Are you creating a buzz about your after-Thanksgiving sales? Or racing around trying to put last-minute plans into place? The holidays will look different this year, and the upheaval keeps many small business owners on their toes.
However, you can delight holiday shoppers and ensure strong sales by following five steps to build your cyber weekend marketing campaign. Plus, use our last-minute checklist and marketing examples to perfect your Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday promotions.
Key Things to Do Before Black Friday
Although stores may experience less foot traffic than usual, you don’t have to lose those sales. Instead, ramp up your marketing activities, talk to your social media fans, and drive traffic to your website on the biggest shopping days of the year.
Prepare and Test Your eCommerce Website
Your site may experience more traffic during the holidays, and you want everything, from your shopping cart to your product videos, working flawlessly. Work with your tech team to:
- Check for broken links on your product and sales pages.
- Review your website hosting package for bandwidth availability.
- Verify mobile responsiveness for all pages, popups, and banners.
- Optimize your site for cyber weekend searches.
- Backup your website before Black Friday.
- Refresh all pages for the 2020 holidays.
- Update metadata for pages and images.
Ramp Up Customer Support for Cyber Week
You may notice an influx of people who are new to online shopping. Others may have extra concerns about shipping or return policies. And many customers are simply searching for the best value to get the most out of their limited shopping budget. Help your audience by:
- Offering virtual or live chatbots during your cyber event to address questions quickly
- Providing frequently asked question (FAQ) pages for shipping or return information
- Appointing an employee to watch and respond to questions on social media
- Updating your site with information about new shipping or pickup options
Personalize Your Marketing Campaigns
Inboxes are already filling up with Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails, making it tough for your business to stand out. However, you can warm up your customer by starting a conversation via social media then following up via email.
For example, share a holiday shopping-related poll on Facebook. Consider questions like, “Vote for the gift you want for Christmas” or “Who is the hardest person to shop for in your household?” Ask fans to vote and leave a response in the comments. Then respond to each comment and recommend a specific piece of content, like a recent email newsletter or gift recommendation quiz, to solve their problem.
You can also gather information about your audience using your landing page. Add a field with a question like “Who are you buying for?” Then, use your data to segment your email lists. Send promotional content specific to your recipient’s demographics and behavior.
How to Create and Deliver Your Cyber Week Campaign
Don’t leave your cyber experiences up to chance. Instead, develop a strategy to tackle brand awareness while driving home a sense of urgency as the holiday draws closer. Follow these steps to enhance your Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday campaigns.
1. Create a Lead Generation Asset
Find out what your customers are looking for this holiday season by performing research on social media using polls, surveys, and social listening tools. Look at Google Analytics for the latest trends. Then create one or more freebies for your audience. Consider offering:
- Comprehensive buyer’s guides dedicated to your target market
- In-depth eBook comparing specs and reviews of products
- Gift guides for specific demographics
- Product recommendation quiz or gift picker quiz
2. Develop Holiday Landing Pages
Google recommends using a web page for each holiday but leaving the year off, so you update your landing pages annually before the latest event. Doing so improves your page and site SEO, making it easier for customers to find your brand.
Design landing page templates for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Then create three types of messages:
- Before the event. Offer a sneak peek at your Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals and a CTA to get a promo code for shopping on the big day.
- During the promotion. Turn your event page into a sales sheet by showcasing flash deals, low inventory alerts, and links to buy now.
- After your campaign. Share customer reviews, testimonials, and a link to sign up for exclusive offers via your email newsletter.
3. Define Your Marketing Mix
Identify the best ways to reach your target audience before and during cyber shopping holidays. You may need to prioritize certain channels to use your resources wisely and get the best results. Generate awareness and excitement with tactics like:
- List your social media platforms and the number of activities you’ll perform each day leading up to cyber week.
- Consider adding website popups or banners before and during your promotional events.
- Think about your email campaigns and how they’ll differ according to various customer segments.
4. Design a Cyber Week Sales Funnel
Increase brand awareness and qualify leads in the weeks leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a cyber sales funnel. An example funnel may look like:
- Social media fans click through to your gift guide landing page.
- Prospects download your gift guide after submitting their email address.
- Your email marketing program delivers a series of emails leading up to the event.
- Mid-way through your email sequence, offer an early Black Friday deal or coupon.
- Encourage fans to create a wishlist or sign-up for text notifications.
- Send an exclusive offer the morning of Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
5. Promote Your Holiday Events
Use blog and social media posts to woo your fans with information. Include round ups about popular gifts, posts highlighting features and benefits, and comparison sheets. Create a promotional plan that gets your audience pumped about your upcoming sales. Your holiday marketing ideas may include:
- Leverage visual content. Develop videos for top-selling products so people can enjoy window shopping virtually and get a feel for a gift before purchasing.
- Host a giveaway. Build excitement for your cyber week events by giving away a series of prizes and sending out a coupon to everyone who enters. Don’t forget to retarget entrants using email marketing.
- Use the right hashtags. Increase views by combining Black Friday or Cyber Monday with the words sale or sales, deal or deals, and shopping. Use hashtags like: #ShoppingSpree, #ShoppingGiveaway, #OnlineShopping, #ShoppingOnline, #SmallBusiness, #SmallBusinessSaturday #ShopLocal, #BlackFridayShopping, #CyberMondayDeals, and #ShopSmall.
7 Cyber Week Marketing Examples to Use in Your Campaigns
Need some inspiration for your Cyber Monday marketing campaigns? Although it’s all about the best Black Friday deals or Cyber Monday specials for your audience, your promotions can offer more than a discount. Use these marketing examples to brainstorm your eCommerce marketing ideas.
1. Partner With Local Businesses
Amplify your message and give bigger prizes by partnering with local small businesses. For example, Green Tails Market created a flyer for in-store and online promotions, highlighting the awards and sponsors. To enter, people need to spend a certain dollar amount.
2. Highlight Your Small Business Status
It doesn’t hurt to remind your audience that you’re a small business and need their support. Reflect on the year and tie your company to the community to attract attention and boost sales. Use methods like:
- Tell a story that combines your community and company.
- Share photos of local sponsorships, events, or fundraisers.
- Add a small business logo to your images.
American Express provides a Shop Small Studio so business owners can create marketing materials or download ready-made graphics. It’s free and only takes minutes to design digital assets for your Small Business Saturday campaign.
3. Draw Awareness to Your Pick Up Options
There’s a good chance you’re offering new or different ways to shop, order, or pick up items. For example, you can encourage shoppers to take advantage of curbside delivery or in-store pickup options by hosting a contest for a reserved parking spot. Or showcase your shopping by appointment or virtual consultation options.
4. Host a Flash Sale or Contest
Attract attention on the big shopping day by going live on Facebook or Instagram. Send out an email and add a popup to your website displaying a flash sale or limited time discount. Urgency is key to Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, so make your promotional messages flashy, fun, and relevant to your shoppers.
5. Create a Week of Cyber Deals
Many companies are extending Black Friday shopping deals or starting them earlier than in previous years. You can make a store-wide sale or showcase special items each day by sending out an email, text message, and posting on social media.
6. Send Urgent Emails
Warm-up your audience in the days leading up to Black Friday, then shift to marketing tactics like scarcity or urgency to move folks to your website over the cyber weekend. Poler sends out a last-minute email urging recipients to save during the final hours of your holiday sales.
7. Encourage Fans to Check Back
Let’s face it. Many fans who interact with you before Black Friday won’t remember to visit your site on the big day. That’s why it’s crucial to reach out on multiple platforms, including social media, text messaging, and email marketing. Remind your audience to stay tuned or check back for new specials.
Plan Your Cyber Week Marketing Strategy
Take action on your holiday marketing strategies by reviewing your upcoming campaigns, adding trending hashtags, and reaching out to your fans. People want to hear from you. And they want to shop small. Connect early by sending an email with your exclusive offer and inviting fans to enter your giveaway.
Need Help Setting Up Your Holiday Campaign?
Pick the best experience for your Cyber Monday promotions with help from our Woobox team. We’re available from 9 am to 5 pm PST, Monday through Friday at 1-360-450-5200 and support@woobox.com.