B2B Black Friday: A guide for automotive aftermarket businesses

Observed traditionally by the US, ‘Black Friday’ has become commonplace in the UK as we Brits love nothing more than a deal! Usually, the Friday after Thanksgiving, Black Friday marks the start of the festive buying period, where consumers’ habits change as we move closer to Christmas.

However, this trend has spread beyond retail outlets and has become a standardised campaign across almost every industry.

Here are some stats according to Finder.com that really put Black Friday spending into context:

·????? Half of UK adults (51%) plan to spend during the Black Friday weekend, which is around 26.9 million people

·????? 8 in 10 Brits from Gen Z plan to spend in the Black Friday sales, with an estimated average spend of ￡176

·????? On average, men are planning to spend ￡31 more than women during Black Friday

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How does Black Friday work?

From half-price items to Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF) deals, Black Friday has become a warzone of sales or discounted goods targeted at consumers, encouraging them to purchase with a now-or-never mentality. This psychological effect on the average consumer creates what we call, FOMO, the fear of missing out, in which we do everything in our power to ensure we grab the deal whilst it’s available.

B2B: Black Friday in the B2B landscape

Due to its nature of heavily discounted sales and the now-or-never approach, Black Friday is directed towards consumers looking to get a steal ahead of the holidays. But why should that mean we can’t use the buzz and demand to promote B2B sales?

?In fact, professionals working in the B2B market are replicating consumer behaviours more than ever, whether it comes to searching for relevant content or their purchasing activity.

?Here are a few things worth remembering:?

·?????? B2B buyers are also consumers. Whether we like it or not, our consumer traits leak into our work life and we’re still a sucker for a deal.

·?????? Millennials are now involved in 73% of all B2B buying decisions (TechJury)

·?????? 44% of all final decisions are now made by Millennials ?(SFE Partners)

·?????? Gen Z are now part of the buying cycle, and their buying habits are radically different to those of older colleagues. They’re quicker to be turned off by a bad buying experience and have less tolerance for poorly performing platforms with more than 60% of Gen Zs saying they won’t use an app that is slow to load or hard to navigate. (NRF)

Believe it or not, the B2B space is becoming increasingly ‘consumerised’ and if you act now, you can get ahead of the curve and use this trend to your advantage.

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Key considerations before you get going

Before you dive headfirst into Black Friday, there are a few things worth considering.?

·????? Does Black Friday align with your wider strategy? There’s no point doing it for the sake of doing it. If you don’t feel that the heavily discounted approach is the right fit for your business, don’t do it. Your customers will always appreciate authenticity over doing something out of the ordinary.

·????? Can you afford to discount your products? Margins can be tight, and financially, discounting multiple products or categories might not be viable for your business. Weigh up the pros and cons and see what works for you. ?

·????? Can you take a different approach? Just because you might not be able to discount your products doesn’t mean you can’t get involved. Giving away things like free merchandise or services can be a great way to get customer buy-in and increase your brand awareness.

·????? Do you have the availability? Offering stock at heavily discounted prices can be great for business, providing you can fulfil the orders. So, before you start, ensure you have the availability to keep up with the influx.

·????? Is one day long enough? As you know, the purchase timeline in B2B can be a bit longer than the average consumer process, so you may want your campaign to last longer than just one day. Having a Black Friday week, or even month could generate your campaign more success.

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What can you offer?

Now, we know you might be thinking, ‘What on earth can we offer as a B2B business?’ So, here are a few ideas, specific to the aftermarket and split into Suppliers, Distributors and Garages to get you started.

Suppliers

·????? Discounts for highest spenders. Your Black Friday campaign doesn’t have to be across the board; it could just be for your highest-spending customers. By targeting your most valuable customers you can create a higher sense of brand loyalty and reward them for their efforts. ?

Example – 30% off braking components for customers who have spent over ￡10,000 per month in that category

·????? New customer offers – Your Black Friday campaign could be a great opportunity to woo new customers into trialling your products. By using a simple discount for those who haven’t purchased your products before, you may be able to secure more business in the long run.

Example – 20% off all products for new customers ?

·????? Extended warranty periods – What would give your customers better peace of mind than an extended warranty period? Not only does this convey trust in your products, but it is also an incentive they can pass on to their customers further down the supply chain?

Example – All products purchased within our Black Friday campaign will receive an extra year’s warranty in addition to its standard warranty period

·????? Increased rebates – A great way to entice your customers into spending more on your products could be to increase the percentage of rebates available for the month of Black Friday. In doing so, you could see an increased monthly spend as well as a better relationship with your customers as they also feel the benefit of spending more.

Example – Each customer who exceeds their monthly target spend will receive a double rebate for that month

·????? Support your customers with their own promotions – The distributors you sell to are not only your customers, they’re also your best salespeople. By teaming up with your distributors you can support them in selling more of your products creating a win-win scenario for you both.

Example – Provide free fitting kits to distributors who can give them away with the matching orders

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Distributors

·????? Discount countdowns – We know offering high ticket discounts isn’t sustainable for most businesses, so why not add a restriction? By using something like a discount timer, you can create an urgency to purchase without crippling your business.

Example - For each hour of the day the discount percentage reduces (9:00 am = 40%, 10:00 am = 30%, 11:00 am = 20%, 12:00 pm onwards = 10%)

·????? Free gifts with every order – This is a great initiative to team up with a supplier to offer your customers a free product with every purchase during your Black Friday campaign.

Example - Offer a free brake cleaner with every set of brake pads and/ or discs purchased?

·????? Multibuy offers – Your customers may see your Black Friday campaign as a great opportunity to restock the shelves, so why not offer them an incentive to do so? By offering higher discounts for more products purchased you may be able to double order values during your campaign period.

Example – Buy more than 5 and receive 10% off, buy more than 10 and receive 15% off etc

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Garages

·?????? Free services – Black Friday can be a great opportunity to generate trust from new and current customers. By offering free services, you can cement your place in the heart of your community by ensuring locals have safe vehicles.

Example – Free Winter vehicle health checks during Black Friday weekend

·?????? Free labour time – Who doesn’t love a freebie, so why not offer the first hour of labour time for free? Don’t worry, you can caveat the offer with it being available on jobs that require more than one hour, but this would be a great way to entice customers into booking the big jobs they have been putting off.

Example – First hour of labour time free on all repairs that require three hours or more of work?

·?????? Give away something for nothing – It sounds crazy, but why not literally give something away for FREE? This doesn’t have to be a high-ticket item but could be a great way for you to team up with a well-known supplier and help them promote their products whilst improving your local reputation.

Example – Get a free BRAND fuel additive when you stop by and say hi this Black Friday weekend.

How to communicate your campaign?

Great, you’ve decided what to offer and how long you want your campaign to last, now it’s time to get creative.

·?????? Social media campaign – Where better to generate buzz than on social media? Generate rich content such as a video to promote your offer and post it across your social media channels with a call-to-action.

·?????? Paid campaigns – The beauty of paid digital campaigns is that you can target specific audience demographics. From location to employees of your prospective customers, you can drill down to target specific industries, roles or behaviours to get your message through to the right people.

·?????? Personalised emails – Speak to your customers directly via email. This is a great way to keep things personal and reward your closest customers with unique offers just for them. ?

·?????? Newsletters – Detail your offers to the masses. By distributing a Black Friday newsletter, you can show off what you are offering and for how long to your entire customer base.

Summary

And there you have it, a B2B spin on Black Friday specifically for the aftermarket.

?Now, we know this isn’t a straightforward campaign, and that’s why we’re here to help. Whether you need support with your Black Friday promotion or other marketing and business goals, Impression can support you in increasing your brand awareness, sales and more.

?Feel free to reach our to me either on LinkedIn and we can discuss your needs in more detail.