Seven last-minute startup tips ahead of Black Friday weekend

By promoting deals strategically, your retail startup will bring in a huge profit on Black Friday and over the following days, writes SEO executive at Distinctly, Lewis Koch.

For startups, Black Friday weekend can feel overwhelming. it’s easy to compare your business with the giant retailers battling it out with huge slashes in prices, that startups and micro businesses simply can’t begin to compete with.

You imagine any effort will be futile, drowned out by the noise of the extravagant advertising campaigns that big name retailers bombard consumers with.

In reality, there are many ways a startup can benefit from the vast number of consumers shopping over Black Friday weekend.

Last year, between 13 November and 24 December, £25bn was spent online in the UK, which makes Black Friday weekend an opportunity you can’t afford to miss, whatever the size of your business.

Use divergent thinking to re-invent ideas from big companies

Many large companies have a plan for Black Friday weekend, and it can be beneficial to see how they get crowds of people literally knocking their shop doors down to grab a bargain.

There isnt a large chain of command to go through with a micro business, so owners can be more flexible and creative than leaders at larger companies. Learn what you can from the big corporations and re-invent their ideas to make them your own, within a budget you can afford.

Small retailers eye Black Friday success with one in four set to participate

Gain consumer interest without slashing prices

Black Friday weekend gains momentum by the huge discounts that big companies offer. This means that your micro business will have to think imaginatively, using new ideas.

You do not need to slash your prices so much that you can’t make a profit. You could offer free postage, vouchers for money off, or free samples as an alternative to price reductions.

One worry is that Black Friday weekend simply drags demand forward for the Christmas buying season, and that means it might wipe out profits for the rest of the Christmas season.

If you seek to create new customers, you won’t sacrifice profit in sales that might have been made anyway. Create a balance with new customers to see an overall increase in sales during the season.

Use social media

With growing popularity of the Facebook Live video broadcast feature, you can host a customer appreciation party or a virtual sales celebration through the social media platform.

Generate an event on the business page and invite fans and followers to share it. Enticing customers to share a deal with their social media network offers free marketing to a large network.

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Double up your email game

Email marketing offers startups a cost-effective way to promote your business and Black Friday deals. There are many email marketing software tools out there that are affordable and easy to use.

You can offer additional incentives to share the email such as a discount or a small gift that increases the value of the original purchase. Double your game by providing genuine value followed by a great offer, leading them to your Black Friday landing page.

Amazon for example runs some of the most successful email campaigns in the business world. Every email that Amazon sends out is customised to the shopper it is sent to, for example.

Four tips to create a marketing email

• Include a clear call to action
• Offer incentives for fast action
• Include eye-catching imagery
• Create a sense of urgency with a countdown timer

Personalisation is key