How to Run a Great Black Friday Promo

Here are the top 5 questions I’ve received about how to run a great Black Friday Promo… And the answers to them:

𝟏. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐬?

I like to start pretty early to avoid being stuck in a sea of other companies that waited until the final week to start talking about Black Friday promos.

(hint hint: this post is part of my ‘early’ Black Friday strategy)

Early on, you want to start talking about the problem that your product/service solves OR how it makes people feel (depends on the product).

You’re essentially raising awareness. Then about a week before the actual sale starts, you want to start dropping some hints about what’s for sale and giving people a heads up on how it’s going to work.

You’ll want to explain what the product is, what the deal is, how they can claim it, why it’s scarce, etc. Assume your audience doesn’t know anything. Because the truth is, everyone is busy living their own life & needs reminders about what you do.

Each day it gets gradually more ‘salesy’. Then on Thanksgiving weekend, GO HARD!

People expect you to sell to them on BFCM. Don’t play soft and get worried about ‘offending people’ with too many emails. This is your time to shine!

𝟐. 𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐅𝐂𝐌 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬?

I answered this in the above question. You’ll want to be outright the week of. Prior to that, you’ll want to focus on the problem only & give a LOT of value. Especially since sales are lower in early November (people know the discounts are coming in late November).

Also note that ‘value’ is subjective to your list. On my list, value is email tips & relatable stories. On an ecom list, value is uniting people around a cause or problem that they’re all passionate about. Just a couple of examples, but you get the idea.

𝟑. 𝐈𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?

Great question, I love high-ticket offers! But you don’t have to discount them if you don’t want to.

Think about a cool bonus you have that people in your program like. Now offer that bonus to anyone who books a call (or buys) within a specific date range.

We’ve also had some of our clients do special group calls that ONLY happen once. You have to sign up by a specific date to attend. It’s legitimate scarcity that forces people to make a decision.

𝟒. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐌𝐒?

Definitely send them! You’re giving yourself more chances to succeed – even if you haven’t done it before.

Think of SMS as a simplified version of your emails. Prior to BFCM weekend, your SMS should just be recaps of your best email each week.

But on BFCM weekend, text them every day with the offer/discount/deal! If you don’t, your competitors will.

(Also note that you should have a welcome SMS when people join your list that asks them to reply. If this is the first time you’re texting them & you’re including a link, your SMS delivery might suffer – another reason to start early).

𝟓. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬?

Ahh, I love it! Truth is, it goes back to the fundamentals. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and remove all your own biases (easy do do right? lol)…

Now think about what you’re offering… Is it ACTUALLY appealing? Or does it just sound appealing to you because you’re the owner?

I’ve given a lot of good ideas here to stand out as well. Including starting EARLY!! Don’t be the brand that only shows up on Black Friday!

Oh, and emojis can work pretty well too as long as it’s not the same one everyone else uses. I like these:

But most importantly, you want to get help from someone who has a history of running successful Black Friday campaigns (wink wink)