Do’s And Don’ts To Maximize Black Friday Sales
Do’s And Don’ts To Maximize Black Friday Sales
End the year strong with these holiday sales strategies
Holiday shopping, Black Friday, Cyber Monday — all the big shopping events are coming up as we roll into the end of the year. This is the time of year when most businesses make bank, and shoot to end strong.
The opportunities are abundant, but the ante is also much higher.
Everyone, all at once is trying to sell and push at the same time — it’s hard to stand out when everyone’s got a hot, 1x deal. And so, attempts to make the most out of the end of the year can fall flat without the right approach. Here are 4 of my big do’s and don’ts when it comes to optimizing your end of year revenue.
DO in-person selling.
In-person selling is a gem of a sales floor, but the majority of entrepreneurs shy away from this one. I’m a big fan of in-person selling, especially now, in the age when everyone and their mom is selling something online.
If you’re looking to make as many sales as possible in a short amount of time, in-person selling is your magic pill.
You of course, have to pick the right spot — like a holiday market, or a location that’s a great fit for what you sell & your target audience. If you’re a service business, this option doesn’t function as a great sales floor, but it does function as a great lead generation opportunity via a free workshop or other learning opportunity.
DON’T sell something new to new people online.
If you’re a new brand struggling to make sales, and you’re thinking that launching a new, exciting product will excite passing shoppers — think again.
If you didn’t put in the time this year to build a relationship with your audience, their attention levels towards you will be at its lowest during the holiday season. You have a small window right now to relationship-build, so if you can, start sharing non-promotional content that connects with your audience. More on how to do that here.
Most products and services benefit from a layer of trust-building, cultivation, and marketing, especially when marketing to new leads. When you’re trying to launch a new product and sell it in such a short period of time, it’s a heavy boulder to push to the finish line.
There is one scenario in which selling a new product to new people online will most likely work, and it’s in an in-person selling environment or trusted platform with a loyal audience that’s ready to shop.
DO double down on your existing audience and customers.
If you have an existing audience and existing customers, the end of the year is a good time to entice sales through discounts and other deals.
Sales pushes to audiences who already know and trust your brand is the most guaranteed way to bring in sales during this busy time.
If you don’t have an audience of interested buyers you can market to, make this project #1 to take on in the new year — build your audience and cultivate a relationship with new leads through a solid marketing plan.
It takes months to nurture a new audience, but starting this now will put an end to your struggle in the new year. Here’s my best tips on attracting and nurturing an audience for your business.
DON’T pursue most Black Friday and holiday press.
Press is very similar to influencer marketing — you have to go through a lot of bad eggs in order to find a good one that generates any form of sales for your business.
The majority of press won’t give you much results other than a small blip in website traffic. Even the big flashy ones. Black Friday and holiday press are the same — most gift guides write-ups during this time are a needle in a very big haystack of gift recommendations.
The pursuit of trying to be mentioned in one of these gift guides is not worth it, unless you can be mentioned in an industry-defining gift guide by an influential or niche curator. That’s a shot worth aiming for.
For example, if you’re a tech product, being mentioned in TechCrunch’s Black Friday Gift Guide is a great mention. If you’re an Amazon product, a spotlight on Mik Zenon’s Instagram account is huge, or if you’re an AAPI owned brand, showing up in The Cosmos’ gift guide is meaningful.
Don’t pursue Black Friday or holiday press unless you’ve done your homework and are aiming for audiences amongst discerning curators (who have established a lot of trust and respect from their recommendations).
Want more Black Friday tips? Read my list of Black Friday sales crimes to avoid making this year.
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