What’s the business case for Black Friday?
It’s that time of year when retailers and consumers alike brace themselves for the onslaught of discounts, deals, and sales that come at the end of November.
With Black Friday closing in, of course, small businesses are forced to think about their own sales and offerings too.
Questions like:
Do I need to create a new offer?
Should I be promoting my product or service?
Do I need new sales funnels?
Should I run ads?
How am I going to compete with these large companies and their budgets?
Maybe instead I should just participate in Small Business Saturday or Sunday with fellow small businesses to band together and grab attention from the big guys?
Might be flooding your mind.
So, what are my thoughts as a marketing consultant, and someone who has been on both sides of Black Friday chaos?
For those who aren’t inclined to watch videos, let’s start with a little history about this controversial marketing tradition. And even if you are, scroll down for some examples I didn’t include in the video!
The history of Black Friday
The name “Black Friday” was originally the label given to September 24, 1869, when the gold market crashed in the U.S.
This is similar to “Black Monday,” the name given to October 19, 1987 when there was an unexpected stock market crash, and “Black Tuesday,” which occurred on October 29, 1929, when the US stock market crashed and launched the Great Depression.
Obviously, these aren’t related to the biggest shopping day of the year!
There’s also a common belief that retailers operate at a loss throughout the year until the magical day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. when the tide turns and their mega sales drag them from the red back into the black.
It’s amazing what people will believe. There’s also no way this could be true.
Other myths about Black Friday link it to enslaved people being sold at a discount on that day, but this is also false (even if it is more believable than the red-to-black scenario given the atrocities of slavery in the U.S.). This myth in particular has led to some calls to boycott the day, which would be understandable if it were true.
The truth is, the name comes from the 1950s in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
“Back in the 1950s, police in the city of Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city in advance of the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year. Not only would Philly cops not be able to take the day off, but they would have to work extra-long shifts dealing with the additional crowds and traffic. Shoplifters would also take advantage of the bedlam in stores to make off with merchandise, adding to the law enforcement headache.”
Via https://www.history.com/news/black-friday-thanksgiving-origins-history
In the 60s, retailers attempted to rebrand the day as “Big Friday” and failed. The “Black Friday” name stuck and eventually spread throughout the U.S., Canada, and beyond.
Now, this one-day event has turned into what seems like an entire season on its own.
For example, I got my first promotional Black Friday email weeks ago!
And, it’s not just Black Friday anymore.
There’s also Small Business Saturday and Sunday, and Cyber Monday, lest e-commerce businesses be left out.
In fact, Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.— also known as the annual celebration of colonial genocide—used to be one of the very few days American retail workers could count on having off.
Now, Black Friday starts on Thursday (if not earlier) and runs throughout the weekend, meaning shopping malls are no longer closed and quiet.
So, what IS the business case for Black Friday?
This is a hard question for me to answer objectively. For one, I just don’t like anything about Black Friday.
I worked the day after Thanksgiving back when I lived in the U.S. and worked in retail. It was wild and busy, and not enjoyable, to say the least.
While there weren’t tramplings and fights and injuries happening, it was always a long, long day followed by a weekend of long days because we were usually told not to bother asking for time off.
And though it’s not quite the same experience in Canada, the “holiday” can still be quite overwhelming.
Like just about anything you choose to do in marketing your business, the answer of whether you should promote and/or offer any discounts on Black Friday (or any of its tagalong days) is a great big IT DEPENDS.
I take pride in helping people resist the impulse to jump on every bandwagon that comes along (that’s why I’ve written multiple articles about choosing what not to do when it comes to marketing).
And Black Friday and its friends are all one big bandwagon that may or may not serve you well.
Before you make your decision, consider whether or not you have the time and resources to commit to promotion, and whether you have a compelling offer that you can promote.
What does it take to create a Black Friday offer that’s effective?
01: Black Friday buyers expect a deal.
It’s best if you have a compelling but simple offer that you can discount or bundle with something else for added value.
02: You need to promote it consistently.
There is a lot of noise around Black Friday. Companies ramp up their advertising like no other time and so in order to be seen, you need to be loud.
You’re going to want to post about your offer on social media more than you usually do, and likely more than you’re comfortable doing. Remember that not everyone is going to see all of your posts! You’ll also want to add appropriate hashtags to extend your reach, and to hit your target audience.
Beyond social media, you’ll do well to create an email sequence to promote the offer (more than once) to your list. Every step of your offer should be automated as manual steps will cause frustration and confusion with your potential buyers.
03: The timing of your offer needs to make sense to buyers.
If you’re selling a planning resource for the New Year, that will likely do better than something related to tax season.
People are looking for deals, but consumers aren’t going to buy things that aren’t timed appropriately for their needs and desires (especially when it’s already an expensive season).
Potential challenges with Black Friday deals
While you can create a compelling offer and grow your business by promoting a Black Friday deal, you also need to remember that you’re competing with businesses of every size.
Everyone is trying to get attention for their offers on every platform - social, email, and advertising, and it means that it’s going to be harder to stand out and share what you have.
Black Friday offer fatigue is a real thing! Last year, I heard from quite a few people (myself included) who mass searched the term “Black Friday” in their inbox and just deleted everything.
In an already overwhelming holiday season, it’s possible that for many, your offer is just adding to the noise and overwhelm.
Beyond challenges with consumers themselves, social media algorithms don’t make it any easier for you to get your offer seen. That means you might have to pay to get the reach you need to make the work worth it.
And advertising prices will be at their peak during such a high-demand time.
So…you’re saying it’s not worth it?
Not at all. It still depends.
There’s no rule book that says you have to agree with me or follow those requirements I listed for an effective offer.
It’s your business and you get to make the rules, but here’s how I would decide whether or not putting the time and energy into a Black Friday offer makes sense for your business:
First, determine what you want to accomplish.
Is growing your list the most important thing you want to do in your business?
Do you want more sales to boost your revenue before the end of the year?
Is there a particular product or service you want more clients for?
Each of these goals can involve a different approach. Choose the one that makes sense for you.
Growing your list
Growing your list might look like offering access to something new and simple and relevant to this time of year.
Create a quick 10-minute video training on a topic you talk about all the time.
Encourage signups with a drawing for a free 1-hour session with you as a pre-holiday gift.
Look to past content for inspiration to build a new downloadable resource.
Boosting revenue
Boosting revenue could mean determining which of your offers is the easiest to sell, adding a bonus to it, and creating a sense of urgency for buyers by limiting the number of people who can buy or putting time constraints on the offer.
Don’t forget to do some direct outreach to existing clients or prospects that can benefit from the offer!
Be genuine and not salesy. Focus on the benefits your offer will provide your clients.
Increasing sales for X product
Increasing sales for a specific product might look like deciding to focus solely on promotion of this product/service and only this product/service for the next 3 weeks.
Approach the sale in every way possible – coming up with all the reasons people should buy this product and covering them one at a time in your promotion, using testimonials, storytelling, and other marketing tactics.
You might also consider sweetening the deal with a discount and/or a value add to ensure people buy.
OR go rogue and do your own thing
You don’t have to do ALL the things I listed above or even any of them. Apply the KISS (keep it simple, silly), principle and take what you get from it.
Here are some different ways you can do this without the pressure:
Make your offer exclusive to your email list.
Don’t mention Black Friday or any of its buddies anywhere in the email.
Make it special for your email subscribers because you’re working on developing true fans who are aligned with your values!
Skip the sequences, reminders, and pressure to buy “right now.”
Don’t send it on Black Friday or the weekend/ following week to reduce who you’re competing with for attention.
Nothing is required of you
Black Friday and its cohorts are inventions of marketing and aren’t required for you to make sales this time of year.
You can make an offer, you can decide to do nothing and stay quiet, OR you can actively be “anti-Black Friday,” telling people that you’re not going to put out an offer, but that you can promise your prices are always the best you can give before, during, and after the mayhem of these made-up days.
After all, the culture of sales has programmed people to think they never get a deal…but what if you just price things that way all the time?
SO, go forth and give your people a fabulous offer. Or don’t. Whatever you decide, I hope it goes well and that you succeed in the goal you set!
In no way are you a bad business person for taking a pass on something that doesn’t serve you well, overtaxes your resources, or doesn’t make sense in terms of what you have to offer.
In fact, you’re helping to resist the manipulations of our capitalist system by abstaining.
Do let me know in the comments what you decide about Black Friday! I’d love to hear your thoughts.