Small Business Lessons Learned from Black Friday

• Tweet

Small businesses may feel a bit out of the loop with all of the recent big business hype over the upcoming sales holidays; however, there’s a lot for small business owners and entrepreneurs to learn about marketing and sales efficiency by analyzing the way big retailers approach both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

These techniques are not only beneficial for maximizing marketing efficiency for the holiday season, but for years to come as well. If you’re looking to get a little more out of Black Friday this year, consider the following valuable lessons.

Have an Online Presence

One way small businesses can take note is by adopting techniques used in online retail. For small businesses especially, having a presence online is crucial to ensure massive appeal and convenience for current shoppers. The advancement and widespread accessibility of online shopping through laptops, tablets, and mobile devices has given smaller companies the opportunity to broaden their consumer base and increase exposure beyond the confines of brick and mortar.

Less is More

Adding an obscene amount of extra content to your website in an effort to boost SEO is counterintuitive from a sales perspective. Although the practice may bring in more hits, you’ll most likely turn buyers away with an overly complex description of a product or service. Your website should be both comprehensive and easily navigable to keep the consumer informed and accommodated without appearing desperate. Clarity is key when it comes to Black Friday sales, and a truly great deal should really speak for itself.

Keep Everyone on the Same Page

You want to synchronize your message from both a marketing angle and a presentation angle. Too many companies make the mistake of letting the marketing team and the webmasters/social media team work separately on their own projects, when ideally they should both be aiming for one goal. For example, the marketing team may be focusing on in-store advertisements while the presentation team is focusing on the online marketplace. To ensure a more successful work environment during Black Friday and beyond, keep your team focused on the same goal with a foolproof combination of great deals and great presentation.

Be the Buyer

Know your consumer base from the inside out. It may seem like Business 101 advice, but too often companies forget that this concept is at the core of success. Understand the needs and wants of the consumer by studying popular trends and determining where they fit in your particular demographic. Will the consumer be more attracted to a black friday laptop sale or a Cyber Monday video game sale? Your consumers will most likely be geared toward the latest and greatest technologies based on current industry trends.

Saturday is the New Black (Friday)

It may be technically called “Black Friday,” but plenty of big businesses extend their sales before and after the actual holiday. This technique is not only effective for keeping a steady flow of sales throughout the holiday season, but also for creating a more pleasant shopping experience for shoppers who can still enjoy savings without the 11 a.m. deadline. Think outside the box and try to personalize any before- and after-sales to fit your business specifically.