Last Minute Black Friday Planning for Online Boutiques

I know, I know, how the heck is it November already, right??!

But it is, and you know what that means - Black Friday/Cyber Monday - one of the biggest retail sales days of the year - is just around the corner!

Did you know 30% Of All Retail Sales Occur From Black Friday Till Christmas?! This is your time to shine!!

So, you haven’t started planning for Black Friday yet? So what?? Well, good news: It’s not too late. Don’t be afraid if you still need to plan - just KISS; Keep It Simple Sister!!

There are no hard and fast rules for this 4-day sales bonanza (Black Friday to Cyber Monday), so you can do whatever you think will entice your customers.

What is your offer?

First things first, you need to decide what your Black Friday offer (or offers) will look like. 

Deciding what your Black Friday offer will be depends on your business goals and what you hope to achieve during this promotion. You should consider your profit margins and what kind of discounts you can afford to offer. 

Try to think a little further than blanket sales and focus on increasing those cart totals. Some ideas here could be: Spend XX for store credit, get something free when you spend XX, and also use margin builders (items that you can put a larger than usual margin on)/door busters etc. 

Will you have a one-day Flash Sale (announced on the day), or will your offers stretch all weekend? If you’re a B&M will you have different BF promos in-store and online? You can also offer exclusive deals to your email subscribers or social media followers to incentivize them to make a purchase.

How will you market your offer? 

When will you start dropping hints about your Black Friday sale for your customers? Or will you not drop hints at all? If you do, will they be specific (exactly what the deal will be) or vague (something BIG is coming)? 

You might even want to use a combination of both online and offline marketing to maximize your reach. 

Some effective online marketing strategies include sending out email blasts to your subscribers, posting about your offer on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, running paid advertisements on Google or Facebook, and partnering with influencers or bloggers to promote your offer to their audience.

Send out an email campaign (a series of emails) highlighting your Black Friday deals and promotions. You could take an extra step and segment your email list into prospects and past clients, sending potential clients a juicy Free Gift With Purchase deal and offering loyal past clients early VIP access to sale items. Play around with whatever you know your people will love!

Offline marketing tactics might include running radio or TV ads, printing flyers or posters to distribute in-store or around your local area, and partnering with other local businesses to cross-promote each other’s Black Friday deals (always a fun idea!!)

When it comes to the specifics of your marketing strategy, you can choose to be vague or specific about your offer, depending on your business goals and what you think will be most effective. For example, you might decide to keep your offer a mystery until Black Friday to build anticipation among your audience, or you might choose to reveal your offer early to encourage early bird shoppers. 

Every visitor to your site should KNOW without a doubt that there is a Black Friday sale, so make sure you announce it with a banner - preferably above the fold with a link to shop the deals.

Whatever marketing strategy you choose, make sure it is targeted toward your ideal customer and aligned with your business objectives.

DON’T Forget About Your Past Customers

Your past clients already trust you, so don’t forget about them and only focus on new acquisitions. That goes for warm leads, too! If someone visited your site or shopped but abandoned their cart, they’ve already proved their interest - so reach out to them in your Black Friday campaign.

The main thing to do is not get overwhelmed or worry about what everyone else is doing. 

Keep it simple - decide what your offer/s will be, then choose how you will market them, and from there, you can create a list of tasks needed to make it happen!

Happy Black Friday planning!!

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