5 Ways to be Black Friday Cyber Monday Ready

Retailers get ready for the Biggest Shopping week of the year

The Biggest Shopping days of the year are fast approaching! That's right, it's almost the silly season and that means  Black Friday  and Cyber Monday are almost upon us! In fact, a Pitney Bowes Study has shown that sales over this Black Friday/Cyber Monday are increasing year on year, with 2017 expected to continue that trend. Australia celebrated one of the biggest wins globally with 35% growth in 2016 of cross-border orders, particularly in Clothing, Handbags and Jewellery Charms.

Want to make the most of the influx of retail traffic, but minimise the stress and pain of this hugely competitive long weekend? This year, Black Friday falls on 24 November and Cyber Monday 27 November - which means there is still time to get ready to grab your slice of the pie.

I have gathered my many business marketing strategies to simplify them into my Top 5 ways you can get your Business ready in time for some serious sales and, most importantly, profit!

Start ASAP!

Haven't started thinking about your business strategy over the next quarter? No worries, there's still time, but you really need to start as soon as possible! Many e-commerce Businesses start promoting Sales a couple of weeks in advance, particularly to your exisiting customer base. Let those loyal customers know first!
With so many of us now researching and shopping as early as October (yikes!) your planning and preparations need to start right now.​

PLAN FOR THE WORST

Now, this article doesn't aim to make your feel that gut-wrenching panic, but serves as a way to avoid any stress by planning for the worst. Get some contingency plans in place for any potential mishaps, most often websites crashing or shipping methods becoming too busy over the festive period can really set back your chances to succeed.

For Sales and Promotions over such a long festive season spreadsheets can help map out exactly whats on offer, setting up running times and promotion codes now, so you don't have to scramble to it later.

Keep a keen eye on your inventory and stock levels, take a look at last year and ensure you have enough stock to carry you through, particularly if you're relying on independent suppliers or specific items being handmade to order. The last thing any Retailer wants is to run out of stock in the busiest time of year, or worse, disappoint customers with a lacklustre customer experience. 

Social Media Accounts are so important to keep updated during this time, but because you'll be so busy, I recommend sticking to just a couple of Social Media platforms to focus on. Get them right with strong visuals and content. Consider Social Media Advertising through Facebook or Instagram to communicate the most important posts.

Get Creative

Graphics are key. Whether you're running paid Banner Ads or creating some cool Homepage images, your visuals are what catch customer's attention. Better yet, videos are proven to have higher engagement rates when advertising. If you can't afford the expenditure of a graphic artist, use apps like Pablo by Buffer or  Font Candy to place impactful and beautiful text over images.

Be mindful of where your amazing visuals lead your customers. Generally, you'll want them to visit your website and make a purchase, so ensure you have some specific Landing Pages that relate to your advertisements or sales.

Big e-commerce sites like ASOS and Amazon already have Cyber Monday Landing Pages in place. This creates a buzz on the build up to the event and allows customers to bookmark their favourite sites to get into the sales first.

Anticipation & Urgency

Key to selling in a busy marketplace is creating the sense of urgency and/or scarcity. In the lead up to your Big Sale Event, create that feeling of  anticipation using a marketing techniques like teaser VIP emails, sneak peeks on Social Media and instil the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO). Don't be afraid to start researching and approaching popular industry Blogs and/or Gift Guides and pitch your products to them to cover. This kind of old-school, traditional publicity helps develop trust by collaborating with another industry thought-leader.

When it comes to the Big Sale Event and the aftermath, be sure to continue the FOMO and promote the limited nature of your offerings. The 'limited time only' or 'limited quantity left' approach is great for e-commerce, and for those looking to grow the in store sales, having that one 'door-busting' jaw-dropping, limited sale exclusively in store will help drive traffic to your bricks and mortar.

Optimise

Ultimately any Sale Event is aiming to increase your new customer base and re-engage your existing customer base. But how can you impact how your customer sees your business? 

You need to build trust and loyalty with your audience. But how you ask? There's a few things you can do during this Sale process to optimise your Customer Experience. Simple features like Live Chat or Messenger allow quick responses to customer queries gives customers the confidence that you are there to help, especially in the e-commerce world. Having well designed Abandoned Cart Emails and solid Retargeting Marketing campaigns to recapture undecided customers. Back-end Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) will help make your website easier to find on engines like Google, so it is essential this is in place from the start.

Remember, in order to retarget lost customers effectively and understand where your audience is coming from, tracking pixels must be placed in your websites code to collect the data you need to understand and serve your audience more effectively.