Ready. Set. Go!
Like a sprinter at the starting line of a race, your business only gets one shot at making the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday each year. This intense sales period, which is fast outstripping Christmas in importance, is your chance to turn an ok year into an exceptional one.
This weekend of retail frenzy has become a destination shopping event around the globe. Once confined to the United States, retailers in Canada, the United Kingdom and even Australia are rolling out the red carpet to get shoppers through the door. With a little preparation, your business can turn this date in the calendar into dollar signs. Here are some tips to get your business ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Create a Buzz Around Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Shoppers know all about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Advertising early that you will be holding sales isn’t going to cannibalize existing sales. After all, shoppers are savvy enough to know to wait for deals. Accept this and start publicizing your deals as early as possible. Following the model set out by Amazon, don’t be afraid to give a sneak peek of deals you’ll be offering. This will help create a buzz around your business and make you a destination to visit over the weekend.
Prepare Collateral
Nothing catches the eye like a smart graphic, banner or hero image. Even if you don’t have a graphic designer on your staff, free websites like Canva allow anyone to create beautiful graphics quickly and easily. The best part? It helpfully pre-sets the dimensions of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook images, making social sharing a breeze. A banner image at the top of your website counting down to the deals can also provide a powerful driver for engagement.
Create a Content Calendar
The key to a successful marketing campaign is preparation. A content calendar will save you time and money as it helps keep your marketing efforts laser focused toward the big retail weekend. Sit with your team and brainstorm topic ideas around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. What are the questions people are asking about the occasion? What are the questions people are asking about your business and Black Friday/Cyber Monday? Use these as the starting point for creating blogs and social posts that help drive traffic to your site. Why not have a theme like #SaturdaySneakPeeks where you preview deals you’ll be offering? Take the time to brainstorm these topics and you’ll build a content calendar that will help boost your sales.
Streamline Your Processes
The busiest weekend of the year presents an amazing opportunity to look at your processes and trim the fat. Your team is going to be working hard to deliver great customer service, so it’s important everyone intimately understands their role. Ensure your social media staff know all the deals that are being offered, as well as your returns policy. Giving them scripted answers will prevent any miscommunication and upset customers. Facebook also allows the creation of an autoresponder that will share your email and phone number if immediate help is required.
Don’t Forget to Retarget
In 2014, a study found out 65 per cent of US shoppers abandoned their shopping cart before making a purchase. Don’t view this as a customer lost. Instead, think of it as an important part of the sales funnel. Why do these customers abandon their carts? Shopify found that 56 per cent ran into unexpected charges during checkout, prompting them to walk away. Target these customers with discount codes and tempt them back to your website. Look into the potential of offering free shipping on orders above a certain threshold. This could even lead to upselling as customers look for one more item to reach the figure needed to ship for free.
Want to Learn More?
Ready to take the next step and prepare your business for Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Reach out and we’ll be delighted to help!
Thank you to our GD Commerce Partners:
- Create Your Business Website Using Shopify
- Harness the Power of Drip CRM Software
- Set up Subscription Boxes, Recurring Orders and Payments Easily Using Bold Partners
- Boost Your Business Bookkeeping with Bench
- Learn How to Master Website SEO Using Mangools