How to Plan for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

It’s the end of October, which means Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now rapidly approaching. As an ecommerce marketer, this means there is a seemingly endless laundry list of prep work that needs to be done. By taking some time to plan your strategy, you can manage the oncoming tidal wave that is Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Let’s take a look at six tips that can help you crush it this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.1. Make a Marketing CalendarYou likely already have one of these, but Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a good time to get more granular than usual in your approach. That way, little details won’t slip through the cracks. This is especially important if you are planning on sending multiple email campaigns throughout the day.

Note: sending multiple campaigns throughout the day brings you back to the top of your subscribers’ inboxes on a day when they’ll be receiving a lot of email, but don’t overdo it.

If you are sending segmented campaigns, you’ll have a lot to keep track of. For example, you may segment your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns by gender, which means you’ll be doing double time for each send. Make sure you know when which campaigns are going to whom.2. Coordinate Your Marketing ChannelsIt’s important to have consistent Black Friday and Cyber Monday messaging across all your marketing channels — email, social, etc. Use a tool like Canva if you’re looking for a quick way to create holiday-specific visuals to use in your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram ads.

Social media advertising is a great way to reach customers naturally throughout their day. You are able to reach people who may not be ready to buy when you email them, but are still interested in making a purchase. Facebook and Instagram are prime advertising platforms for ecommerce.

Use a tool like Klaviyo’s integration with Facebook to dynamically sync segments to Custom Audiences. This lets you do things like create a segment of subscribers who haven’t opened your emails and target them of Facebook instead. It also allows you to reach new, lookalike audiences based on a segment’s criteria. 3. Foster a Sense of UrgencyTo drive sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you absolutely must foster a sense of urgency among your subscribers. Including a sense of urgency can increase sales by up to 332% and since many items are likely to sell out quickly, you want to encourage subscribers to buy as soon as possible.

We’ve written previously about five ways to add a sense of urgency to your emails. To recap, here’s what you should keep in mind for Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

• Highlight scarcity
• Include an expiration date in the subject line
• Use a countdown timer
• Send a sequence of emails (which we’ll go into more depth on below)

4. Build AnticipationBuilding anticipation goes hand in hand with creating a sense of urgency. Build anticipation for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales by notifying subscribers around two weeks in advance that you’ll be offering promotions. Be sure to periodically remind them leading up to the big day.

The email above from Amazon UK (via Email Design Review) is great because it lets recipients know exactly when the sale is going to start and gives them ways to stay up-to-date.5. Notify Customers When Items are Back in StockOn Black Friday and Cyber Monday, some of your high-demand items might sell out really  quickly. If you plan on restocking these items, it’s useful to create a segment of subscribers who didn’t purchase them from your standard newsletter list. Then, you can let subscribers who didn’t get a chance to purchase know when these items are back in stock. 6. Test Subject LinesBefore finalizing the subject lines you plan to use, it’s worth it to run them through a testing service like Litmus to make sure they don’t trigger spam filters, especially if you use words like “sale” and “discount” in them.Bottom LinePlanning is essential to running successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns. Use these six tips to make sure you’re not just prepared, but ready to drive tons of revenue to your ecommerce store this holiday season. Keep LearningInterested in getting more tips and advice like this? Subscribe to our newsletter and get our freshest content on ecommerce marketing and more.

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