Black Friday is the modern shopping phenomenon. It's been going on, as far as people in the UK are concerned, since 2010, when Amazon introduced it to us. However, it's been running in the USA for well over 50 years and it's typically the last Friday in November, straight after Thanksgiving.
People know Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) are coming and it's also their last payday before Christmas. Typically, they save up their money for that event, safe in the knowledge they can still order their goods in time, even if the discount is disappointing. What we do in our personal lives bleeds over in into our professional and it's not surpising to find B2B sales happening at the same time. The average Black Friday discount in 2023 was 30% and shoppers are forecast to spend over £70 billion during the Black Friday weekend, worldwide. So, there's a good reason why your inbox is being filled with Black Friday offers, you're seeing them everywhere.
Black Friday is what I refer to as 'casino economics' when it comes to sales. No matter what you choose, the house always wins. And typically, the retailers are up to 30% Black Friday at a big scale are the ones that do multi-distribution models.
For example, Amazon don't typically sell their own stuff. They sell stuff as a third-party supplier. So, when you go on and search for Black Friday deals, you're not looking for 30% off Amazon. You're looking for 30% off Philips or Dyson or Bliss.
The large retailers avoid devaluing their own brand.
Instead, they advertise products that either want to offload stock or offer it as a loss leader because once you're in the store, you buy more. Oddly enough bricks and mortar shops saw a 4% increase last year on Black Friday as people wanted to see and feel those big-ticket products before they buy. There was also added the security of knowing that shop had a human ready to help if you had a problem or needed a refund. Increasingly, shopping is not just about the item; it's the follow-up service that counts.
Should you, as a service provider, join the frenzy?
Yes; if you do it strategically. Since you are selling time, instead of a physical product, you can't afford to lose 30% in profit, if you costs remain the same. If you are in the B2B space, you could be charging four figures or more to your clients. It's not really about the money any more, but the result you are offering - how you are saving them time or fast-forwarding their progress.
A service that offers transformation or a step up is not something you want to price down. In fact, discounting yourself can actually cause people to think less of your service and turn away from it, so you've got to do it very, very carefully.
Here's five strategies I'm seeing online coaches, course providers and consultants use, right now.
The house always has to win. So, strategy number one is being anti- Black Friday.
No sales, no discounts, and the emphasis is on your value.
This is based on the truism that people don't discount themselves. Therefore, you shouldn't do the same to them. And, in fact, when you raise your prices, you're more likely to get a better calibre of customer if you position yourself right.
By making a stand, you become the calm in the storm, giving people a community where they can retreat from the relentless sales offers. Whilst Black Friday is supposed to be a three-day event, retailers are stretching it to the entire month of November as they chase those profit signs.
You - on the other hand - are reinforcing your value to your audience and their value to you.
Instead of a price cut, give people more value.
Amy Porterfield is doing this for her email list (in fact, she's using Strategies 2 and 3 together!). Amy never discounts her signature programmes, but she's done a Black Friday Bundle giving people access to two courses for the price of one. She's pitching it as an 'early bird' reward to her subscribers before she opens the doors on her main course in January.
For the rest of us, it about giving extra in your normal package that does not include more time.
I can guarantee you have tips, checklists, spreadsheets or video recordings on your drive that your customers will find valuable. So, do a time-limited bundle that includes a PDF, list or video that saves them time.
When is a discount not a discount?
When it's a reward!
Early-bird pricing is a great way of making your subscriber list or existing clients feel special. It also operates as a nudge mechanism - if you have someone on your books who has faded away or dropped out, this is great way to reach out to them.
People don't want to feel cheap. But they love feeling treasured. If your service can do that, you are 80% of the way there.
Earlybird pricing is incredible powerful for anyone in the B2B sector, because their sales year is different to the B2C side. Unlike the shops, where Christmas is the buying season, businesses typically do so in January and again, in April (when the new tax year starts). So, giving people a chance to lock in a price before their return to the office is an future date in the diary for them and you.
This is an interesting riff on bundling, where you create something new, unique and time-limited with another coach or company. So, an ads manager might partner with a graphic designer to do an Advent Promotion bundle to their customer lists. Or you could get a copywriter hooked up with an automation whiz to create a landing page package, with an automatic follow-up.
The trick here is to bring both partners' marketing might together on the project, so your subscribers, followers and customers know they are getting a really amazing deal. It allows you to reach a wider audience, and you can have a lot of fun along the way.
This sort of sale is quick, attractive and easy for your customers to buy, because it comes with your recommendation.
This works best for software-as-a-service and you will often see it for subscription pricing to an app or system. 2GoSoftware, for example, excels at this strategy.
Again, you are not selling time. In this case, it's packaged knowledge and your Black Friday offer is going to people who have shown an interest in your course or membership in the past, but didn't buy.
It's a little like an abandoned cart technique, but instead of 24 hours, you are talking to people who from the past 24 weeks.
Again, the trick is to make it time-limited and specific to this group so it feels like a service without cutting into your overall profits. You simply look at your data and send out an email or text saing 'I'm running a time-limited Black Friday Sale. The first 100 people to sign up get access at <this amount>. If you were thinking about <xyz>, this is the best time to buy it."
This has the advantage of being fast and easy to implement, but beware of people waiting for the price to drop again, next year.
The way you react to Black Friday will dictate how your audience reacts in 2025. Whatever strategy you choose, they will note it and tuck it away for future reference. If they know you have discounted once, they will expect it to happen again. A real-time example of how price-sensitive people can be, is on MoneySavingExpert, where they predict the household brands price drop.
Do you want that to be you?