5 ways small businesses can harness AI to help maximise sales this Black Friday

By Apurva Palnitkar

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday present significant opportunity for microbusiness owners who might not be fully utilising the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI).

Data from the 2024 GoDaddy Global Entrepreneurship Survey, carried out with entrepreneurs and small business owners across 15 countries worldwide, reveals insights into entrepreneurs’ outlook on AI technologies, challenges and their goals for business growth. Of those surveyed, marketing their business online was reported to be the biggest challenge for Indian entrepreneurs when they first start their business, emphasising the importance of and difficulties surrounding hallmark events like Black Friday for small and microbusiness owners.

However, Indian entrepreneurs also acknowledged the potential of AI as a solution. When asked which areas of their business they think would benefit the most from AI, the most common answer was marketing (65%). With GoDaddy, microbusiness owners can now harness the capabilities of AI quickly and simply to help maximise Black Friday and Small Business Saturday sales.

Making your brand sing

In the world of social media scrolling, first impressions can often count. A microbusiness’ branding is its first impression, serving as a shining light to help attract new customers for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, deepen existing relationships and fuel overall brand growth.

With the support of GoDaddy, entrepreneurs can go from idea to online with ease, using artificial intelligence to search for a domain names, create an AI-generated logo and a full AI-generated website in just minutes to make your brand sing.

Help break through the noise with AI-powered SEO

Search engine marketing can help microbusinesses optimize site ranking, draw traffic and break through the Black Friday noise – and with GoDaddy all-inclusive package, it’s all AI-powered.

A large majority of online purchases will often begin with a simple search – meaning if your website ranks higher for relevant searches, customers may be more likely to potentially choose your microbusiness over a lower-ranking competitor. For microbusinesses, finding small edges like these could be crucial to help break through the noise around a hallmark event like Black Friday.

Mastering your product descriptions

Assistance with drafting product descriptions to sit on your website or other marketplaces where you might sell, including but not limited to Amazon, eBay, Etsy and many more, is another use of AI.

For microbusinesses, product descriptions offer an opportunity to step away from complicated, unengaging industry jargon, which can sometimes be difficult for consumers to understand. Instead, microbusinesses can use products descriptions to tell the story of a brand, emphasize roots to the local community and speak to the real person buying your product or service. Just be careful to keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind, which AI can help with.

Help build anticipation and hype on social media

AI could provide a potential marketing lifeline for business owners who may feel that they lack the time or resources required to promote their business online without a dedicated marketing team or access to digital marketing platforms. GoDaddy data shows that marketing their business online – which could include using AI tools for social media, ads, promotions and so on – with was the biggest challenge faced by Indian entrepreneurs when they first started their business by a significant margin.

For consumers, researching the best deals on Black Friday – a weekday when many will have work during the day – may prove time-consuming and difficult. Utilising social media to highlight upcoming Black Friday deals has the potential to attract consumers who are already set on purchasing a specific product or service and are simply waiting for the first available, appealing discount.

AI can also help create videos and graphics, key to promoting products on visually-driven platforms like Instagram and TikTok. With built-in shopping features, these platforms enable microbusinesses to sell directly to consumers from a post, making AI an attractive tool for enhancing a business’ online presence.

Crafting compelling email newsletters

In the buildup to Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, email newsletters can offer a cost-effective method of repeatedly engaging with new or existing customers.

AI’s ability to draft text, such as a catchy subject line or compelling call to action, makes it an attractive tool for enhancing newsletters with the objective to drive customer engagement, including encouraging purchases of products or services.

For microbusiness owners who need a launching pad to get started with email marketing and to help connect with customers in just a few clicks, AI can also create a variety of email templates to match your brand and tone of voice, as well as supporting graphics to make your newsletters visually compelling.

(The author is Apurva Palnitkar, Senior Director of Marketing at GoDaddy India, and the views expressed in this article are his own)