At StoryLearning, we’ve been running Black Friday promotions for around 8 years.
At the peak, we would make just shy of $500,000 on Black Friday week alone.
It was quite something.
We experimented with a few different approaches to Black Friday over the years, and so I thought I’d pass on what I’ve learnt.
Like a Wikileaks data dump at 3am.
But this isn’t going to be some glorified “how to” that you just plug and play into your business.
You should know me well enough by now that I don’t do that kinda stuff.
Rather, I want you to think more deeply about what’s going on in the mind of the customer at a time like this.
Because realise:
On Black Friday, people everywhere are entering a crazed buying frenzy…
(With all the dignity of a flock of seagulls scrapping over a dropped kebab on Blackpool pier…)
And you can make a lot of money on this weird day…
Just so long as you have an offer that speaks to the mind of the buyer.
So, here’s the value equation, hastily scribbled for your viewing pleasure:
First up — you need to understand Black Friday psychology.
What’s going on in the mind of the customer during that fateful day (week?) in November?
Answer:
On Black Friday, people wake up in the morning and want one thing, and one thing only:
Discounts
There really is no point fighting it.
At Christmas, people are thinking “meaning”.
At New Year, people think “improve my life”.
But Black Friday is so synonymous with bargain basement discounts that people quite literally wake up on Black Friday, start Googling their favourite brands, and just look around to see who’s offering what.
People even delay purchases in the weeks leading up to Black Friday in the hope of getting those things cheaper later.
(That’s why revenue in Oct/Nov can often dip.)
So, you’ve got to meet people where they’re at.
I often get asked:
“Is a 30% discount good enough?”
And I reply:
If you’re going to discount (which is what people are expecting), there’s no point half-assing it.
You want people to see your offer… and buy it on the spot.
And so you’ve got to be seen to be offering something that feels like a bonafide discount.
(That’s the left side of the image above.)
Too many people mess around with “10% off” or some nonsense like that.
But that just screams tokenism, and has any serious bargain hunter rolling their eyes and hitting the back button on their browser faster than you can say Costco.
Get this wrong, and you end up in no-man’s-land, where — sure, you’re offering a discount — but it’s not enough to make anyone sit up and pay any attention.
Example:
At StoryLearning, our core BF offer for years has been a 66% discount on our courses.
From $297 down to $97.
Why so steep?
Well look, it’s because anyone who knows our business — and the fact that we virtually NEVER discount — will look at this offer and say:
”Damn… this is a really good offer!”
Result: They buy.
Now…
In case you’re squeamish about large discounts, and worry about “giving too much away” or “devaluing” your hard work, here’s why you should reconsider:
Customer Creation.
See, on your list, there are a lot of non-buyers — people who have never bought from you.
In your average online education business, this is going to be 95% of your list.
Think about that…
95% of people on your list have never bought your stuff, never taken the plunge, never experienced the value.
And the reason?
In my cases, they’re just nervous to buy at your regular price.
(“What if it doesn’t work for me?”)
But, here’s the thing about buyers…
Buyers are buyers are buyers.
It’s ~14X easier to sell something to an existing customer than to a regular lead.
And so by holding your nerve and discounting properly at Black Friday, you create ability to convert a lot of non-customers into customers — making it highly likely that many of them will go on to spend a lot more with you further down the line…
Because they’re customers now.
And when you look at it like that, the question of “how much should I discount by?” is no longer the point…
Because there’s a bigger opportunity on the table.
So…
This is the case for discounting hard and avoiding the no-man’s-land of a half-baked offer.
But…
This approach is only really suited to digital products, where you have enough margin to reduce the price heavily and still retain profit.
Namaste,
Olly
