People love a deal… and they EXPECT a deal on Black Friday.

One big retailer, in particular, is a master of Black Friday sales… and sales in general. In fact, they created their own holiday sale! This retailer offers amazing deals to Shoppers, but more than that, they utilize superior marketing tactics.

Mirroring marketing tactics used by a big retailer like this can result in a nice boost in sales if done properly.

The retailer I’m writing about is Amazon.com. One of the best marketers on the planet, if not the best.

Amazon.com knows how to sell… and they know how to Promote a sale by generating tons of buzz.

Today, I will break down some of the tactics used by Amazon that you can use for your own Black Friday sale… or any sale for that matter and create ‘buzz’ in advance.

Amazon even created its own shopping holiday called Amazon Prime Day… as a way to reward their Prime members. This makes me chuckle because you have to pay to be a Prime member.

Amazon sold over $2.5 billion worth of goods during Prime Day 2016!

It just makes good sense that we should mirror what Amazon does to create a buzz in advance of our Black Friday event.

Let’s break down Prime Day.

Not everything was on sale.

And Amazon utilized several ‘scarcity’ tactics during the Prime Day sale:

1. Countdown Timers When Certain Products Would Be Available
2. Advanced Notice This Is a 24 Hour Sale
3. Limited Availability For Each Product On Sale
4. Countdown Timers When An Item Would Expire
5. Amazing Price Cuts Guaranteed Certain Items Would Sell Out (by design)

Further, this was an event geared at BUILDING THEIR PRIME MEMBERSHIP numbers (currently $99/year). By requiring you to have an Amazon Prime membership, they virtually guaranteed they would grow their membership for their 2017 event.

Absolutely genius!

Suffice it to say… Amazon knows what they are doing.

Here’s a look at their homepage during the sale (click to expand the full image so you can scroll):

As you can see, countdown timers are being used at the very top. Below that, Amazon is placing items most likely related to your past browsing history. I will be shocked if they are not.

The promotions would begin and end in certain timed intervals, with new timed promotions appearing after one expired.

Shoppers could plan ahead by seeing what was coming up.

Buyers could add items to their shopping cart that were coming up. Shoppers just had to wait until that promotion began to get the discount.

Amazon even changed their homepage so that it is more of a ‘Landing Page’ than their regular store page.

Brilliant.

You most likely do not have the resources or technical abilities that Amazon does, but that’s ok. We can still prep our website and our shoppers for the big day.

To accomplish awareness and boost sales on Black Friday, we will borrow a few of Amazon’s tactics.

Prepping Your Website

Promote the sale in ADVANCE.

Letting people know in advance is crucial to your success on Black Friday.

Consumers will have countless options to make purchases. It is our job to get shoppers to visit you first and even place items in their shopping carts in advance.

There are many ways of preparing shoppers for Black Friday, and you should be employing as many of the following tactics as possible.

Here’re a few ideas for you…

Tip #1 – Place a Ribbon On Your Website 7 Days In Advance

Here’s an example:

The entire top bar announces the Prime Day sale.

Each day, have the day decrease. If you can, have the actual amount of hours drop like a stopwatch.

Here’s an affordable countdown timer:
http://countdownmonkey.com

And here’s a free one that allows embedding but isn’t as nice as the Countdown Monkey:
https://www.tickcounter.com

If possible, link your countdown timer to a particular landing page…

Tip #2 – Create a Landing Page

If you only have a few items to promote you can have a web designer create a unique landing page. I would suggest just copying the layout of the Amazon Prime day page.

You’ll need at least three compelling offers.

If you don’t know what to offer, I suggest reviewing your sales figures. Determine the top 20% of products you sell.

The idea here isn’t to get rid of old inventory… it’s to sell.

You want to offer what you have the best chance of selling. This offer ensures you profit the most from Black Friday.

Sticking your old inventory that hasn’t moved in years won’t cut it. Your sale will flop. Those items are not selling for a reason.

Further, place ‘Add to Cart’ buttons under each item. Make it clear they can put these items in their shopping cart now… and that you will notify them immediately when the sale begins.

This allow’s buyers to secure the offers and reduce the risk of losing out if there is minimal inventory. Don’t drop the price though until the minute the sale begins.

And don’t forget to place your countdown timer on this landing page. Countdown timers are critical as you wish to create a sense of urgency on this page.

Further, if you have an email system, place a ‘Notify Me When The Sale Begins’ form on this landing page.

Capturing emails from prospective customers will allow us to build up the buzz in advance. We can then also remind shoppers who have added items to their shopping cart the day the sale begins.

In short, your landing page should have:

1. Countdown timer
2. Email capture form
3. Your best selling products with discounts for each
4. ‘Add to Cart’ ability so shoppers can save the items for faster checkout
5. Refer a Friend and Social Sharing buttons
6. Easily readable and clear with what actions you wish them to take

Once you have all of this in place, it’s time to generate a little buzz…

Tip #3 – Grow the Buzz

Amazon.com utilizes emails, their website, and ads to grow buzz before their big event.

You should run your Black Friday event no differently.

My advice is to promote at least seven days in advance of Black Friday to announce your specials.

Promote via a combination of Facebook posts, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram (whichever you use) along with your email list.

Seven days isn’t too close, and it’s not too far off.

1. Tell shoppers what you will be selling.
2. Tell buyers what the discount will be.
3. Show buyers the landing page URL so that they can visit it.
4. Ask shoppers to add their email address to your opt-in form.

Don’t be shy. Black Friday is the time to promote.

If you are going to stand any chance of cutting through the clutter… you need to promote.

Promote early and promote often.

Now that you have that done… what can you offer as an upsell?

Tip #4 – Have Upsells Ready

If possible, follow up every purchase with an upsell item. This will allow you to maximize revenue inside of the shopping cart.

I would recommend making the upsell item a Black Friday special as well.

Tip #5 – PROMOTE. PROMOTE. PROMOTE.

When Black Friday hits, shoppers will be up EARLY. I recommend sending your email announcing yourself at the stroke of MIDNIGHT.

Also, I would send another email at 5 AM and another around 2 PM.

Finally, send another email reminding shoppers the sale is going to end around 8 PM.

Buyers want to see your offers; they want to know if they can save money.

Don’t be shy.…you are helping them if your specials are indeed money savers. Money is tight for many shoppers, and Black Friday is a way shoppers use to save money.

Quincy

P.S. I’ll be back tomorrow with 5 Tweaks To Your Facebook Page That Can Increase Black Friday Sales

The post How to Make It Rain – Creating Buzz For Your Black Friday Sale appeared first on Superb Internet.