Black Friday is almost here, which means that you need to start thinking about how you’re going to optimize your business during the busiest shopping time of the season.
Read through our blog for some expert tips. And, to help you offer the rewards and incentives your customers want, Messangi has created a rewards program that will reward your loyal customers. On top of that, we’ve made our platform so it’s easy-to-use and customizable, so you can add your business logo and match the branding of your business. If you’re not already part of Messangi, contact us now and see how it works for yourself!
5 Tips for Maximizing Your Black Friday
With Black Friday quickly approaching, the team at Messangi has pulled together five ways you can get the most out of this Black Friday for both your business and your loyal customers. Read through our tips and make sure you leave yourself with plenty of time to plan out your customer rewards and Black Friday strategies.
Plan Ahead for the Crowds
Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. In fact, according to a study done by the National Retail Federation (NRF), Black Friday 2018 boasted a tremendous 65.2 million shoppers while 2018 Cyber Monday reported 67.4 million shoppers and Small Business Saturday saw 47.4 million shoppers. In sum, the NRF found that between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, over 165 million Americans partook in some form of holiday shopping.
With these numbers in mind, make sure you’re ready to handle any potential crowds that can show up at your business. If you’re employees are prepared or trained to deal with larger-than-normal volume of customers, then you could miss out on the opportunity of scanning a loyal customer’s loyalty card or telling new customers about your loyalty rewards program. Work ahead to create a routine and set expectations with your cashiers and other employees so you’re not missing out on valuable marketing opportunities.
Offer Reward Incentives
Make sure you already have a loyalty rewards program created for your loyal customers. From there, you can offer reward incentives to new and existing customers when they shop at your store on Black Friday. Don’t forget to activate your Black Friday-themed geo-locational messages so rewards members that are nearby know what incentives you have running!
Consider Your Online Shoppers
If you’re worried that you might not get customers to brave the Black Friday traffic, are there online deals your customers could take advantage of from the comfort of their own home? This idea is also reflected in the NRF statistics from Cyber Monday and the 67.4 million shoppers that partook in those Monday deals.
If you haven’t set up your business so people can browse, order, or reserve products online, this might be the time of year to change that. With so many customers migrating to the online shopping world, you want to make sure that your business doesn’t get left off of someone’s Black Friday or holiday shopping list.
Think About Your Loyal Customers
You might be inclined to offer outrageous sales to get new customers into your shop, especially when it comes to the holiday season. But what are you doing for your loyal customers? Those customers have come back to your business time and time again. So this year, think about a way you could market or give back to those customers.
According to research from Constant Contact, your repeat customers spend three times more than your new customers. On top of that, their same research shows that these loyal customers are easier to sell to, since you’ve already established a reputation with them.
You also have collected customer data from those loyal customers, whether through Messangi or your sales data. When you’re planning Black Friday sales and rewards, think about what that data shows and what you know will incentivize those loyal customers.
Build Your Digital Presence
From posting your products online to having a digital loyalty card, think about your business’s digital presence. If you don’t have much of a digital presence, it will be harder for both your new or loyal customers to know about your Black Friday sales.
In the days leading up to Black Friday, make sure you’re getting the information about your sales and incentives out online and through social media. When you use Messangi, you have the ability to enable location-based messaging that sends a custom message to rewards members who are within a certain distance of your business. This is another great way to spread the word about your business on Black Friday.
Bonus: Remember the Psychology Surrounding Black Friday
When it comes down to it, remember what makes Black Friday such a big shopping day: customers are worried about missing out on a scarce or limited-time deal. Through your loyalty rewards program, your sales, other collected data, you can start to paint a picture that provides an understanding of what products and types of sales your specific consumer base wants. Then you can make those deals last beyond Black Friday.
Other incentives, like special offers through a referral program, can also mimic the hype that motivates people to go shopping on Black Friday. When you think about these strategies as part of the bigger picture, you can find ways to engage loyal customers that go beyond the Black Friday frenzy.
Rewards Loyal Customers with Messangi
