Black Friday 101: How To Prep Your Business For Black Friday
(And Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday)
Are you ready to attack Black Friday like you know what you’re doing?
The year is coming to a fast end! And although Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are still a few weeks away, it’s never too early to plan for the biggest sales period of the year. Black Friday is all about increased revenue, booming traffic and massive sales, so if you want to take advantage of the opportunity, read on!
LET’S GET INTO THE JUICE!
Here’s a checklist of everything you need to do to prepare for Black Friday:
Brainstorm An Amazing Black Friday Deal.
There’s a saying that says “Go big or go home”, and it cannot be more true in this situation. On this day, customers will come to you with an expectation to find a Black Friday deal that is different. So make sure you plan something unique, spectacular, and out of the ordinary.
Your Black Friday deals can come in different shapes and sizes. The most common way is to offer direct discounts on your products or services. For example, customers can get a 30% off for all items in your store. Or they can save up to $50 for several products.
Offering gift cards is another strategy you can employ while planning your Black Friday deal. When buying items in your store during Black Friday, customers will receive a discount gift card for their next purchase.
If you want to keep the full price of your products and/or services, try offering bundle sales or freebies. This strategy not only appeals to your customers but also increases your store’s average order value.
Create a Campaign Plan.
Black Friday is not a 24-hour-sprint that happens only on November 26. It’s a long run that can start from early October and even last after the event. Therefore, without meticulous planning right up your sleeve, Black Friday might be hectic and out of control. Many Black Friday participants capture attention by starting early. So to avoid getting lost in the sauce on November 26th, consider planning something that starts before Black Friday and extends afterwards into Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
For a list of all the things you need to plan an effective campaign, download our Black Friday sales planner here.
Collect Testimonials.
People want to see the benefits of your product or service. At some point in your campaign, you’re going to need to throw up some reviews or testimonials to prove your product or service does what you say it does. So reach out to past customers and ask for testimonials that you can include on your promotions & platforms.
Batch Sales Copy.
Once you know all the places you will advertise your Black Friday deal, it’s time to create copy. It’s easier to do this all in one sitting to ensure that your message is similar across all the platforms you will advertise on.
Design Graphics.
After your copy is batched, it’s time to create promotional graphics using templates, stock photos/videos & custom content.
For a library of stock content, join Honey Social to gain immediate access to over 1K photo and video assets for creatives with a little cinnamon, brown sugar and honey in their soul.
Here's our two cents.
We’re going to add a BONUS TIP to this list because we think this tip is a MAJOR KEY to having a successful Black Friday sales.
Grow your Black Friday email list.
Research shows that email marketing proves to be among the top method for conversion on Black Friday. Marketing through email appeals to customers better than marketing through search, direct, and social, leading to a conversion rate of 4.1% for email marketing. Therefore, if you want to attract large traffic and earn more during this event, it’s time you started growing your Black Friday email marketing list. There are many ways you can grow your email list. The most common is to offer something for free in exchange for an email address. Leverage your social media platform to offer your free goods and set up a lead capture form that sends the emails directly into your email marketing database (high tech) or onto a spreadsheet (low tech).
We hope this information was helpful to you!
