You’ll need to factor this into your online marketing strategy, which we’ll get into shortly.
What should small and medium-sized businesses promote?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the one time of the year that small and medium-sized businesses should consider going deep with discounts.
In North America, consumers have come to expect them. The chart from Numerator below shows that discounts were even bigger in 2018 for all product categories. The average deal was a discount of 49.6% off versus 45.5% in 2017.
Since many shoppers buy online across borders to access products, keep in mind that you’ll be competing with businesses for sales in the US and elsewhere on Black Friday.
However, you’ll need to determine how deep you can afford to go while also turning a profit. One way to do so is by offering different discounts based on how much a customer spends:
You may also want to save the highest discounts for only your most loyal customers.
1. Give VIPs the upper hand
Consider offering your VIP customers both early access to deals, and exclusive deals that are better than what the general public will see. Email is a great way to deliver these VIP deals, which we’ll get into soon.
Here’s an example of an early Black Friday VIP email promotion for Platypus shoes:
2. Offer price matching to mobile shoppers in-store
Savvy Black Friday shoppers seek out deals both online and in-store. This behavior is known as multi-channel shopping. Additionally, the majority of online Black Friday shopping in 2018 was conducted on a mobile device, according to Black Friday Global.
If you don’t have a mobile app or website to tailor deals to those shoppers, keep in mind that 80% of shoppers are also using their mobile phones while in a physical store. The main reason is to compare prices and look at product reviews.
As a result, many retailers offer price matching in-store on Black Friday. If you can afford to do it, this will help you build customer loyalty into the New Year. Just ask them to show you the price at your competitor’s site on their phones.
3. Provide incentives for customers to return in January and February
Another way to drive loyalty and repeat purchases in the New Year is by offering gift cards or coupons which they can redeem in January and February. This strategy can also help you drive up the average amount that someone spends with your business.
For example, you could offer a $20 gift card or coupon code to customers who spend over, say, $100. Here’s a screenshot of a similar deal that was recently promoted by Adore Beauty on Facebook:
Once you’ve created your special Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers, be sure to promote them in advance to maximize profits.
Supporting marketing and sales tactics
Given that there are only a few weeks to go before two of the biggest shopping days of the year, here are some quick ways you can get the word out about your sales events.
1. Pre-promote deals early in-store and on your website
As I mentioned earlier, not all shoppers are as familiar with the actual dates of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That’s why it helps to pre-promote your sales in advance. Many businesses start their sales a few days in advance of the main event, as well.
You can start by adding a graphic to your website homepage or get more technical like Platypus did with a countdown clock. The example below is for a Click Frenzy promotion, a pre-holiday Australian online shopping event that’s similar to Cyber Monday that occurred on November 12th. Your strategy depends on your budget and your technical expertise.
Additionally, consider putting up signs in your shop or printing flyers to give to customers in the days or weeks leading up to the sale.
2. Tease your offers on social media channels
If you’ve generated a following on your social media channels, build up some excitement with teasers for your upcoming sales. For example, Adore Beauty promoted a GIF of cats typing frantically on a laptop to tease their Click Frenzy sale on Instagram:
Depending on how much time you have, you could promote a different product or offer that you’ll be featuring each day until the main event.
3. Segment and send your offers using your email database
If you’ve built up a customer email marketing list in a tool like MailChimp, now would be an excellent time to segment your customers based on the promotions you plan to offer. For example, you could create one for VIPs, and one for customers with kids (if you plan to have a discount on select toys), and lists for men’s or women’s clothing sales.
You could also create a promotion for a list of customers who haven’t bought from you recently but that you’d like to bring back to your store. It’s commonly known as a win-back email. As I’ve mentioned earlier, you could offer them a gift or gift card with purchase, and let them know about other deals going on for Black Friday, like the example below.
Think about the timing of when you’ll send out your emails, as well. You might want to send out a teaser email a few days in advance. Then, send one out the morning of Black Friday, when the sale begins. If you have the resources, you can also send one out a few hours before the sale ends to capture last-minute transactions.
4. Promote coupon codes and deals on discount sites
Another place to promote your deals is on deal finder websites, which are easy to find and popular – particularly for airline travel discounts.
Most savvy shoppers are aware of and visit these sites to look for discounts from their favorite brands, both online and in-store. Below are some sample promotions for the brand boohoo on Finder.com Australia.
Many of these sites work like affiliates, meaning they take a percentage of the sale that was generated after a customer used the coupon code, or clicked on the “get deal” link and completed a purchase.
5. Target ads to multi-channel shoppers
Finally, if you have the budget and resources to create and deploy a last-minute advertising or direct mail campaign, consider promoting your sales a week or so leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Online Advertising articles in the QuickBooks Small Business Resource Center provides tips on how to create and promote a campaign online. Your best bet is to start with a Google paid search or display network campaign, or a Facebook campaign, since it might be too late to create and run an offline print or outdoor campaign. It’s important to note that you will pay among the highest PPC’s (pay per click values) for the entire year, as you compete with other companies also wanting a slice of the Black Friday action.
For Black Friday advertising on Social Media, you can quickly put something together with images and text that can be targeted to your ideal customers per the example below:
For more information about promoting your business’ Black Friday offer, see our Guide on how to use social media to generate Black Friday Sales which includes one very smart trick.
There may, however, still be time to run offline newspaper ads and a possible direct mail campaign. For tips on how to create and deploy offline campaigns, review this small business advertising ideas post, which includes definitions and costs for various traditional media channels.
It’s not too late to offer Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals
If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to consider how you can still capitalize on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Factor in what you can afford regarding special discounts for all customers and deeper discounts for VIPs. Make sure to match prices in-store for mobile shoppers, and offer deals to bring them back in the New Year, too.
Start with the quickest and most cost-effective ways to pre-promote your offers. If you already have an email marketing system in place, it’s a good place to begin. Segment your lists based on VIPs, different product categories, and even a win-back campaign.
Likewise, be sure to promote your sales events in advance in-store, on your website, and social media. If you have some money for last-minute advertising set aside, consider online, newspaper, and direct mail channels.
But you don’t have to do it all at once. Start with a few promotional tactics and channels to test this year, then build on your success and plan further ahead in 2020.
Looking for a Black Friday deal on Accounting Software?
If you’re looking Black Friday or Cyber Monday discounts on Accounting Software please visit our Intuit QuickBooks Global Black Friday Offer.
