Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, that is probably not a shock to you reading this, however 2021 Black Friday is predicted to the be the busiest yet, given that we are pretty much free from COVID-19 restrictions. Last year saw the biggest Online Black Friday statistics totalling a $6 Billion spend. So how can you get your business ready in anticipation for Friday 26th November 2021?
Invest in SEO!
More and more people are switching to buying online, not having a fully optimized website can be the make or break for your business.
At least 3 months prior to Black Friday start your SEO Campaigns so your website has the best chance of organic traffic to capitalize on the busiest shopping weekend of the year. Ensure your website is also optimized for Mobile, 72.9% of the market share of buyers made their purchase using their mobile phone, not having your website optimized for mobile can be detrimental to your business.
Do not leave this to the last minute; prepare, implement and test any upcoming updates to your website prior to such a big day in the calendar. You may have completed all the SEO in the world but having a Slow website can steer customers away, 88% of internet users who have had a bad site experience avoid returning.
Use Googles’ PageSpeed Insights to test your website speed and follow up on recommendations.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail – Benjamin Franklin.”
Create specific Black Friday Campaigns.
How many marketing emails do you receive prior to Black Friday? My bet is LOADS! Make sure your creating relevant, eye-catching and exciting content informing your customers of your Black Friday deals, they wont know if you don’ tell them! If you have been thinking about taking the leap into the world of PPC now is your time to do it. You have successfully optimized your website now schedule a Black Friday PPC campaign.
Use relevant hashtags on social media to ensure you content gets seen. Hashtags are so important to include in your social posts for maximum engagement. Use hashtags such as
- #Blackfriday
- #Blackfridaysales
- #Blackfridayoffers
- #Blackridaydeals
- #Blackfridayweekend
- #Blackfriday2021 (or the relevant year),
- #Blackfridayshopping,
- #Blackfridayspecials
Incentivize your customers.
To consumers Black Friday is all about getting the best deals on the Market, therefore your competitors will be trying to create the best deals to rake in the traffic. You need to be smart about this. Start by planning out which items you can provide a discount on and those you cant. Those items you want to sell more of allocate the higher level of discount to. The ultimate goal of a discount is to encourage more sales. If you cant offer a discount on your items, incentivize in other ways such as Free Shipping, Referral discounts
Create a last chance campaign
How many times have you put something in your basket, you get distracted and you forget to buy and you loose a deal! Targeting customers who have items in their basket on your website post Black Friday with a last chance deal can secure you some last chance sales.
Tips for small businesses
If you are struggling to keep up with your competitors discounts without sacrificing profit, look to collaborate with another business for a Black Friday Offer! This can be particularly successful amongst smaller, local business. Reach out to other businesses in the same boat and help each other.
Promote your offers across many platforms such as Shopify, Amazon and Ebay! Don’t just use the one platform, maximise your potential traffic and inbound customers by utilising the promotional tools available on these platforms.
Bundle your products, bundled product offers can create more value to the customer as they have the ability to try a variety of your products rather than just buy one. Alternatively make it more fun by creating mystery boxes, encourage your customer to tag you on social media and use their posts/stories to build your social content.
Last but not least enjoy Black Friday, not only is it a day most businesses see the highest increase in their sales but its also a learning opportunity for next year, it gives you invaluable insight into your customers behaviour on your website (how long it takes from initial landing page to purchase, if they drop off; where do they drop off), Using analytics you can see where your customers are based, demographics and devices used.
