Believe it or not, it's time to start thinking about Black Friday 2024. In this episde, we're diving into why August isn't too early to plan and how you can set yourself up for a record-breaking sales season. From mapping out your calendar to targeting the right audience, we're covering all the essentials to make sure your Black Friday campaign isn't just good—it's epic. Don't get lost in the holiday chaos—start planning now and crush your sales goals this Black Friday!”
Timestamp:
00:18 Why plan for Black Friday in August?
02:17 How to create a targeted Black Friday plan
05:46 Top of funnel growth strategies
08:49 Validating your messaging
11:52 Using systems to improve conversions
14:04 Challenges and obstacles during Black Friday
Resources:
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Hang Out & Say Hi!
jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: Hello,
and welcome to another episode of
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:the Deeply Rooted Business Podcast.
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:I'm Jess, your resident Ops Expert.
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:And I'm here with Rachel,
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:our Marketing.
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:mastermind.
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:I like mastermind because
it's like Swiftie vibes.
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:But yeah, today we're gonna
be talking about Black Friday.
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:Yes, in August, we're going to
be talking about Black Friday.
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:And how to plan for it and how to plan
for a strong back half of the year.
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:And if you're thinking, is it a little
too early to talk about Black Friday?
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:No, it is not.
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:If you didn't know already, I am, have
a retail background and in retail, we
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:started really planning for Black Friday,
like, the day after Black Friday the
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:next year, but like really in the stores,
making sure that we're doing all the
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:preparations, hiring, getting everything
ramped up and ready to go in August.
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:So it is not too early.
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:If this is a campaign that you
want to pursue, which I think we
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:had a whole other episode about
like, should you do Black Friday?
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:We'll link it below.
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:But this is really going to be for
like, you've decided you're going to
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:go for it and going to do Black Friday.
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:So.
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:Rachel, what are we talking about today?
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:Why don't you kick us off?
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah, so
I think so many people think the same
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:way as like it's too early and they
start actually planning in that like
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:late September, October timeframe.
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:And that is not enough time.
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:Like Jess and I have talked so much
about how we prefer a good 60 plus
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:days to build up into a ramp for a new
launch and Black Friday creates so much
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:more chaos within because you have.
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:Competition, you are literally shouting
into the void because you are working
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:against all of the major retail businesses
and big box stores and all of that.
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:So really making sure you have proper
runway to make sure that you're
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:planning, preparing, doing everything
you can so that your Black Friday
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:campaign is an actual success is key.
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:So we're going to be
kind of going through.
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:The layers of where
you should be starting.
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:What are some of the things
you could be doing right now?
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:And then maybe not so much
detailed into an actual black
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:Friday plan, but what components.
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:take place in the ramp up time period.
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:And we just did a whole
episode on launch ramp up.
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:Black Friday is a little bit different,
but yeah, so the very first one,
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:we are going to be talking about
how to create a targeted plan.
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:I think this is something that So
many people just kind of like wing
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:and I've seen countless people
say, Oh, I think I'm just going
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:to put a discount on this product.
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:And that's their black
Friday campaign everything.
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:And that's just not how
you should be planning it.
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:Sometimes that's successful, right?
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:If you want a really low key
one and just kind of like.
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:Throw something out there that might work.
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:However, in this case, if you really
want to hit a revenue milestone, really
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:understanding who you want to convert this
Black Friday is key so that we can really
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:reverse engineer that process right now.
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah, so
I think it's great to just always
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:start with a calendar and kind of
working backwards from Black Friday.
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:I actually think once September
hits, you can just go ahead and plan
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:the rest of your year because who's
really working in December anyway?
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:Like, I know for me, like, we're
wrapping up tasks and most of my
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:clients are out of pocket for, like,
the last two weeks of the year.
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:So I think right now is a good time.
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:And like we usually talk about
quarterly planning, just go ahead.
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:And cause all of that, like kind of
mushles together in the back year, plan
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:out your calendar, starting with black
Friday, work your way backwards at the
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:different milestones that you're going
to have to hit and make sure that you're
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:aligning your content with the people.
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:who you're trying to attract.
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah.
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:And especially with how competitive just
a basic attention span like is for your
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:ideal client during the Black Friday and
like that really crazy holiday promotional
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:period, understanding what is so unique
about you and what your unique value
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:prop is and start Focusing on that right
now so that when it comes time, you're
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:not having to convince all of your ideal
clients and all of the people that are
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:trying to like, you seeing your messaging
around black Friday, why you, you're just
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:trying to capture that, the tension at
that point, you want them to understand
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:why you now, so that come that time,
that decision's a lot easier to make.
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah.
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:And I think another point of like knowing
who, because Rachel has in our notes,
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:who in big capital letters, you want to
attract is so important because it's going
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:to inform other aspects of your planning
as well, such as like, When are you going
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:to like, want to detonate your sale?
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:When are you going to want to end it?
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:When you start sending the emails and
everything, because if your target
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:customer is a busy mom or someone that
may be out of pocket, like the week of
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:Black Friday, it may be more beneficial.
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:Like I know we see Black Friday
sales, like in retail starting now
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:in like October, it may be beneficial
to start kind of like rolling that
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:stuff out a week before, before people
start getting too distracted by.
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:the other events they have
going on in their life.
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737:
Yeah, there's no rules.
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:Like, Black Friday does not have to
exist the day after Thanksgiving.
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:People have kind of like taken
that and made the whole month
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:a giant promotional period.
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:So if you feel like in your mind
you're telling yourself like, oh I need
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:to launch the day after, you don't.
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:you can literally figure
it out and find the time.
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:Like, in our launch ramp up episode
we really talked about, and maybe
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:I'm making this up, but we talked
about making sure your ideal client
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:is aligned with your launch timeline.
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:If you're launching in September and
you have a bunch of people who are like
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:getting their kids back in school, like,
is that really the most ideal timeline?
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:So throw those rules out, give
yourself permission to launch whenever
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:you want in the month of November.
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: All right,
so moving on to the next topic and it
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:is top of funnel growth, which is all
about learning how to call in people
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:who are at the top of your funnel
and begin to build trust with them.
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:And I can say I have worked behind
the scenes and probably, I don't
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:know, like 60 different launches now.
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:And top of funnel growth is always
the number one opportunity I see.
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:Okay.
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah,
it's one of the biggest things that
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:I think so many people miss out on.
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:They think, oh, I have my email list.
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:I have my social following already.
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:And they think that they're good with
that, but it's always important to
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:be like growing that top tier of your
funnel so that your other steps of
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:your funnel can be Even more optimized
and you can be pushing people in.
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:Jess and I always talk about how
launches are truly just number games.
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:If you know how many people you can
convert because you understand your
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:benchmarks and your KPIs and all of that,
reverse engineering that by pushing a
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:bigger top of funnel is absolutely key.
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:So how do you do that?
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:You take your actual primary
channel, whether that's Tik TOK,
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:YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest,
whatever that looks like.
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:And you really start to like build out
that content strategy now to get as many
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:new eyeballs on your content as possible.
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:And then layering back to who you're
targeting, you want to make sure your
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:top of funnel is calling in specifically
those people who are going to buy in.
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:Three months, two months or
whatever, that's why everything
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:is really so connected.
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:And if you're super intentional about
it, you can create kind of this layered
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:ripple effect that if you're putting in
the work right now, you said, I want, The
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:people who are going to buy this course
or this strategy or join this program.
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:I want only those types of new people.
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:I want their eyeballs on my content
and to build trust with them because
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:so many people that are going
to be new in your space aren't
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:going to buy like immediately.
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:So you build that trust in the
downtime in the off season of
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:black Friday and then come that
decision to like make that purchase.
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:Then they take advantage of it.
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:Yeah,
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: really
helped support this, especially with
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:Instagram is, and we talked about,
did we talk about this tool in our
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:last, I don't but is many chat.
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:So I'm sure you've seen the people
you know, come at this word to be able
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:to get this, and it's an automation
that activates, your nurture funnel.
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:And it can be really helpful, especially
when you're trying to bring in a large
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:amount of new leads into your list.
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:I would say just use caution with it
and make sure that you're kind of mixing
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:it up and making sure that not every
single post on Instagram has like a word
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:called action and that you're encouraging
organic, real engagement as well.
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:Because I have seen Instagram
kind of get mad when it's just
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:like, Mini chat CPAs all the time.
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737: definitely.
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:So then moving into the next stage.
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:So we've created a targeted plan.
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:We know who we're talking to.
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:We're focused on bringing in new
eyeballs into our top of funnel.
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:That next layer of it is really
validating your messaging.
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:you're not waiting until that sales
email goes out that you're thinking,
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:Oh, I'm going to try something new.
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:I'm going to try this.
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:I'm going to try that.
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:You want to take advantage of AB testing,
playing with the experiment of it all
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:with the email marketing and everything
through Like AB testing and all of that.
169
:So taking this idea versus this idea,
taking emotional messaging versus
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:analytical messaging and really getting
a level of confidence come launch
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:time, come like your promotional
season that you could say, Oh yeah.
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:This audience responds to this
types of topics and I can lead with
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:this knowing it's going to do well.
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah.
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:So I think I've been
experimenting with this myself.
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:It's like, oh, what is more like creates
more movement for my audience, like
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:money or stress and like figuring out
which one is a core motivational driver.
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:And I think I'm really actually leaning
on like you would think everybody
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:wants the money, but it's really like
my people are already making money.
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:They just wanna like have their life back
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah, exactly.
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:and.
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:it's like, I think it's so funny
because so many times people market
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:like themselves and you have so many
different people in your audience that
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:don't behave like you as a business owner.
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:And so it's really important to get
literal data behind These assumptions
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:and that you're not just saying
like, Oh, well, I, would like more
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:money or I would like less stress
and leaning with that because.
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:That's literally just an assumption
that you're putting out there.
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:So, A B testing, 100 percent recommend it.
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:It doesn't have to just be an email.
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:You could do one day if you're in
Instagram, one day you talk only
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:very analytical on your stories.
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:The next day you talk very emotional
and both days have called actions.
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:You see what drives the most result,
what gets the most Views and all of that.
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:But yeah, so test subject lines,
test pop ups, test on your website,
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:like very various different things.
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:you can test everything.
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:So that's definitely step one.
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:The next thing that I kind of like as
your email marketing person have to
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:tell you is that this is now the time.
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:To do that list cleanup and
get super, super clear on who
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:you're talking to in your list.
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:So one of the things that I always
recommend is dropping some type of
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:a resource email and tagging people
that click on very specific resources
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:and being very intentional about it.
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:You're not saying Oh, all three of these
resources are for ideal client a, you're
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:saying this person who is not ready to
buy the course, this is their resource.
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:This person who is ready to buy
the course, this is their resource.
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:And you're making clear distinguishers
between the two so that when you
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:come down to like, look at who's
clicking and who's engaging, you can
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:clearly see that you have X amount
of people who are ready to buy the
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:course that just needs to be sold to.
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:So get clear on who's on your
list right now so that come that
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:time, you're ready to sell them.
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: Moving
into our final thing is my favorite.
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:Use systems.
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:Not only to improve your conversions
and client experience, but also
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:help you get out of the weeds.
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:Like, Black Friday is a
holiday for most of us.
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:We're going to be wanting to
enjoy time with our family.
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:And it is possible.
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:I have Launched plenty of campaigns
that were on autopilot come Black
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:Friday as they should be like, I think
all launches should be preplanned and
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:everything loaded and ready to go.
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:And all the automation is
ready to spark off because.
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:One, I think sometimes there's so much
like emotional, like heaviness around
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:launches, that if you don't have things
preplanned, like you might, and we do like
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:experience like dips and stuff is like,
you might get cold feet towards the end.
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:You don't want to have to be in
launch energy and trying to come up
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:with messaging or scheduling emails.
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:You want to have all of that like
plugged and played and ready to go.
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:But there's also some advanced
automations that we can do and put
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:in that kind of help enhance that
client experience so that they feel
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:taken care of even though we might not
be physically like at our computer.
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:So Rachel, why don't you talk about those?
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah.
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:Some of the things from an email
marketing side of things, like really
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:making sure you have your abandoned
cart set up, that you have, your post
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:purchase journey set up so that you're
not worried about onboarding anyone or
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:making sure that, the client experience
customer service side is like buttoned
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:up, get all of those components.
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:Nailed down now so that come that
time, you already know, and you're
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:working through all of that stuff.
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:If you have a bigger program that maybe
you're just leading everybody to an
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:application, making sure you have those
application automation set up, whether
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:it's, Google form connects through
Zapier to then your email platform
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:or Dubsado versus this, whatever
that looks like having and embracing.
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:The technology to get you out of
the weeds is so important right now.
250
:like how Jess is saying, like, where
you get so consumed by some of these
251
:launch components and you're like
taking yourself out of the moment where
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:it's your holiday with your family
and you're worried about onboarding
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:and doing all of this crazy stuff.
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:Like it's so unnecessary.
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah.
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:All right.
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:So those are our four kind of things that
you can do to start preparing now, but
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:also we just want to like put a disclaimer
that things are probably going to be a
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:little bit challenging and there are going
to be some obstacles, but no matter how
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:far you get ahead of Black Friday, because
it just is such a big promotional weekend.
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:And number one, you're competing
against every big business there
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:is out there, which we talk about
this in the episode we did, like,
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:should you have a Black Friday offer?
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:It's like fully understanding the
amount of energy and work that you're
265
:going to have to bring to be able to
compete with all of these big brands
266
:and kind of having like a gut chalk
with yourself, looking at your numbers.
267
:And is it really worth the effort, the
energy that you're going to put in based
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:on like, How big you think you could
grow your list from now until then.
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737: Yeah.
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:So some of those like obstacles, no matter
how hard you try, no matter how much you
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:plan is literally going to be competition.
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:Like Jess just said, you are
fighting against retailers who have
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:millions of dollars in budgets and
ad spend that are working to talk
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:to the same exact people that you're
having or that you're speaking to.
275
:So competition as we know during
major promotional things, lower reach
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:and engagement is going to happen.
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:Platforms that monetize are always
going to prioritize paid ads over
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:organic Traffic always like that's
a hundred percent statement.
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:So when you're getting frustrated because
you make a post, are you doing this?
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:You're doing that on anything
that is algorithm based.
281
:You literally.
282
:are fighting against people who are
pumping money into it, which then
283
:brings me to my next one, which is
if you're doing paid ads, paid ads
284
:may not convert because you're again,
fighting with all the other paid
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:ads and trying to get into like, you
know, that algorithm and all of that.
286
:So these are things that
are outside of our control.
287
:What we can do now is like we said,
Really understand who you're talking
288
:to build that trust with that audience.
289
:Show them why you, and then get all of
your ducks in a row so that if something
290
:does happen and your posts aren't
reaching and your emails are doing
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:most of the work and you're, you know,
need your systems to set everything
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:else up, that could be your 100%.
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:And you're not sitting there frantically
trying to create 10 more posts to be
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:You know, fill a gap of something like
you just kind of like get it to the
295
:point where you can set it, have it
on autopilot and enjoy your holidays
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:because as business owners, that's part
of the most important thing for us here.
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: If you
are planning to pursue Black Friday
298
:after listening to this episode
and then also our episode is like,
299
:is it a smart business decision
for you to pursue Black Friday?
300
:You need to start planning now.
301
:I think Rachel, you're booked
at like, you're not taking any
302
:more clients for Black Friday.
303
:I could probably take one or two on.
304
:So if you would like some extra
support with Black Friday, and I
305
:could probably maybe convince Rachel
to like, help me a little bit as we
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:like, like the tag team launches now.
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:But if you're looking for extra support
around your launch, one of the things that
308
:I do offer is seasonal launch management.
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:So definitely reach out to me on
Instagram, or you can email me.
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:And.
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:Let's tune in for next week where we
are talking about, we had two different
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:things, which I think we were going
to try to stay on the launch train.
313
:So are we talking about how to plan
your launch calendar or business
314
:habits things we learned in corporate
that made us better business owners?
315
:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737:
Those are both such good topics.
316
:Let's stay on the launch train
because we're doing that'll be
317
:three back to back launches.
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:It'll be like a little
mini series for you guys.
319
:And then we'll kind of jump into like
easier listening as you transition
320
:back to school with, I guess, schools
already going back into session.
321
:But as you might need a break
mentally from all this lunch talk.
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:Okay.
323
:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: I feel
like it's needed because everyone
324
:I know is like either going into
a launch or planning the launch.
325
:So we'll do launch calendar next week.
326
:Make sure you tune in again.
327
:If you found any of our
conversations helpful or
328
:interesting, make sure that you.
329
:Leave us a review.
330
:I don't think you have,
we have any reviews yet.
331
:So if you leave it, if you're the first
person to leave us a review I'll give
332
:you a free strategy session, maybe
even my, notion dashboard for free,
333
:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737: I'll
throw something in there, too.
334
:If you're our second person to leave
us a review, I will give you the
335
:Align Leads formula so you can learn
how to grow your list with Aligned
336
:Leads and prime it for conversion.
337
:So, how about that?
338
:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737: So
you can either get a dashboard
339
:or an align leads formula.
340
:And then make sure that you follow.
341
:Us on Instagram and social media.
342
:We're going to be posting
a lot more on there.
343
:And as always, we'd love
to hear from you guys.
344
:If there's anything you'd like for us to
cover, you can DM us and until next week
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:rachel_1_08-02-2024_130737:
We're rooting for
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:jess_1_08-02-2024_130737:
we're waiting for you.
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:Ooh, that was good.