Black Friday/Cyber Monday: the must-read guide to preparing your business online
This year, due to developments in the protection measures we are all called upon to take, Black Friday will have a special focus on the online and e-commerce part rather than the queues we have been used to seeing outside shops in recent years.
The Digital Marketing team of AstroLabs has prepared a must-read list so that on November 27th your business is ready to welcome the online audience for their purchases!
Website speed
Make sure your page speed is fast both when visiting from an advertisement and when navigating within the site. When a user visits your page and it doesn’t load quickly, the likelihood of that user completing a purchase in the future is less than 44%.
Take your time and make sure that every part of your website is working properly with the fastest loading speed possible. The technical part of your website should not be a hindrance to your audience but a reason for them to visit it again.
Checkout, please!
The checkout and payment process should be as direct and easy as possible and with as many payment options as possible in order for the customer to feel comfortable with making a purchase from it.
Prefer not to have to register on the website for the purchase process, but to allow someone as a simple visitor to buy your products with a few clicks. The fewer clicks someone has to click, the more satisfied they will be with the buying process and will return in the future.
Do the necessary BackUp on your site
A major technical problem that will bring down your site at the worst possible time can cost your business a lot. Talk directly to the developers who have taken over your site to make sure that there are backups for everything and that every technical part of your site is sufficiently up to date.
Proper technical preparation now will save you in case a technical error occurs and your site will be back online quickly and confidently.
Το site σας επίσης θα δεχθεί πάρα πολύ υψηλή επισκεψιμότητα εκείνη την περίοδο. Βεβαιωθείτε από το τμήμα τεχνικής υποστήριξής σας πως ο server στον οποίο είναι στημένο το site σας, διαθέτει τα απαραίτητα resources ώστε να “σηκώσει” το επιπλέον traffic και να μην υπάρχει κίνδυνος και πέσει το site!
Start a “dialogue” through E-mail marketing campaigns
As part of the newsletters you send out to your audience at regular intervals, you should start mentioning the upcoming Black Friday so that your audience learns about its discounts from you first in a direct way.
Start newsletters with product categories that will be discounted so your audience can arrange their available budget.
Reward your audience who have bought from you many times by giving them an exclusive look at the products that will be discounted before this information starts to be communicated on your website and social media. Audiences who have trusted you in the past will feel vindicated for their preference as you will make them feel special and that you appreciate the brand loyalty they have shown!
But when Cyber Monday is over, don’t stop communicating there. Mail them again asking for feedback on your prices, the experience they had on your site, your campaigns, etc. so they understand that you really listen to them and want to use their feedback to optimize your services.
Embrace the hype on Social Media (and beyond)
It is vital to plan a comprehensive digital campaign from the beginning to the end of Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
The hype (i.e. the online “buzz”) that you will create with posts and online content should alert your audience that you are almost ready for the big trade fair. Don’t hesitate to create content that asks your own audience what they would like to see from you as part of the Black Friday sales and deliver it, verifying the trust your audience has shown in you by talking to you on social media.
Start already creating the aesthetics of your campaign, your visuals and texts properly tailored for each social media channel and see how the audience will immediately be interested in what you show them. But you must not forget something very basic about your relationship with the audience…
Do not underestimate public market surveys
56% of Greeks say that most prices are misleading and that they are not discounts that match the level they advertise. The public has many handy tools to search for price variation at their disposal, it should indeed be that some discounts are really attractive and honest.
For example, emphasize on offering combo deals that include more than 1 product so that this offer is unique on your site and build your campaign around such deals. So in the eyes of the audience you will not be just another company that promised some things and gave others but provided them with a really attractive offer that they did not see another equivalent in competitors (not so much as a price but a “unique offer).
The use of social proof has taught us that word-of-mouth is a powerful tool and can elevate your business campaign. The happy customer will share it with friends but the unhappy customer will share it with everyone.
Need help preparing your business for Black Friday? The AstroLabs team is at your disposal!
