Black Friday Ideas That Can Help You Drive Sales

The year is quickly coming to an end and Thanksgiving is practically here!

 It’s no secret that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest shopping events of the year. After filling up on food, family and football, Americans will be ready to line up early and fight off intimidating crowds in order to get a shot at the best prices of the year on gifts and things. 

Whatever your business goals and objectives, you should get in on the action and take advantage of these opportunities to reach out to current and potential customers and get your business out of the red and into the black for the 2016 fiscal year.

The statistics for Black Friday and Cyber Monday speak for themselves. 55% of Americans say that they plan to visit a store or shop online this year during Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Last year, shoppers spent $4.45 billion in stores on Black Friday and $3.07 billion online on Cyber Monday, and the spending is only expected to increase this year.

In order to stake your claim on your share of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, it’s important to start preparing now. With Thanksgiving only 14 days away, shoppers are starting to make their lists of what they will be looking to purchase when the big day finally arrives and creating a plan of attack and execution on just what stores they will be shopping in.

Typically, there is a little “cat and mouse” when it comes to black friday deals, and stores wait to see what their competition is going to dish out before serving up their own sales. This can leave some businesses, particularly small and mid-sized businesses, ill prepared for the biggest shopping day of the year simply because they’re waiting for their competitors to “jump first,” so to speak. One way to combat this is to be proactive instead of reactive. Rather than waiting until the competition decides what their deals and sales will be, go ahead and decide on yours in advance and stick to them when the time comes.

Many big-name stores like Wal-Mart, Macy’s and Toys-R-Us have already pre-released some of the deals that shoppers can expect to see on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in order to drum up buzz and excitement and drive more customers into stores and to their websites.

Even though your business may not be able to offer the same products and discounts as the big stores, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a crack at the Black Friday business. No matter how small, your business doesn’t have to be overshadowed.

Reach out to your target audience with these five Black Friday and Cyber Monday tips to help you boost sales and increase revenue.

1. Go with the “personal touch.” Small businesses definitely have a distinct advantage over the big-box stores because they can offer something extra that big businesses can’t: the personal touch. On a day as hectic and chaotic as Black Friday, being able to provide a more personal experience to shoppers can go a very long way. Provide extra support and service. Have conversations. Give shopping advice and personal attention to each customer. Even though people love low prices and great deals, they also like to feel special, valued and appreciated.
2. Give your loyal customers a preview in the days leading up to Black Friday. A simple way to do this is to create a gift guide themed email. Gift guide emails see a 48% higher transaction rate than purely promotional emails, and they are a great way to highlight your Black Friday deals early for your most loyal customers. You can also use this as a way to segment out your VIP subscribers and offer something exclusive just for them as a thank you for their business.
3. Offer a free gift with purchase. Sweeten the deal for shoppers by offering a free gift with a purchase over a certain dollar amount. This is not only a great way to encourage spending, but also gives you the opportunity to showcase another product. Try something small but useful that also encourages a repeat purchase. For example, lotions, perfumes, makeup and product samples are all great for free gifts because they give the shopper an opportunity to try it out and, if they like it, they may come back to purchase it in the future.
4. Create a doorbuster campaign. Creating an early morning doorbuster campaign that offers the lowest prices on your top-selling items, but only for a few hours, is a great way to drive traffic and bring people in early to shop. Make sure to give shoppers plenty of notice about your doorbuster offers via advertising, especially through emails and social media.
5. Host giveaways via social media. Get shoppers excited about the day and into the spirit of the season by hosting sweepstakes and giveaways on social media channels. These can come in all shapes and sizes, from coupons to contests and quizzes. By doing this, you also give yourself the opportunity to get current and potential customer’s information by requiring them to provide their email address in order to enter. It also gives you the ability to require people to like your Facebook page or follow your business on Instagram or Twitter in order to participate, which can help you to build your social media fan base.

Now’s the time to get your plan and strategy in place for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Promoting your sales and deals now through emails, your website and social media channels will help drive traffic in-store and online when the big day finally arrives. For more information on how you can make sure your advertising is prepared for the holiday season, you can contact the experts at Splash Omnimedia. We can help you create a comprehensive marketing strategy that is sure to drive business and help you get the most out of the holiday shopping season.