Need Black Friday ideas for small businesses? You’re in the right place! Black Friday is a golden opportunity to reach new customers and boost revenue as we roll into the holiday season.
But let’s be real — standing out in a crowded ecommerce world can feel like an uphill battle, especially for small businesses with limited resources, tighter budgets, and smaller audiences.
That’s why we’ve put together seven powerful ideas designed to help small businesses make the most of Black Friday and maximize profits.
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Not many dates in the calendar represent the same significance for small businesses as Black Friday. It’s a prime opportunity to increase sales before the end of the year, gain new customers, and clear out last season’s stock.
In short, these are the main rewards that small businesses can reap from successful Black Friday campaigns:
Increasing sales
Clearing last season’s stock
Expanding outreach and widening the customer base
Driving business at an important time of year
Gathering data on customer trends
Black Friday also allows small businesses to compete with their larger counterparts. Not only can they bring their prices down to a competitive level, but they can also utilize advantages such as forming customer relationships. These relationships will often blossom into repeat business — a benefit to any company.
Small businesses usually form these relationships via an email list. Email lists are vital for increasing sales over the Black Friday period. According to Omnisend’s BFCM report, nearly 37% of people who clicked on an automated email in 2023 went on to make a purchase.
7 Black Friday ideas for small businesses
1. Build anticipation with early promotions
If you want to cut through the overwhelming noise of the Black Friday sales, building excitement ahead of time is the way to go. If all goes well, giving your customers an insight into what deals are coming their way will generate immediate success when your sale launches.
While you could present these early promotions on your website or social media pages, you’re likely to have the most success using email marketing. This way, you can target specific customers using segmentation and automation features to show them products relevant to their previous interactions with your store.
A useful feature to add to your early promotion emails is a countdown timer. Whereas most countdown timers are used when a deal is about to close to create urgency, this time, you’ll be signaling when the sale starts. This will build anticipation and curiosity, preparing your customers to have their wallets at the ready.
This example of building anticipation from Google is an ideal reference point. It clearly communicates the upcoming Black Friday event, with a countdown clock that’s accurate to the second. It’s also worded to make it feel exclusive to the recipient of the email, which adds a touch of personal value.
2. Make use of email marketing
Undoubtedly, one of the most important tools available to companies of any size is email marketing. Email lists help brands build a rapport with new and old customers while keeping them informed regarding future events or promotions. These emails are even more effective if they’re personalized.
Customers love personalized email marketing, as it makes them feel valued and increases the chances that they’ll return to your store in the future. One of the ways that you can ensure your Black Friday emails feel as though they target specific individuals is by segmenting your customer base.
For example, let’s focus on customers who have had an item in their basket but haven’t followed through with the purchase. Sending them an email with that product and similar Black Friday discounts may help push them over the line.
This sounds complicated, but with Omnisend, it isn’t.
Omnisend is used by both beginners and professionals, so even for a small business it can help automate and personalize emails to get the most out of Black Friday. We have a range of carefully curated email templates to add an extra spark to your discounts and offers.
Loyal, returning customers are vital for small businesses, so it’s only fitting you do everything you can to make them feel valued. You can offer exclusive discounts in a number of ways, including:
Offering extra money off certain products
Allowing early access to sales
Lowering free shipping thresholds
Providing discounts on previously purchased items
The deal below, by Australian accessories company Bellroy, shows exactly how subscribers-only discounts should be implemented. The overall aesthetics and the fact that the potential discount is clearly on display are two obvious positives.
However, another strong point is the call to action — urging the subscriber to get involved in the sale before it goes live for everyone. The email makes it known that the customer has received the message purely because of their subscription, adding to the value of signing up for the mailing list.
Product bundling is a tried and tested technique used by retailers around the major retail dates of the year.
By compiling relevant products together with a discount, you’re encouraging customers to buy more than they may have originally planned. After all, creating temptation is a large part of marketing.
In addition to creating temptation, product bundles also offer an opportunity to clear out stock that might not be selling, as well as other items.
Here’s how to create attractive product bundles to drive sales:
Compile relevant products: When curating a bundle, you’ll want to make sure that the products are relevant to each other, or you risk the customer not being interested
Offer a substantial discount: Customers will want to feel as though they are getting a good deal if they are going to fork out extra to buy a bundle
Communicate the benefit of the bundle: When marketing your bundle, be sure to let customers know exactly how the products complement each other
A great example of Black Friday bundling comes from supplements company Gene.In.Us Brain. The products in the bundle are related and, therefore, likely to appeal to those who were previously thinking about buying individually.
5. Run a limited-time flash sale
Flash sales involve selling certain products at a discounted price for a limited time, often between two hours and two days. These types of sales create urgency among customers, with limited time, low stock, and deeper discounts motivating customers to act quickly.
However, if you fail to hit the right notes with your own flash sale, it could well fall flat among your customer base. Here are some best practices to consider:
Highlight the time limit: When announcing your flash sale, make sure to demonstrate just how short the sale will be. This will let customers know they’ll have to act fast.
Raise discounts: It’s important that you inform your customers that the offer discounts are higher than usual. People love a bargain and will act on a good deal.
Consider free shipping: Customers will be more likely to make the purchase if shipping is free. They won’t want any extra fees eating into the money they are saving with the discounts.
Add low-selling items: Flash sales are a great method of shifting stock that doesn’t sell in huge numbers. It’s also a good way of clearing last season’s stock out.
By clearly stating that the sale is only 48 hours long, Hallertau Brewery has managed to instill urgency into its flash sale campaign. The fact that the design isn’t overburdened with information also helps, as the customer’s eyes are drawn to the information that matters.
6. Create a Black Friday-specific landing page
A dedicated Black Friday-specific landing page can help turn potential customers into paying customers if it’s well-optimized. Here are a handful of reasons why you should integrate a landing page into your marketing campaign:
Driving traffic: They offer a clear route down which you can drive traffic picked up from other platforms, such as social media sites
Attention-grabbing: Well-crafted and visually appealing landing pages offer a great first impression of your store, encouraging new customers in
Performance tracking: Landing pages are a great way of tracking the success of your Black Friday campaign, as you’ll be able to track the page’s visitor statistics
Increasing conversions: Landing pages help increase conversions as they tend to offer a simple call to action with minimal distractions, keeping potential new customers engaged
7. Retarget customers with post-sale campaigns
One of the biggest challenges faced by small businesses is customer retention. It’s one thing to get someone to buy a product, but another challenge entirely to get them to return and buy more. That’s why retargeting previous customers is so important.
An effective way to do this is by launching post-sale email and SMS campaigns, coaxing buyers back toward your store. By reminding them of other items of interest available in your store, you’ll keep your business at the forefront of their minds. This will, ideally, help convert one-time buyers into loyal customers.
Here are three other reasons why retargeting messages are effective:
Reduce cart abandonment: It’s incredibly common for customers to put an item in their cart but not follow through with the purchase. Alerting a customer that they still have an item in their cart will increase the chances of them returning to make the purchase.
Brand awareness: Making one-off purchases from an online store doesn’t guarantee that a brand will stick in your mind. Sending retargeting messages will help ensure you’re not forgotten about.
Maintaining interest: The best time to retarget a customer is when they aren’t long out of your store. This is when they are most receptive to what you have to offer before interest cools down.
Image via Omnisend
Make Black Friday a success for your business
While it is difficult for small businesses to compete with large companies around Black Friday, there are clear openings available to exploit. From building relationships with well-curated email campaigns to conjuring up temptation with enticing product bundles, the opportunities are there to make Black Friday a success.
It’s important to remember that preparation is the key to any successful Black Friday for small businesses. Starting early will give you the time to build anticipation and gain momentum behind what will hopefully be a lucrative time for your brand.
Make the most of your Black Friday deals with email marketing through Omnisend
Milda is a Senior Content Marketing Manager at Omnisend, with extensive experience in communication, helping brands establish a unique and authentic online presence.
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