5 Tips For Black Friday Marketing

We’re barely through September and here I am talking about Black Friday. Summer is about over, but the sun has not set on the fiscal year just yet.

Now that I have your attention, I'd like to say, it is never too early to start thinking about Black Friday.

When it comes to business, particularly sales, the earlier your prepare, the better. There’s so much that goes into Black Friday marketing planning. It can be easy to overlook the details until you’re into the thick of it. I do not have a product-based business yet. However, I’ve been lucky enough to work with product-based businesses selling everything from hair, skincare products, clothing, accessories, candles, and some service-based providers with their Black Friday Sales. That being said, I can tell you firsthand that Black Friday is an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation.

If 2023 will be your first Black Friday and you aren't sure what to do, here are a few things to consider:

- If your business is new or you don't have a large online following, I suggest focusing more on holiday trade shows, vendor events, Bazaars, etc. It's the season of intentional shoppers, so take advantage of the opportunity to introduce people to your brand.

- Samples sizes! Offer free and paid sample sizes. Use the free samples as a talking point for in person events. Sell sample sizes as stocking stuffers and gift exchange gifts online.

- Lastly, just read the blog! All the good tips are inside!

Don't worry, I'll continue to share it as we get closer to the holiday season.

One of my very first clients was a successful skincare brand. I had the pleasure of assisting with her first Black Friday marketing campaign. It was a learning experience for both of us. She worked hard and slayed the logistics on her side, and I killed the social media and email marketing on my side. I got to see firsthand what goes into a product-based business during the busiest time of year.

Since then, I've had the opportunity to work with businesses on various parts of their Black Friday marketing campaigns on product descriptions, emails, social media marketing, and more. Here are a few quick tips that I think are helpful for any business owner.

1. Think through your sales and promotional strategy early. There are so many approaches to having a sale - store-wide discounts, BOGOs, free shipping and returns, gift sets/holiday packaging, and the list goes on. Aside from determining how to structure the sale itself, getting an early start on the marketing should be a priority. NOW is also the time to consider hiring an agency or freelancer for your Black Friday marketing.

Hiring someone to handle your Black Friday Marketing means you don't have to worry about design, distribution, messaging, etc. Removing tasks from your plate allows you to focus on maintaining the quality output of products and services through your busiest season of the year.

2. Offer a Black Friday deal for every budget. Think about the holiday season. The average person spends just under $1000 on Holiday related shopping. Creating deals for different budgets allows you to find your sweet spot in that $1000. The $5-20 dollar gift exchange, and the $50-$100 gift exchange. This concept can apply in multiple ways. For example, if you plan to offer gift sets, have a travel-size and full-size set.

3. Double-check your checkout process. And I cannot stress it enough. You want the checkout to be as seamless as possible. Do not require membership for checkout. I repeat, do NOT require membership for checkout. Making the checkout process harder than necessary is a year-round no-no, but it's especially a no-no in Black Friday marketing. If you require customers to create a membership in order to ensure secure checkout,(because I can't imagine any other reason someone would add this God-awful step) switch to a website platform that comes with secure checkout.

Shopify, Wix, even PayPal offer secure checkout. It's annoying sometimes because of the hold they may put on your fund for the first few (large) transactions, but I won't argue that it's not necessary protection. However, you are losing money every time someone has to log in. Black Friday is not the time to lose a sale. This is when you'll meet many of your new and loyal customers.

Picture this... It's the holiday season. Dana has a 30-minute lunch break. She knows her daughter loves candles and wants to gift her some for her new apartment for Christmas. She sees your candle company on her Instagram feed all the time and thinks her daughter would love them. It’s payday, and even though she’s only got a 30-min lunch break she wants to make sure she orders her daughter's gift today because she knows shipping may be delayed. She goes on break, gets caught up talking, and forgets to place the order until the last seven minutes of her break. Hopefully, your website is mobile responsive, allowing her to navigate through it quickly. She's found the candles she wants, once she tries to check out (she has her card number memorized) she realizes she’s required to make an account to log in. Agitated that she couldn’t make her purchase, Agitated, she goes back to work, expresses her agitation to her coworker who says, ”Don’t even worry about it girl, Bath & Bodyworks sent out this friend and family coupon, I got you.” Boom sale lost. It does happen. DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR CHECKOUT PROCESS.

4. Have marketing materials written, drafted, and ready for distribution by November 1. I'm tempted to say scheduled and while some absolutely should be scheduled, if your Social Media Marketer is savvy, there will be content that can be repurposed and reused.

Also, Remember, this is the one time of year you can count on people looking through their emails.

If you are planning to handle your marketing alone (which for the sake of your sanity, I do not recommend), think about strong/searchable headlines and keywords, links, and ways to get people to buy sooner than later. It’s a good idea to remind customers that delivery times may be longer so they need to ORDER NOW. To that point, your emails don't have to be marketing-heavy. Think about things you can include that would make it easier for people to buy your products. Think FAQ that you can answer before they ask. Size charts, color charts, reviews, before and after photos, tutorials all make great incentives to buy.

5. Stock up on supplies early. Order up on non-perishable products that you go through quickly. Product labels. Bottles. Packaging materials. Seals. You name it. Logistics should be a concern for every marketer because essentially we'll be dealing with the backlash if a brand loses credibility. If it’s your first Black Friday, it can be hard to determine how much to order, or whether or not to add new inventory.

Black Friday signals the beginning of the Christmas season aka the party season. People will be doing gift exchanges with family, and work. These gift exchanges may not happen in person so consider how you can cater to virtual gift exchanges. Aside from gifts people will be hosting, decorating, traveling - all of these little pocket areas where you don't have to cater every sale around gifts.

Depending on what type of products you sell and your current demand, I’d plan to start increasing inventory right after Halloween. Restaurants are busy in the summer because of large sports teams (not large volumes of guests). They’re busy in the winter with large family gatherings because people can’t meet at parks with a box of pizza and have picnics. Halloween is the marker that kicks off the transition into busy season. Outdoor activities are officially over. People are doing things inside. Caterers, novelty gift shops, clothing and apparel, even venue and party planners, this is your time to shine.

If you have yet to get started, or are feeling overwhelmed just thinking about your Black Friday Marketing efforts, I can help. I always have time to learn about new brands and offer suggestions, or diagnose potential threats. To schedule a consultation, click here.

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