Have you started planning your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategy yet? If not, it’s time to get going. The biggest shopping days of the year will be here before you know it. You need to make sure you’re ready to crush your sales and gain new customers.

This year, Black Friday falls on November 24th and Cyber Monday lands on November 27th. That means you’ve only got a month left to prepare. Don’t get caught flat-footed – now is the time to put together your game plan. We’ve put together five tips to help make sure you’re poised for success. From crafting compelling offers to optimizing your website to harnessing the power of social media, these strategies will help you make the most of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzy.

Sign up for our newsletter for more holiday marketing tips leading up to Black Friday!

Plan Ahead With a Detailed Marketing Calendar for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

To crush it this season, you need to plan your promotional campaigns well in advance. Map out a comprehensive marketing calendar to keep you organized and on schedule. This will ensure you have a strategic timeline in place to build excitement leading up to the big days.

Lay out all your marketing activities at least 6-8 weeks ahead, including:

• Email campaigns: Draft a series of teaser emails to build anticipation. Map out promotional emails for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Follow up with anyone who didn’t make a purchase.
• Social media posts: Create an engaging social media content plan across platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Promote current deals and post flash sales. Share user-generated content from happy customers.
• Blog posts: Write blog posts highlighting your hottest products or best deals. Optimize them for search to drive extra traffic to your site.
• Website updates: Make sure your site is mobile-optimized and loads quickly. Update categories, images and content to feature Black Friday deals prominently.
• SMS alerts: Send text alerts to let your subscribers know about new deals, doorbusters or flash sales right on their phones.
• Retargeting ads: Create retargeting ads to re-engage visitors who left your site without buying. Remarket the exact products they viewed to give them another chance to purchase.

With a strategic calendar set well in advance and a mix of promotional activities across channels, you’ll generate major buzz and sales on the biggest shopping days of the year. Staying organized and not leaving things until the last minute is key. Follow your plan and you’ll come out the other side wondering what you were so worried about!

Craft Compelling Limited-Time Offers to Drive Sales

The early bird gets the worm, and the same goes for your best Black Friday deals. Create a sense of urgency by offering limited-time discounts and promotions. Flash sales, early access for subscribers, and first-come-first-served doorbusters are all great ways to motivate customers to buy now rather than wait.

• Develop a tiered set of promotions, with the best deals for your most loyal customers and email subscribers. Give them exclusive early access or extra discount codes as a reward for their patronage. For new potential customers, dangle the carrot of an unbeatable limited-time offer to get them to sign up for your mailing list. Once they’re on board, keep the deals coming to turn them into lifelong customers.
• Your limited-time offers need to stand out from the crowd. Discount popular, high-demand products and bundle complementary items together into irresistible packages. Offer free shipping, gift cards or other bonuses with minimum purchase amounts. Price compare with your competitors to make sure your deals can’t be beat.
• FOMO (fear of missing out) is a powerful motivator. Create a sense of scarcity by limiting the number of units available at your sale price. Use countdown timers on your website and in promotional emails to show how little time is left. Highlight how many have already been sold to prove the popularity of the offer.

This Black Friday and Cyber Monday, go big or go home. With carefully crafted limited-time offers, you’ll have customers flocking to take advantage of your incredible deals and build brand loyalty that lasts long after the holidays have ended.

Optimize Your Website and Mobile Experience for the Holidays

To make the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, optimize your website and mobile experience. Shoppers will be browsing on the go, so your site needs to be fast, functional, and frustration-free.

• Speed it up: Double check that your site loads quickly, especially on mobile. Slow load times kill conversions. Compress images, minimize redirects, and make sure you have a speedy hosting plan.
• Mobile-friendly is mandatory: If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re missing out on major sales. Make sure your theme is responsive so it displays properly on all devices. Use large buttons, minimal clutter, and a simple navigation.
• Prominent promotion placement: Have a strong call to action for your promotions and deals front and center on your site. Use attention-grabbing colors, images of sale products, and clear messaging to highlight your offers. Banners, sliders and pop-ups can all work, but don’t overdo it.
• Seamless shopping experience: Double check that your checkout process is short, simple, and secure. Allow guest checkouts, saved payment info, and offer multiple payment options. Make it easy for shoppers to enter discount codes at checkout. The easier and faster the checkout, the more likely people will complete their purchases.
• Help resources: Have an online chat, FAQ page, and contact info prominently displayed in case shoppers have questions or need support. Make sure your team is available to assist customers during the busy shopping days.

Following these tips will ensure your website and mobile experience is primed for big holiday sales. Keep your site running fast, spotlight your best deals, and make the buying process as smooth as possible. With the right preparation, you’ll be poised to crush Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Harness the Power of Social Media Marketing Around the Holidays

The holidays are the perfect time to leverage social media to spread the word about your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Social platforms allow you to reach current customers and new potential ones with engaging content. Think beyond the hard sell—focus on building excitement and buzz.

• Create a Social Media Campaign: Develop a campaign ahead of the big days to build momentum. Post teasers of upcoming deals and offers to spark interest. Engage followers by asking questions and running polls about what they hope to find on sale. Build hype by offering sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes footage and by partnering with influencers.
• Optimize Your Profiles: Update your profile images and bios to reflect the season. Add custom cover and profile photos highlighting your holiday promotions. Pin important posts about your deals to the top of your feeds so visitors see them first.
• Post Engaging Content: Share eye-catching photos and videos of your products, staff, store, etc. to bring your brand to life. Post fun memes, GIFs and short clips to make people smile. Ask open-ended questions to start discussions. Share curated content from industry influencers and media outlets mentioning your deals.
• Advertise Your Offers: Once your deals go live, post frequently about them across all your social platforms. Share blog posts, photos, and videos featuring your top deals and hottest products on sale. Use hashtags to increase visibility. Run social media contests and giveaways to boost engagement.
• Respond Quickly: Have a team monitoring social media over the busy period to respond to comments and questions, especially about deals, as quickly as possible. Thank people for their purchases and wish them a happy holiday season. Address any complaints or concerns right away.

Social media allows you to connect with shoppers in personal ways this season. By crafting social strategies tailored to the holidays and your audience, you’ll spread good cheer about your brand and keep your deals at the top of everyone’s wish lists.

Leverage Marketing Automation to Engage Current & Potential Customers

When it comes to marketing automation, the days leading up to and following Black Friday and Cyber Monday are prime time to leverage your tech tools. As customers flock to your site looking for deals, you have a captive audience—so make the most of it!

• Email marketing: Use your email service to send promotional emails announcing your biggest deals and offers. Create eye-catching subject lines and preview text to capture attention. Time your emails to land in subscribers’ inboxes on Black Friday for maximum open rates. You can also set up automated email workflows to send follow-up messages to anyone who clicks through an email but doesn’t complete a purchase. These reminders and re-targeting campaigns have been shown to recapture up to 20% of lost sales.
• Social media: Schedule social media posts in advance promoting your deals and offers using a social media management platform. Cross-promote by linking to products on your website or email signup forms in your posts. Engage with commenters and respond to questions from potential customers. You can also create social media ads to reach new audiences with your promotions.
• Website personalization: Use website personalization to highlight deals and products based on a customer’s browsing history and behavior. For example, show “You may also like…” product recommendations on category pages featuring items a customer has viewed before. You can create automated email capture pop-ups that offer an additional discount or promotion in exchange for their email address. These techniques leverage data to provide a tailored shopping experience.
• Retargeting campaigns: Run retargeting ad campaigns on social media and through display ads to re-engage visitors who left your site without making a purchase. Retargeting uses pixel technology to track site visitors and serve them ads for products they viewed as they browse other websites. These types of campaigns have been shown to significantly boost conversion rates, especially when coupled with enticing offers and time-limited promotions.

Leveraging marketing automation is key to maximizing your success this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. With the right combination of technology and strategy, you’ll be poised to crush your sales goals and gain new customers. Success comes to those who plan—so start preparing now!

Conclusion

So there you have it. With some advance planning and the right marketing strategies in place, you’ll be poised to make this your most successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday yet. Start getting ready now by mapping out your calendar, creating irresistible deals and offers, optimizing your website for mobile, ramping up your social media game, and setting up automations to keep new and current customers engaged. The holidays will be here before you know it, so take action today and get ready to crush your sales goals this season. The rewards of increased revenue and a bigger customer base will be well worth the effort. What are you waiting for? Get planning – your future customers (and your bottom line) will thank you!