Introduction
Holiday shopping is in full swing, and if you're a small business owner, you're probably wondering how to make the most of it. Black Friday— traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year—is right around the corner. The need for brands to create unique and ongoing campaigns that capture consumers' attention is greater than ever before. Here are some ways to leverage your brand's resources so that your business can shine during this critical time period:
Create a timeline
To ensure that your campaign is a success, you'll need to create a timeline. A great way to organize your schedule is by giving each activity its own day on the calendar. This will allow you to book in time for the planning and execution of your campaign, as well as for monitoring and evaluation, analysis and reporting.
One thing to keep in mind when booking in these activities is that they're all interdependent on one another: if something changes with one aspect of the plan (ie: launching an advert ahead of schedule), it's likely that other aspects of that campaign will need updating (ie: changing the dates and times on your landing page).
Lock down your product or service offerings
You want to make sure you have enough inventory to meet the demand of Black Friday. If you sell out of your products, or if your customers are disappointed and leave your store with nothing in hand, you'll lose all the momentum gained from Black Friday—and potentially your customer base for good.
But there's another reason why it's important not to oversell: because people will expect what they were promised at a lower price than usual, which means that if there aren't enough products available for purchase at that massively reduced price point (which is what makes Black Friday "black"), then they'll feel misled and not trust your brand again.
The last thing we want is an angry mob outside our door demanding justice!
Get familiar with the sales channels you'll use
When it comes to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there's no better channel for a brand than the one that gets you in front of your target audience. If you're selling apparel and accessories, for example, a targeted ad on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok will be more effective than an ad on Google search results (because people are not as likely to buy clothes online).
With this in mind, it's critical that brands use channels that are most relevant to their industry and product offering. For example:
Clothing brands should use Facebook Messenger ads because they're easy to set up and target the right customers at scale. They don't have to worry about creating landing pages or figuring out how they'll convert traffic into sales—they can just collect information from their potential customers right away.
Beauty brands may want to use Instagram Stories ads since consumers are already familiar with the format and are likely interested in trying new products (like makeup). Plus, if you create a story that shows off some of your newest products or offers special discounts on them only during Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotions—you'll see an increase in engagement from your followers!
Create an email marketing strategy
Create an email marketing strategy. You’ve heard it before, but your inbox is the most important part of your business. This means that you need to optimize your emails for mobile and create a newsletter to promote your Black Friday deals.
Make sure you have a call to action in the newsletter and use an easy-to-find unsubscribe button so that customers can opt-out of receiving future newsletters if they wish.
Use email marketing software like Flodesk, Klaviyo, MailChimp or Constant Contact, which are all GDPR compliant, so that you don’t risk getting fined for violating EU privacy laws!
Create a social media strategy
You can't go wrong with a social media strategy. Here are some ideas:
Create a social media calendar to plan out your posts in advance, including images and links that relate to Black Friday deals.
Use the accounts of your brand ambassadors or employees to give them an opportunity to share their favorite products or services with their followers.
Use hashtags like #blackfriday, #shopping and #deals so people looking for these items on social media will find you.
Create a PR plan
You can use PR to build your brand, get the word out about what you do, and generate buzz around your product or service. By creating good press coverage, you'll build a reputation for yourself or your business that helps with reaching new customers and generating sales.
When it comes down to it, the main reason why we use PR is that it works! When used properly, PR will help build awareness and reach new people who have never heard of you before (or haven't heard from you in quite some time). This means more exposure for your company as well as opportunities for reviews or testimonials from happy customers.
Offer pre-Black Friday deals
Offer a discount on your product or service.
Give a gift to customers who buy early.
Offer an incentive for your customers to buy sooner.
There are many ways you can do this, but here are some examples:
Give each customer who buys from you during the pre-Black Friday period a free item of their choice (or 10% off their next order).
Give away free shipping and returns throughout the pre-Black Friday period so that people feel comfortable buying from you.
Offer a limited-time deal on Black Friday
Offer a limited-time deal on Black Friday
Black Friday is the perfect opportunity to offer a limited-time deal to your customers. This way, they know exactly when they have to act in order to get the special offer. You can offer discounts, freebies or incentives such as extra points/rewards on their account by signing up for a newsletter or ‘liking’ your page on Facebook. It’s important that whatever you are offering makes sense for both you and your customer so that it doesn't come across as being too desperate for business and therefore make them feel overwhelmed by information overload!
Make sure the deal is easy to redeem.
If someone sees something they like but finds it hard (or not possible) to actually redeem their voucher then this will leave them feeling frustrated and annoyed with your brand - especially if there was no clear indication of how long it would last either!
Don't forget about Cyber Monday
Don't forget about Cyber Monday. This is the Monday after Black Friday, and it's another opportunity to get more sales for your brand. If you're not familiar with it, Cyber Monday is the busiest online shopping day of the year—a whopping $6 billion worth of sales are made on this single day (according to IBM).
Cyber Monday isn't just a way to convince people that they need more stuff; it's also a great chance for you to get valuable brand exposure through social media channels like Twitter and Instagram. You can use this as an opportunity to post deals and discounts that might be too good to pass up (but also make sure they're actually good). Your followers will appreciate being notified before anyone else if there's some amazing product going on sale!
You can make Black Friday/Cyber Monday a major opportunity for your brand if you prepare
You can make Black Friday/Cyber Monday a major opportunity for your brand if you prepare. The key is to plan ahead, know what you want to achieve and put the right people in place to make it happen. Here are some basic things that need to be in place:
A good strategy – this will guide everything else
The right tools – these can include software platforms or mobile apps that help manage orders, payments and customer information
Information about customers and their needs – this will help tailor offers based on who they are as individuals or groups
Resources including time, money and manpower (if needed)
Conclusion
Building a brand is a process of trial and error. You need to try out different strategies and see what works for you before settling on the final marketing mix that will take you to where you want your business to go. The key here is not only putting effort into it, but also being open to suggestions from others who have more experience than yourself.
We hope our guide above has helped with some of these points but keep in mind there are many other ways brands can conquer black Friday! Keep an eye out for new posts coming soon!
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