It’s tempting to jump on the bandwagon, but do you really need to join in the Black Friday frenzy and offer a deal? It started out as one day a year, but now Black Friday consumes the entire month of November with businesses all over the place offering discounts in large letters with percentages thrown about. But is it worth doing? What is the value? Is Black Friday losing its appeal?
Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping events of the year for UK consumers, but there are growing concerns about whether it offers real value. And with the way things are currently with energy costs rising, the cost of living going up and uncertainty for the future… is the UK public looking to spend unnecessarily on the lead-up to Christmas?
“Discounting, by definition, reduces revenue and devalues the brands and offers that businesses have spent the rest of the year building.”
Retail Week
This would mean, unless you’re offering a discount on products or services you’re trying to shift before the year is out, Black Friday might not be particularly beneficial for you financially if you are a business considering getting involved in the day.
On the other hand, from the view of the shoppers themselves, there is increasing concern and distrust over whether the offers available are genuine or good value for money, with Which reporting that 98% of Black Friday deals weren’t worth buying last year. They found that Black Friday 2021 deals were cheaper or the same price at other times of the year!
A lot of what we talk about on this blog is about building rapport and finding common ground with your target audience. Marketing very much focuses on the psychology of knowing what people want or having an answer to a problem that people have – and then making sure you get your product or services in front of the relevant audience. But more than ever, building trust and loyalty are key factors of a marketing strategy and should be at the very core of your business’ heart.
This year, Black Friday takes place on Friday 25 November and runs until Monday 28 November, known as Cyber Monday.
If you do choose to dive in and get involved, do your research, read the room and use the endless amount of information and data available to you to make sure you’re offering a genuine and well-received offer to your customer base. Your email marketing, website content and approach to the day needs to be planned, well-executed and with a follow up plan in place for the coming days.
Good luck!