How can a local online business boost sales on Black Friday?

Black Friday is one of the most anticipated occasions by business owners as well as consumers. It is the third most popular shopping day of the entire year in terms of retail sales revenue. 

Black Friday marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and it is followed by Cyber Monday. 

Whether you are a retail business owner or a hyperlocal service provider, it is essential for you to strategize your business goals this Black Friday to maximize your business’ revenue and increase your profits. 

Significance of Black Friday for Hyperlocal Businesses

Black Friday accounts for 20% of the total retail sales in a year. While big brands and businesses occupy a major chunk of the profits, it is of utmost importance that local retailers also get their due. 

In today’s world, more and more local entrepreneurs are contributing to the economy with unique ideas and business propositions. But, it is often seen that during such days, the local retailers struggle with sales and resources.  

Feeling overwhelmed as a local business owner by the competition from big brands is natural. It is obvious that local businesses do not have a huge amount of resources and budget as the big brands. But, big brands also do not possess the essentials of a local business. And, that is where you get an edge over them. 

If you are a hyperlocal business, it is vital for you to formulate strategies of your own to make the most of Black Friday. We will talk about some strategies and give you examples, so that you can make your local business a success on Black Friday. But first, let’s boost your confidence.

What are your advantages as a local business owner? 

Instead of viewing big players as unequal competitors and getting demotivated, as a local business owner you should research and identify the blind spots which big players don’t cater to and use them to your advantage. 

• Proximity to the customers
• Understanding of the cultural environment the consumers live in
• A better relationship with the customers
• Emotional connect

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Once you have understood and realized how important your local business is, the next step is to formulate strategies that will work for your business and your local community.

Don’t worry, we got you covered.

Offer something unique

First and foremost, figure out your offering. Is there something unique that you can offer to your customers on Black Friday? Think, what is it that your customers have shown an interest in over a period of time. 

Study your customers and know about their preferences in the holiday season. Come up with a unique product or service and distract your customers from turning towards bigger brands. 

Create subscription deals

While you cannot directly compete with the national businesses and match the discounts offered by them, what you can definitely do is offer discounts in a segmented manner. Offer subscription models on Black Friday to your local customers wherein they can pay on a monthly basis for your products and services. 

You can also introduce a “Buy Now, Pay Later” scheme to increase the trust of your customers. As a local business, you can definitely indulge in this kind of a tactic. This is also beneficial to increase retention and loyalty. 

A distinct marketing strategy

Businesses spend a lot of money on marketing through which they attract customers. With local businesses, this can be a restraint. What can break it is a distinct marketing strategy. 

The marketing campaigns should focus on story-telling and that too in the local language. Making an emotional connection through a campaign that appeals to your local customers is important. Your consumers should feel the bond with your business and have a sense of contributing back to the business. 

Deliver smart

One of the main advantages you have as a local business is proximity to your customer. Usually, a big brand takes a period of 2-3 days to deliver to the customer and it can even take more time in case of busy holidays. 

Here, you can jump in and offer the same product quality to your customer at a much shorter time period. This is specifically efficient in case of Black Friday when consumers are eager to receive their shopping bags. 

One great example is the fact that big players most likely don’t have an extensive network for operations catering to the nook and corner of your city or county. You can cater to such an audience and turn them into your loyal customers.

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Make that relationship

As a hyperlocal business, you must make an ongoing effort to communicate and interact with your customers, both via online and offline communities. This can help you in coming up with a product line suitable for their needs. 

Knowing your customers gives you an edge, but it must be done all year round and you can reap the benefits in the holiday season.

Genius Black Friday Marketing Campaigns

Nothing can be more convincing than real life examples. Here we will have a look at a few local brands who succeeded with their Black Friday marketing strategy and boosted their revenue.

Pieminister

Pieminister’s Black Friday campaign is a great example for small business owners that you don’t need a large social media following to run a successful social media campaign. 

Pieminister teamed up with a well known homeless charity in the local community to give away pie to shelters on Black Friday. This partnership helped Pieminister expand the reach of their posts without spending big on advertising. 

Their support for a worthwhile cause is heartwarming and helped the brand gain organic traction on social media. This made the local community and shoppers more considerate towards them.

Kohl’s

Social media is intrinsically a two way medium. Unlike traditional media, your audience is able to respond back to you and have an interaction with your brand. Smart marketers like Kohl’s understand this and use it to their advantage. 

Kohl’s earned plenty of social media engagement by asking their audience questions across their social accounts during Black Friday and receiving replies with their brand tagged.

A pitch that is reflective of the local culture can definitely get a lot of traction on social media for your brand. A clear call to action like that of Kohl’s helps you monetise the attention of social media users with no extra spends on advertising. 

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Steve Madden

Email marketing is one of the most effective tools if you have a mailing list of your previous buyers or target audience. We know that Steve Madden can in no way be equalled to small businesses yet their ingenious Black Friday marketing campaign can be replicated by a local business. 

They killed two birds with one stone with their early access email campaign. Offering people early access to your deals makes them feel special and part of an exclusive club. In the same manner, hyperlocal businesses can offer exclusivity to their community. 

Teachable-Smart discounts

Teachable during its Black Friday sale tried something unique by offering discounts of 36%, 47% and 58% on its annual subscription plans instead of 25%, 50% or 75% usually offered by brands. 

By charting out a unique approach Teachable managed to grab the attention of potential customers and encash them. The non round figures alters consumer behavior and subtly nudges them to take a note of the offer and seek further information. 

Hyperlocal businesses can also include something which is specific to their local customers. For example, offer discounts equivalent to the number of the area they reside in.

If you can’t…then who can?

Success is just one step away for those who are passionate enough to go for it. Jump into action today and plan a Black Friday marketing strategy for your business. Keep in mind, it is the early bird that catches the worm. Advance wishes to every proud local business owner who is planning a blockbuster Black Friday campaign! 

We at Jungleworks are experts in understanding the needs of hyperlocal business owners and have been successfully partnering with them for years and helping them expand their business. Just in case, if you are looking for a unified SaaS platform to track and manage your business efficiently, then our team is waiting to assist you. Contact us now.