The sale of the year is here! Black Friday is a crucial day for sales and the start of the holiday season buzz. Is your business prepared? If not, here’s a cheat sheet and survival guide from your friendly neighborhood marketing team at Searchalytics!
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great opportunities for your business to attract new customers and retarget your existing audience. Read on to find some new tips, refresh your marketing strategy, and learn how best to target customers and drive traffic to your business.
1. Start early
Prepare your store or business for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Whether it’s physically preparing your showroom, stocking up on inventory or making sure you have enough staff, you don’t want to be caught off-guard when that time of year rolls around!
2. Prime your audience
Going right along with tip #1, it’s important to let your customers know that you’re having a sale for Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday. If you don’t know where to start, try to proactively answer questions your audience may have about your sale, like:
- Where is it happening? Is it online or in person?
- How much of a discount are you applying?
- What products or services are discounted? Is it all of them, or select ones?
- How long are you having the sale, what are the start and end dates?
3. Check your website
Make sure all of your links are working, your site speed is quick and the mobile version of your website is up to par. This is especially important for e-commerce businesses or anyone driving customers to their websites.
A bad website experience could turn a potential customer away from your business, so make sure to test it properly beforehand. At Searchalytics, we design, develop and host hundreds of websites, so if you need an update or any help, contact us!
4. Make sure discounts are correct and identifiable
It’s crucial that your discounts are simple for customers to spot and use! Make the purchasing journey easier for customers by checking all discounts are correct, and that it’s simple to calculate or see the sale price.
A huge tip for e-commerce stores is to give customers an automatic discount instead of requiring them to enter a coupon code. Something we see a lot in our field is that the easier it is to purchase your product/service, the more likely someone is to “pull the trigger”.
5. Utilize social media
We believe that social media is important for your business no matter what industry you’re in. Let social media work for you this season in one or two ways.
Organic social media: Let your loyal followers and existing customer base know about your sale. Posting photos and videos announcing your sale and giving details that customers want to know (see tip #2) will prepare your audience and keep your business fresh in their minds.
Paid social media: Boosting posts and creating ads on social media means that you can broadcast your business and sale to the potential customers who are most likely to purchase. Facebook and Instagram allow you to set custom audiences and run campaigns to promote your business. For more information check out this article or give us a call and we’ll do the work for you!
6. Email marketing
Sending out an email or an SMS text message to previous customers alerts them of your sale and reminds them of your business, keeping you forefront in their minds as the holidays roll around. Some tips for email marketing:
- The most important part of your email is the subject line.
- Use the first sentence to grab your reader’s attention and make your main point. (In this case, announcing your Black Friday sale.)
- Keep your email straightforward and short.
- Include a call to action such as “Visit Us Today” or “Click this link for huge savings”.
There are many marketing tools to add to your business’ game plan this season. Kick-off Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a bang by preparing yourself, your employees, your store, your website, your digital marketing channels, and your audience!
