You have less than a month to get your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns ready! Yes, your planning should have started months ago…but you just never came round to it. Don’t worry, there are numerous other procrastinators looking at the calendar and wondering what to do for the upcoming holidays.

Don’t let the rush pressure you into making bad decisions, think about what you want to achieve, how you want to participate etc. You have all the tools and equipment; you just have to package it correctly. Trust us… you still have time and if you decide on email campaigns, you still have a lot of time, as email campaigns can be turned around very quickly.

Below are a few guidelines to ensure you execute flawless Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns in less than a month.

  1. Your Black Friday & Cyber Monday plan:
  • Are you ready? Is your store / online store ready for an influx? Can they handle all the traffic? Do you have enough inventory? Ensure that you can answer yes to these types of questions!
  • Your offer? How much will your discount be? Will you be using coupons? Or gift cards for a minimum spend etc.? Don’t shoot yourself in the foot with massive discounts if your organisation won’t benefit to a certain degree. There are different ways of participating in Black Friday and Cyber Monday, get creative!

Example: J. Crew

Cyber Monday

 

  • Implementation: Creative and interactive campaigns that inspire urgency or anticipation will work well. You can even consider loyalty cards, extending the sale, release new deals hourly, gift prizes etc.

Example: hhgregg

Cyber Monday

 

  • Terms & Conditions: Ensure that this communicated clearly, when is the start date / time, when will it finish. What is the discount, are there any excluded products, does it include free shipping etc.
  • Marketing schedule: When will social media posts and email campaigns go live? Are you going to send teaser mails, reminder mails, follow up mails, last chance notifications etc.

 

  1. Execute:
  • Creative & copy: Create and schedule your emails / blog posts etc. Is your website ready, did you design great looking email campaigns that will create a buzz and drive traffic. Ensure all your creative is in synergy across the different platforms, but is optimized for each platform.
  • Email marketing campaigns: Email marketing accounts for approximately 25% of sales on Black Friday and 22% on Cyber Monday. Email is a powerful tool, you should incorporate it. E.g. send out emails to your existing database, reward them, encourage them to shop and build the relationship to increase loyalty.

 

  1. Tracking & results:
  • Before you execute your campaigns, how will you measure the success?
  • A/B testing for email subject lines, Open Rates, conversions, UTM’s, how will you measure the success.
  • At the end of your campaign, have a look at what worked, what didn’t work and how you can improve.

You may have been late to getting your 2018 Black Friday / Cyber Monday strategy ready, but there is still time to get going and ensure you drive extra sales this year.

Remember, you have to be ‘in it to win it,’ and with the above tips, you’ll definitely generate extra sales if executed correctly!

 

Resources:

https://www.shopify.com/blog/205649353-the-procrastinators-guide-to-black-friday-marketing

A Procrastinator’s Guide to Black Friday and Cyber Monday