Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest online shopping days of the year. If you don’t prepare, you’ll be missing out on a prime, selling opportunity.

We’re expected to drop $90.14 billion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year. This is a 30% increase from 2017’s projected spend of $59.57 billion. Whether you’re an established retail brand or a small business owner, you’ll want a piece of action.

To give you an advantage, here are some BF:CM strategies to explode your online sales this season.

1. Plan Your BF:CM Campaign Now

Do you have a marketing strategy in place to get shoppers to your website? Have you carefully planned which products you’re going to be discounting? Have you optimized your site for a speedy, mobile checkout?

Address critical questions like these. They’ll determine whether your BF:CM is a massive success or an epic failure.

Analyze your customer touchpoints and your most effective, acquisition channels. Optimize your keywords for ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday.’ Use sign up forms to convert guests into regulars. Start a seasonal advertising campaign in Google Product Listing Ads.

The online shopping cart abandonment rate is between 69 and 81 percent. It’s unavoidable, so at the very least, create a customer win-back email flow for shoppers who ghost you.

2. Promote Your BF:CM Specials Ahead of Time

If you wait until November 23rd to promote your BF:CM campaign, you’re too late. Brands have already begun promoting their deals to maximize their BF:CM traffic.

Divi created a countdown landing page leading up to their Black Friday sale.

There are many Call-to-Actions and a plethora of prizes littered across the page. This hype combined with clear next steps for the user will boost Divi’s Black Friday traffic.

3. Create Deeper BF:CM Discounts

You’re competing against hundreds of other brands for the attention — and wallets — of shoppers.

‘20% Off’ or ‘Free Shipping’ isn’t gonna cut it.

But, a “BOGO for a $1” will make someone think twice. Or, how about offering one-time upsells on your most popular items at checkout?

Better yet, partner with other brands to offer packages or experiences. Teaming up with other companies has added benefits. You could share the marketing spend and reach audiences that are usually out of reach.

4. Create a BF:CM Email Marketing Campaign

A large majority of U.S. adults prefer communication with companies to happen through email. Email is personal and consumers are checking their inboxes several times a day.

A well-executed email campaign can:

• Increase sales & client loyalty
• Generate Leads
• Produce extra repeat business
• Reduce marketing costs

An email marketing app like Klaviyo will supercharge your email marketing business. Welcome emails and cart reminders will send automatically based on a user’s action.

Also, create a campaign and list specifically for BF:CM. Email this list each day going into January to watch traffic and conversion rates soar.

5. Create BF:CM Specific Creatives

Shoppers are actively looking for BF:CM deals. If it’s not obvious you’re participating, shoppers may shop somewhere else.

Showcase links leading to your BF:CM specials above the fold on your website. Feature clear call-to-actions eliminating any room for confusion.

Amazon’s website features BF:CM graphics letting shoppers know exactly where to click.

Take the next step and save time by repurposing your content. Re-use media on YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

6. Use the Power of Social Media

Going into 2019, around 2.77 billion social network users will exist worldwide. And every social media platform lets you access this constantly-growing community for free.

In my experience, Facebook is the most effective platform for driving e-commerce sales. Pinterest is useful too because of its pin feature. You can upload your products’ pictures as pins and link each pin to your website.

One social media function you can’t ignore is the Instagram Shop feature. It allows you to tag products in your Instagram posts increasing traffic to your website.

Snapchat may be fading but it still has 186 million users you can potentially reach. You might be able to snag sales more quickly here since you can link to your website through your posts without having to amass 10,000 followers…. 🐸☕

And There You Have It…

Six tips for having an earth-shattering 2018 BF:CM holiday.

I hope you found this article helpful! If you would like to bounce ideas off each other, don’t hesitate to reach out! Let’s get this bread by tackling the marketing world together 💰

Good luck and peace out for now ✌️

Haven’t built your online store yet? Don’t worry, it’s not too late!

You’ve got plenty of time to get your store off the ground and grab a slice of the BF:CM revenue.

Shopify, the leading online store builder, makes it easy, quick and — dare I say it — fun, to launch an e-commerce business.

And I’m the ultimate plug. Get an extended 30-day free trial of Shopify Advanced here.

Need something to sell? Find products for your store in minutes with Oberlo.

Can we be best friends?

I want to pseudo-meet you! Send me your e-commerce store on Facebook/YouTube (Business) or Instagram/Twitter (Personal). I’d love to check it out!

If you ❤️’d this post, would you mind clapping those hands for me?

#BFCM #BlackFriday #CyberMonday #Ecommerce #Shopify