Black Friday: 5 ways micro businesses can harness Generative AI to help fuel growth

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday can offer important opportunities for micro business owners to capitalise on the capabilities of Generative AI (Gen AI) to drive growth during this critical retail period. Suzanne Mitchell Australian Market Lead GoDaddy shares how to reap the benefits

New data from Venture Forward, GoDaddy’s multi-year international research initiative, which analyses more than 300,000 Australian micro businesses, has highlighted the biggest challenges often faced by Australian entrepreneurs when starting out. Of those surveyed, generating sales online was found to be the biggest challenge*, putting a spotlight on the concurrent importance of and difficulties surrounding calendar events like Black Friday for microbusiness owners.

Over two in five (41 per cent) of Aussie entrepreneurs surveyed also reported they don’t feel confident as a user of AI for their micro business*. However, with tools like Airo, GoDaddy’s latest GenAI experience, micro business owners can harness the full capabilities of Gen AI simply and quickly to help fuel growth ahead of Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

Help build awareness of your Black Friday campaign on social media

Creating content was revealed as the most popular use of Gen AI for Australian micro businesses surveyed (75 per cent)*, which might include creating first drafts of text for social media posts for Black Friday.

Venture Forward data shows that marketing a business online – with social media, ads, promotions, etc. – was the second biggest challenge reported by Australian entrepreneurs surveyed*. Gen AI could provide a marketing lifeline for micro business owners in Australia who don’t feel they have the time or resources required to promote their business online, without the support of a dedicated marketing team or access to digital marketing platforms.

For potential customers, researching the best value-for-money deals on Black Friday – a weekday when many will have work – can prove tedious. Entrepreneurs can use social media to highlight upcoming Black Friday deals to potentially attract customers who are already set on purchasing a specific product or service, but are simply waiting for the first available, appealing discount to come across their feed.

Gen AI can also help create graphics and videos, which are pivotal to promote products on visually-driven platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. As these platforms have built-in shopping features, microbusinesses can sell directly to consumers from a post, making Gen AI a useful tool to enhance a business’ online presence.

Refining your product descriptions

Gen AI also has the capability to assist with drafting product descriptions for your website or other marketplaces where you might sell a product or service, such as the likes of Amazon, eBay, Fiverr and more.

Using Gen AI allows microbusinesses a fresh perspective when writing product descriptions. It’s critical to keep the attention of website traffic, who are likely constantly scrolling on an occasion like Black Friday, with product descriptions that are consumer-friendly and easy to understand in an instant.

Be inspired with email copy and templates

In the lead-up to Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, sending an email newsletter can prove a cost-effective method of engaging and staying top of mind with your existing customer community during this busy retail period.

The capability of Gen AI to draft specific and compelling text, such as a catchy subject line or a strong call to action, makes it an attractive tool for drafting emails with the objective of improving email open rate, click-through rate on your specific Black Friday product offers to ultimately drive purchase. GenAI provides a new perspective on copy that can provide a fresh approach without a dedicated copywriter on staff.

GoDaddy Airo utilises GenAI to create a number of templates to match a microbusiness’ branding and tone of voice, offering a launching pad for those who are just getting started with email marketing and want to connect with customers in just a few clicks.

Help separate from the crowd with AI-powered SEO

Search engine marketing has the potential to allow micro businesses to optimise site ranking, draw traffic and separate from the crowd ahead of Black Friday.

A significant majority of online purchases often begin with a simple search – meaning if your website ranks higher for keywords which are relevant to your offering, customers might be more likely to choose your microbusiness (compared to a lower-ranking competitor). For micro businesses, finding marginal gains like these can prove crucial to help break through the noise during hallmark events like Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

*Statistics are taken from a survey conducted in May 2024 of 2,256 Australian online microbusiness owners by Venture Forward

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