Black Friday & Cyber Monday are fast approaching… It’s the time of the year when your inbox and social media feed is inundated with big sales and special offers from every online store and business going ’round!
And even though Black Friday isn’t until the 24th of November in 2023 (with Cyber Monday following a few days later), you’ll probably notice things go up a notch or a 100 in the first couple of weeks of November.
The Black Friday Sales started in the United States to mark the start of the Christmas shopping and holiday season – but it’s become a global sales period where many brands and businesses run highly promoted sales at discounted prices.
This is my third year doing a Black Friday sale and each year it seems like more and more businesses have Black Friday deals or online sales.
In this episode of the How I Do Content Podcast, I covered how I’m planning my 2023 Black Friday launch and share with you my 4-step Black Friday launch process.
The first year I ever ran a Black Friday offer it was definitely a last-minute decision, but now it’s something I plan for knowing that it’s a great opportunity to be selling your offers and reaching new customers.
This episode gives you an insight into the strategy behind my upcoming launch and l also shared tips on how you can prepare for your own epic Black Friday launch.
You don’t need a Black Friday campaign…
Please don’t feel a sense of urgency or pressure to run Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales just because other small businesses are or because you did it last year.
I’m not in the business of convincing you to participate in Black Friday – I just love giving you an insight into how I make these decisions. I would always encourage you to decide whether it feels aligned for you and your business.
This is the context that’s often missing in the online space and you know I value honesty and transparency! I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m here to give you the information you need to make an empowered decision.
According to a poll on my Instagram Stories – 85% of those who voted said they’re NOT running a Black Friday & Cyber Monday offer this year.
I was honestly a little surprised at how high this number was, however, I totally get it!
Most people aren’t participating in Black Friday this year because:
- They don’t want to discount their offers
- It’s not a profitable and therefore viable option
- They don’t want to contribute to the noise
- It’s not traditionally the time of year when their ideal clients or customers are actively buying
- They don’t want to
All very valid reasons not to!
I also want to let you know running a Black Friday & Cyber Monday offer doesn’t mean it has to be discounted. There are heaps of Black Friday marketing ideas that mean you can participate and make sales without slashing your prices.
4 easy Black Friday marketing tips
- Get clear on your in-demand offer, your plan of attack, your Black Friday marketing strategy and how you’re going to sell your offers ASAP
- Repurpose as much content as possible
- Start the countdown timer and prep your community for your Black Friday & Cyber Monday offers – give them early access and an opportunity to buy before the craziness hits if feasible
- If you’re at capacity right now, think about selling offers that can be redeemed in 2024, or presell spots for 2024 offers
4 essential steps to a successful Black Friday promotion
1. Create an In-Demand Offer
The first consideration when it comes to an in-demand offer is obviously my community.
“What am I hearing from my community right now?”
And from there I need to determine if I have an existing offer or need a new offer. The offer needs to solve a problem my potential customers have or be something that makes their life and/or business better.
There’s no point selling an offer at this time if it’s not something super desirable for my target audience of business owners.
For example, I’ve actually decided on THREE offers this Black Friday – and you’re the first to hear about it (other than my coach obvs)
Offer #1: The ultimate content + launching bundle is BACK
I’ve bundled my programs The School of Content Wizardry AND Become a Launch Wizard to create an epic ready-to-go roadmap for marketing your business online.
Offer #2: Messaging + launch Intensive
I’m offering a limited number of half-day intensives where we’ll map out your entire messaging and launch plan for your 2024 launches.
Offer #3: Bonus coaching session
When you sign up for my 6-month 1:1 Biz Wizard Coaching Series you get 1 month for FREE. So that’s 7 months of support for the price of 6.
I have people in my community who desire different levels of support when it comes to their messaging, marketing and selling. I wanted to have 3 offers so there’s something for everyone based on what’s feasible for you in your business. From DIY to planning with you to full coaching and implementation.
2. Plan out your launch
What are ALL the details of my Black Friday Launch & the steps I need to take to make the magic happen?
Part of this planning was getting clear on:
- Pricing of my three offers
- Promotion dates
- Messaging of this launch
- Content ideas
And then from there, I map out:
- Setting up the back end including
- Thrivecart Payment Links
- Convertkit Purchase Email Automation
- Promo Graphics
I’ve run Black Friday promotions in previous years which means I can duplicate what I’ve done before. I’m all about repeatable processes that I can simply rinse and repeat launch after launch.
3. Plan your marketing content
My Black Friday Launch marketing plan doesn’t look vastly different from any other launch for me.
My marketing hierarchy is:
- Podcast
- Launch emails
Think long-form content first
I plan out my podcast episodes first, then I’ll look at my launch emails from Black Friday marketing campaigns in recent years.
I usually repurpose about 70-80% of email campaigns and then that leaves me some space to write emails in response to what’s happening during the launch. Those Black Friday emails are usually written the day before or on the day when they’re sent out to my email list.
Repurpose content for social media
And Instagram content is almost always the same as the email content. This makes it super easy for me to be visible on the different channels without having to create vastly different content for each of them.
This also helps maintain consistent messaging which is super important when you factor in buyer behaviour.
Don’t forget pre-launch!
I don’t wait until Day 1 of Black Friday weekend to start talking about my offers.
Your pre-launch marketing is just as important as your open-cart promotional marketing.
Because if you wait until the big day to start priming and preparing your community for what’s to come – you just won’t have enough time to capture online shoppers and might as well not do Black Friday…
That might seem harsh, but Black Friday & Cyber Monday are no joke.
Everyone will be seeing a zillion different marketing messages and have a zillion special offers and discount codes hitting their inbox – so it’s a good idea to get their attention before the avalanche hits. This means thinking about your launch in late October (i.e. NOW!)
4. Sell, sell, sell!
The first 3 steps make selling my offers the easiest step – the hard work is mostly done and now I just need to share the shit out of my offers with my customer base.
This is NOT the time to lean out and cross your fingers and hope people come to you. Because you better believe the big brands are going balls to the walls with special deals to make sales – so why shouldn’t you?
PSA: Mark your calendars – I’m dropping my Black Friday offers on Wednesday 15th November! Yep, more than a week out from the actual Black Friday date.
Why?
Well, when it comes to current buyer behaviour, people are generally taking longer to make purchase decisions and I always like to give my loyal customers a little more time to make their decisions. It is also the best way to remove the frantic launch energy for me too.
I won’t be running any ads across social media platforms because I don’t have a big enough ads budget for it to be worth it. Remember, the competition between online retailers with ads during Black Friday is insanely high! This means you need wayyy bigger budgets than usual to see a decent conversion rate.
This means it’s all on me – and I’m okay with that! I’ve got this!
And for the love of dogs DON’T stop selling your offers just because no one has signed up 5 minutes after you officially launch your Black Friday offers. Keep showing up and selling your offers!
If you are planning a Black Friday & Cyber Monday launch I hope it’s super abundant and helps you boost sales! Or if you’re simply in the mood for a little holiday shopping for yourself or your business – I hope you find everything you desire.
If you’re in the market for some of the best messaging, marketing and launching spells – keep an eye out for my Black Friday exclusive offers on the 15th of November!
Want More?
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