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Although Black Friday — and Cyber Monday — started as a U.S. tradition, its popularity has taken hold across the globe. If you’re a small business, tapping into this trend can be a great way to boost sales and reach more customers than ever before. But with so many companies vying for customers’ attention, it can be overwhelming, too. Here’s what you need to know about making Black Friday work for you.
What is Black Friday?
Bizarrely, the term Black Friday was first used to refer to a financial disaster in 1869, during which the gold market crashed. But now, it means the opposite for countless businesses around the world, as they celebrate the busiest shopping day of the year. Held on the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, which falls on November 24th this year, Black Friday traditionally marks the start of the festive shopping season. It’s also traditional for stores to mark the occasion with special offers and sales, often extending across several days to incorporate Cyber Monday as well.
But Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t just for big stores — your small business can benefit too. If you want to take advantage, though, you’ll need to have a solid marketing strategy in place. With more traffic than ever before expected both in stores and online, it’s important to be prepared.
Getting your marketing house in order.
First, you’ll want to make sure that everything is in shape before the big day. That means checking that your website is up to scratch, with no broken links or out-of-date information, and that it highlights the products you want to push during the Black Friday sales. If you’re an e-commerce business, use tools such as Pingdom to check how your site is performing — and make any adjustments well in advance of November 24th. Also, you need to know that your platform can handle a surge in visitors, so make sure that you load test too.
Behind the scenes, you must have all the tools in place to keep things running smoothly, even if your sales go through the roof. With a GoSolo Business Account, you can easily keep track of all your finances, monitoring your income, expenses, wages and more all in one place.
How will you be found?
Next, it’s time to improve your SEO. Of course, you’ll want to work ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ into content, but you should also research long-tail terms and get creative with your content. Remember, there are likely thousands of businesses within your sector offering Black Friday sales, and you’ll need to stand out from the crowd. Another way that you can do this is by clearly displaying customer reviews, either on your website or at your physical POS, to demonstrate that you’re a reliable company that customers would recommend to their friends.
Once you’ve primed everything behind the scenes, it’s time to get your name out there as much as you can. A paid media strategy is a great way to boost brand awareness — but it’s not the only way to do it. Now is also a good time to up your social media game in preparation for Black Friday, using Instagram, Facebook, and interactive content to generate interest in your business. And don’t forget that old stalwart: the mailing list. Although it might seem a little archaic by today’s standards, sending out a Black Friday email is still a great way to let interested parties know what’s going to be on offer.
Since its early days as an American import, Black Friday has grown to become just as popular a tradition on this side of the Atlantic. And with the right preparation, you can use it to propel your business to the next level.
A GoSolo Business Account helps solo entrepreneurs and small businesses manage their finances easily and prepare for big events such as Black Friday.
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