Black Friday will soon be upon us, and eCommerce retailers/customers will be doing their best to get the most from their Black Friday marketing and shopping. Failure to do so at such a competitive time can lead to lost revenue and smaller profits.

On 26th November, it is time for Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year and the start of holiday shopping. Black Friday is part of Black Week, or Cyber Week, as it’s also called. Black week generally starts on the Monday before Black Friday, 22nd November, and extends to Cyber Monday, 29th November this year. Some stores also have sales that start even earlier, and/or end later than Cyber Monday.

Black Friday offers an unbeatable opportunity for small business owners to drive new traffic, bring in more customers, and convert more sales. With bargain hunters worldwide logging on or heading out to take advantage of the special offers this weekend has become known for, having detailed Black Friday marketing strategies and promotion ideas in place ahead of time is essential.

If you are a business owner, attracting these holiday shoppers could make a significant impact on your bottom line. If you’re wondering what you can do differently this year to increase sales, here are some of our top tips for acing this Black Friday.

The Real Black Friday Meaning

Black Friday may look business-driven, but it’s the consumers who actually started this shopping event. It was first observed in Philadelphia where there was always high traffic the day after Thanksgiving. Though the original Black Friday, a term coined in 1961, actually had a lot less to do with shopping, today it’s an event that helps retailers move from red to black before the end of the year.

Why bother with Black Friday promotions? 

Black Friday is, without a doubt, the zenith of bargain shopping for both in-store and online shoppers. As the first day after the last major holiday before Christmas, it marks the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

You might be wondering whether marketing Black Friday deals are worth it for your small business?

• In Nigeria, Black Friday is by far the biggest shopping event of the 2020. It always falls on the Friday after the Thanksgiving in the USA which occures on the 26th of November.
• According to a report, Jumia’s Black Friday had the highest sales in 2016 compared to that of Konga. Jumia recorded about 295,000 total black Friday sales which accounted for N7 billion sales in Nigeria while for Konga, Nigerian e-commerce recorded N3.5 billion sales on 155,000 orders.
• Shoppers spent an average of ₦17,333 daily during the 5-day Black Friday weekend.

• On Black Friday alone, $9.03 billion was spent online. That’s a 19% increase vs. 2019. 
• Early shopping and sales dominated Black Friday 2020, with 52% of shoppers taking advantage of early deals and 38% making holiday purchases in the week before Thanksgiving. 
• Over 56% of Black Friday conversions were made via a mobile device. 
• 75% of retailers say they offer deals before Black Friday, with offers lasting several days or even weeks. 
• Small businesses can expect a +107% revenue boost over the holiday shopping season.

Top 11 Black Friday Ideas for small businesses to Boost Sales: 

Knowing why Black Friday is essential for your small business is one thing, but coming up with creative Black Friday promotion ideas is a whole new challenge.

From how to create a Black Friday deal your customers will love, to know when to advertise for Black Friday, our top 11 Black Friday promotion ideas are sure to help you find some inspiration and give you a starting point for marketing campaigns.

1. Create an Irresistible Offer

As you know, the fuel behind the spending frenzy on Black Friday is the crazy deals. Shoppers have been trained to expect huge discounts and great deals. That being said, heavily discounting your product isn’t the only option, and often isn’t the best way to create an irresistible offer. People are looking for deals, but most importantly, people are looking to get the most value for their money. It’s important to keep that in mind when creating an offer. An irresistible offer is about making the customer feel like they are getting maximum value for their dollar.

Discount your products or services

Massive discounts like the image above are pretty typical for Black Friday promotions, but while these deals are flashy and awesome for consumers, they really only work in businesses that have big margins or companies that can justify breaking even to acquire a customer today because they know their average customer makes several purchases per year.

While discounting is the go-to when you think of a sales promotion, it’s not the only option and often isn’t the best option, either. People have a value associated with the price of a product, therefore, discounting your product may not generate enough sales volume to offset the loss in profit. Though marking up product price worked in this instance, you might benefit from another tactic.

Bundle your products

Creating bundles of your products is a great way to drive sales. Remember, people are looking to get more value for their dollar and if a customer can, for example, get five products for the price of three, this can be an irresistible offer.

Create a value-add

The value-add offer model is a great way to keep your normal pricing but sweeten the deal by throwing something in with the sale. This option is similar to bundle pricing, but here your customer gets more than they usually would for the same price. If you can get creative, there are quite a few ways to add value without having to spend a lot of money or cut into your profit margins.

Maybe you don’t have an online product, so what is something that you can throw in with your product to increase the value of a sale? For example, if I sell toothpaste, I could throw in a toothbrush. The toothbrush makes the toothpaste more valuable and the cost of manufacturing a toothbrush is small.

Early bird giveaway

An early bird deal or offer is one that is available at a reduced price, but which you must buy earlier than you would normally do. Early bird discounts are usually available at the beginning of the season.

Rewarding the early customers with an added bonus is a great way to jumpstart and maximize the word-of-mouth marketing that will evolve from your irresistible offer. 62 percent of shoppers Tweet about purchases they’ve made.

Segmented offers

If you want to get super-advanced, and you have a robust CRM tool, you can create different offers for your current customers. Maybe the offer is the exact same, but it would be great to tailor the messaging of your marketing to speak to your customers differently rather than using the same messaging that works for someone first discovering your business.

2. Create a Gift Guide

Gift guides are a fantastic (and free) opportunity to help customers find the perfect gifts for their loved ones – it’s Black Friday & Holiday shopping season. A Gift Guide not only highlights your products or deals but also gives a sense of direction for novices shopping for gifts.

By helping your customers find creative, unusual, or bespoke gifts (and some special discounts), you’re showing that you care about their shopping and are dedicated to helping them find the right items to spend their money on.

Gift guides are also a great way to increase traffic and build trust in the lead-up to the Black Friday spending weekend.

Some examples of valuable gift guides could include:

• X gifts new moms need
• Best personalized gifts for him/her
• unique gifts under ₦5k
• gifts for foodies
• X gifts the techy you love will love
• 12 gifts for tween girls
• Editor’s best gift picks

Also, consider people shopping in your store already and who they might be buying for over the holiday season. Create guides that are tailored for their needs, and be sure to send out emails to your subscribers to let them know every time you publish a new gift guide that they might want to check out.

To get more traffic to your Gift Guides, feature them on your homepage or other places on your website where they’ll get visibility. If you choose to make your Gift Guide a blog post, you can share it on social media. I recommend boosting the post through Facebook Ads to drive more traffic to it. Don’t forget to leverage the Facebook Pixel so you can track the performance of sales from your Gift Guide.

3. Free Gift with Every Purchase

Offering a free gift is a fun Black Friday deal for shoppers. With each order, you can give away a free gift to every customer who orders over the Black Friday period. Items that work best for this have cheap or free shipping.

You’ll want to feature the free gift on your website homepage banner and on all your social media platforms to ensure visibility. You can set minimums such as “with every ₦10,000 purchase get a free gift,” or you can provide it to every customer who orders if you have high margins.

If you sell women’s fashion items, you can give away a free bracelet or earrings. In men’s fashion, you can give away cufflinks. For the home decor niche, you can give away a free vase. And if you sell beauty products, you can give away a makeup brush or sponge.

Naturally, a free gift should be a small token and shouldn’t eat into your profit margins too much. It’s also vital that you don’t charge shipping on the free gift. If a customer has to pay to receive their bonus present, it’s no longer free. 

4. Buy More, Save More

Of course, the best way to maximize profits over the Black Friday sales weekend (or at any time of the year) is to increase the Average Order Value of your customers’ shopping carts. A great marketing tactic to achieve this goal is to offer greater discounts for higher-value carts.

This is similar to the free gift Black Friday marketing ideas mentioned above, but it can also be a highly effective tool to encourage customers to spend more in your store.

Another fun way to increase spending could be with a game. Perhaps customers who spend a certain amount of money could spin a mystery wheel to receive rewards such as gift cards, free gifts, extra discounts, free shipping, or something else.

5. Highlight your referral and VIP schemes 

Referral and VIP programs are a great way to instill loyalty with your customers and build brand awareness, but they can also hold a valuable place when it comes to your Black Friday marketing strategy.

With loyalty programs, customers are rewarded for their repeat purchases. With referral programs, customers earn rewards for recommending a business to their friends and family. The end result, whether it’s a loyalty or referral program, is to increase your customer base and total sales.

To start with, you could offer an extra discount, early-bird access, or gift cards to your VIP customers (or members of your email list). Perhaps VIP customers could get a higher percentage discount than standard shoppers, or you use our complimentary gift idea above to add value to repeat customers.

Next, you can encourage more people to sign up for your VIP scheme with email marketing campaigns following a Black Friday or Cyber Monday purchase. Use a heading along the lines of “Want more Black Friday deals that last beyond the shopping season?!” to boost open rates, then explain how your referral or VIP program provides year-round access to the best deals.

6. Offer a Sneak Peek at Black Friday Deals

Even if you don’t want to start offering a discount on products before Black Friday, an easy Black Friday marketing approach is to create a gif or teaser video of products that will be on sale while mentioning their promotion before the big day.

This is a brilliant way to get customers excited about the special offers on the way and allows them to create mental shopping lists. You could even add a “wish list” button to items that will be on sale, with email reminders to let customers know when to buy.

Remember to promote the sneak peek on your social media accounts. You could also give an influencer early access to your best Black Friday promotions and have them create demand before you discount anything.

7. Take Advantage of Hashtags

In our social media world, every small business should know that it’s essential to be online and use your chosen marketing platform correctly. This includes using hashtags #.

When running creative Black Friday campaigns, you should be taking advantage of Black Friday-focused Instagram hashtags in addition to your regular hashtags. You’ll want to include hashtags such as #blackfriday #cybermonday #sale #blackfridaysale #blackfriday2021 #blackfridaydeals. This will allow you to reach customers who are specifically looking for deals over these days.

You could also benefit from using more bespoke hashtags that appeal to your specific demographic. Try #BlackFridayng for sales in Nigeria, or if you’re promoting a local business, Black Friday hashtags might include your town.

While hashtags are always a vital component of any social media marketing campaign, they can be a fantastic way to build awareness of your promotions and reach bargain-hungry customers.

8. Increase Your Ad Spend

During the Black Friday weekend, advertisers will be spending way more than usual. The return on Black Friday sales is seen by many as a major investment, justifying the increased spending. This means that the cost per click (CPC) will be higher than usual. If you plan to advertise on Facebook/Instagram or Google, consider increasing your ad spend a few days out from Black Friday. This will give the ad enough time to optimize for conversions, and allow you to adjust and tweak along the way before the big day.

By spending more money than you usually do, you’ll be more likely to be noticed by potential customers. This is another reason why it’s essential to mention Black Friday deals, or have appealing discounts to catch people’s attention. People will be ready to buy if they’re presented with the right offer, at the right price, at the right time. Black Friday weekend is all of this. A steep discount will help you attract customers with the right price. Focus on your best-selling products on Black Friday to promote the right offer.

9. Create Printable Gift Cards

Gift cards are one of the most popular presents given during the holidays. As an online retailer, you must cash in on that. Encourage your customers and store visitors to buy gift cards for friends and family if they aren’t sure which product their friend or family member will love best. Let customers know you can create printable gift cards which they can gift during the holiday season.

10. Partner with Instagram Influencers

One of the most creative Black Friday campaign ideas is to collaborate with Instagram influencers who complement your brand. You might consider having the influencer promote your Black Friday deals via Instagram Stories or host an Instagram Live session where they unbox/try on your most popular items and share a discount code with the viewers.

When consumers face an onslaught of Facebook ads and promotional emails, influencers offer a nice change of scenery and can make your promotions more appealing. For the best results, partner with someone who knows how to leverage Instagram’s different features to entice the audience. For example, if you’re going to have an influencer promote your deals with Instagram Stories, they should know how to encourage interactions via interactive stickers, polls, quizzes, etc.

11. Plan ahead and get the word out 

The most critical component of any Black Friday marketing strategy is to get the word out about your special offers and discounts as early as possible. Remember, almost every other big-name brand and small business alike will be looking for a boost in revenue over the shopping season, and your audience must be able to hear you over the noise.

Start your Black Friday advertising campaigns as early as possible to give customers plenty of time to consider their options. You could offer early-bird discounts if people sign up for your rewards scheme, or simply offer to notify customers when the items they’ve been dreaming of go on sale.

Scheduling and automating social media posts will also be incredibly beneficial, as you don’t want to be struggling to update Facebook when a Black Friday customer is asking questions about your product/service.

In addition to social media and general marketing campaigns, you’ll also want to ensure all your content and copy have been created before the holiday rush. This includes any gift guides you’re planning on sending out (we recommend you start sending these out now to give your audience time to spot them and get excited), having every landing page ready to go, and getting any Black Friday promotional blogs are written ahead of time.

It’s also a good idea to run the numbers to ensure your Black Friday advertising costs don’t eat into your profit margins. Remember that the higher discount you offer, the smaller your profit margin will be, no matter how many sales you make. So, check the figures and make sure any Black Friday deal ideas you have won’t harm your bottom line!

Final thoughts

No matter what Black Friday campaign ideas your small business comes up with, you can make this shopping season your best ever by offering exclusive deals and resources that your customers will love. Be sure to keep your target audience well informed about any promotion you’re setting up and start early to get people excited about what’s to come.

Remember when marketing Black Friday deals to keep any VIP or loyalty programs in mind. The increased traffic can provide a fantastic opportunity to build brand awareness and build your customer base from the Black Friday funnel.

FAQs

How can I promote my small business on Black Friday?

When it comes to Black Friday marketing, you want to install a feeling of excitement and urgency in every campaign. Social media is probably the best way to get your Black Friday campaign ideas out there, as this will allow you to speak to a large and engaged audience. You should also be sure to send out regular email marketing with gift guides, sneak peeks, and information about your upcoming sales.

Does Black Friday help small businesses?

The holiday season is an incredible opportunity for small businesses to attract new customers and build brand awareness with special deals and an improved marketing campaign.

Black Friday sales are also a great way to show customer appreciation and boost your bottom line, thanks to extra purchases and new shoppers.

When should I start promoting Black Friday? 

If you’re wondering when to advertise for Black Friday, the answer is simply the earlier, the better! Many stores will post their first Black Friday creative ads as early as October to get people in the shopping mood.

What sells the most on Black Friday?

Technology and electronics tend to be the best sellers during the Black Friday sales.

Do you save more on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

According to Business Insider, if you’re looking for new, big-ticket items or are shopping in-store, you should focus your attention on Black Friday sales.

Many businesses offer discounts over the entire Black Friday weekend and even beyond, so keep an eye on any email marketing or social media posts you spot leading up to Christmas to ensure you get the best deals!