Everyone’s doing it, so it must be a good thing, right?
It’s pretty easy to work out that giving a large discount will mean that you have to attract more customers overall during the space of Black Friday weekend.
You might even need to factor in additional advertising costs if you want to attract those customers to your business.
That’s also going to mean more planning, time and hard work – yikes!
So if you’re going to do a Black Friday sale, you need to be really careful with the numbers and ensure that you’re smart about how your costs and the discount you give are going to weigh up against any additional sales you achieve.
You also need to think about the new customers you might be lucky enough to attract on Black Friday. Are they the right type of customers for your business, or are they just discount shoppers, who will be hard to convert to long-term loyal advocates and supporters of your small business. They’re the best kind of customers, right?
Make sure you use your Brand Strategy to guide any marketing you do around Black Friday so that you have the best chance of continuing to appeal to the right tribe for your business. If you don’t currently have a Brand Strategy – I have lots of information to help you with that! Check out this podcast where I talk to Jamie Stewart from Circle Networks about how to write one:
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
If your customer is a conscious consumer (as most people are at least trying to be these days) maybe Black Friday discounting could even be a bad thing for your business as it might harm your relationship with the people that matter most to your business.
Particularly if you position your business as an ethical brand, you will need to tread extremely carefully if jumping on the Black Friday bandwagon.
But times are hard and let’s face it, nearly everybody is looking for savings where they can. So if your intention is to offer better value, rather than to stimulate hyper-spending, then Black Friday could be a great opportunity for you to grow your relationship with your existing customers and attract some new ones who really want what you offer.
So how can you join in Black Friday in the right way for your small business? By which I mean, in a way that will offer people good value, reward your past and existing customers and help you attract new people – without tarnishing the reputation of your brand?
Sign up to Download my Black Friday Checklist
Subscribe to my mailing list and you can access not only my Black Friday Checklist but you can also GET MY FREE GUIDE ‘Prepare your brand for Christmas.’
Your small business is gonna be all over the holiday marketing this year – go you!
