8+ Last-Minute Ways to Take Advantage of Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Almost one week until Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Are you ready to go?
We know things get REALLY busy this time of year. Whether it's with family and friends, work, volunteering, holiday shopping and hosting, or a mixture of it all, things can fall by the way side for too long and then when you finally have a chance to breathe, you look at the date, and realize how little time is left.
If you want your online business to end the year strong, take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There is still time to make the most out of the two biggest shopping days of the year, so here are 8 ways and 4 tips to give yourself a BIG boost this holiday season.
Here are 8 ways to still take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday
1. Get people excited NOW.
Log onto your Instagram and hop on your stories or make a quick post, send out a quick email to your subscribers, add a promo bar to the top of your website and tell people you have something special coming for Black Friday and Cyber Monday even if you don't know what it is.
2. Now, figure out what you want to offer.
Discounts, pop-ups, gifts, in-store experiences, and so on.... What is going to work the best for your business AND what is going to be the most interesting to your shoppers/clients.
3. As said before, send an email.
Email is one of the most powerful marketing channels and a great way to get the word out about your deals.
4. Increase the average order value during the holiday sales
Leverage cross-selling with discounted bundles and sharing similar items that shopper might be looking for. Use a discount threshold. Give shoppers an incentive to spend more by offering them a discount when they reach a certain amount. For example, you can offer 40% off if customers spend $100 or more.
5. Offer gift cards
Gift cards are a popular holiday gift, so make them available in your online store. Electronic gift cards are especially helpful for last-minute shoppers because they immediately get the card in their email and don’t have to wait for a product or physical gift card to be delivered.
6. Know your holiday shipping and use that to your advantage
Are you offering free shipping, when is the shipping deadline aka the last day to buy and have it make it in time to be there for the holiday, and include estimated delivery times.
7. All of those abandoned shopping carts? This is the time to get them to shop with you.
Offer them the Black Friday / Cyber Monday deal they've been waiting for. An abandoned cart email is an email that’s sent to online store visitors who’ve added items to their online shopping cart but then left without completing the purchase. These emails usually include a list of products left in the cart and a special offer or discount to encourage shoppers to come back and finish their purchase.
8. Communicate
Remember users only see about 10% of what you share so SHARE, SHARE, SHARE but make it engaging and relevant.
Now, here are 4 tips for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday Marketing
1. Keep is simple, make it easy for people to participate.
Make sure your Black Friday and Cyber Monday offering is on your website, on your social media, sent out via email, AND shared everywhere.
2. Be creative
As a small business owner, this is your chance to to compete with larger retailers. Come up with creative ways to showcase your products and drive traffic to your website with your deals.
3. Own being small
Tell people who you are and why they should shop with you this season. Give them a reason to shop with you. Why does you being a small business make you a better choice than the bigger companies?
4. Make sale items stand out
Promote them, make them festive, put them front and center, physically and digitally.
Do you not want to spend the extra money on advertising buying during the holiday season? Stick to organic and focus on loyalty... but come December 26, start your ads for the new year. That will be one of the "cheapest" days to place your social media ad buys.