By Victoria Page
Last year, Cyber Monday was the mobile internet’s first $2 billion dollar day, and the biggest online shopping day in U.S. history with $6.59 billion in total internet sales. Why? Almost everyone has a mobile device with internet accessibility, and finding the annual markdowns without leaving your house is obviously more appealing than risking getting trampled on at a department store the day after Thanksgiving.
Here are some tips so your business isn’t left in the dust:
#1. Make sure your business site is mobile friendly.
I emphasized “mobile” internet because over 60% of sales the weekend after Thanksgiving 2017 were completed with mobile devices. If your business’s site isn’t optimized for the mobile user experience, you’re missing out.
It’s not a bad idea to check out how mobile-friendly your site actually is in preparation for Cyber Monday with Google’s test.
40% of people leave a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. On Cyber Monday, time is of the essence even more than usual. Even if you think everything’s running smoothly, this test can tell you if any of your pages aren’t loading as fast as they should, and can, be.
#2. Advertise, advertise, advertise.
People are already thinking about potential Cyber Monday deals well before the day comes, so it’s important to be very present the days leading up to Thanksgiving. In fact, people are thinking about Cyber Monday deals in October, and some even as early as summer.
From personal experience, I know that I wouldn’t have expected certain retailers I love to participate in Cyber Monday if it weren’t for their reminders across the web and social media. My checking account balance the week after Thanksgiving is proof that those reminders turned into purchases.
To reiterate the importance of mobile-friendly sites: I made all of my purchases in bed from my phone.
Facebook is currently the most effective social media platform for driving E-Commerce sales. Advertise effectively by targeting the right audience, which Facebook makes easy.
#3. Pop-ups don’t have to be annoying.
A pop-up ad is actually a great way to advertise a short term promotion. People are expecting to see advertised deals at this time of year. This way, consumers don’t have to seek out Cyber Monday promotions on a website—they can automatically appear on the home page and are viewed before anything else:
#4. Digital products and services are not exempt.
Free downloads, app downloads, free trials, etc. are all smart marketing ideas for Cyber Monday if your business doesn’t offer tangible goods. These offers can easily be add-ons to a sale, or be used as an incentive to purchase. Take this New York Times ad, for example. People are usually not as likely to subscribe to online newspapers anymore, let alone the print version, but they might with this promotion:
#5. Get people to subscribe.
We are all bombarded with enough promotional emails. I can’t even remember when or how I subscribed to some of the email marketing campaigns and newsletters I receive. For instance…Good Housekeeping? I definitely don’t go out of my way to subscribe to more emails when I’m prompted. However, if I have to subscribe to a company newsletter, and even their affiliates’ newsletters, to be able to access free shipping on a $25 discount on orders over $100, I won’t hesitate. For Cyber Monday, this incentive can be utilized in many ways. If consumers have to “sign up” or “subscribe” to get free shipping, a free download, a free gift, a free consultation, etc., they probably will.
This Cyber Monday marketing campaign on Instagram asks users to comment their email address (subscribe) for a $25 credit to the store:
