platform was responsible for sending over four billion messages and over 64 billion emails from its customers. As a platform that enables business intelligence, and thanks to the amount of traffic, it was possible to observe some best practices and highlight insights on the impact of these communications, such as the fact that shorter messages are more efficient in engaging customers, given that after 120 characters, a sharp decline in the click-through rate is noticed. Furthermore, the best times to direct these communications are early morning and late evening, and it is important not to overuse characters like exclamation points (!).

"This information is relevant because it points out several topics of the direction that needs to be taken regarding the communication strategy of companies, always focusing on being more efficient in engagement. Understanding the extent of the scenario and how to make the best use of it is what is most important for retail leaders in this period," explains Vivian Jones, LATAM Vice President of Twilio. "Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that the message still needs to be based on relevant data regarding the individual's relationship with the brand, being above all, personalized."

The Consumer Preference Report, published by Twilio in 2024, showed that 86% of consumers state that the possibility of sending real-time messages to a brand increases the likelihood of completing a purchase. Furthermore, the response time is also important. Most consumers (51%) expect to receive a response from brands within one hour, which shows that improving the response time can have a significant impact on business. To make it more evident, the data shows that 40% of consumers say they made a repeat purchase and 25% made a first purchase from a brand that responded promptly.

The same Report also indicates that it is important to use the consumer's preferred channels. In Brazil, 77% of people prefer WhatsApp as a communication channel with brands, the same percentage as email. Worldwide, email and SMS are ahead of these numbers, being preferred by 79% and 49% of people respectively (WhatsApp is more significant in countries like Brazil).

“This means that companies need to invest in communication that meets all the criteria for customer preference. Consumers are eager to take advantage of dates like Black Friday, but they want the ease of doing so in the palm of their hand and through dialogue with brands they already have a good relationship with. The consumer already spends part of their leisure time on their preferred messaging apps, and when brands use these same channels and paths to communicate with them, everything adapts to this ease. It is the natural consumption journey,” Jones comments. For the executive, this is a trend linked to comfort, trust, ease, and convenience for the consumer in their daily experiences. 

For the specialist, there is no replacement for conventional sales and marketing channels, but it is necessary to invest in new areas that are gaining attention, especially in times like this at the end of the year, when consumers are already expecting offers, new products, etc. “It is worth noting that it is important to be prepared not just to advertise, but to handle consumer data, ensuring personalized service that will keep you always aware of what your brand has to say. The entire ecosystem is more complex, and consumers are at the center of the change. Keeping this in mind, brands will know what to invest in and how to prepare,” Jones concludes.