I bet there are things that you have forgotten to do to get your small business get ready for the Black Friday rush…especially, when it comes to your marketing.
In this COVID era, small businesses need to worry about supply chain issues, staffing shortages, decorating, advertising, and making sure your promocodes are set. Just to name a few of the worries.
If you have a marketer, they should already be all over these 4 things you need to do to get your small business ready for Black Friday. You don’t have a marketer? I got your back!
It’s not all about the sale
Black Friday is more than simply reducing the prices of your products and services that you sell. It is a chance to get the next sale, and the next, and the next.
In short, you have an opportunity to create a long-term customer relationship.
I know it is difficult when a small business has a lot of customers all trying to get in and get out and crushing the cash register. Believe me, I’ve been there many times as a former retail manager.
You and your team (if you have one) need to focus on what is important to you. Do you want a good day of sales and then nothing or do you want your small business to thrive for months to come?
Social Ads & Posts
Yes, you want to advertise your business on all the social media platforms that you are active in. This, to me, is a given. This is how new customers will find you and learn about your business and what products and services you offer.
I can go on and on about social media advertising, but suffice it to say, you need to have a strong social media advertising plan to get the message out about your small business.
But, you need to do more than that. Are you actively inviting new customers to follow you on social media? Is your social media handles on your receipts, your bags and boxes? No? Then it’s time to fix that.
This is probably the easiest thing that you can do to help grow your business today.
Think of it like this. When people who purchase from you small business follow you on social media, you will be able to target them and people like them with your next marketing campaign.
On top of that, they already like what your small business offers, and would be more likely to buy from you again.
Second, you need to be live posting your Small Business Black Friday on social media. This means taking a moment to capture a photo or a video of what is going on in your small business and sharing it with the world.
This can be something as simple as a post, story, or video.
I believe that social media is the new way people window shop your business. After all, it’s far easier to check you out online than it is to travel to your business.
When the public sees the excitement going on in your business, the herd mentality may kick in and some will want to be a part of it.
Also do not forget about posting to Google My Business. This is a great way to showcase your business for free while at the same time improving your SEO scores.
In short, make sure you are posting throughout the day on social media.
Email and Text Message Lists
Do you have an email list or a text message list? I hope you said “yes”. If not, we should talk.
Similar to what I said above with social media, you have an opportunity to get the next sale after Black Friday from a customer who has already purchased from you.
You need to be ready to ask for the customer’s email address, and if you do text message marketing, their cell phone number. Dangle a carrot in front of them and give them an additional discount.
While we are on the topic of asking for things, are you asking for customer’s zip codes?
Getting customer emails, phone numbers and zip codes will help you create a list of active customers that you can use to target social media advertising.
Plus, that same list can be used to re-target people who are similar to your customers and may be likely to purchase from you as well.
This not only reduces your costs for social advertising, but gives you a robust list of customers who are highly likely to purchase your products or services in the future.
Strategic Thinking
I have found that many small businesses do not engage in Strategic Thinking. What I mean by that is to stop and ask yourself some questions:
- What if we don’t have a sale on Black Friday?
- What if we closed our business on Black Friday and had our big sale on Small Business Saturday instead?
- What can we do that will differentiate us from what our competitors are doing?
- How can we rock the boat?
- How can we turn Black Friday into more of an event?
- How can we get the most out of every customer interaction?
And, the list goes on.
The thing to keep in mind here is to think about Black Friday NOT a sale, but an event that needs to be planned.
Conclusion
Being a small business owner on Black Friday is more than just putting a “Sale” sign in the window. You need to be strategic, and analyze each customer interaction as a potential for something greater.
Ensuring you are coupling social media post with your social media ads, you will provide a much greater community around your small business and build more brand loyalty.
Making sure you are asking your customers for their email address, cell phone number and zip code will greatly improve your marketing efforts after the sale.
Finally, thinking strategically about how to provide the best solutions for your customers by envisioning Black Friday as an event, rather than just a sale, can greatly improve your ROI.
Establishing a clear plan for your Black Friday, will help put your small business on a path to greater income and success.