Should knowledge entrepreneurs and creators offer Black Friday sales?

Every business owner knows that Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are important days for commerce as they kickstart the holiday shopping season. But many knowledge entrepreneurs might wonder - is it a good idea to offer Black Friday deals on digital products? 

Let’s explore more about why someone might offer Black Friday deals on knowledge products and how to effectively market promotions on digital content.

Why should creators offer Black Friday deals on online courses and other digital products?

With the global logistics crisis ongoing during the 2021 holiday season, it may be an especially great time for information product creators to offer deals on their digital content. For people looking to give meaningful gifts and not strain the supply chain, the gift of an online course, membership community access, paid podcast, or coaching program could be a great option. Digital products can also be great gifts as people focus on minimalism and sustainability and want fewer material items around.

Plus, many people wonder what to do besides shop on Black Friday. Many people in the United States are off of work for the Thanksgiving weekend, but not wanting to shop. They could be open to using their free time taking an online course, enjoying a podcast, or reading eBooks.

Or, as people plan holiday travel, they may look for content to educate or entertain themselves while in transit. Statista reports that in recent years, over 50 million Americans travel over the Thanksgiving holiday. Once you factor in the holiday season over the December holidays, there is a huge market of people worldwide clamoring for content to occupy their time between destinations. 

Some Kajabi Heroes leverage seasonal discounts to help bring in a new wave of customers. CRM Automation Expert Oje Ebhota says, “Look at it from the position of economy of scale. The large number of people you are able to draw in during that period will be your compensation as you later begin to upsell to them.”  

Don’t want to offer a discount for Black Friday or Cyber Monday? There are still ways to leverage it. Steve Cornick of Epic Dads Club says, “Discounting feels cheap to me. Keep the price the same but add more value with scarcity.” 

How to get ready for Black Friday 

If you’ve decided to try a Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday promotion, you’ll need to lay the groundwork.

First, decide your offer. What product or service will you make available for the promotion? Can you put together a new product (maybe a seasonal offering in your expertise), or will you promote something you already sell?

Then, consider what discount you will offer, if any. Will you have a limited quantity? You may want to put a sale on an existing product or test out a new offering.

Once that’s decided, do the administrative work to set up the offer. It’s super easy to set up a coupon or limited time or limited quantity offer in Kajabi. You may decide you want a unique Black Friday landing page to send the traffic. Consider adding a lead form or email signup form to that page just in case someone isn’t ready to convert. 

After those are done, you’ll move on to marketing your offer.

How to implement a Black Friday marketing strategy for knowledge entrepreneurs

Marketing your promotion can be as simple or as involved as you like. Whether you’re planning in advance or cobbling something together quickly, here are some things to include in your marketing plan.

Be sure to set up an email marketing campaign for your special offer. Running out of time? Do a simple email blast to your whole list. Or, set up an automated Funnel in Kajabi for your Black Friday funnel and just place it in your content.

If you’re not scrambling to get your campaign out, segment your list to the most relevant leads and tweak the messaging. Personalization can be especially important when you’re competing with national or global brands for your customers’ attention and money at this time of year.

You may choose to set up an exit intent popup on your website so all visitors can be informed of the promotion. Make sure to choose a compelling call to action that references the limited time nature of the campaign. 

Be sure to leverage social media too. Create some graphics and write some copy. Feel free to borrow our ideas above that digital products make great holiday gifts for the minimalist in your life or can be an activity during holiday travel. 

More specifically, you’ll need to think about how far in advance and how frequently to post. 

You may want to tease ahead of time that you have some kind of time-bound promotion coming. Or, you may want to employ the element of surprise and only post about it during the promotional window.

Consider whether you’ll put any paid advertising dollars behind this promotion. A report from Skai says that in 2020, as in-store traffic to retailers fell due to the pandemic, the average daily spend on digital advertising increased. Even if you aren’t trying to compete with physical retailers, paid advertising may still be more expensive in November than usual. 

If you want to leverage a promotion but are afraid to devalue your knowledge product by discounting, you could consider only promoting the offer to a segment of leads that have not yet converted. This way you can close the deal for anyone still on the fence or re-engage cold leads while not promoting a discount to any new audience members. 

To wrap up your promotion, consider sending a last chance Cyber Monday email. Those potential customers who disconnected during the Thanksgiving holiday but are back to the routine the following week might miss your promotion without it!

Getting started with your Black Friday promotion

If you’re already a Kajabi Hero, get into your account and get working!  

If you’re not yet a member of Kajabi, start your free 14-day trial. Kajabi has everything you need to build, sell, and market your knowledge products. Sell online courses, membership community access, private podcast episodes, digital downloads, and coaching programs all in one platform. 

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