Tomorrow’s Black Friday sales hype isn’t only for the big retail brands. The small business owner can also benefit by presenting their products, services and promotions online. Here are a few pointers to run through to make the best of a promotional event:
- Take a look at your previous promotions and sales events. What items sold well, which ones didn’t? Learn from prior mistakes.
- Do research on the product or promotion you’re offering. What are your competitors doing? How is your service different?
- Think carefully about your audience and how your product will benefit them.
- Start writing your email promotion copy, and start crafting your social media posts in advance. Prepare the copy for your digital ads also.
- As far as possible, automate all digital tasks. You can schedule your email campaigns ahead of time, for example.
- Prepare your staff and make sure your offline sales processes are well thought through. Make contingency plans for unforeseen delays or other problems that might crop up.
- Your website is going to play a big role. Make sure of a few very key issues:
- Can your visitors easily find your promotions?
- Can they find your contact details quickly?
- Do you have adequate information about your product or promotion?
- Can your site resize for any screen?
- Does your site have a security certificate if you’re selling online?
- Are your policies (such as for refunds and so on) on your website and also easy to find?
- Have you tested your online shop?
- More tips on optimising your website for sales.
Use the momentum to think beyond to the months ahead. While it’s great to hit a sales target in a single day, think of how you can use it as an opportunity for the future – with coupons, or special sales on other items, and so on. And, where the opportunity allows for it, send a follow up email to ask how your customer is faring with their new purchase.