Win at BFCM on your first try: 5 trust-building steps for new stores

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Is this your first Black Friday/Cyber Monday? Maybe you’re still packing orders from your bedroom. Or you’ve quit the 9–5 and this business is now the plan, not the backup. 

No matter where you stand, one thing’s for sure: BFCM can feel like a huge make-or-break moment and pretty daunting.

You don’t need another checklist full of jargon or tactics that assume you’ve got a marketing team. 

You need real, practical ways to make your store look trustworthy, compete with bigger brands, and turn visitors into buyers.

Let’s get into it: five steps to build trust, win buyers, and make your first BFCM count.

Step 1: Understanding how to make the most of social proof to build trust

During BFCM, shoppers don’t have time to “learn” your brand. You have seconds to prove you’re safe to buy from. 

That’s why social proof, things such as stars, photo reviews, real customer voices, is your strongest conversion tool.

Start by placing Judge.me review widgets or carousels at the top of your product pages and homepage. 

Even a handful of genuine reviews can do more for conversions than any banner or pop-up. A store with 15 reviews feels safer than a store with none!

Use features like the review carousel or star ratings at the top of your product pages to create an instant trust signal.

Even a handful of reviews can outperform any discount if they answer the shopper’s biggest question: “Can I trust you?”

If you’re still early and light on reviews, consider rewarding those first customers. With integrations like Akohub, you can offer points or small rewards when someone leaves a review through Judge.me. 

Try Akohub's AI Marketing suite for free for 30 days

This way you encourage the kind of feedback that fuels confidence in future buyers as ultimately trust starts with proof and to get action from people who already perhaps trust you, you’ve got to give them a carrot! 

Furthermore, if you’ve got the budget to do so, take a look at builders such as GemPages, who can create professional looking, high-converting pages within minutes. 

New users can get 20% off all of GemPages' monthly plans thanks to our partner offer

Step 2: How to turn first-time buyers into repeat customers

Most first-time BFCM brands focus only on winning the sale. But the real win is getting that customer to return in January, when traffic slows and discounts disappear.

Pairing Judge.me reviews with loyalty or reward programs can really build that long-term relationship. For example, take our partner Bon Loyalty.

With this integration, people who leave reviews can earn rewards or points toward future purchases – turning a single BFCM order into an ongoing customer journey.

Get 30% off for 3 months on Bon Loyalty thanks to our partner offer

And now, a simple “thank you” becomes an invitation to stay!

Ultimately, a review isn’t the end of the transaction – it’s the beginning of a relationship.

When a customer takes the time to share that they’re satisfied, it’s a reminder of why your work matters.

That moment shouldn’t mark the end of the interaction, instead, use it as a springboard to strengthen the relationship. 

Thank them, show appreciation, and find new ways to keep them engaged and connected to your brand.

Step 3: How reviews can help with SEO

BFCM search traffic explodes, and most shoppers simply click the result that looks most trustworthy. 

That’s why getting your reviews to show in Google results is a powerful advantage. Judge.me automatically synchronizes with SEOAnt, so your product pages can display star ratings directly in search results. 

Not only does this increase click-through rates, it visually separates you from stores that look “unrated” or unproven.

You might not outrank bigger brands yet, but this is a good habit to get into right away.

Every review adds search-friendly language to your site, the kind shoppers actually type: ‘fast shipping,’ ‘true to size,’ ‘great gift.’ 

Get 30% off all SEOAnt premium plans today! 

As well as that, replying to reviews tells search engines your content is active, relevant, and trustworthy, helping you trigger keywords that polished product pages often miss.

Step 4: Automate review requests and follow-ups

If you’re busy fulfilling orders, you don’t have time to manually email every buyer asking for a review. That’s where automation becomes your best friend.

With our smart review requests, you can automatically email customers after delivery, timed perfectly when they’ve unboxed, used, or loved the product. 

Every new review can trigger personalized follow-up emails or even SMS campaigns (available via Shopify flow.)

This isn’t just about collecting stars – it’s about creating ongoing engagement with zero manual work.

During BFCM, timing matters. A well-timed review request turns a holiday purchase into organic marketing content before the season even ends. 

And if a customer leaves a glowing review, email flows helps you bring it back into the conversation with “We thought you'd like this” messages or loyalty nudges.

Set it up once so you can let it work for you while you sleep!

Step 5: The power of social proof on social media (TikTok, Instagram, Meta)

Your customers aren’t just shopping on your website during BFCM – they’re scrolling TikTok, Instagram etc. and constantly researching, comparing, hesitating, waiting to be convinced.

That’s why your best reviews shouldn’t live only on your product pages, and your brand extends further than just what content you’re putting out there.

With Judge.me’s integration for TikTok Shop, you can sync and display your customer reviews directly across social sales channels.

This does three things:

• Expands your presence to where your audience actually hangs out

• Maximizes the impact of every review (don’t collect it once – use it twice)

• Saves time with automated syncing instead of copying and pasting content manually

Shoppers might discover you on TikTok, check you on Google, and buy from your store. 

If your social proof doesn’t travel with them, you’re making them guess, so make sure they are able to see the proof wherever they go.

It’s not ‘go big or go home’ – it’s show proof or miss out 

You don’t need to compete with giants on price or outspend them on ads this BFCM. 

You simply need to show something most big brands can’t, that there are real people behind your store, people who care about every order, every review, every customer who takes a chance on you.

Trust isn't built through noise; it's built through small signals repeated over time:

• A photograph from a customer. 

• A warm reply to a review.

• Consistent star ratings.

These are the things that make a shopper stop scrolling, pause for a second, and think, “Maybe I should give them a go.”

As one founder of a 7-figure business said in an interview with us, he and his team still look through every Judge.me review via a dedicated review feed channel.

That’s what customers buy into. Not just what you sell, but how you sell it and how much you care.

And with that, we’re giving you a one-month free trial of Judge.me Awesome, so you can try every tactic in this guide, stress-free throughout BFCM.

• Build trust fast

• Automate review collection

• Reward loyalty

• Stand out in Google

• Show proof on TikTok and beyond

This BFCM, you don’t need to fake it – you just need to show proof and your customers’ voice will do the selling for you.