When everyone is sipping on Pumpkin spice lattes, sharing #autumnvibes photos on Instagram, retailers and business owners are already thinking about the holiday season. And they have a good reason to. According to data released by the National Retail Federation, in 2019, consumers in the US spent $729 billion in the weeks between Thanksgiving through Christmas Day.
When I bring up the Black Friday or Cyber Monday topics in coaching and consultation calls, a lot of business owners startle. The very thought causes a bit of panic. Here are some of the most common questions I received about these two discount holidays:
Is Black Friday or Cyber Monday right for my business?
This is by far the most frequent question I get on this topic. And the answer is going to sound pretty straightforward but it does imply some research on your side.
The best way to decide if BF, CM or any other holiday or sales event is a good fit for your business is to think about your target audience. Will your customers be excited about these two holidays? What are they doing around that time of the year? What are they planning or thinking of around that time of the year?
Read studies, research, whatever you can get your hands on to learn about what is trending in your industry, niche before you make a decision.
Is Black Friday/Cyber Monday profitable?
In short yes, if you know what you are doing. Both in-store and online, those who reap the benefits of BFCM have a very good strategy in place. The purpose of a promotion is to increase visibility and interest for your brand with a price/deal that is so good it can’t be turned down. It’s a small chance that you could be losing some money if your customers buy only the deal.
The profit comes from offering your consumer other opportunities to buy. Once you’ve got a consumer through the door, and saying Yes to one thing, it will become a lot easier for you to communicate and convert with that person going forward. Either you upsell them right there (with a more expensive item, or an awesome bundle) or you use that BFCM promo to begin a relationship that could become profitable in the nearby future (Christmas is just around the corner).
What kind of deals can I run for Black Friday/Cyber Monday?
Most business owners assume that Black Friday or any discount holiday implies just that – a discount, and a huge one. While for some that is a tactic that works, matches their brand and audience, for others, offering discounts is a big no-no. And that is completely fine.
You can offer quite a variety of offers, such as bundles (discount or no discount), free shipping, expedited delivery, limited edition, coupons, presale, lifetime, annual access (membership usually).
When should I start prepping for BFCM campaigns?
In marketing and business the spoils go to the one who plans ahead. Depending on your business model, you might want to consider prepping up your company for Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday at least 3 to 6 months in advance.
If you are selling with Amazon, then you need to place your order with the manufacturer, wait for the shipment, wait for the setup in Amazon’s warehouse(s). That could easily mean about three months. The rest is prepping your marketing to make sure you have all things covered.
Ideally, by the middle of October you’d have your marketing plan ready to go.
What can I do to increase conversions on BFCM?
The short answer is a lot – but depends on how soon you start preparations, your tools, your team and your financial resources. However there are three things you need to make sure you will have available:
Scarcity – use anchoring, design and countdowns to inform your audience that those offers will not be there forever. Read more about this here.
Announce early – let your audience know ahead of time that BFCM is coming to them, share a teaser of what they can expect, and how they can make sure they will not miss out when the sale starts.
Reminders – during BFCM inboxes are flooded, which means that if you don’t up your game with email marketing (ahead of time) your consumers will forget about your amazing deals. Yep, this means increasing the frequency of your newsletter ahead of the holiday, and sending multiple reminders before and during the event.
Be everywhere – go all in with your reminders and use every channel you have. If you don’t want to annoy people you can create a funnel or an event specific to those people who expressed interest in your BFCM (went to a dedicated landing page from an email or an ad, where they opted in to receive notifications). Retargeting is also something you should take into account before and after.
Follow up to close the sale – About 7 out of 10 consumers will drop out before converting. Use abandoned cart emails to increase conversions. Data says that about 10% of the abandoned carts are recovered with this tactic.
Optimize for mobile – Is it any wonder that most of the party is on mobile? Make sure your website performs on this medium to avoid missing out on sales just because a checkout button was wonky, a landing page wasn’t optimized for mobile or didn’t load properly.
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