I'll be upfront, I LOVE Black Friday.  Back in college, I could not wait to get up at 5 AM and book it out to Best Buy to buy as many $5 DVDs as I could.  The tradition carried into my first few years of marriage, as my wife and I used to always coffee-up & brave the crowds.  Don't even get me started about the first year Blu-Ray hit the shelves...  

 At first, it was all about deals. College kids & newlyweds are broke, so getting $200 off of a computer monitor made my year.  But deal-hunting slowly turned into people-watching. And with a 2 year old baby girl at home, you won't catch me anywhere near a store on Black Friday this year.  Also...Amazon exists now. Shop smarter, not harder.  BUT, somewhere between stuffing a cart with Blu-Ray copies of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift and now, I found a new use for Black Friday...  

 By the way: Great movie? Or GREATEST movie??

How I Stumbled onto Success with My First Black Friday Sale

Back in 2012, years before I even thought of SamCart, my main focus was a site called Get 10,000 Fans.  I got really good at Facebook Ads when they first came out. Used them to grow a few brands, and that eventually led into building an entire brand around Facebook Marketing.  But in November of 2012, I made a huge mistake...  You see back then, I put out a big promotion just about every month. But I was WAY behind for November, and running short on time.  Holiday season was bearing down fast. Life was just getting in the way, so I had to improvise...  I decided to throw together a Black Friday Sale of my own. But here's the problem: I only had a few hours to create, publish, and promote this thing.  And there were bills to pay. I needed this 24-hour sale to match the sales from my normal week-long full-blown promotions. Not a good place to be in...

A Few Smart Short Cuts Saved My Butt.

But I got to work. I took my top 7 products, slashed the prices, made a page, threw a countdown timer on it, and queued up some emails.  

 If you want to see the archived version of that Black Friday sales page, click right here.  Like every rational human being should, I enjoyed Thanksgiving with my family with no work to speak of.  [SIDENOTE] Quick shout out to the growing list of companies who are keeping their doors shut on Black Friday. Turns out, the internet is a powerful place.  Anyway, I logged in to check sales in 1ShoppingCart (I've come a long way...) at 8 AM on Friday. And I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Why Black Friday is My Favorite “Holiday” — and Why it Should Be Yours Too.

Just 2 hours into my sale being opened, I was at 50% of my goal.  By noon, I had doubled the sales goals I had to hit.  And by the end of the day, Black Friday had turned into my biggest sales day in the short history of my company.  Flash forward to 2016, and a Black Friday sale is a yearly fixture on our promotional calendar.  Black Friday is always right up there in the top 3 sales days of the year. And it takes a fraction of the time to create, compared to the mammoth week-long promotions we use throughout the year.  So let's dive right into it. It's your turn to create a Black Friday sale that can sell more products in a few hours than you sell all month.  Let's walk through this step-by-step. Beginning with My 6 Essential Elements Of Every Great Black Friday Sale...

Here Are The 6 Essential Elements You Need To Boost Black Friday Sales

Not all Black Friday sales are created equal. You can't just post some discounts and expect the world to pour in and buy up your entire store.  You have to create a promotion that people actually care about.  Something that gets your audience off the metaphorical couch and into the game. So let's start with what I've learned over the years.  Here are my 6 best strategies for creating a winning Black Friday promotion that will capture your audience's attention, create loads of new customers, and make sure that you are doubling the value of each new customer!

1) Fuel a Buying Frenzy by Offering Limited Quantities for a Limited Time

Like it or not, Black Friday is extremely effective. But why do people care so much on this one day?  The answer is: Scarcity.  People get out of bed before the sun (maybe for the only time all year), and fight with 1,000s of other people because they have a limited time to take advantage of the special deals.  When Best Buy runs out of those 4k TVs this year, you're SOL my friend.  

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 Inject some real scarcity into your next promotion by selling a finite number of your product(s). Put a hard cap and make sure your customers know, “When we sell 20, we're out!”  You can have the same effect by offering real discounts!  Slash your prices, folks.  

 Did I really need to get grab the entire Harry Potter Extended Editions on Blu-Ray? No, especially when I already own the exact same stuff on DVD.  But that price tag said 40% off, and in a moment of pure “un-sanity” I gobbled that right up. Never even thought twice.  Honestly, I'm not even sure I have ever watched the Blu-Rays. I know what I'm doing this weekend...

2) BUILD EXCITEMENT BY COUNTING Down To The Deadline

Ever used a countdown timer on your sales page before?  If not, I will happily accept a 20% “Finder's Fee” from the extra sales you snag from here on out. Make checks payable to Brian Moran.  

 Countdown timers reinforce scarcity. It's not enough to tell people that your sale is for a “limited time only”.  Use a countdown timer to show them that your sale is a runaway freight train...and it's time to hop on or get out of the way.

3) ATTRACT ATTENTION BY Breaking Through The Noise

Best wedding speech I ever heard started with this painfully awkward brother of the groom grabbing a microphone in front of a quiet room of bored wedding guests.  He cleared is throat and said, “Fornication.”  The entire room was horrified. I was riveted.  Like a seasoned pro, he waited it out before clearing his throat again and continuing, “Excuse me. For an occasion such as this...”  And the rest was gold. It was hysterical, every line better than the last.  

 But it all started with something so shocking, that you couldn't help but pay attention. And you need to approach your next sale with the same goal...  Your audience is bored. They get 100 emails a day. Every person on earth is clamoring for their attention.  Find a way to stand out! Make this sale interrupt their usual pattern! You have to let your audience know that this sale is different.  

 That means a different look. A different style. A different logo. Little hints that this event is something different, and something you don't want to miss.

4) DIAL UP URGENCY WITH Coupon Codes

Want to give your audience another reason to get off the bench and into the game? Provide coupon codes!  Coupon codes have this underlying message of, “You better act now!”. They are inherently limited, and provide just another element of exclusivity.  “Woah, there's a coupon code for this sale. This person means business...”  And that's the desired effect. People will be so impressed by your coupon codes, that they won't know what to do with themselves...  Ok, but seriously. Your goal here is to give your audience every reason to take action right now, and providing a coupon code is a proven way to get more people into the game.

5) SEAL THE DEAL WITH FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING

Another idea to make sure your Black Friday Sale is a hit: offer Priority Shipping for free.  I might sound like a broken record, but remember the idea is to grab people's attention, and let them know that this sale is not like any other normal day.  So what else can you do on Black Friday, that a customer can't get from your site any other time? Priority Shipping at no extra charge.  People make snap decisions, and they want the payoff quickly. It's why McDonald's still exists.  

 You can make a healthy meal at home, go to Chick-Fil-A, get a salad at Panera, OR...stop at that McDonald's that is just sitting right there on your way home.  People make snap decisions. And they want the gratification right away.  And if you can get your customers what they're looking for faster than the “Other Guys”, you just might win that customer over this Black Friday.

6) Double Your Customer Value With Upsells

So the first 5 strategies are all ways to capture a bunch of customers and convince them to buy. Now we're going to pivot, and show you how to make each new customer you're grabbing worth 2-3x more...  1-Click Upsells.  Anytime you have a customer complete an order, offer them the chance to buy something else as a 1-Click Upsell.  Think like Amazon.  How many times have you placed an order on Amazon for something reasonable, like some batteries. But turns out, you actually finish the transactions with sticky notes, Lysol Wipes, a Swiffer Wet-Jet, a brand new Kayak...  

 Original order total = $13.00. Final order total = $527.00.  It's that freaking “You might also be interested in...” section. That thing has probably costs me $1,000s, and I'm not even mad.  Make it easy for your customers to buy MORE stuff from you, and they will. Not every customer will be ready to spend more, but the 20% that do buy more will change your business forever.  Don't believe me?  Let's say you sell Meal Plans for $100, and 10 people grab their copy this Black Friday.  That's $1,000 in sales, right?  Well, just for kicks, let's throw in a 1-Click Upsell that offers a 60-minute phone consult for $250, so your customers can get their plan customized to fit their exact needs, diet preferences, allergies, whatever.  Even if just 2 out of 10 customers accept, you just added $500 of pure profit to your bottom line.  Without needing a single EXTRA customer!  Want to bring in even more revenue? Add a second 1-Click Upsell.  

 I'll talk about this stuff until I'm blue in the face. Remember that very first Black Friday sale I talked about earlier?  58% of my sales came from 1-Click Upsells.  This stuff works.  Looking for upsell ideas? Check out one of our most popular posts of all time, “7 Bulletproof Strategies To Increase Customer Lifetime Value”.

Maximizing Your Exposure

Alright, so now you have the bones of a promotion that will grab your audience's attention and close sales.  But how about getting people to your sales page?  Here's something tragic that I see far too often. Business owner puts months of hard work into “launching”. So much time and effort poured into making sure each little detail is taken care of.  But when the day comes to open the doors...no one is there. You have successfully launched to the sound of crickets.  Sound familiar? I know I've done it.  Listen, it's not enough to create a great promotion. You have to understand how to get people through the doors!  So let's dive right into my 5 most critical strategies to maximize the number of eager buyers who will reach your Black Friday Sale...

5 Critical Strategies To Get Maximum Exposure This Black Friday

1) Build Anticipation Early & Often

What are you more likely to attend?  1) A wedding happening next Saturday. 2) A wedding happening right now.  But if you want a successful on Black Friday, the earlier your audience knows about it, the better.  Email your list days beforehand. Post on social media about what products will be on sale. Let your users get on a “Priority Waiting List” so they are first in line!  Now, there are other important questions to ask as well. Does this wedding have an open bar? Does the playlist include Justin Timberlake? Will there be a conga line?  [Hint] For any great wedding, the answers better be yes, yes, and please God no.  

 Whatever you have to do to clue people in and build anticipation, do it.  There's a reason that Costco, Best Buy, Amazon, and every other business on the planet is already leaking their Black Friday deals. They want people lining up outside the doors when Black Friday comes.  

2) Be Brave: Email Your List Twice

I have a feeling that this will draw some audible gasps. Emailing my subscribers TWICE IN ONE DAY?!  Listen, every time you do a big promotion and only email one time, you are leaving money on the table.  You have put all of this effort in, don't drop the ball at the one yard line. Email in the morning, and again a few hours before your deadline.  And again, I will gladly accept a 20% Finder's Fee for the extra sales you will make from that second or third email.

3) Supercharge Your Open Rates With A Killer Subject Line

What is the single most important part of any email?  Your subject line. Emails are only good if they get opened.  Great subject lines get emails opened! Before you can capture a sale, you've got to get your email opened.  So here are a few of my best performing Black Friday subject lines! Copy them, tweak them, laugh at them, doesn't matter to me.  But these have worked over and over again...

 
• “Tomorrow's HUGE Sale...”
 
• “53% OFF: One Day Only”
 
• “All the deals, NONE of the lines...”
 
• “7 Reasons To LOVE Black Friday”
 
• “[53% OFF] Black Friday Flash Sale!”

4) Get Guaranteed ROI On Advertising

If ever there was a time to try out advertising, this is it.  You've created a sale that provides great reasons to buy. There is a deadline that forces people to make a decision. It's the perfect storm for advertising.  Now, take that paper bag away from your mouth, no need to panic. I want to talk about smallest of small-budget advertising: Retargeting.  Setup Facebook Retargeting Ads so that anyone who hits your sales page is followed around the web by your Black Friday Sale!  Doesn't need to be complicated. Here's a Facebook Ad image we've used for a long time...  

 Simple, right? Need some text, too? How about...  “Get up to XX% OFF during our one-day Black Friday Sale! Click below to grab your deals now!”  Boom. Done. Every $1 I spent on Facebook Retargeting during Black Friday, I make $5 back.  Fish in a barrel.

5) Keep The Fun Rolling for Cyber Monday

What's better than a 1 day sale? Another 1 day sale.  Re-open the sale on Monday for Cyber Monday! Put a few different products on sale, throw up another countdown timer, and have a ball.  

 Look, not every checks their email every day. At best, you will only reach 20% of your audience on any given day, even with multiple emails, Facebook Ads, etc.  Reach more people, and bring your sale back!

Creating Your Own 5-Figure Black Friday

That's how it's done. A promotion guaranteed to grab attention, and sell more products in 72 hours than you have sold all month.  Put together your own Black Friday sale, and see why Black Friday has turned into one of my best days of the year.  Now, that being said, there are some issues that you should know about. Sure, my first Black Friday sale was a hit, but over the years I've learned some tough lessons!  Lessons that cost me sales, that cost me customers for life.  And this stuff is HARD, by the way. Creating all new products, integrating with the right emails lists, making sure each checkout page was created & customized, giving access to the right pages in my Member's Area...  Thankfully, there are some easier options. But I'll be honest, my Black Friday sales should've been WAY BIGGER.  Later this week, I'll be putting out an email about the big mistakes I've committed, and the tough lessons I've learned over the past few years creating big sales like these.