Black Friday isn’t traditionally a day when we think about small businesses, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in on the act. Here are 12 ways your small business can monopolize on Black Friday, the day after (aka Small Business Saturday), into Cyber Monday, and beyond.
- Chill out! Invite customers to your store or business for a post-Black Friday chill out event – bring in wine, offer free chair massages, and coupons that can be redeemed before December 25th. You get the picture.
- Take part in Small Business Saturday on the day after Black Friday (November 28) even better rally your neighborhood to get involved.
- If you’re a B2B business. Offer a special promotion immediately after the holidays (everyone is too busy getting ready for Thanksgiving the few days prior).
- Team up with other businesses and host a sidewalk sale or holiday-themed festival. Print out a combined flyer with everyone’s discount or coupon listed.
- Hold a special door buster sale for your best customers (outside of normal business hours).
- Create a holiday gift guide and promote it online and in-store. Whether it’s “10 Gifts for Under $25” or “10 Ways We Can Help Get you Through the Holidays”. Create a flyer with images of your products or services and get it out there.
- Make it about charity. #GivingTuesday falls on the first Tuesday after Black Friday (December 1st this year). Consider hosting a customer appreciation event. Include a raffle or prize draw giving all the donations to your charity of choice. Or, you could donate a portion of your profits on that day to charity – just make sure you promote what you’re doing over email, social media, and in-person.
- Make it about family. Keep the holiday theme going by attracting families. Even if kids aren’t your target audience, make a kid-friendly space for them in your store or entice kids and their parents in with free cookies beverages or entertainment, like face painting.
- Stagger your promotions. Think like a big box store offering time-bound promotions on select merchandise “25% off through midday”. Then in the afternoon offer a gift with every purchase over $X or a two-for-one sale on certain lines (focus on items that complement each other).
- Offer social media-only specials. Consider posting specials that are targeted at your social followers only. Provide a unique coupon code or link to a printable or mobile-friendly offer on your site (one that’s only accessible to those with the link). Remember to use the right hashtags too: #BlackFriday, #SmallBusinessSaturday, #SmallBizSat, #cybermonday and #ShopLocal.
- Dress up your storefront. Don’t just promote the heck out of everything online, make sure everyone who walks or drives by knows that you’ve got a sale or event coming up. Same goes for merchandising, get in the holiday spirit with seasonal items and decorations.
- Offer the convenience of extending your offers beyond Black Friday (or Small Business Saturday). Take the pressure off your customers by giving them the flexibility to buy into an offer now, but make the purchasing decision later. For example, you could offer gift cards at a discount ($100 for $75) that must be purchased on that day, but can be redeemed anytime in the next 12 months.
Happy selling!
