Tag: black friday marketing ideas

How Every Business Can Sell on Black Friday

November 18, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

how every business call sell on black friday Black Friday (the day after the US Thanksgiving) has been a tradition for decades. People running in droves to the mall to get awesome deals.

A reporter recently asked me if Black Friday was over, and I disagreed. I personally think Black Friday will be back big time this year, mostly because COVID made us miss our traditions.

I also think fear of a recession meant people are holding off a little longer before making their holiday purchases, so Black Friday seems like a good time with just a month until Christmas.

But retailers have to offer BIG deals as this is what people are expecting.

Two Quick Marketing Ideas Every Business Can Do On Black Friday

It doesn’t matter what you sell, products or services, you can use the lure of a big Black Friday sale:

I always give this idea in my 12-Month Marketing Plans and that is to take advantage of all of the cars parked at the malls and leave flyers or cards for your “offer” on windshields.
If your whole family is going to the mall, give them t-shirts to wear that have your business name and url on the front and back. They become walking billboards for your business!

Okay, One More Easy Marketing Idea

Still another easy marketing idea is to work with a non-competitive store in the mall (or the mall itself) on a co-offer. For example:

If you’re a travel agency, work with a luggage store in the mall to offer a dual promotion or enter a contest to win a trip.
If you’re a realtor, ask a home decor store in the mall if you could “sponsor” a holiday theme display in the store.
If you’re a beauty salon, ask mall management if you could hand out gift certificates to moms standing in line with the kids waiting to see Santa.

Don’t forget Small Business Saturday, Second Hand Sunday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday all have opportunities to promote your business as well!

If you need more creative ways to get attention for your business, set up a 1:1 Phone Consultation with me.

Also Read

Black Friday Ecommerce Checklist

November 11, 2021 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Black Friday Ecommerce checklist

Need a Black Friday ecommerce checklist? It is a great way to make sure you are ready for the biggest selling time of the year with this handy checklist.

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Checklist

Host a giveaway on social media, two weeks before Black Friday (so tomorrow) to attract the attention of potential new customers.
Check product inventory and supply inventory levels.
Check packaging and shipping supplies inventory levels.
Update store inventory levels if they are getting low, so you do not sell out and cause listings to deactivate.
Check all expired, sold out and inactive listings to see if there is anything that needs to be re-listed.
Update social media shop banners and avatars for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa & New Years products & sales.
Update store banner & avatar for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa & New Years products & sales. Be sure to add “Last Day To Order By” date.
Update shop owner photo to a festive one, just for fun.
Change email signature to show holiday, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
Consider increasing daily ad budget for the month of November or just for November 25th to November 29th.
Only run ads on listings that have the highest sales conversion rate to maximize ad dollars.
Email customers Black Friday offers on November 25th.
Email customers Cyber Monday offers on November 28th.
Post to social media daily, and several times a day from November 25th to November 29th.
Comment daily on popular Facebook and Instagram posts that your target market reads, to get seen by their followers.
If you sell on Etsy, close orders as soon as they ship, to avoid shop getting paused.
Check that all links are working. Links from your social media sites to your store, and vice versa.
Include coupons or gift guides for Valentine’s Day in all packages.
If comfortable, encourage local buyers to do curb side pickup.
Email your local business writer(s) today and ask to have either your Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday special mentioned in any write-ups they are doing.

Book a 30-minute phone consultation with me to get personalized marketing advice for your online business!

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Black Friday Marketing Tips for Your Etsy Shop

October 23, 2018 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

If you plan on offering a Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday sale at your Etsy shop, then I highly recommend that you invest in an affordable ad graphic that you can use in your Etsy shop, in your emails and on social media to really help drive traffic. For example, this Black Friday ad graphic from the Etsy shop, TaunaDesignStudio has so many uses, just keep reading.

Tips for Your Black Friday Ads

- Include the ad graphic as one of your Etsy product photos (even asking people to pin, etc.) and/ or use it as your shop view image for one of your listings, just for the day.
- Put the ad graphic in your Etsy shop banner and Facebook banners.
- Use the ad graphic as your Etsy avatar and social media avatars for the day.
- Ask all friends and family to post the ad graphic on their social media sites.
- Use the ad graphic as a one-day ad on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
- When posting it on social media include hash tags such as #blackfriday2018, #blackfridaysale, #blackfridayshopping, #blackfridaydeals.
- Make the ad graphic front and center in your email to customers as well as part of your email signature.
- Print out business cards with the ad graphic on one side and your shop information on the other and leave on car windshields at the malls.

What Sells Big on Black Friday?

Want to know one of the most popular items for people to buy on Black Friday? Engagement rings! This is due to the fact that Black Friday is predominantly seen as a time to get an amazing deal on those high ticket items (TVs, tires, iPhones) and engagement rings are a high ticket item. Also, 80% of all engagements occur between Christmas and January 1st so the timing is right.

Marketing Strategy & Business Consulting

GB Oliver Since 2010 I have advised thousands of small businesses and I can help yours too. My very affordable marketing consultations provide advice, feedback, direction and an experienced second opinion on any of your business struggles or questions. Learn more here.

3 Marketing Ideas To Try To Get Holiday Shoppers

November 18, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

The big holiday shopping season is upon us.

If you need marketing ideas to get holiday shoppers into your retail store, then try these three marketing tactics and see if they bring in the buyers you are looking for.

1. Relook at How You Are Using Twitter

Please stop just tweeting out your products. It doesn’t work. Instead, create and then tweet out a Pinterest board, with a really attention grabbing title like Gifts for Men Who Have Everything (i.e. and make sure a few of your products are amongst them). Use the trending hash tags #gifts, #Christmas, #Pinterest #BlackFriday and you’ll see better results. Use the camera icon in the bottom left corner of the Twitter box to include a photo of the board. Encourage people to RT.

2. Use the Senses to Draw Shoppers In

If you have a retail shop, place of business or are exhibiting at a show or event, draw people in ways you can’t always online. Through smell, sight, taste and sound. Decorate your store windows, door, signage, shopping mall cart, whatever you’ve got. It doesn’t have to be for Christmas, it can just even be for winter and it can be something quirky like Anthropologie using marshmallows as snow in the photo above (note: you can also use a cool window display to get publicity in your local paper). Have holiday music playing and piped out into the street (if allowed). Have some sort of amazing scent, whether it is food or a holiday scent like cinnamon luring them in. Hand out hot chocolate or pumpkin lattes with your business name on the cups. Bring the spirit and you’ll bring the shoppers.

Store Window at Anthropologie

3. Display Quirky Signage

People love funny, love quirky and they love quotes. Put up interesting signage that gets people talking, and in this case, are good calls to action. Sometimes people don’t need much convincing to buy something they probably don’t need, especially at those Black Friday sales (44% of Black Friday shoppers buy for themselves).

marketing ideas holiday shoppers

One of the best ways to drive endless, free and qualified traffic to your business is through a blog. If done correctly, over time, one blog post can bring anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 visits a month. And SEO has proven to convert the highest into sales, more so than email, advertising or social media. I offer a blog writing service if interested!