It’s the pumpkin spice season of the year again when businesses all around the globe gear up for the largest shopping weekend — Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
So, if your digital marketing agency is planning to come up with a social media campaign, email campaign, landing page or discount deal, it is important to stay aware of all the latest trends for BFCM holiday season.
Here are some latest trends and tips for Black Friday Cyber Monday holiday season 2017 that you can follow to run impactful campaigns.
Let’s get to them.
#1. Plan and Execute Early
If you are still unsure whether this BFCM season is an amazing opportunity for your business, it is advised to read these statistics that showed record breaking sales.
In 2016, U.S. and U.K. online businesses saw a whopping spike on Black Friday, with 220% new sessions than an average day in November. Despite amazing deals and biggest discounts, Black Friday Cyber Monday sales generated 3.34 billion with a 21.6% increase year-over-year.
In 2016, Cyber Monday also made smashing sales records, generated $3.25% billion and a 155% traffic boost and become the largest sales day in the history of U.S. ecommerce.
Every year, many big brands such as Amazon, eBay, Alibaba and Walmart get the most out of BFCM sales deals. These brands get more orders than usual over Black Friday Cyber Monday holiday season.
So, midsize companies and small businesses can also generate more traffic and profits with BFCM amazing deals and discounts.
Some studies suggest that nearly 50% of online shoppers start researching free giveaways and gift deals in October or earlier. So, it is important to plan more earlier and execute your shopping campaigns ahead of time.
Starting early is a wise approach to acquire more and more customers early in the shopping season to generate more sales.
Keep these points in mind:
- Make sure you have a solid system to deal with the massive traffic and huge number of orders over Black Friday Cyber Monday sales weekend.
- Start creating email campaigns and social media copies for promoting your sale offers and promotional deals for BFCM 2017.
#2. More Buyers Go Online for Shop
As more and more people prefer online shopping, the tradition of queuing outside Walmart at 4 am has now ended. In 2016, online sales got a significant boost and mobile phones accounted for a greater percentage of that orders and traffic.
Mobile friendly checkout processes play a crucial role in helping businesses get the most out of BFCM traffic in 2017. Despite knowing the stats, mobile conversion rate has been lower than the desktop conversion rate, 1.65% on mobile and 3.6% on desktop.
To attract more and more mobile shoppers towards your Black Friday Cyber Monday deals, remember these tips:
- It is important to support seamless mobile checkouts to boost online sales this BFCM holiday season.
- Make use of mobile friendly technology such as push notifications, customized text messages, click-to-call and one-step checkout to encourage mobile buyers to shop online.
- Devise a special email for your customers to sign up for Black Friday Cyber Monday sales deals by using your app on their smartphone.
- Add a click and collect option for mobile buyers who want to get great BFCM deals immediately.
#3. Satisfy Your Customers
Customers these days expect high level of convenience that is same-day delivery and one-click checkout when it comes to online shopping. To stay ahead of your competitors, make it easier for your customers to buy your products and offer a reliable and seamless shipping process to get your products delivered right away.
It is advised to offer free delivery, a free upgrade to next day delivery so that customers want to purchase more from you.
You can offer a click and collect option. Make it easier to check out with a mobile wallet feature or one-click checkout, in-store and online respectively.
#4. Integrate your Social Media Channels
In 2016, businesses who invested in a solid marketing strategy including mobile, email, and social media marketing generated an average of 30% more sales on BFCM weekends than those retailers who only focused on a few channels.
Well, it’s not about the channels or percentage, it’s all about reaching your target audience where they present most and then smartly market your products. When you have your target audience on channels such as email, social, mobile, integrating these platforms with your marketing strategy helps you convey a consistent brand message to all these channels while reminding your audience to buy from you.
Keep these considerations in mind:
- Make sure you share the brand message on all marketing channels consistently and you have a well-planned strategy for get this message out to customers.
- Incentivize your audience to share your message using promos, free giveaways, and exciting offers.
- Combine your mobile advertising, email campaigns, and social media marketing efforts for Black Friday Cyber Monday 2017.
#5. Personalized User Experience
Statistics show that new shoppers will spend 50% more money over BFCM weekend, compared with repeat customers. Some shoppers prefer sales price instead of brand loyalty. It is important to devise your BFCM marketing strategy for different type of users.
For returning customers, you can offer them customized incentives such as “loyal customer discount deals” or personalized sales recommendations based on their previous purchases.
For new shoppers, you need to figure out opportunities to reengage them once the BFCM weekend is over.
Remember, BFCM is not an one-time opportunity, it’s an opportunity to create a sales funnel for your products which can engage customers into your marketing campaigns throughout the year.
So, don’t underestimate the power of Black Friday Cyber Monday shopping weekend, it can attract more and more shoppers that will eventually become your loyal customers.
Follow these tips:
- Make sure your content is informative and engaging, especially for new users so that they can understand your value offer once they enter the sales funnel.
- Make sure your welcome message, unique selling proposition and CTA are placed on front so that those who are new to your brand can easily understand your offer and make a purchase.
- Offer special discounts to purchase during this holiday shopping season, such as free shipping for new customers.
- Segment your customers based on their preferences and purchase history, and then create customized email campaigns to convert those first-time customers to repeat customers.
To Sum Things Up
Ideas, trends and tips are limitless when it comes to Black Friday Cyber Monday holiday season. These are just a few popular trends and tips that will help you take your digital marketing company towards new heights of success in this busy holiday shopping season and hereafter. Best of luck!
