A Short Guide to Prepare Your Business for Black Friday

Black Friday and the rest of the holiday season is an excellent time for small businesses to make sales. However, small business owners miss out on potential sales year after year because they do not adequately prepare. That’s why we’re providing a short guide to help you prepare your business for Black Friday. Here’s what you need to know.

Plan Early

The week before Black Friday is already too late. Some businesses plan for Black Friday at the beginning of the year. 

However, if you only have a couple of weeks left, you can plan and have a successful Black Friday sale.

Your Black Friday plan should include a detailed timeline with tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities.

You can also decide what items to include in your Black Friday sale.

When deciding what items to sell, consider high-margin items, bestsellers, or items you want to clear out to make space for new inventory.

You can also bundle items typically bought together and offer them at a discount or bundle items that sell less. 

If you’re a service provider, you can offer discount codes for services that don’t sell as much or bundle services. 

Finally, you have to decide on a pricing strategy. 

You can opt for: 

• BOGO (Buy one, get one free)
•  Bundled packages
•  Discounts

Whatever your pricing strategy, make sure it’s sustainable for your business. 

Finally, make sure you create a marketing plan to effectively get the news of your sale to your target audience. 

Set SMART Goals

It may seem obvious that the goal of your Black Friday sale is to make money. However, you still need to set SMART goals.

That means that your goals have to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

• Your goals can revolve around:
•  Increasing revenue
•  Clearing out inventory
•  Converting new customers
•  Increasing brand visibility

Having clear goals will guide your marketing strategies.

Create a Marketing Plan

You can plan an amazing Black Friday sale, but you won’t achieve your goals if your marketing is lacking.

Therefore, you need an iron-clad marketing plan to help you achieve your goals.

You will use the goals that you set to inform your marketing plan.

For example, if your goal is to increase your revenue by 30%, that should inform your marketing plan. 

When creating your marketing plan, make sure you:

• Identify your target audience and where you can find them
•  Figure out what platforms you’ll be promoting your offers on
•  Calculate the costs of marketing
•  Identify the content you need to create and the resources required to make them.
•  Create copy for your landing pages, websites, social media posts, emails, etc
•  Have tools in place to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, such as Google Analytics
•  Generate excitement for your Black Friday offers

Start Promoting Early 

Make sure you start promoting your Black Friday offers early.

Mail Chimp says, “Shoppers start looking and planning for deals on their favorite items in October or earlier.”

They continue by saying, “The sooner they know about your offers, the better positioned they’ll be to take advantage of them—and the more revenue you’ll bring in.”

You can even offer early bird discounts. 

Create Compelling Content

Your posts have to be compelling if you want a successful Black Friday sale. 

Create compelling content that will appeal to and attract your target audience. 

When we say content, we’re referring to:

• Graphics
•  Videos
•  Blog posts
•  Social media posts 

Don’t rely on only one platform or communication channel. 

Mailchimp says, “You want to be sure you’re casting a wide net when promoting your Black Friday deals. Instead of settling on just one or two methods of communication, use every channel you have to your advantage.”

Ensure any communication about the sale offer is clear to avoid confusing your audience. If your audience is confused, they either won’t buy or will feel duped. 

Optimize Website and Online Store

If you have a website or online store, optimize it before your Black Friday sale. 

The last thing you want is your website or online store crashing from increased traffic. 

• Therefore, ensure that your website and online store can handle increased traffic. 
•  Optimize load times, ensure mobile responsiveness, and make the shopping experience as smooth as possible.

According to Cultura Interactive, you can optimize your website and online store by:

• Using a content delivery network for your website
• Regularly monitor and test your site
• Remove plugins, codes, and anything else that slows down your site

Stock Up on Inventory

You must ensure you have enough inventory or miss out on so much potential revenue.

You may have to order or make your product weeks or months in advance. 

An excellent way to decide what inventor to stock up on is by determining your best sellers, what you’re running low on, and the stock you’ll include in your sale. 

Train Staff

If you have employees, you may have to train them to handle the Black Friday rush. 

You may even have to hire someone to help with:

• Increased customer inquiries
• Restocking inventory
• Delivering excellent customer service
• Checking out 

Extend the Sale Period

If you want to ensure more sales, you can extend your sale. 

Consider extending the sale to the weekend or the following week, whatever works for you.

Your customers will be better able to take advantage of the sale, and you’ll likely have an increase in revenue. 

Monitor and Adjust

While your sale is going on, monitor its performance in real-time. You can look at website traffic, sales numbers, and customer feedback. You may have to adjust your strategy during the sale. 

What to Do After the Black Friday Sale

After your Black Friday sale is complete, you still have work to do. 

For example, After the sale ends, send follow-up emails to customers thanking them for their support and reminding them of any ongoing promotions or upcoming events. 

You can also reach out to them for customer reviews you can use in your marketing efforts. You can automate the process using email marketing software to email everyone who purchased a product or service. 

In addition, you still have to:

• Assess your marketing efforts
•  Analyze your revenue 
•  Assess your goals and their outcome
•  Record takeaways and learnings
•  Get customer feedback

Conclusion

Black Friday is an excellent time for small business owners to make money. However, a successful Black Friday sale requires preparation. After the sale, you’ll have to analyze your efforts and get customer feedback for the next time.