Whilst many price sensitive shoppers will no doubt be enticed by the tempting deals and heavily discounted products global retailers offer in the lead up to Christmas; the ongoing repercussions of the global pandemic and the devastating impact it’s had on independent businesses means that a growing number of consumers will be looking to support smaller brands and retailers this year.

Decide on your promotion

If you are yet to decide on the sort of promotions you are going to be running during Black Friday and in the run-up to Christmas, do this now.

Consider your margins, but also look at what your competitors are offering or have offered in the past and make sure your deals are competitive, or even better, to ensure you stand out.

Differentiate by really emphasising what you’re selling and make potential customers aware that it is a one-time only offer. Whatever you do, your messaging has to be clear and concise to cut through all the noise.

Use your own data to inform your strategy

Provided you had an online shop during the Golden Quarter (the three-month run-up to Christmas and New Year) in 2019, it is really useful to use your own site’s data to inform your 2020 strategy. Because who knows your own customers and their buying behaviour better than you?

Take a look at when traffic to your site started to peak around November and December last year, and time your offer to coincide with this; for example, if you saw lots of traffic coming in the Friday before Black Friday, time your offer to start from then to encourage repeat purchases and jog customers memories.

If you’re a relatively new businesses and this is the first time you have sold items online during the Cyber Weekend, take time again to look at what some of your competitors are doing and have been doing in previous years, and learn from them.

Consider affiliate strategies

Whether or not you already have an existing affiliate program, using a publisher to help get your promotions out there can be a useful strategy to help you stand out above the crowd this Black Friday.

Publishers can offer various different methods of exposure, ranging from newsletter slots, to on-site promotions all year round, so shop about and choose the one that is right for your brand.

Earlier in the year we launched ‘Awin Access’, a new service designed to support small businesses grow their e-commerce with the help of affiliate marketing. By opening up the world of affiliate to emerging companies, Awin Access looks to lower the barriers currently preventing micro-SME’s from using affiliate channels. Benefits of Awin Access include reduced commitment, removed set-up costs, and the offer of low-risk commercials.

Once integrated to the platform, Access clients are immediately able to begin building direct partnerships with more than 211,000 publisher partners and given the ability to engage with online tutorials and live chat with the experts.

Those looking to apply for Awin Access can do so here.