Crush Black Friday & Cyber Monday: Proven Ecomm Strategies for Explosive Sales!
Introduction (3 mins)
- Marina introduces the episode, participants, and the topic.
- Brief mention of Golden Digital’s specialization in Ecommerce strategy, email marketing, paid media, and website optimization.
- Quick overview of why Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) is crucial for Ecommerce.
Segment 1: BFCM Preparation Strategies (7 mins)
- Marina: Discuss how to prepare from a strategic viewpoint:
- Importance of setting realistic goals and tracking KPIs.
- Aligning product offerings with market trends and optimizing inventory.
- Importance of website readiness (speed, mobile optimization, etc.).
Segment 2: Email Marketing Best Practices for BFCM (10 mins)
- Nicole: Dive into email strategies to maximize conversions:
- Pre-BFCM campaigns: building anticipation with teaser messaging and growing your audience prior to Black Friday .
- Gain new subscribers by updating messaging to include early access to black friday promos
- Strategically time and execute a win back campaign to lapsed subscribers, moving them back into the funnel prior to Black Friday
- Make sure you’re compliant with any sending requirements way before Black Friday to ensure your emails are being sent to the inbox.
- Best practices for crafting compelling BFCM email messages (urgency, offers, subject lines).
- Drive urgency through subject lines to maximize open rates “ends tonight”, “final hours”
- Be brief - keep it short, consumers have a ton of emails in the inbox at this time, be direct and compelling in as few words as possible in your subject lines and preheaders.
- Use your preheader text for secondary offers like free shipping or free gift , subject line should showcase discount amount
- Keep the emails short as well, this is not the time for long form emails, focus on “above the fold” and how to entice that click on first glance.
- Bold graphic hero images
- Keep the discount amount at the top and in the subject line
- Black Friday / Cyber Monday landing pages
- Make them shopable
- Showcase discount
- Post-sale follow-up emails to nurture relationships and generate loyalty.
- Plan product and messaging accordingly post Black Friday to give yourself the best messaging opportunities:
- Drop an exciting new product between cyber Monday and Christmas cut off
- Focus on brand building opportunities like a give back campaign
- Update welcome series prior to Black Friday to position yourself in the best way possible to prepare for new subscribers:
- New product drops
- Latest brand news
- Compelling offer post Black Friday
Segment 3: Paid Media Strategies for BFCM (10 mins)
- Devin: Focus on paid media tactics:
- 5 important time periods:
- Post election (Nov. 8th) - start promos
- Black Friday - best offer
- Cyber Monday - second best offer
- Xmas shipping cutoff
- Post shipping cutoff - sale on sale to move off of old inventory
- Coordinated marketing plan
- CPMs are more expensive in election year run up to November, so create a cohesive strategy with organic channels
- Ads should be synchronized with email, organic social, and on-site experience
- Ad creative - Creative messaging for BFCM ads and what works best to drive conversions.
- Leave evergreen ads running in tandem with BFCM focused ads
- Static ads typically work better than video ads for promos
- Take a look at your best static and video ads, last 90 days and the last 180 days.
- For videos make some animated or static banners that preferably move and are dynamic and place them on top of your winners. For statics, add stickers and banners highlighting the sale + offer.
- Use promotion extensions in Google Ads, make sure promos are added to FB and IG shop
- Budgeting
- CPMs are at an annual high on BFCM
- Spending in October and early November at a lower CPM + ROAS will prime the pump for a big BFCM
Segment 4: Website Optimization for Conversion (10 mins)
- Marina & Nicole : Cover best practices for optimizing the website:
- Ensuring your site is fast and mobile-friendly.
- How to optimize checkout processes to reduce cart abandonment.
- A/B testing landing pages, product pages, and CTAs for maximum conversion.
- Highlight tools like heatmaps and analytics to monitor site performance.
Segment 5: Integrating Email, Paid Media, and Website for a Cohesive Strategy (5 mins)
- Nicole, Devin, and Marina: Discuss how all components (email, paid media, and website optimization) should work together for a seamless BFCM strategy.
- Example of how email lists can be used for paid ad targeting.
- Ensuring consistency between ad creative, emails, and website landing pages.
- Cross-channel remarketing to capture abandoned carts or users who haven’t purchased yet.
Segment 6: Real-Life BFCM Success Stories (5 mins)
- All Participants: Share quick case studies or real-life examples of brands that successfully executed BFCM strategies.
- What worked well and key takeaways.
Closing Remarks and Takeaways (5 mins)
- Final thoughts on key strategies to remember for BFCM success.
- Reminder of the importance of tracking data and continuously optimizing.
- Call to action: encourage listeners to get in touch for help with BFCM strategy.
Transcript
Hey everybody.
2
:Welcome to the inaugural episode of
the Good, Fast, or Cheap podcast.
3
:My name is Devin Kincannon, and
I'm here with my colleagues,
4
:Nicole Barber and Marina Shmilo.
5
:Today, we are going to be talking
about all things Black Friday,
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:Cyber Monday, and just November
promotions for e commerce companies.
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:We're bringing this to you from
our agency, Golden Digital.
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:Marina: This is Golden Digital, we're an e
commerce agency specializing in e commerce
9
:strategy, email marketing, paid media
advertisement, and website optimization.
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:Devin: So this is our first podcast.
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:We're going to be doing
these on a regular basis.
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:We hope that you like it.
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:It's a little awkward right now.
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:We promise this is the
worst it'll ever be.
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:Uh, all that said, we're really
excited to talk about Black
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:Friday, Cyber Monday strategies.
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:And now let's get into it.
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:Marina: So today's episode is
about Black Friday, Cyber Monday,
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:the holidays are almost here.
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:So we wanted to share some of
our knowledge and hopefully help
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:Some of you, um, when it comes
to driving sales this season.
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:So before we dive in a quick overview,
why Black Friday, Cyber Monday is
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:so crucial for e commerce, Nicole, I
feel like this is totally your zone.
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:Nicole: It is Black Friday.
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:Cyber Monday is a very important time.
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:Period.
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:I mean, most sales usually for the
entire year are the vast majority come
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:from the November, December time period.
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:It's lead up to the holidays, obviously.
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:And it's just a traditional
time for shopping.
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:I think that that's definitely.
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:Change over the last few years,
especially, whereas, you know,
33
:when we first started, uh, Black
Friday, Cyber Monday literally meant
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:Black Friday, Cyber Monday, wait
until the night of Thanksgiving.
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:I think now we're seeing things shift
into a longer time period, starting at
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:the beginning of November, going all
the way through December in some cases.
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:Exactly.
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:Marina: Yeah, it certainly has changed,
especially in the post COVID world.
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:I feel like it's completely
different for it used to be.
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:And people are starting so
much sooner than they used to.
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:It's no longer waiting for the 12 AM mark.
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:People get going a week before that.
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:But before we dive in into actual
strategies and how to help you optimize
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:some of these things, Talk about the
importance of setting goals and making
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:sure that you're ready for all of it.
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:So starting with your inventory, you
have to keep in mind what you're pushing
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:in those emails or paid media channels.
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:What are you trying to sell
and do you have enough of
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:it is anything out of stock?
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:Like, are you ready for all of that
setting the goal of like, okay, well this
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:year we would like to hit This number
and this is what we'd like to do is for
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:sales conversions, things like that.
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:So that, you know, setting a goal
is the first step to, to, to going
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:exactly where you're trying to go.
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:Devin: I think the one thing that
I would say is that if you're
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:a newer business, just starting
out, like you don't really know.
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:Where you're going to land in the next
couple of months, mature businesses
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:that have been around a little bit.
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:I mean, obviously you should be
forecasting your, your sales and
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:your revenue every month based
around like all the activities
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:you have going on promotions, new
products, launch, all that stuff.
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:But yeah, I mean like this, these
couple of months in particular being
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:that they're so critical for like your
whole year number, I think it makes
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:a ton of sense to try to set like
some stretch goals as far as like.
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:Sales, revenue, and that should
trickle down into your investment in
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:your individual marketing channels.
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:So we'll talk a little bit more about
that as we get into some of the different
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:channels and the strategies there.
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:If you want to do a big number
this month, you have to kind of
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:put planning money and execution.
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:Into all these different areas that
you expect it to kick off to the whole.
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:Marina: Yeah.
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:Yeah, absolutely And the biggest channel
right now is email marketing When it
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:comes to this holiday season and can't
underestimate that Um at all and I know
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:there's a lot of strategy when it comes
to putting the right content out there
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:So nicole, let's talk about the pre
black friday cyber monday And what do
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:you think the best strategy for that
time the two weeks the months leading up?
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:You To the holiday.
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:Nicole: I think it's much further along
and depending on the type of business,
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:like Devin said, with product based
businesses, and especially if you're a
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:mature business, you really should look
at almost a year in advance, what your.
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:Um, promotions would be for black
Friday, because if you are actually
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:buying into product for black Friday,
you obviously want to develop that and
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:have that be at the lowest cost possible.
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:That makes sense to drive margin.
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:If you're doing something
like a loss leader.
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:Door busters, things like that, that
we've seen work especially well, that's
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:almost a year in advance planning
process to make sure that you're getting
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:product at the right cost to be able to
sell that and to drive traffic overall.
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:I think leading up into
Black Friday, Cyber Monday.
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:Uh, your promotions should really
be solidified sometime around July,
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:um, is usually what we recommend.
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:Obviously that's not always possible
depending on the size of your
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:business, um, where you are as a
business, number of different factors.
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:When it comes to actually Implementing
even as early as September, um, when
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:it comes to email and beyond that,
you're going to want to make sure, or
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:before that you're going to want to
make sure that you have your sending
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:requirements, obviously buttoned up any
sort of DNS records or anything that
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:would hinder your ability to be sent.
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:sent directly into the inbox, um,
especially over this time period where
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:you're sending multiple emails, daily,
sometimes multiple emails, reminder
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:emails, you should start to ramp up
even win back campaigns, um, which we
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:usually suggest, uh, sometime beginning
of October, end of September as well.
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:Anyone who's lapsed in
your subscriber list.
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:So they haven't purchased in.
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:Let's say, you know, depending on your.
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:Again, type of business, but
somewhere around six months
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:usually is what we would suggest.
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:You start to incentivize people to
come back, re engage in your emails.
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:So it could be sending them
some type of incentive.
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:Doesn't have to be a straight
percentage off, but it could be
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:something like free shipping.
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:Could be a free gift.
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:Um, could be, Early access to some kind
of product drop, something that is more
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:enticing than a standard newsletter
email sometime around two, six weeks,
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:two months out from actual black Friday.
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:And then once you actually get into
October, updating your messaging
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:to actually start directly speaking
to black Friday and cyber Monday.
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:So your email capture,
your pop up, your email.
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:Forms anywhere where you're capturing
email, um, speaking directly to
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:early access to Black Friday,
first to know that type of thing.
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:Um, that messaging really works well
to help grow email lists so that
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:you're able to speak to customers
during that pivotal time of the year.
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:Marina: When it comes to the
right message, what do you
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:think is the best practice here?
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:Is this, this stressing All over
again that, you know, we have the
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:best sale coming up is, is the
like, Hey, inventory is running out.
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:What are your thoughts on like the
best compelling message out there?
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:Nicole: Well, pre black Friday,
it's really around early access.
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:Um, because I think shoppers
are now conditioned.
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:They understand that things
sell out, you know, like.
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:Over this time period where
you're having, you know, so much
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:traffic, um, inventory is limited.
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:I think it's a mix of those types
of things around early access.
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:We are going to sell out.
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:We don't have that much inventory.
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:You want to be the first to buy.
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:That will help to, to build your
list going into black Friday.
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:I
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:Devin: mean, obviously we've
talked about, but it seems like.
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:Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or just
the whole month of November really is
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:fair game for being super promotional.
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:And it's really turned
into an arms race, right?
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:Where like, you know, retailers or
low to give up the margin by being so
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:promotional all month, but at the same
time, if your competitors are all doing
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:this and you're not, you know, likely
you're missing out on opportunity.
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:What are some things that.
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:People can potentially do short
of like the ubiquitous site
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:wide percent off discount that
can still drum up anticipation.
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:I mean, you know, how complicated
can these promotional strategies get?
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:Nicole: I actually would keep it simple.
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:Could be you use other types of, uh, It
doesn't have to be a straight percent
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:off the entire site kind of situation,
though I do think that there's a
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:place for that, especially on cyber
Monday for a shorter period of time.
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:But if you're extending black Friday, I
would tear out the promotions even, or.
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:Schedule them throughout the month.
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:So you're having different types of
messages build up to black Friday.
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:So, um, it could be, you know, maybe
in your first week, it's a free gift.
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:I do think shipping
promotions layered on top of.
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:Uh, some type of financial, you
know, promotion is a good way to go
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:to mix up promotions, but I think
where you get into trouble is when
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:you start to layer three, four or
five different types of promotions.
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:And we start to see, we have seen people
do that thinking that it's going to drive.
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:More volume, but you have to be quick.
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:You have to be fast and you have to
grab somebody's attention right away.
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:And if you've got, you know, an essay
and your copy, uh, promotion where
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:you're having to explain multiple
different things, uh, you're not
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:going to grab anyone's attention.
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:So I mean, especially over black Friday
and cyber Monday, which I think we'll get
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:into like creative best practices, but
keep it short, keep it short and simple.
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:If you have a longer.
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:Black Friday promotional time period.
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:Schedule out your promotions
to build on top of each other
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:and one and start another.
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:Marina: Yeah, so when it comes to
the perfect email template for Black
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:Friday, Cyber Monday, weeks leading
up to it, in short, what is your ideal
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:template, starting with the headline?
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:Nicole: With like subject line and
preheader, personalization, keep the offer
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:in the subject line, in the preheader,
I often Recommend and have seen work
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:a really straightforward, impactful
graphic at the top of the email says
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:exactly what the promotion is because
you have to remember, you don't have
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:to give away everything in the email.
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:The point of the email is to get
visitors to click through and see
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:more things like mystery discounts.
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:We've seen work really well before
entices clicks, just a straightforward
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:graphic at the top of the email.
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:You know a dark background white text
you make a flash even Um, and then
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:product below so, uh, I that's usually
what I recommend for black friday
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:Something at the top that grabs the
attention and then a product grid below
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:Of a straightforward product shots.
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:Even you can mix those messages
in throughout the month, but your
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:black Friday email that goes out
to announce that promotion, that's
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:your time to incentivize the clicks.
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:Marina: And in your opinion,
where should this email.
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:Be going to, is this going to the
homepage, the product page, the collection
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:page, or are we talking landing pages?
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:Nicole: It depends on your type of
products and your type of business.
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:So, um, if you are, let's say an
apparel business that has hundreds of
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:SKUs, different types, tops, bottoms,
dresses, things like that, you might
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:want to look into some type of.
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:Landing page that, uh,
breaks out different types of
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:categories, things like that.
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:The only thing about landing
pages is that you really have to
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:make sure that they're shoppable.
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:And when we build out landing pages,
we make sure that we've got a mix of
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:lifestyle, photography and product
carousels, product grids, add to cart
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:directly from the page kind of thing.
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:You don't want to add a lot of
clicks to get to add to cart.
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:If you are a business that
has less products, drop them
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:right into a shop all page.
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:You know, if you've got 10 or less
products, drop them right into a category
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:page, unless you have a product that needs
a lot of explanation, that type of thing,
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:but you're already talking to people.
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:Usually that at least from email, you're
already talking to people that have
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:some base knowledge of your product.
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:It could be different for ads.
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:Marina: Yeah.
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:And I can tell you from a consumer
standpoint, there's nothing that annoys
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:me more if I get an email for sale
for black Friday, and there's an item
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:there that maybe I am looking forward
to purchasing, and then you click on it
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:and you get to like some kind of general
page that just has a whole lot of stuff.
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:And it's not what I was, that's not
what was advertised in that email.
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:So that's an immediate.
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:Exit I'm out.
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:I don't have time for this.
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:We know how How little patience people
have right now to shopping online.
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:So yeah, definitely people
have to keep this in mind
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:Nicole: Yeah, and to devon's point earlier
too around inventory It is definitely
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:a bounce if you're promoting any sort
of products, whether that be ads email,
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:whatever else when someone clicks So I
think we've all this has happened to all
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:of us where we've clicked on something
that has come up in an ad Clicked it.
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:Oh, it's sold out.
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:Oh, we just won You Get me to the site.
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:I won't fall for that again.
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:And I think a lot of consumers are that
way where it just leads to frustration.
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:Marina: Yeah, for sure.
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:And when it comes to that black Friday,
Cyber Monday sale, either one of them,
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:once somebody has purchased something,
let's say I did open an email or maybe it
239
:was one of the ads and I bought something,
do you guys think there's a potential?
240
:To keep that going that momentum and
keep selling to that person or is this
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:like a one and done and that's it is
there is there a way to continue that
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:that relationship with the customer.
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:Nicole: And you're going to definitely
want to be collecting email addresses.
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:Like we mentioned, email is
still a really important channel.
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:I think there's been a lot of
discussion about this in the last
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:few years about whether or not email
is as important as it used to be.
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:We definitely see through working with
our clients that this is one of the
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:main channels, um, still to this day.
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:And it's, it's a consistent way
to be able to talk to people,
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:make sure that like when somebody.
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:Is making purchase over black, collect
an email address that they're signing
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:up for, uh, marketing emails and SMS.
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:There are some strategies that you can
employ directly after black Friday too.
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:Um, they're obviously going to
fall into your welcome series.
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:That's one thing that you want to make
sure prior to black Friday as well, is
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:that your welcome series is up to date.
257
:You've got the best photos in there.
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:It's all still relevant.
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:You've got a series, not just one
email, um, that drip out over time.
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:That's really important having
something to talk about.
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:And this is oftentimes what I
tell our clients to, like, if
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:you have a new product drop.
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:Or something, you know, maybe a
new color in a best selling style.
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:I like to, to drop that directly
after Cyber Monday so that you
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:have something to talk about.
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:No matter what you do,
you're going to see a slump.
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:Post cyber Monday.
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:It's just how bad is
that slump going to be?
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:Um, and I think that there are things
that you can do, like making sure that
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:everybody is signed up for your email
list, that you're able to talk to
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:people in a variety of different ways.
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:Um, and then you have something to
talk about directly after black Friday.
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:And it, it's not, you're
not going to see that.
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:Volume through December, likely, unless
you have a major drop or something that
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:people are really looking forward to.
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:But, um, you can mitigate
some of the slump.
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:Devin: You know, my favorite, uh, post
black Friday, cyber Monday, uh, promotion
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:is kill a couple of birds with one
stone sale on sale, baby, even cheaper.
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:Like you can, you can use it as a, as just
like a psychological driver to get people
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:to the site because people obviously love
deals, especially during this time of
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:year, but also, I mean, if you were trying
to clear your books of old inventory,
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:that's just not moving at normal rates,
it's a great way to kind of like get off
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:of some old inventory, even if it's not at
the margin you were initially hoping for.
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:But I mean that product just sitting
around gathering dust in your warehouse
285
:isn't really helping anything.
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:And Nicole, to your earlier point about
email and just like how important it is.
287
:I can tell you, you know, being
more on like the paid ads and.
288
:Or, you know, organic search side
of things that it's more important
289
:than ever because we're seeing
just across the board, organic
290
:traffic to websites go down.
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:Like it's, it's just
getting more competitive.
292
:The Googles of the world are publicly
traded companies that like have investors
293
:that they need to report profit to.
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:They're not exponentially
growing the amount of people
295
:that are using their products.
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:So the only way that they can
report greater earnings every year.
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:is to make more money from
their existing audience base.
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:That means that less
stuff happens for free.
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:You're getting less, you know,
like clicks coming through in your
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:organic search traffic, you're
getting less organic, uh, social.
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:Traffic to your site.
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:And a lot of times you, you
can't buy your way to heaven.
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:I mean, as much as like, I love running
me some ads that we, we do a ton of
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:that over here at golden, you need like
a good multi channel mix of traffic to
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:be able to kind of get, be profitable.
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:Um, it's hard to do it with just
like one thing working really well.
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:Marina: Yeah.
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:And here's a warning to brands that
often do sales all the time, nonstop
309
:throughout the year, because that's
maybe the best way you can sell your
310
:product and you, well, maybe it's not
the best way, but you've got your goal.
311
:Customer certainly hooked on doing sales.
312
:If you're constantly doing sales,
it's a sale because it's a Friday.
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:It's a sale because new
stuff dropped or whatever.
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:You're going to have a harder time
getting people to purchase on the
315
:black Friday set sale because it's
like, well, I just bought the sale.
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:So be careful with how much.
317
:You promote products
on the discount basis.
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:Be careful with doing sales too often.
319
:Save it for these occasions such
as Black Friday, Cyber Monday.
320
:So you can really get people waiting
and anticipating for, Oh my God, there's
321
:going to be a major sale on sale or
whatever else you got up your sleeve.
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:Nicole: Absolutely.
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:Marina: Well, I mean, I think it's
important to understand that people
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:That comes to your website for the
first time during black Friday.
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:It's a different segment than
those that are, they know your
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:brand, their loyal customer.
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:And oftentimes you have to speak
to these people differently.
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:So make sure you have the right segments.
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:You understand that these
were the holiday shoppers.
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:They just came in because
maybe they Googled a product.
331
:They want, and they landed on your
website and you happen to have the
332
:best sale and they purchased it.
333
:So I agree with Nicole that having
that welcome series, having the
334
:best conversation from that point
on and treating that person as
335
:the new customer, you really
want to introduce your brand to.
336
:is really important to,
to keep them longterm.
337
:So totally, um, agree with you, but I'm
sure down paid media is tough around
338
:the holiday season because everyone
is dropping money into promotions
339
:and everyone wants their product
at the top and the most visible.
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:So, um, tell me, how do you handle
the, the competition around paid media?
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:Devin: Yeah, for sure.
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:That's a great question.
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:You know, CPM is definitely go up
as we get into this time of year
344
:because everybody's kind of been
sandbagging their budgets a little bit.
345
:Marina: And for people that don't
know what a CPM is, what is that?
346
:Devin: Oh, sure.
347
:CPM costs per thousand, right?
348
:So like, you know, how much you pay
to get a thousand impressions, like
349
:your ad in front of a thousand people.
350
:Inventory is inventory.
351
:Like there's a There's only so many
impressions that you can serve based
352
:on the amount of times people are
hitting your site and the page views
353
:they have, et cetera, all the potential
places that you can serve an ad,
354
:especially, uh, in election years,
like we have going on right now.
355
:Like you have the, the dual situation
of like one, we're getting into like the
356
:most expensive time of year for people
to advertise, but additionally you're,
357
:we're also duking it out with, you
know, every politician under the sun.
358
:that wants to get their message in front
of people up until we get to the 5th of
359
:November and hopefully, uh, put a fork
in this thing and move on with our lives.
360
:Right.
361
:I mean, to that end, outside of just like
the, the incremental costs that you're
362
:likely going to see this year, the returns
are also incrementally better, especially
363
:if you have a good promotional strategy.
364
:And, and one of the most important
things I would say is making sure
365
:that you That there's alignment
between all of your marketing channels
366
:as far as like, all right, we have
this promotion going on this time.
367
:We're going to set up the ads to run
from here to here, you know, or even
368
:if you have evergreen ads running,
you're just changing the copy to
369
:reflect that like, Hey, this promotion
is happening at the same time.
370
:And I would say that evergreen
ads are good to keep around.
371
:I think I talked about that a little
bit more in a couple of minutes,
372
:but, um, yeah, there should be like
synchronization between what's happening
373
:in email You're on site messaging and,
and all of your other different marketing
374
:channels that you're, you're leveraging.
375
:Marina: For sure.
376
:I mean, you're probably, uh, well,
like Nicole said, you have to
377
:start out so early when it comes
to black Friday, ideally in June.
378
:What about paid media?
379
:When do you start advertising?
380
:Devin: For sure.
381
:So, you know, we're, we're a little,
it's a little bit more easy on
382
:the paid media side, just because.
383
:Aside from like, you know, developing
creative, which can take some time, um,
384
:and you're going to need assets from,
from clients, or you're going to need
385
:to produce, you know, video photography,
whatever you're doing to kind of like
386
:message these promotions, there's really
like Five important time periods that
387
:we think about, you know, in this case,
anywhere from like the beginning of
388
:the November to like the first week
or so of November seems to have become
389
:like the de facto starting point for
like when people get promotional and
390
:start talking about like, Hey, you
know, we've got incredible deals or
391
:we're doing this or the other thing.
392
:So like really that's when it starts.
393
:And, and
394
:Marina: don't do it before Halloween.
395
:Devin: When do you want to, when do you
want to, um, Think that they're going
396
:to make that jump to all of a sudden.
397
:It's like middle of October is
fine to start talking about.
398
:I
399
:Marina: mean, there are Christmas
trees all over the stores, so I
400
:don't even know what's early anymore.
401
:Devin: Yeah.
402
:Nicole: No, it's like the
meme going on right now.
403
:It's like at midnight on the 31st.
404
:So
405
:Marina: yeah,
406
:Devin: we're ready.
407
:I mean, You know, whatever our clients
tell us to do, we're going to make it.
408
:Oh, I
409
:Marina: thought you mean
you have the tree up.
410
:Okay, good.
411
:No, not that.
412
:I
413
:Devin: love
414
:Nicole: tomorrow.
415
:There you go.
416
:Devin: Um, so yeah, I mean like really
like November 1st, like all bets are off.
417
:You are ready.
418
:If you want to start getting promotional,
talking about holiday, I think you're
419
:ready to do so to Nicole's earlier
point, like having kind of like a
420
:promotional calendar where you're
like giving people things, but like
421
:you're kind of saving your, the
best for last, that's typically the
422
:strategy we see be the most successful.
423
:Um, some people just elect to like.
424
:Hey, we're going to do this discount.
425
:We're going to run it for the whole month.
426
:Um, I think you miss out on some
messaging opportunities with that
427
:because like, once everybody sees that,
it's like, well, I can just buy this
428
:anytime during the month, but yeah.
429
:So anywhere up to black Friday running,
whatever, you know, promotions you have,
430
:maybe it's like a buy one, get one, um,
you know, percent off of a category,
431
:whatever, typically black Friday thing
that we've seen work best, just like a
432
:Sitewide significant discount, right?
433
:Like take, you know, 30 percent off
of all your purchases, whatever.
434
:Cyber Monday.
435
:Just to drum up activity, we'll
see like kind of the second best
436
:offer that that's pretty common too.
437
:Like you'll get something that's
good, but probably not as good of a
438
:discount or offer as black Friday.
439
:And then we've got the
Christmas shipping cutoff.
440
:That's like another opportunity to
kind of like be promotional and kind
441
:of drive urgency around like, Hey, you
know, you can only order this for so
442
:much longer before it's not going to
get there in time for the holidays.
443
:And then the final time period, uh,
and this is like in the, that doldrums,
444
:like once you hit like the 14th or
15th of November, sometimes going up to
445
:the 17th, 18th, like you, it's hard to
guarantee that your, your goods are going
446
:to get there in time for the holiday.
447
:So that's the time that a lot of
people elect to kind of do that sale
448
:on sale, you know, just, it's, you're
not going to see the numbers that you
449
:did before, but it's just a good way
to get people to the site and move
450
:off of old inventory at a discount.
451
:Marina: Yeah, keep trying.
452
:Why not?
453
:Um, well, I mean, Devin, you're in
paid media and it calls in an email.
454
:Do you guys align your
strategies for this time?
455
:Should you advertise the same Promotions
products or do you like target different
456
:messaging for different channels?
457
:How does it all work together?
458
:Devin: There's definitely alignment.
459
:We've seen people do like channel
specific strategies before but like
460
:the general best practice is that like
all your channels are singing the same
461
:song and kind of like You You know,
just being synergistic with each other.
462
:So if somebody like clicks on email,
looks at something, doesn't buy, you know,
463
:we've, we fired a bunch of events about
that person back into the ad platforms.
464
:We know that they looked at this thing,
you know, we can hit them with, uh, just
465
:any number of different campaigns that
are either going to show them that product
466
:or have a message, you know, that's like,
Hey, we, we think this would be great.
467
:Here's another reason why
you should think about it.
468
:Thinking a little bit about creative.
469
:Actually though, I'd love to like
segue into that if it's okay.
470
:Yeah.
471
:Yeah.
472
:Marina: Yeah.
473
:Give us some best practices there.
474
:Devin: Sure.
475
:So one thing that seems a little
bit counterintuitive, but actually
476
:like works really well is just
leave your evergreen ads running.
477
:Like if you have ads that are just top
performers, like for a long period of
478
:time, you don't always have to just turn.
479
:Everything that was working off and, you
know, start with fresh campaigns that
480
:are strictly speaking, promotionally,
like what you can do is you can just
481
:like update, copy, um, within the ads
or, or just make subtle changes that
482
:talk about the promotion, you know,
not like completely start from scratch.
483
:Because what ends up happening is,
is if you roll out like brand new
484
:campaigns or brand new ads, you're
like resetting the clock on learning.
485
:Like, you know, the ad platforms are
going to have to figure out, you know,
486
:what this message is, who it resonates
with, who to serve impressions to.
487
:And then really it'll take some
time to get that dialed in.
488
:And that can be tough, especially when
some of these promotions that we're
489
:talking about don't last a long time.
490
:Like, you know, if you have a flash sale
going on that's like two or three days,
491
:you won't even get a new campaign out
of like the learning period for that.
492
:So it seems counterintuitive, but we
definitely suggest getting creative that
493
:messages promotions out there, but it
should be in addition to not, you know,
494
:in, Replacement of, if that makes sense.
495
:Another thing that can be a
little counterintuitive, uh, but
496
:specifically if you're doing ads
that are just messaging promotions,
497
:like, Hey, we've got this big sale.
498
:We see that we see that static
ads typically work better for
499
:that than video a lot of times.
500
:Um, you know,
501
:Marina: isn't, isn't usually video.
502
:Better performing.
503
:I mean, we recommend
504
:Devin: having a pretty good mix of
different creative within accounts.
505
:And there's, it's hard to make
unilateral, like, Oh, this one thing
506
:that works great for one account
might not work as well for another.
507
:Right.
508
:But like, you know, we're, we're always
like testing things and trying to
509
:identify like, whether it's like, you
know, statics or video or different
510
:hooks, you know, product features, social
proof, all like the tried and true ad
511
:formats and hooks that work really well.
512
:Um, but yeah, static ads where you
can just like kind of overlay some,
513
:some tech, some graphics, text, and
dot wax onto, you know, like product
514
:imagery or beautifully shot lifestyle.
515
:Photography seems like it works really
well where you're just saying, Hey, like
516
:30 percent off site wide, you know, cool
picture in the back as the background.
517
:Um, and kind of you're off to the races.
518
:And even when it comes to that, like
if you are going to do promotional
519
:stuff and you haven't done.
520
:Uh, like photography or video
specifically for the holiday season.
521
:What we would tell you is, is look at
some of your best performing static
522
:and video ads from the last, you know,
90 days, 180 days, and just create
523
:a holiday version of that ad or like
a promotional version of that ad.
524
:Uh, you know, you don't have to like,
kind of reinvent the wheel here.
525
:Like things that have worked in the past
will work well, especially if you're kind
526
:of adding a promotional element to them.
527
:For videos, you can make some animated or
static batter or static banners and kind
528
:of place them on top of some of those
like existing creatives that that have
529
:worked well in the past, just like subtle
tweaks and not like reinventing the wheel.
530
:Marina: That makes sense.
531
:What about budget?
532
:Do you just do as much as
you can as high as you can?
533
:What's the best strategy?
534
:Devin: I mean, this is a lot
easier if you've got historical
535
:data to kind of draw on.
536
:It's not that things are
always static in the world.
537
:Right.
538
:But like, obviously we love data to
kind of drive our decision making.
539
:This year, I'm really curious to
see how things are going to do.
540
:I mean, obviously anybody that's
worked in e commerce or even just
541
:like, you know, is living in the
United States with the economy, like
542
:as it is, you It's definitely been
a tough time for a lot of folks.
543
:So, you know, you can make your best
assumptions based on data, but where
544
:the rubber meets the road, we don't
really know what's going to happen.
545
:So I think like, you know, you can
look at how much you spent last year,
546
:what you returned on that spend.
547
:And, you know, make a reasonable guess as
to what you should be spending this year
548
:based on whatever you're forecasting.
549
:Like, if you're forecasting, like,
how much you want to do in sales,
550
:each one of your marketing channels
should have a number attached to
551
:it that you expect it to kick up
based on last year's performance.
552
:Right?
553
:So, You know, that all the math has to
math and the numbers have to back out
554
:to, all right, if I expect Facebook ads
to do a hundred K in sales this month.
555
:then I know that I need to spend, you
know, maybe 25 or 30, 000 based on the
556
:ROAS that we saw this time last year.
557
:So that's, that's typically how we
think about budgeting is like starting
558
:with data, understanding like what's
happening now, what's happened in the
559
:past, and then making a best guess as
far as like, we need the channel to do X.
560
:So we're going to supply it with Y.
561
:And we feel good about that, but like
budgets are not, are never static.
562
:I mean, like if you get to the, you
get to the middle of the month and
563
:things are going really well, you know,
add, add budget, adjust accordingly.
564
:If they're not, you know, you can,
you can pull back a little bit.
565
:That's part of, of.
566
:Having good active management within
your ads accounts is like somebody
567
:should really be in there looking
at these things on a daily basis
568
:Especially during this time of year
569
:Marina: now, let's get into
a website optimization.
570
:So I know a lot of our clients Don't
do any kind of work leading up to
571
:the Black Friday cyber Monday because
you're afraid to mess anything up
572
:People go into code freeze just to
make sure once things are perfect and
573
:working, we just keep it this way.
574
:And that's probably the best strategy.
575
:But what I want to make sure everyone
understands is that if your website is not
576
:specifically set for mobile conversion,
you're going to lose a lot of money during
577
:this season because majority of people
are going to be shopping on their phones.
578
:You're going to get the email, the SMS.
579
:the ad served on Facebook or
Instagram, you're gonna go on your
580
:phone and look at the product.
581
:And it shocks me how many websites
still are not optimized properly,
582
:are not responsive enough when
it comes to mobile devices.
583
:Um, so yeah, make sure that you look
at that and your website is fast.
584
:Go through all the collection
pages, go through navigations.
585
:Things have to just, just
be seamless and flawless.
586
:So that's probably the number one tip.
587
:If I could give anyone and looking at your
checkout process, I think if it's not the
588
:holiday season, um, people are adding a
lot of the upsells cross sells into your
589
:checkout, your card and doing all of that.
590
:But when you're already
doing a lot on the.
591
:Promotional side all throughout your
website, your email, everywhere else.
592
:People are doing quick buys because
maybe your offer has to do around urgency
593
:and it's because inventory is running
out and you're trying to buy it fast.
594
:Don't overwhelm your customer.
595
:Don't do, don't put too much into
the cart when it comes to cross
596
:sells, upsells, all that good stuff.
597
:Keep it as simple as you
can to close that sale.
598
:Um, Because again, we're shopping a lot.
599
:You're probably not the only
brand I'm shopping with.
600
:So that ease when it comes to
checkout is, is really important.
601
:And ideally you started testing and
optimizing way before this point.
602
:And maybe you've done
even some AB testing.
603
:Maybe you know exactly what
works best for your customer,
604
:but keeping an eye on that data.
605
:As the sales start coming
in is also so important.
606
:So, so you can adjust in that moment.
607
:So ideally you have tools like hot jar
installed and you're looking at heat
608
:maps and you're understanding if there's
any pain points and you're reducing and
609
:removing in real time, because again,
this is not the time to just sit back.
610
:This is the time to actively
monitor a track and optimize.
611
:So make sure you're looking
at all of that data.
612
:All around the holiday season and you know
website is really the final piece because
613
:all these channels all roads You know,
they all lead to the, to that website
614
:sale that we're trying to close so much.
615
:And there's so many moving
pieces here between email and
616
:paid and website optimization.
617
:So if there was any advice we could
give somebody who's like, Oh my God,
618
:this is my first year maybe doing
the Black Friday, Cyber Monday.
619
:Where do I begin?
620
:Do I start with the website?
621
:Do I start with the paid?
622
:Where do I start in order to
get the most out of the season?
623
:Nicole: All of that.
624
:Marina: What's number one?
625
:Where do you, what do you do?
626
:Do you
627
:Nicole: have a good
place to drive traffic?
628
:Yeah,
629
:Marina: I agree.
630
:I agree.
631
:Cause if your website is not
optimized and you're driving
632
:traffic to broken pages, things that
don't work, you're wasting money.
633
:Devin: We have a lot of
conversations with people that are
634
:looking for help with paid ads.
635
:And like, Nicole Maria,
you can testify this.
636
:I'll tell them like, I don't
think that's where you should be
637
:putting your attention right now.
638
:Unless you have a well designed,
functional, thought out website that
639
:like reflects good branding and has
like, you know, compelling product and,
640
:and at the right price point, all of
those things, then you're just going so
641
:much of your spend will just be wasted.
642
:If you had a better web experience,
it's going to just lead to better
643
:outcomes For all of your marketing.
644
:So, you know, especially for smaller
businesses and people that are just
645
:starting out, they're like, Oh, they
think that they need traffic first.
646
:And it's like, well, yeah, but you,
you probably to maximize the outcomes
647
:of the traffic that you are getting.
648
:You probably need to get your, your
website tuned up a little bit first
649
:before it's ready for prime time.
650
:Marina: Yeah, that was the answer I was
hoping for, because we, we know this time
651
:and time again, we see people invest money
into channels and then, you know, worry
652
:about why am I not getting the conversion?
653
:I have to, I was hoping I get this
row as I was hoping this channel
654
:does, but, but maybe the channels
would do better if they did.
655
:Website was optimized to
actually close the sale.
656
:So yeah, website is definitely.
657
:I think is number one.
658
:Nicole: Yeah, for sure.
659
:I just wanted to touch on the code
freeze aspect that you mentioned earlier.
660
:When I worked on the brand side, code
freeze is a reality while it be a
661
:frustrating reality for a lot of people
that are like, Working in, in brands,
662
:there are things that you can do.
663
:Like there's definitely, you need to
have a plan going up to code freeze
664
:of the major changes that you wanna
make because you don't wanna get
665
:into a time when you're getting a lot
of traffic and something is broken.
666
:But there are little changes
that you can make, especially
667
:around merchandising navigation.
668
:I would, I would definitely try
to get that done before, and I
669
:want to emphasize navigation as
being one of the most important.
670
:Aspects of your site.
671
:You know, we've seen 80, 90 percent of
people usually go straight into navigation
672
:more than clicking on homepage heroes.
673
:And we see a lot over and over again,
in all my years I've seen people so
674
:focused on what ends up on the homepage.
675
:And while that's important, oftentimes
the navigation gets overlooked.
676
:And that is one place that needs to
be buttoned up prior to black Friday.
677
:But what you can do in, in
actual code freeze, you know,
678
:when I worked on the brand side.
679
:I would look at what was selling
every day during black Friday and
680
:re merchandise pages based on that.
681
:Cause it's really.
682
:You know, oftentimes people look
for, Oh, what's the one thing I
683
:can do that doesn't really exist.
684
:It's cumulative, you know, of, of all
the things that, that you have to do
685
:when it comes to a website in particular,
is there's so many different pages.
686
:There's so many different aspects.
687
:There are some things that
are more important than
688
:others, like the navigation.
689
:But it's a lot of little tiny things
and merchandising does sometimes get
690
:overlooked as well because you've got
a lot of pages sometimes depending
691
:on the type of business that you are.
692
:But re merchandising those pages and
moving up products, making sure that
693
:you don't have anything at the top
that's out of stock, that kind of thing.
694
:Um, there are tools that you can, that you
can use to help, you know, way products
695
:in different ways and that kind of thing.
696
:But oftentimes things change
so quickly over black Friday.
697
:I found it's old fashioned way
pulling that report every day
698
:of like what actually sold.
699
:Oh, it was this, let me move this up.
700
:Let me move this down that kind of thing.
701
:Like, cause you, you never
know what's going to happen.
702
:Marina: Yeah.
703
:Another thing, speaking of things that
are overlooked is the post purchase
704
:experience during the holiday season.
705
:Once you've closed the sale,
don't forget about that.
706
:Thank you page and utilizing it as well
because you could add additional like
707
:Devon said, sale on sale on top of it.
708
:You can do a limited time offer.
709
:So right as somebody is getting
that order confirmation, thank you.
710
:You can add here's Within the
next five minutes, you can get
711
:this product for half the price.
712
:If it's an easy add on to your
order, people will buy it.
713
:So post purchase, that's also a
super overlooked strategy, and if
714
:you utilize this correctly, you
can maximize your profits for sure.
715
:Nicole: I mean, we've seen that the order
confirmation email is oftentimes one
716
:of the top performing triggered emails.
717
:People come back.
718
:There you go.
719
:Marina: Yeah, I
720
:Nicole: wouldn't think
that it is the truth.
721
:Marina: Yeah.
722
:I read a study on this that they say
the easiest way to close somebody
723
:is right after you just closed it.
724
:So right after somebody just purchased
is the easiest to sell to them again.
725
:Um, they're keep that momentum going.
726
:So yeah, agree.
727
:Nicole: Yeah.
728
:Update your triggers.
729
:All your trigger e mails.
730
:Marina: For sure.
731
:Cool.
732
:Well, good talk.
733
:Is there any real life success stories
that we can share for any of our clients?
734
:Devin: Not speaking directly to, to
client work, but I can remember like
735
:when I was on the brand side, probably
like the coolest night I had on Black
736
:Friday, uh, it was when I was working
at Free People and we had, um, done a
737
:ton of work leading up to Black Friday.
738
:We had a really great discount.
739
:And I remember I like went with my manager
that night and we just like got a six pack
740
:and put like real time analytics on his TV
just to like see like once the promo like
741
:opened up like the traffic and it was just
like, you know, tens and tens of thousands
742
:of people hitting the site at once.
743
:And we just sat there and like
watch the numbers tick up until
744
:we did a million dollar day.
745
:And it was the first million dollar
day that we did at the brand.
746
:And it was just like, you know,
I had a little buzz go and
747
:it was, it was pretty cool.
748
:We love seeing the same types of
things for our clients, uh, without
749
:like, you know, divulging anything to.
750
:Yeah,
751
:Marina: I kind of miss those days when
the sale only happened at the 12 a.
752
:m.
753
:mark
754
:Devin: and
755
:Marina: nobody was
doing sales before that.
756
:So you really got a front seat to the
virtual doors opening up and people
757
:starting to come in and purchase and
you're looking at all the data and
758
:there's so much, and like that chaos,
um, I feel like was a lot more intense.
759
:before COVID where people were a lot
more, you know, careful and patient,
760
:um, versus now where it's just
kind of a slow, slow burn approach.
761
:And you're, you're, you're doing
sales the week before that.
762
:I
763
:Nicole: think some kind of trends that
I've seen over my years, all my black
764
:Fridays and cyber Mondays doorbusters
tend to work well, uh, save them,
765
:save them for actual black Friday,
release those, you know, if you're,
766
:uh, Uh, product based business, like
buy into those way ahead of time.
767
:Like we mentioned earlier, those really
do work, you know, more than one.
768
:I would say those help to
drive traffic a lot in general.
769
:You can use those in all your
different marketing channels.
770
:They tend to not just buy door busters.
771
:I know that's often a concern.
772
:I think another concern that we
often see too, is businesses are
773
:concerned about the lead up of.
774
:Discount and the change in discounts
and how their customer sentiment is
775
:sort of like, are they going to be
scared that, or are they going to be
776
:upset that cyber Monday was better
than black Friday kind of thing, which
777
:oftentimes we do see a better cyber
Monday than black Friday discount.
778
:And that is oftentimes shorter
than black Friday and you have
779
:less inventory to choose from.
780
:So it's really a trade off.
781
:And I have not seen as much as
we've seen concern about that.
782
:I have not seen any sort of
widespread negative customer
783
:sentiment about a better cyber
Monday deal than a black Friday deal.
784
:And we tend to hear that over
and over that concern from, from
785
:leaders at different brands.
786
:But I think customers are used
to that and there's a trade off.
787
:Like I said, if you're in the
month, the discount's not as good.
788
:You're getting a better choice of product.
789
:Once you get into a better discount.
790
:You have less choices.
791
:It's it's it's an age old trade off
people are we really used to it now
792
:Marina: Yeah, that's correct.
793
:That's true.
794
:Well some final thoughts as we wrap
it up, um starting with the website
795
:Don't forget to optimize it for mobile.
796
:That's one takeaway I can give you
make sure that your pages are not just
797
:awkwardly responding to my device size
and the blocks are long and weird and
798
:the text is somewhere down the bottom
have designed that specifically for the
799
:mobile and have it look just as good as
on desktop because like I said expect
800
:all those sales to be coming in through
the mobile devices and it's just a
801
:Basically desktop is going out every year.
802
:We see this less, less and less until
it's just going to be gone one day.
803
:So just put all your efforts into
making the website as optimized as
804
:you possibly can for our phones.
805
:Devin: I think on the paid ad
side, I would stress the importance
806
:of data and using it to kind
of guide your decision making.
807
:If you don't have data from this
time last year, look at your, your.
808
:Couple of last recent months, get an
understanding of how things are going.
809
:And also make sure that you're
capturing that data to use next year.
810
:Right?
811
:So like that means like adding
UTM tags to your platforms, making
812
:sure things are tagged up and that
just doesn't apply to paid ads.
813
:That's on the email side.
814
:That's on affiliates, all
of your other channels.
815
:And then finally, you know, double
down on the things that are working.
816
:Like you don't have to
completely reinvent the wheel.
817
:If you're a bigger, more established
brand and you're going to go out and do a
818
:very cool like photo shoot and get great
photography or video done, that's great.
819
:But if you're not like, you know,
and you have some ads that have
820
:worked for you in the past, Just
update them with like promotional
821
:messaging, you know, things like that.
822
:And you're off to the races.
823
:Nicole: I would say for email, look
at your full ecosystem of emails.
824
:We mentioned welcome series.
825
:We wouldn't mentioned transactional
triggers, things like that.
826
:Even your shipping confirmation, email,
those things take time to update.
827
:So.
828
:Email, you really need to get
started sometime in September.
829
:So updating your messaging, like I
mentioned earlier, taking a look at every
830
:single opportunity when it comes to the
type, the emails that you're actually
831
:sending out, update your photography to
be fresh, update your messaging and think
832
:about it from a new customer standpoint,
because hopefully you'll have many,
833
:many new customers signing up for email.
834
:Marina: And if you have any questions or
issues with any of what we just talked
835
:about, don't hesitate to reach out.
836
:We are golden digital.
837
:co.
838
:We do all of the things
we just talked about.
839
:So if you need help here to help for sure.
840
:Thank you guys so much.
841
:I think this was a good discussion,
especially for our first podcast slash
842
:webinar, and I hope if you're still
watching, you found this valuable.
843
:Don't forget to like subscribe.
844
:We have a lot more coming up.
845
:We have a lot more
knowledge to share with you.
846
:So yeah, stay tuned.
847
:Devin: Good, fast, or cheap podcast, baby.