Cyber Monday 2016 is coming, and it's closer than you think. In order to maximize your marketing potential, it's critical that you start thinking about your promotions and online marketing strategies as early as possible. Take a closer look at the real meaning of Cyber Monday and what it will mean for your business this year.
Black Friday To Cyber Monday
Today's shoppers don't just expect two days of deals, with in-store deals on Friday and online deals on Monday. They expect a full five days of shopping for the best deals for all of their holiday needs, from Thanksgiving evening, when sales and promotions start running online even if there's no one available to start shipping them until Monday, to Cyber Monday, the best online shopping day of the year.
Many retailers are willing to admit that they want both increased traffic through the early days of November, prior to the big sales weekend, and huge numbers of sales on those critical days themselves. As Black Friday itself decreases in importance when compared to the deals that will spring up throughout the month of November, your business may be able to strike a better balance with deals offered throughout the month. In fact, some studies suggest that “Black Friday weekend” may last as long as two weeks, allowing you plenty of time to offer the best possible deals for both your customers and your employees. Black Friday, however, is certainly the warm up–and it's leading up to Cyber Monday.
Desktop Versus Mobile: Where's The Traffic?
You already know that you need to be prepared for increased amounts of mobile traffic for the 2016 shopping season. Some research, however, suggests that Cyber Monday may still see a higher amount of desktop traffic, especially as people return to work and do some of their shopping from their desks. On Thursday and Friday, traveling shoppers who are spending the holiday with family members are more likely to use their mobile devices to take care of shopping. Other shoppers may even be shopping online while waiting in a physical line at a store. That means that while you need to be prepared for both types of traffic, you can take a deep breath: if your servers survived Thanksgiving and Black Friday, they're probably up for the mobile traffic when Monday arrives.
Marketing For Success
As Cyber Monday approaches, you want to make sure that you get your ads out there for your customers to see. Tantalizing them with hints of what's to come will be sure to captivate potential consumers, letting them know what they should be saving their money for. Sending out those ads too early, however, will lead to holiday shopping fatigue in your customers long before they open up your website! Instead, hold off until the second week of November for the best chance of catching your customers' attention.
As you're designing your marketing campaign, take a look at last year's data. What keywords were most likely to attract consumers? What did last year's ads do well? What social media posts kept customers talking, and which ones received almost no traffic? A solid look at your previous strategies will allow you to start developing a solid strategy for this year. Take a look at your posting frequency: as with most social media posts, 1-2 times per day is usually the maximum for drawing customer attention. Don't forget the free shipping: this familiar Cyber Monday strategy will help bring many customers straight to your website.
Developing a solid marketing strategy is your best shot at bringing in the traffic you need for a successful Cyber Monday. If you're looking for help managing your social media presence leading up to these critical shopping days, contact us! We'll help you develop a social media marketing campaign that will make this Cyber Monday your best ever.
