How to make your Black Friday Promo a success
Each year, we see growth in the Black Friday extravaganza, with shoppers spending their hard-earned cash on items they’ve been dreaming about owning — and all at discount prices.
This continues well into Cyber Monday, which is also another big shopping event with steep discounts on a very wide selection of products and services.
Of course, preparations have gotten better over the years, so much so that the big players in the commercial market begin preparations way before the November month even approaches. All major retailers, brands work on Black Friday strategies and execution well ahead of time which has played a pivotal role in their campaigns being a success.
Small businesses also have an opportunity to maximise on sales during this peak shopping period. But to fuel success on this front, small business owners have to be proactive and create feasible strategies that will work specifically for their business without pulling a copy and paste job of the work big retailers are doing.
The strategies have to make business sense and offer many opportunities for profit during this period. If your Black Friday was not that successful in terms of sales, bookings or interest created then have a look at the below steps we put together to help you achieve better results for your promotion in the year 2020.
- Plan Ahead
Waiting last minute to run Black Friday promotions won’t do the job effectively if you are wanting to achieve an increase in sales, bookings and interest. You must remember that you will be competing against many other brands offering different promotions and sales. So, when running a promotion you need to plan at least a month ahead so that you can launch early build momentum, increase interest, bookings or sales. Plans start with goals. Once you have goals in hand, you’ll be able to start the planning process which will ultimately lead you to meet your goals.
- Offer Good Deals/Discounts
It’s not enough to just offer deals and discounts, they have to add value to the lives of your customers. This is where data comes into play because if you know your customers, you know what they need during this time of the year and how your products or services can be of help. Remember that they’re eager shoppers who are willing to buy but only if the deal or discount feels worth it. A lot of the big retailers go for percentage specials or 2-for-the-price-of-one specials.
- Marketing and visibility
After deciding to participate in Black Friday, sit with your marketing assistant, team or company to work on an online strategy that can be implemented ahead of time. It doesn’t help to have a promotion that no one knows about, so you’ll need to be beef up your marketing efforts ahead of time to generate a buzz. When it comes to Black Friday, you should know exactly what days your campaigns will start, which platforms you will be using (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.) and what tools (social media, direct marketing, emails, sales people or SEO).
- Proper Systems
You need to make sure that you have proper systems and processes in place to handle all queries and bookings. This means your phones, card machines, e-commerce (if you have an online store) needs to be working properly and you need to make sure that your platforms are able to handle traffic if there is an influx.
Engage with your customers throughout this period on social media and thank them for participating.
If you’re unsure where to start with your marketing for Black Friday, do not hesitate to contact us for a consultation.