As you know Black Friday is nowadays part of the annual retail market. In today’s world online shopping is the new go-to, which makes Cyber Monday ideal for big sales. However, interestingly enough most businesses forget about the biggest sale weekend of the year or they remember just before it happens. Either way not being prepared is the best way to miss this BIG sales opportunity or waste time and effort doing it badly.

In 2020, Black Friday is going to be more important than ever before! The Coronavirus pandemic has created a huge increase in online shopping and online marketing. As people haven’t been able to leave their homes for months on end the new custom has become to do almost all shopping online. In fact according to Statista some of the key changes between pre- and post-lockdown purchases increased by more than 40% in monthly online transactions just for essential groceries. These figures exclude clothing, appliances, furniture, accessories and other goods…

With this in mind, we’ve put together some ideas you can use to make sure you make the most of Black Friday 2020.

1. Add Black Friday to Your Online Marketing Strategy
This might sound a bit obvious, but as we said before, the biggest problem most small businesses have is, that they don’t plan ahead for Black Friday and by doing so they miss this big sale opportunity. Or they try to strategy a marketing plan last minute and put a lot of effort into something that just doesn’t work. Either way you miss a huge opportunity for your business. We recommend that you make time and plan ahead to reap the maximum benefits Black Friday and Cyber Monday has to offer.

Oh and by the way Black Friday is 27th November 2020 – just so you know.

2. Decide if Black Friday is Right for your Business
The thing with Black Friday is that everyone tries to jump on the boat to make the most sales over this festive season. But let’s be honest, Black Friday is just not for everyone. Instead of throwing money and effort into trying to make sales with a strategy that just doesn’t work, evaluate if it is actually right for your business. If you are a plaster, accountant, construction firm or insurance broker etc, then why are you trying to make Black Friday Sales? There are many more appropriate marketing opportunities around for you. Just because it is there doesn’t mean you have to be involved. Do what works for your business and industry.

3. Think Carefully About Your Black Friday Offers
If you are offering special discounts and offers to your customers over Black Friday you have to be very careful with what you offer. Did you know that Black Friday was actually created so that retailers could clear out stock to make way for new stock before Christmas? Therefore the majority of the products available are at the end of their lives – if we can call it that – and new versions will be available soon.

When you put together your deals and special offers you must think the same way. If you discount all you have then you’ll lose money for no good reason. Our expert advice is to discount the products you need to go and throw in a handful of offers then you’ll have a better financial injection whilst taking advantage of the promotion.

4. Don’t Give Customers A Way to Delay Their Purchase
Ever received a telesales call and you promised the sales agents that you will get back to them, but never called back or answered their calls? Yes, we’ve all been there. And that is exactly what you should avoid during Black Friday. Customers should have no way possible to delay their purchase. Uses phrases like ‘Last One Available’, ‘Only One Available’ or “Last chance Offer Ends Soon’. This will make the customer purchase immediately as they will fear to miss out on the deal.

Another point to consider is to not advertise all your deals too early. If customers see that you’ll have 50% off everything on Black Friday, they will wait until then to make the purchase. This will leave you with a low cash flow for the remainder of the month. So rather than offering 50% off everything, think about offering deals on selected items in the weeks or days leading up to Black Friday.

5. Be Online
As we discussed earlier Covid19 has changed the online world as we know it. Online sales are booming in 2020 and if your products are not online people won’t be purchasing it. Black Friday 2020 along with Cyber Monday will mainly occur online. This is due to people still avoiding in-store shopping and imagine the ques apart with social distancing – it’s going to be chaotic. Rather opt to be visible where your customers are shopping.

6. Do Something Different
You’ve shopped for Black Friday deals yourself right? Noticed how every Black Friday deal is similar? This company has 50% or even 70% discount on all items, another has exactly the same deals. There is a lot of noise on Black Friday, so the big question is HOW CAN YOU STAND OUT?

• Perhaps you can launch a new product on Black Friday with a limited amount at a discount?
• How about having a different product on sale on the days leading up to Black Friday?
• Maybe you can bundle products at a discounted rate?
• Have a selection of black coloured products? Discount only that range.

There are quite a few ways you can do Black Friday a bit different and stand out in the crowd. We trust that these ideas will add to your Black Friday Marketing Strategy and give you optimum results.

If you would like some help with curating a high performing marketing strategy for Black Friday click on the link below and book your Free Consultation Today.