Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner – is your business ready? In the latest in our BFCM series, we’re looking at the optimum time to begin your Black Friday/Cyber Monday marketing along with some milestones to watch out for.
The secret is out. Businesses have realized the powerful impact Black Friday/Cyber Monday can have on their bottom line. And, while they know they can’t miss out on this sales stampede, there are still several questions causing confusion in the run-up. One of these questions centers around the right time to start marketing your Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. In this blog, we’re going to tackle the issue.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday Marketing
While your marketing will almost exclusively fall in the month of November, the time to start prepping is now.We'll start with a simple marketing move you can make right now that will help augment your sales push.
Create a Static Landing Page
Creating a landing page for your deals has long been considered best practice for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, it’s not a good idea to create this page in the fall. A quick Google Search for the term “Black Friday sales” shows big retailers have taken an SEO-savvy approach. They have created a static landing page that lives on their site throughout the year, gathering SEO and creeping up the rankings. Even though you don’t have sales to promote right now, create this page on your site, optimize for keywords, and use it to promote weekly sales and deals. Look to Walmart’s Black Friday landing page for inspiration. When to Activate: Now
Plan Your Approach
There’s lots of moving parts to a BFCM marketing plan. You’re going to want to leverage email newsletters, social media and blogging, while also defining the audience you want to reach. You’ll need to ensure your website infrastructure is up to the task and you’ve got enough stock coming to satisfy demand. Make time to meet with your staff and devise a content calendar for the month preceding Black Friday. With a planning session like this, we recommend holding it with enough time to thoughtfully action all of the plans you’ve put in place. When to Activate: First week of September.
Segment Your Email List
Depending on the products you plan to discount, your promotion might not apply to everyone on your email list. Segment your email list by factors like purchase history, gender and location. Craft hyper-specific emails to each of these segments and schedule them to run across Black Friday and Cyber Monday. When to Activate: Early November.
Start Teasing Your Offers
Now that you’ve put in the preparation, the real fun can begin. Using your social media accounts, email newsletter and blogging, let customers know that Black Friday deals are coming and it’s time to get ready. You don’t need to be specific with the nature of the deals but it’s worth teasing one or two popular products you plan on discounting. When to Activate: Mid-November.
The Big Day is Here
It’s go time! Launch your sales on the Thursday/Friday of the BFCM weekend, with full blast of social media and email newsletters. Create urgency with your marketing by mentioning the limited nature of the deals. Make sure to hold back some deals across the weekend so customers are encouraged to come back. Utilize software like Mail Chimp and Hootsuite to automate your marketing so you don’t have to be operating the controls all weekend. When to Activate: Black Friday/Cyber Monday week.
Keep Selling
Once Cyber Monday has passed, the big rush will have slowed. However, there’s still selling to be done! Target new customers with a discount code to encourage them to return and continue with your email newsletters, offering Holiday-friendly options like gift cards.
Ready to Help
Want to make sure your business is ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday? GD Commerce is standing by to help. Contact Us and find out how we can lessen the load.
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