Black Friday
My inbox has been bombarded with Black Friday sales but not only today – for the whole week. My social media feeds are full of ads for Black Friday and even TV shows are creating infomercials disguised as information you need to know to get the best bargains before midnight!
In fact I got Black Friday confused with Click Frenzy – which was last week. Before click frenzy there were the pre-click frenzy sales, the post click frenzy sales and the same for Black Friday. And if you miss out there is now Cyber Monday!
So is it a marketing opportunity for Australia’s small business or another American festival adoption like Halloween? Apparently the day is tied to Thanksgiving – people have the day off and shop. Much like Australians do on Boxing Day.
So does it create a way for your brand to leverage off a bigger activity for gain or is it just another way to market sales products?
I depends on what your ‘sale’ strategy is. Don’t have a ‘sale’ strategy? – then you should!
You create a sale strategy (different from a ‘sales’ strategy), by firstly asking yourself if you would EVER go on sale. When Anita Roddick started The Body Shop, the original philosophy was to NEVER go on sale. If you start with regular sales your loyal customers get annoyed if they miss it and you attract people who only like your product when it goes on sale. They wait for the sales.
A sale on product can assume failure in the eyes of your customers. Are they less likely to buy a product on sale if they think – well no-one else likes it why should I?
Do you put everything on sale – or the units you have excess of? Do you sell discontinued stock off cheaply?
What is all of this saying about your brand? How does ‘sale’ fit with your positioning statement?
If you are a service – do you offer discounts? Are there different prices for different clients? Do you reward people for paying early? Is there an hourly rate for on-going work vs one-off projects? In a very small market – everyone talks with everyone – how do you manage different price points?
Before you get excited with the idea of #Black Friday – or any sale for that matter – ask what it can do for your business in a positive but also perhaps a negative way.
