Black Friday is one of the busiest and most successful periods of the year for small businesses – but only if they have the right strategies in place. Before GoDaddy, I started my own lifestyle e-commerce business, Liberty Grace, which I ran for over three years and is where my passion for helping entrepreneurs succeed online began. As a small business owner, I know it can be hard to know where to start when planning for special retail dates, let alone find the time to do so. For any small business owners wondering where to start, the below tips should help you to build momentum for Black Friday and beyond.
Optimise your online store, including on mobile
Your online store is your shopfront window, the first thing people will see when they decide to shop from your business. It’s also the platform which they will have to navigate and make their purchases from, so optimising it must be your priority. Start by looking at the overall experience. Are products and pricing described clearly? Can customers easily find the different website sections? Do you use a clear call to action? If not, you’ll want to make relevant modifications, always with the user experience in mind.
It’s also essential to put your special offers front and centre of customers’ minds. Make sure your website advertises your Black Friday promotions clearly, with adequate descriptions of the products, pricing and the offers or discounts.
Finally, but most importantly, optimise your website for mobile use. Mobile is now the dominant form of e-commerce, with more than half of the searches made on Google are done via mobile devices. To be relevant in today’s marketplace, your website design needs to be mobile-first, whether it’s for the latest smartphone, or other mobile devices, such as tablets. Things like your point-of-purchase and search options need to be on the surface — not buried under a menu button. Another thing to consider is enabling mobile purchasing to be made with a guest account and ask for only the critical information.
Ramp up your email marketing subscriptions
Creating and driving an email marketing campaign will go a long way in prioritising customer relationships during Black Friday and beyond, which is an essential step in driving revenue. Once a new potential customer has landed on your website, you need to focus on creating that relationship and turn them into loyal customers. The best way to do it is through email subscriptions.
There are several ways you can drive customers to sign up to your email list: website pop-ups, discount offers… in any case, ensure that the subscription option is easy to find on your website. You’ll also need to comply with data protection laws when collecting email addresses.
Once you’ve collected an email address, don’t forget to instantly greet your new email subscribers with an automated welcome email. It’s a powerful tool to providing instant gratification make your customers feel cared for. A welcome email needs to be impactful and timely to make sure your customers open it. Be sure to use a catchy subject line to differentiate yours from the other countless emails in your customers’ inboxes.
Focus on your social media presence
Social media is not just a vanity exercise for your brand – it can directly translate into your bottom line. Followers generate trust. The more followers you have, the more customers trust your brand. Trust is a powerful tool in establishing your business as a reliable and attractive brand – therefore winning more customers.
In addition to this, social media provides you with a way to interact and engage with both your existing and prospective customers. To that end, during and after Black Friday, make sure your social media profiles are always on brand, regularly updated with the latest offers and timely branding, and offer the content that your followers want to see.
Turn one-time customers into loyal ones
If you follow the above advice, you’re likely to see a nice bump to your activity and sales during Black Friday. This boost provides you with a great opportunity to capitalise on momentum and grow your activity in the long term. The secret lies in turning one-time Black Friday customers into loyal ones.
The best way to do this is to regularly stay in touch, so they don’t forget about you. Whether it’s via email or social media, personalise your interactions by sending your customers relevant information and offers based on previous purchases, or just check in from time to time with new products you think they’ll enjoy. Let them know how grateful you are that they are a part of your business’s community.
The next four months will be full of opportunities for small businesses to ramp up their activity, starting with Black Friday. With the right strategies in place and solid planning, they can expect to see a very successful Golden Quarter and start the new year with durable momentum.
