As an online entrepreneur, you know that the end of November is the busiest sales time of the year because Black Friday and Cyber Monday take place.
Of course, merchants have promotions throughout the year, but statistics show that the highest possible profits are achieved during the holiday period.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) marketing is so important that the amount of money spent across stores reaches billions of dollars!
It is crucial that you develop the best marketing strategy for your Shopify store so that you can take advantage and increase your sales.
1. Think about your emails
Email marketing is the top sales conversion strategy during the holiday season. And since the season is fast approaching, it’s best to start growing your email list today so that by the time it rolls around, you have a nice list of recently engaged subscribers to sell to.
Of course, the information you send to customers is quite important and it must be crafted carefully. Your message should be as short as possible and, at the same time, contain only the most essential information.
Before and during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you need to send engaging promotional emails that capture the consumer’s attention.
By including a specific call-to-action, mention only the best bargains, you’re offering and get them to click through to see more.
The Shopify app store has a great range of apps that can help you create such messages for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing. Take a look at Email Notifications for Upselling or Automated Email.
2. Focus on the customer’s personal shopping preferences
If your customer has already made purchases in your store, pay attention to what exactly was purchased and offer them a discount price for a similar product.
Make sure that you make customers feel special because if you provide them with what they are looking for, they are more likely to buy. They are also more likely to come back as they feel that you understand them.
It is much easier to sell products to an existing customer than it is to acquire new customers.
Over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, this fact plays a significant role, so make a note of it during the planning stage of your marketing campaign.
There are a number of Shopify apps that will help you track customers’ previous purchases, like Consistent Cart and Activity Monitor.
3. Use social media
Most potential Black Friday and Cyber Monday customers spend a lot of time watching YouTube, browsing the web, or scrolling through social networks. Post your upcoming holiday promotions on some of these channels.
Creating an event on Facebook can also attract an amazing number of people or if you have the budget, run a paid ad campaign.
4. Free shipping matters
Offering free shipping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases has become a very popular strategy.
Loss-averse and effort-averse customers are better able to rationalize their online purchases to themselves when they see free shipping instead of extra, unexpected costs.
Informing shoppers about free shipping, gifts, and other interesting offers is a task made simple with the assistance of the Free Shipping and Hello Bar application.
5. Embrace giveaways: Give and receive
You can provide a giveaway any time of the year, not just during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The aim of a giveaway is to attract new customers. Entire websites are devoted to finding the best freebies and giveaways during the BFCM holiday. If you give something, they will come!
Think about how you can incorporate a giveaway into your holiday campaign.
6. Keep your content interesting
It’s not just about listing products online. Your product content should contain interesting information, special tips, and inform shoppers visiting your store.
Newsletters, too, should be meaningful, not just colorful.
7. Have the right customer support in place
Website traffic will significantly increase during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You need to make sure your customer support team is ready to meet the demand and your support software is prepared to cope with the load.
Read up on some articles on building a strong customer service team and avoid the most common mistakes. Then, install one of these top-rated Shopify customer service apps to take your store to the next level.
8. Remind customers that the sale is still going on
As the Black Friday sales continue on to Cyber Monday, you will need to let the customer know.
Make sure that you provide additional information about the duration of the special offers. And even if they didn’t make a purchase, highlight opportunities for them to take advantage of special prices.
The Bulk Discount Manager application will assist you in setting up your discounted products.
9. Don’t forget about giving over the holidays
Charity is important for both your soul and your business.
As social polling shows, customers are more likely to buy goods from shops that take part in charity programs.
10. Capture attention with a special contest
Take a tip from Instagram, and create a photo competition.
Ask your customers to take a nice photo of some of the goods they purchased and offer a prize for the best pic. Or, use your imagination and come up with your own idea!
11. Gather feedback
What can help you improve your marketing the most? Real, honest feedback from your customers.
Often, stores think they know what their problems are when actually, visitors would say something completely different. So ask your customers for raw feedback. When all of the holiday chaos is over, it will help your business become even better.
12. Prepare your website
With all the hard work you put into marketing and promotion for the season, you should expect an increase in your website’s traffic.
On that account, you want to confirm your website is prepared to handle it.
For example, to prepare on the back end of your website, verify that you updated things like the correct inventory count and the ability to accept the new discount codes for the season.
On the main storefront, which is what customers will ultimately see, your product pages should be uniform and have high-quality product photography to entice them.
Wrapping Up
With these tips for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you’ll be able to fortify your Shopify store to withstand the rush. Shopify’s platform contains so many great apps that will provide you with support during the greatest sales time of the year.
Author Bio
This blog was written by Petro Borysov, who is a copywriter/marketer with a knack for leading and directing like-minded colleagues. As a specialist on the rise, he strives to gather as much professional knowledge as possible in order to move freely in the world of eCommerce and IT as a whole. He also enjoys board games and get-together activities in his spare time.