Black Friday and Cyber Monday: How Small Businesses Can Be Prepared to Succeed
For small to midsized eCommerce businesses, Black Friday and Cyber Monday present a fantastic opportunity to win new consumers and reward loyal customers. If you have great deals and an excellent marketing strategy in place, your website is likely to experience a spike in traffic. Here’s a few tips we’ve put together to ensure your Black Friday and Cyber Monday are highly successful.
Plan Early
First things first – it’s never too early to start planning ahead. Every other retailer is going to be running campaigns for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The last thing you want is to be left behind. By nurturing a following on social media and an active email newsletter, you’re priming a captive and engaged audience for any deals you plan to promote.
There are a few strategies to accomplish this task. One is to encourage customers to sign up for email promotions well in advance of these big days. An email campaign will help extend the reach of your offers and pay dividends when Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrive. You can also tease your offers on social media. By hinting at your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, you’ll boost your followers and reward your most loyal fans. In the next section, we talk about how to drive engagement through social media.
Influencer Campaigns
Influencer marketing is a powerful tool in the arsenal of any small business. A recent survey from CivicScience found that 8% of shoppers made a purchase in the past 6 months because of an influencer. For 18- to 24-year old shoppers, that figure was at 15%. The key to this strategy is to find the right fit with an influencer, rather than going for the biggest following. You want to establish trust and authenticity with your audience.
An unpaid collaboration with an influencer often yields more authentic content even though you are less able to control the narrative. An unpaid influencer is more likely motivated by genuine passion for your brand. Influencers who align with your brand’s values provide important insights, expert knowledge and authentic experiences for their followers. Take advantage of these benefits as you head into the Black Friday season. Once you cultivate sustainable relationships with influencers early on, this strategy pays big dividends.
Brand Bundles and Giveaways
Lastly, a campaign for Black Friday and Cyber Monday is made even better with bundles and giveaways. But you can’t go into this day with a 10% or 20% discount and expect to do well. The trick here is to make sure your offer is compelling to your specific audience. One strategy is to combine a high discount and average order value (AOV). So, for example, if you’re selling a $25 product, it makes sense to create a $150 bundle after a 30%-40% discount. When you increase the AOV, you’re able to afford giving away a bigger discount.
Another great way to boost sales is to offer referral incentives. If you give your customers a reason to tell friends and family about your store, you will increase awareness. In addition, up-selling and cross-selling are a fantastic means of getting your customers excited about your full range of products. Create combinations of 3-4 complementary products according to major trends and offer the whole package at a discount to customers.
Conclusion
If done correctly, a campaign for Black Friday and Cyber Monday can lead to a significant ROI for your business. As long as you have a thoughtful strategy in place that targets your brand’s ideal audience, you are sure to thrive during the holiday shopping season.
Reach out to our team if you’re interested in learning more about how to prepare for the holiday season.
