If you're pissed off that you missed out on last year's big local business haul during the Christmas rush, then you're going to want to take 5 minutes and read your Local Business Guide to Black Friday!
I wrote this article because I read a story in the Wall Street Journal titled "Retailers Rush to Fill Holiday Hole Left by Toys ‘R’ Us" and it dawned on me how many opportunities local businesses owners (like you) were missing. And, I wanted to get out in front of that calendar so you're not rushing around at the last minute trying to take advantage of Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
After this fast read of the "Local Business Guide to Black Friday (2018)", you're going to be able to:
- Get the boost to your bottom line that you've always wanted at the end of the year
- Scrape together an amazing, and profitable, Black Friday offer (even if you're in a service business)
- Get instant access to the game plan that makes this "checklist" easy
And, if you're anything like me, then you're reading this article as you're skimming the internet or jumping on a plane or maybe even in the line ordering a cup of coffee. So, do both of us a favor and bookmark it - you're going to want to keep coming back.
Now, let's get started...
Get the Boost To Your Bottom Line That You've Always Wanted at The End of The Year.
Let's face it, consumers are a funny bunch. They overspend every year on purpose! They have a list that they're starting to develop in their own heads right around Halloween and by the time the turkey coma of Thanksgiving is gone, they're ready to dive in.
So, as a local business owner, how do you take advantage of the Black Friday excitement, even if you don't have the advertising budget of the big brands?
You Can Get Huge Black Friday Results On A Shoestring Budget
I'll bet one thing that continues to piss you off year after year is that your competition, you know, the big box stores and the online mega-sites are out spending you in advertising! And, deep down, you know that's the name of the game.
In fact, I was doing some business coaching in North Carolina about 5 years ago and I remember a workshop I was in where we specifically told everyone in the room a secret to winning in business.
"The secret to winning in business is knowing how to spend more to get customers than your competition." - Bob Dunn, Mountain BizWorks
But, I'm here to tell you, we should have rephrased that!
CORRECTION: The secret to business is really knowing how to get high-valued customers in the door cheaper than your competition!
With this approach, you get more to your bottom line than the big dumb companies that spend their advertising budgets on stuff that doesn't work. That's why we're putting it right here in the Local Business Guide to Black Friday.
If you're looking to make the most of your Black Friday push, then you're going to want to:
- Craft an offer that's out of this world (more on this below)
- Plan the campaign - I know this is the part that drives local business owner's batty. That's why our business has been so successful! We do all the planning for you as you provide direct input and get to see on the inside. It's like being in the huddle, but not having to be responsible for executing every position of the play. It's amazing! And, if you're interested in us putting your Local Business marketing campaign together - just give us a call at (828) 367-7809, or schedule some time that works for you here: http://pix.waldrop.link/discovery-call.
- Grab your customer list and start communicating - this means you're going to want to dive into your accounting system, that little email list that you've been building at the register, and the email requests for more information that have come in along the way. And, if you're still looking to build a list of leads then you'll want to dive into our Viral Marketing Expert Fixes 4 Local Lead Generation Mistakes article too!
- Leverage technology to make life easier - email marketing still returns a higher ROI than any other method. And, as we get more technically focused, text messaging is a great alternative too. It's fast, simple and really inexpensive. If you're looking for a robust email marketing system at pennies on the dollar, check out MysticMailer!
Scrape together an amazing, and profitable, Black Friday offer (even if you're in a service business)
One common misconception is that every Black Friday offer must be a doorbuster. But, it doesn't have to be. In fact, it may be a bundle of your regular products or services that only becomes available once per year. Or, it might be your best selling product or service with a simple bonus. No matter how you slice it, you'll want to make it unique and exclusively available during Black Friday.
Get Instant Access to the Game Plan That Makes Your Local Business Guide to Black Friday "Checklist" Easy
As you see in the diagram above, we've already laid out the gameplan. So, let me spend the time here to walk you through the key components. So, once you've got your offer sorted out, all you have to do is (here's your checklist):
Build a Simple Lead Capture Page - this page is designed to pique the interest of your ideal customer and have them put in their contact details for more information. This means that they're pre-qualifying themselves a good lead.
Build a Simple Special Offer Page - this page includes your Black Friday offer and provides basic urgency details like how many are left or how long the offer will still be open.
Build an Upsell (or Premium) VIP Offer Page - this page gives them a special price on some of your most popular products and services. With this, you boost your profitability and they get a better deal than what they originally signed up to get.
Drive High-Quality Traffic To These Pages - what we've described above is a simple "Local Business Black Friday Sales Funnel". So all you're really trying to do now is get people to the funnel. You'll want to use pay-per-click advertising, content marketing (read blog, technical guide, videos, or other educational material), and tap into your existing email and SMS text marketing list.