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Black Friday will be here before you know it, which is why NOW is the perfect time to start planning your Black Friday promotions. Today I’m sharing a roundup of the biggest Black Friday trends we’re seeing this year! Use these trends to plan your own promotions this year and get ahead of the curve. 

Before we dive in, I created a free guide filled with all of the Black Friday trends that I’m about to cover and a few bonus ones too. Use the form below to grab your copy!

What is a Black Friday trend?

Black Friday trends are common promotion ideas that online business owners and entrepreneurs are using in their Black Friday sales. You absolutely DO NOT have to do what everyone else is doing. I’m a huge advocate for getting creative in your business and experimenting, but trends can be a helpful way to know what’s working. Use the ideas that you think will appeal to your audience and ignore the rest! 

How do you find Black Friday trends?

Last year I started tracking the Black Friday sales of all of my clients, business friends and other entrepreneurs. One of the big issues with Black Friday is that we tend to forget what happened and how everything went because there’s an entire year before the next one. Start taking notes about the trends you see each year, as well as any new ideas you have for next year. A lot of Black Friday trends actually emerge the year before, so keeping track will help you pinpoint your strategy for the following year.

I also spent the last 4 months talking with other business owners about the data from their Black Friday sales last year and what they are planning to do this year. Looking at the current marketing trends for the year is another way to get a pulse on the popular trends that are coming up. Black Friday will often follow similar trends that are already happening in online business.

2023 Black Friday Trends for Online Business Owners 

Let’s dive into the actual black friday trends that are already starting to emerge this year! This is the part where you’ll want to start taking notes on ideas you have for your own sales this year.

1. Using ManyChat to deliver your promotions and grow your email list

ManyChat is an automated messaging and DM app. Manychat gives you the ability to have people message or comment a specific word on Instagram or Facebook and then an automated series of messages are started.

You might have seen a lot of people starting to do this and not even noticed this is what is happening. Look out for posts where people are saying things like “comment this specific word to get my free guide.” When someone comments the chosen word ManyChat will automatically send them a message where you can add a link to the product or your email opt-in form.

This works super well because it’s low effort on the part of the user and it can feel a lot more personalized than email opt-ins. It also starts a conversation between you and the other person which you can use to get to know them better or help support them.

You can use ManyChat to help out with your Black Friday sales in two ways.

1. To grow your email list ahead of time by offering a free guide or opt-in

2. To send links and coupon codes to your followers during the actual sale

Be sure that you’re still providing value when you use ManyChat. Just posting a photo and asking people to comment a word to get the link to your sale isn’t going to have the highest conversion. Give them a reason why they should comment or opt-in to your freebie.

If you’re just getting started with ManyChat, Jenna Kutcher’s podcast episode on using automated DM’s to help grow your business is a fantastic resource.

2. Run your Black Friday sale before Thanksgiving

This is a Black Friday trend that started to emerge last year. More and more business owners are choosing to run their sales before Black Friday. You can either start your sale early and run it through Black Friday or some business owners choose to run their sale the week before or even at the very beginning of November.

Why this works: 

• People are bombarded by sales and marketing messages the week of Black Friday. Running your sale early might mean more people actually see it.
• Most people appreciate transparency and honesty. Letting your audience know that you’re running your sale early and that there won’t be another one helps people know that you’re upfront about your business and do what you say you’re going to do.
• You have more time to actually enjoy the holiday. One big issue with Black Friday sales is that as business owners they can ruin our Thanksgiving. It’s way too easy to accidentally spend all of Thanksgiving working or tweaking your sale. Running your sale ahead of time lets you, your team and your audience truly step away.

If you want to give this trend a try pick a date and start letting your audience know exactly when your sale will start. One huge pro about Black Friday is that people already expect your sale to be on Black Friday, so if you start changing the dates of your own sale, make sure you’re super clear in communicating that to everyone. 

3. Offer an implementation bonus

I think we all have purchased online courses or digital products that we didn’t end up having time to actually work through. When that happens it ends up feeling like the thing you bought was a waste of money. If you can offer a bonus that will help people make sure they go and use the thing they just bought it’s a HUGE perk.

Think of things like:

• Offer Voxer office hours as a bonus
• Host coaching calls
• Run a live cohort of your online course
• Hold co-working sessions where students come together and work alongside you 
• Pop-up Facebook groups

You don’t have to let people use the implementation bonus right away! It’s ok to host your live cohort, office hours or whatever you decide in January or February after people are back from the holidays. People are so much more likely to buy things they know they will finish. Having a date on the calendar for when they know they will get an extra bit of accountability and support is super appealing to most people.  

4. Collab with other business owners

Use the power of multiple audiences! You can team up with other business owners to create a special bundle of products. I recommend only partnering with one or two other business owners as the products you add in the more confusing it gets for your potential customers to know exactly what they are buying. It’s also best if you find someone who compliments your current product. For example if you sell social media templates, maybe you partner with someone who sells email templates or if you have a copywriting resource you could pair up with a website designer who can offer a product that helps your customers fully complete their goal. 

Try to create a really unique and special offer that you have never done before. That will make it extra new and enticing to your audience!

5. Low ticket offers

There’s a lot of stress in the economy right now. Having less money to spend is something most people are feeling right now. A lower ticket offer is usually something $50 or less. Often it’s even as low as $9 where you’re giving people something really value packed for a low price that’s a no-brainer.

Elizabeth Goddard (who has a fantastic course on low ticket offers by the way) and Liz Wilcox are great examples of great low ticket offers that offer an incredible win for their students.

To create your low ticket offer think of something that will give your audience a quick win. You don’t need to discount your current course or host a massive sale on a higher-priced product. You can create something new or break off a piece of one of your other products into a low-ticket offer.

I hope these Black Friday trends are helpful! Pick out at least one you want to try this year and start planning early! Black Friday sneaks up on so many people every year so start getting ready early so that you can actually enjoy your holidays!

 Links Mentioned 

• Subscribe to the Create a Better Course Podcast and listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts 
• Listen to this podcast episode on Google, Spotify or Sticher
• Connect with Mara on Instagram
• Download my free Black Friday Trends Guide 
• Try out ManyChat to get started with automated DM’s