Black Friday Dos & Don’ts for Small Businesses
The Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend is fast approaching, and it’s not too late to delight and reward your audiences for being a part of your small business journey.
BFCM Dos
Prime your audience for your promotion
The BFCM weekend is loud and in your face with sales from every single direction in our lives. Every business is trying to get your attention to engage in their promotions and we often become numb to it during that sale storm. If you take the time to let your audience know that you will be hosting a sale ahead of time and get them excited for it, you are more likely to be successful than if you launch your sale quietly during the BFCM weekend.
Use free tools to make visual elements for your sale
Create eye catching visuals for your promotion using free apps that make you look like a pro. There are a variety of apps, like Canva, that you can customize templates or create your own templates from scratch for your sales and promotions. Don’t forget to include your own colours, fonts and images though so that your promotion is immediately recognizable as your brand. Your audience shouldn't have to read through the details to figure out who the sale is from, especially when they will be exposed to a sea of very similar looking advertisements all weekend (you know the ones, big bold letters screaming at you in bright red, yellow and black..)
Sell a story, not just products
Don’t just slap a sale sign on and call it a day, sell your products and services with the story that they deserve. Your product is just an item until it is associated with a personal value, and those benefits and values are how you can tell a better story with your product descriptions and marketing. Why do your customers need this item, and how exactly is it going to fit into their life? Sometimes we as consumers are too busy-minded to imagine how that product is going to make our lives better, but if you can tell that story for them it becomes easier for people to understand.
Test your website for user barriers
If you haven’t refreshed or redesigned your website in a while, make sure you go through the entire process as a customer before you launch any sales. Erase all knowledge you have of your products and services, and see if your website properly explains what it is that you sell. Check that the pathway from homepage to checkout is smooth, and that there isn't any confusion. Keep in mind that your previous knowledge of your website and products will make some information seem unnecessary, but a brand new customer is going to need to know everything before they make their purchase. Consider how you yourself show online, do you ever just add a product to your cart and give them your credit card details? Or do you peek around a bit, see who is behind the business, check the shipping or return policies, and get an idea of the business first?
Follow up with your new friends
Large sales are most effective on customers that you have built a relationship with. You can start that personal relationship with every sale, by sending a thank you or follow up email. It makes the interaction feel less transactional, and chances are that you truely are super grateful for their business and sharing that with them will only cement you as a human in their mind, not just a business.
Reward your audiences and customers
Here’s a few promotion ideas that your followers will love.
- Free gift with purchase
- Sweeping sitewide sales
- Host a new ‘deal of the day’ all weekend
- Classic bogo or bogo 50% off
- Bundles! Sell products bundled together to offer a unique gifting experience
- Offer free shipping or a temporary flatrate
- Provide an exclusive discount code for checkout savings
BFCM Don'ts
Avoid new complicated apps at the last minute
As tempting as it may be, during a sale or promotion is not the time to be trying out brand new tools and apps on your website. Set yourself up for success by planning well ahead with new tools, and if it’s too late now then just focus your energy on the tools you already know.
Don’t spread yourself too thin
I’ve you're feeling overwhelmed, focus on the platforms that you already have an audience for instead of trying to grow your audience. Don’t go broke buying Facebook ads and then forget about all the people on your social media who have opted in to your business by following or subscribing.
You don’t have to wait until Friday to start your sale!
You don’t need to wait until the actual day of Black Friday to start your sale! It’s your promotion, and sometimes extending the sale into the week before can help to reduce that overwhelming feeling. It also gives your audience time to decide that they really want your product or service.
Don’t get lost in the sea of sales
You can blast your sale into the internet and you may get some bites from complete strangers, but you are more likely to be successful if you focus on the audience that you’ve been building trust with all year. Get personal, stand out with connections you’ve made and make sure your promotions are not fading into the sea of ads that are screaming blindly for attention.
Do not forget about mobile users!
If you aren’t considering your mobile audience then you are missing out on a lot of opportunities. Make sure your website and other platforms are optimized for mobile users to avoid loosing any potenial sales.
