In 2019, Black Friday online sales surpassed all previous records, reaching a whopping $7,200,000,000. Tune in to Business Growth Hacks this week to hear how you can prepare for the Black Friday weekend, and why if you’re not participating you are missing out. From Andrew and John’s experiences of Black Friday and the holiday season growing up, to why gift cards are indispensable in the current economic climate, this episode is a masterclass in marketing! Discover how to build a game plan for Black Friday, why it's not simply about one Friday, and how you can troubleshoot before it's too late. We dive into the buyer’s psyche and how to motivate them to bite the bait. We also hear about companies that are doing their marketing right, and what you can learn from them. Find out why your email list is your most valuable marketing platform, seven incredible tips on how to prepare for the Black Friday weekend and so much more!

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to your hosts: Andrew Brockenbush (founder and CEO of Beefy Marketing), and John Fritzsching (video production specialist at Beefy Marketing). 
• Today’s topic: your marketing strategy for Black Friday.
• Hear John and Andrew’s personal stories around the best presents they ever got, growing up. 
• How buyers plan around Black Friday and why this should impact your marketing strategy. 
• The timeframe of Black Friday: not simply one day, but the start of the buying season. 
• How to build a game plan for Black Friday, and what you should consider as a business owner (inventory, shipping cost, supply chain issues, timeframes).
• Why it’s important to create a sense of urgency in your marketing.
• The value of planning for disaster: what to do when stock won’t be shipped in time.
• Why your business needs a gift card.
• The benefits of making daily specials and repackaging sales, and some examples of companies doing this well. 
• Co-branded marketing: why you should be combining forces with other companies.
• Unlocking deals and keeping your customers guessing: the benefits of suspense. 
• Making Mystery savings work for you using sneak peeks and scratch or spin tools. 
• Why an email list is your most valuable marketing asset and how it is better than social media. 
• Partner with industry influencers: creating awareness in groups of people who are beyond your customer circle. 
• How to tap into SMS marketing and how to toe the line of too many messages. 
• Leveraging the fact that you are a local company.
• How many times a day you should be posting on social media, and why there is no such thing as too many sales signs. 
• The benefit of last-chance-deals and how to re-incentivize customers.
• Seven top tips on how to prepare for the Black Friday weekend.
• Why a return policy helps make impulsive buying decisions more comfortable. 
• Re-targeting customers and the marketing tools to help you with this.
• Today’s Business Growth Hack: the shopping guide and how to create your own. 

Tweetables:

“And if you’ve not thought about [Black Friday], maybe you think Black Friday’s only for the big box retail stores, that’s not true.” — @abrockenbush [0:04:18]

“[Black Friday] is honestly a marketing dream come true.” — John Fritzsching [0:14:57]

“FOMO and urgency are two of the biggest sales tactics ever.” — @abrockenbush [0:17:37]

“If you’re already doing a Black Friday sale, and you know that there’s two days between that and Cyber Monday (the digital version which is all just a blurred line now), just go ahead and do the whole weekend.” — @abrockenbush [0:25:04]

“I still don’t think there’s anything more valuable for a business than their email list.” — @abrockenbush [0:29:35]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Andrew Brockenbush on LinkedIn

Andrew Brockenbush on Twitter

John Fritzsching 

Sweetwater website

Adroll website

The Beef Podcast

Beefy Marketing