Did you do any shopping on “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday”?
The National Retail Federation (NRF) said a record 247 million shoppers spent an average of $423 per person over “Black Friday weekend” and this doesn’t include Cyber Monday sales.
Since 2005, Black Friday has been the busiest shopping day of the year.
The term “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia around 1966, where it originally described the heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic which occurred the day after Thanksgiving. In 1975, the term spread outside of Philadelphia with a different explanation: the period during which retailers are turning a profit or become “in the black.”
The thing is, you don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving weekend to create a flurry of spending.
When you take full advantage of the holidays–all year round– you can create a rush of business and substantially increase your profits. Today I’m going to give you some “Black Friday” tips for how you can induce shoppers to buy from you like it’s Black Friday–even when it’s not.
Enter the conversation already going on in their mind. The thing about holidays is that they tend to be at the top of people’s mind. That means when you include a holiday or occasion that they are already talking about or thinking about, they are more likely to believe your message is relevant. This famous copywriting principle comes from famed writer Robert Collier who said you should enter the conversation currently occurring in your prospect or customer’s mind.
On Elvis’ birthday you could do a King of Rock n Roll birthday promotion. Because there are usually stories of Elvis sightings around that time of year, Elvis will be on people’s minds. I read that an auto repair shop in California gave free oil changes for every customer who dressed as Elvis that day. When May rolls around, a lot of people will be thinking about and talking about graduation–so you could do something along the lines of graduating to the next level.
Take full advantage of the holidays. It’s not just Thanksgiving and Christmas that are on people’s mind. In addition to major holidays like Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Easter and Fourth of July, you can use anything that is being talked about. For example, recently Election Day, the Olympics and daylight savings all could have been used.
You can even use unknown, bizarre, goofy or wacky holidays such as “National Ice Cream Day”, “National Glaucoma Awareness Month” or “Clean Out Your Inbox Week”. There are holidays for nearly anything and everything. (A great free site for finding these holidays is www.brownielocks.com.)
Using wacky holidays that tie to your product or service is another way to use holidays. For example a fitness business might use “Healthy Weight Week,” “Grapefruit Month” and “American Heart Month” while a veterinarian might use “Pet Dental Health Month” and “Responsible Pet Owner’s Month”.
Include an expiration date. Black Friday works so well because it creates a sense of urgency. Buyers believe they will get deals that they won’t get any other time of the year. They also know that when the weekend is over, the deals end.
Give your reader very specific instructions about what exactly you want them to do along with an expiration date that coincides with your holiday. For instance, with all the talk about the Mayan calendar, you might hold a “Mayan End of the World Sale” and have the sale end on December 21st , the day the Mayan calendar indicates the world will end.
Use Scarcity. The reason shoppers go shopping at midnight on Thanksgiving day is because they’re afraid that if they don’t get there first they may lose out on the best deals or limited quantity items. You can create the same scarcity in your holiday sales by limiting how many can take advantage of your special offer… The first 50 to respond will receive a signed copy of my new book.
Make them anxious to buy. Research has shown that instant gratification is so powerful that when you can control against it, it’s considered an indicator of success (think weight loss, smoking, etc.). When your customers are on the verge of buying from you, they are influenced by how quickly they can receive their “reward”… Get our pampered pet basket and the kisses your dog gives you will instantly erase your guilt for leaving him alone so long while you’re at work.
Let your customers know how they will be instantly rewarded and they will be more likely to purchase from you.
Using holiday promotions can create fun ads that stand out and get more attention–helping you attract more customers than you would if you used the same old ads month after month. So get started using these five tips in promotions all year long and you’ll have the formula for boosting your sales no matter day it is.
John Pfeiffer
P.S. I wanted to take a minute to say a word of Thanks. I’m grateful for people like you who allow me to do what I love doing. Without you the business I’ve created wouldn’t be possible–so thanks.
I hope you are creating the business you want with as many customers or clients as you desire and look forward to continuing to help you grow your business in the coming year.