Thanksgiving is almost here, which means Cyber Monday is approaching. Cyber Monday is a term used to describe the Monday after Thanksgiving; a day retailers designed to persuade customers to shop online. This shopping holiday is extremely successful and with 84% of online stores participating, total sales have increased by 100 million each year since 2005. Based on these facts, it is very important for Endless Aisles retailers to start planning their deals and promotions.
We have outlined five basic tips to help you prepare for the holidays:
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Establish Your Sale
If you haven’t already started thinking about a promotion for Cyber Monday, you should. Providing a treat for your customers over the holidays will strengthen loyalty, bring your site more visits and increase transactions. Be sure to evaluate your budget and decide on a price that will attract people throughout the day- even if it is simply a % discount. As order volume can be big on this day, make sure you review what your promotion means for your bottom line. Top line revenue growth is great, but if you lose money on every order, you’ll be left worse off. Try promotions that have minimums to make sure that orders stay profitable (e.g. $15 off any order $89+!).
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Use Great Keywords
Make sure that your site has plenty of keywords that allow locals to find you when they are searching for Cyber Monday deals. Think of local keywords with promotional words like “Pet Food 2017″, “Cyber Monday Sales NYC” or “NYC Pet Products Cyber Monday Promotion”. One option is to create a landing page for your Monday promotions so that it is easier for your site to be spotted in search results.
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Create Advertisements
Plan and design your advertisements across your website in advance. This could mean banners, pop-ups or modals. Once you have done this, test your site and observe what it looks like on multiple platforms. Assume that customers will be trying to access your site across several devices, including mobile. Additionally, continuously check to see if your banners and buttons are clickable. Nothing will make a frantic customer leave quicker than an unresponsive navigation system.
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Take Advantage of Social Media
Advertise that you’ll be having a special Cyber promo across social media channels several days in advance. This way, you can build up anticipation with your customers and maximize the amount of people who visit your site throughout the day. Make these posts exciting and attractive enough to persuade new customers- don’t forget to hashtag #cybermonday!
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Remember Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday occurs the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This is a day created to show appreciation for all that small businesses do for the community. Be sure to create a post for this holiday right after Thanksgiving. This way, you can convince your customers that it is a good idea to shop small during the day of sales when the time comes.
For more information on how to promote your online business, check out our article 10 Design Ideas For Your Site.