Black Friday & Cyber Monday Checklist:
INSIDER TIPS TO PREP FOR BFCM 2021
From our blog
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Marketing Coordinator
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/ Tips & tricks
<imajery>'s digital marketing holiday guide for agencies and brands. A map of the strategies and techniques that help companies harness the power of marketing’s most crucial season.
As marketers, we know the Black Friday/Cyber Monday season means massive increases in revenue, leading to skyrocketing ROAS and a surge in advertising importance. Changing Black Friday shopping habits means even more emphasis must be placed on your business’s digital ad strategy. Don’t just take our word for it, here are some fast facts:
- The pandemic accelerated the shift to online shopping at breakneck speed. Adobe Analytics highlighted a 32% uplift in online shopping from 2019-2020! Source article: slideshare.net
- This year shopping online is projected to have a 47% year-over-year growth rate! Source article: blog.adobe.com
These stats alone were enough to wow our humble Montreal marketing agency, and we’re sure you’re seeing the potential dollar signs too. The marketing minds at <imajery> have decided to make Christmas come early, and put together a comprehensive list of Black Friday tips and tricks to take your holiday advertising to the next level.
Pre-launch:
1. Start Now:
There is no time like the present to begin prepping your team for the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping season. Begin outlining possible promotions with clients so they can hit the ground running with quality Google and Facebook ads highlighting their promos. Shipping deadlines will be a huge consideration for this Black Friday / Cyber Monday blitz, so get ahead of the competition while you can!
2. Create a Promo Calendar:
Remember there is no real constraint on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend revenue bump! Be first on customers’ feeds with pre-sales and stick around longer than the competition with extended shopping periods. Time is of the essence, so make your comprehensive advertising calendar your BFF during this hectic season. For social media page management, Check out our Montreal marketing agency’s take on which social media tool is the most effective. Want to outsource your social management all together? We at have an excellent team ready to help.
3. Secure Budgets:
You know... ‘Spend money to make money’! Ensure you can reach your high-value target audience during peak demand by securing budgets early for top campaigns to support your promotions.
4. Stress-test the website:
Leave no corner of your site untouched when prepping for higher-than-usual traffic Black Friday/Cyber Monday traffic. Verify your checkout process A-Z, from the ‘add-to-cart’ page to the ‘Thank You’ email post-purchase. Not sure how to proceed? Reach out to the development team here at <imajery>.
5. Build out remarketing audiences:
Focus on widespread prospecting campaigns early this Fall to fill up your responsive remarketing lists. Utilize ‘Exclusive First Look!’ messaging coupled with a strong CTA urging customers to sign-up for email newsletters so they don’t miss out on the deals (and so you don’t lose track of them!).
6. Build your creative assets:
Ready your artistic arsenal! Gather dynamic copy, eye-catching banners, and attractive videos to use as Google and Facebook ads throughout every stage of your campaign strategy. Because we are a Montreal agency, snappy translations into French and English are of utmost importance. Make sure your messaging is able to reach customers in all relevant markets.
7. Create Email Buzz:
Build suspense and anticipation with enticing Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale teasers to make your products irresistible come holiday season. Sending out an early promotion for your most loyal customers never hurts either! Email remarketing can be tricky to get right, don't hesitate to hit <imajery> up for more tips and tricks.
8. Increase campaign budgets:
Significant budget changes during Black Friday/Cyber Monday will negatively impact your campaigns. Learnings are reset, disrupting the Google and Facebook machine learning algorithm. To avoid this, increase spend gradually throughout October and early November so campaigns are optimized for mid-November and December. At our agency in Montreal specifically, we have spend bumps planned for the beginning of October!
9. Recon the competition:
Subscribe to competitor email lists to gather ideas and keep a macro view of your market. Create Google Alerts for keywords the competition is using so that you aren’t left in the dark - or losing important ad auctions! At our Montreal marketing agency, inboxes are filled with relevant subscriber lists. We never miss out.
Launch:
1. Assess and Correct:
Always remember: not every strategy is a winner! If one campaign underperforms, don’t hesitate to pause and shift the remaining budget. Stay on your toes, be flexible, and adapt.
2. Watch inventory:
Demand will shift radically during this Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Catalogue-based campaigns such as Smart Shopping and Dynamic Remarketing won’t deliver ads if your inventory is too low for a particular product. Not to worry. Design a plan B (and C!) to redistribute demand. Our agency in Montreal recommends switching campaigns, changing up audiences, or highlighting other items with discounts or ‘features’.
3. Automate:
Google and Facebook ads bless us with the inclusion of robust automation features within their platforms. Don’t waste your time manually activating deals; outsource your busy work to bots!
4. Cyber Monday Surge:
Black Friday underperformed? No problem! Cyber Monday is just around the corner. Make customers an offer they cannot refuse, beef up your spend on Google and Facebook ads, and take advantage of customers finishing up their shopping online. If you had an unprecedented Black Friday because you followed all of our tips and tricks, first celebrate! Assess your remaining inventory to see if you can meet the Cyber Monday demands; if not, focus on post-Cyber Monday offerings.
Post Launch:
1. Stay High Throttle:
After the big Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, receiving gifts in time for Christmas will be top of mind for all shoppers who haven’t found the perfect present for their Secret Santa just yet. Don’t stop promoting now! Emphasize clearance deals coupled with holiday shipping deadlines to close those sales.
2. Email high-value customer list:
By this time many early November shoppers will have developed an appetite to come back. Fill their inbox with end-of-season, last chance offers that pack a punch. In the Montreal market, our agency focuses on Boxing Day messaging to keep interest levels high at this time.
3. Support the on-call staff:
Spread the holiday cheer by giving your hardworking staff a breather. Prepare heavily with campaign automation and email drip campaigns to ensure employees have a little time to think about snowmen and eggnog.
4. Take a breather!
Kick back and relax, you’ve earned it! Highlight successful campaigns and record-breaking sales with your client and team. Acknowledge your staff’s wins from pristinely optimized campaigns to record-breaking sales and new buyers. At our Montreal agency, we have a holiday celebration as well.
5. Learn and Leverage:
Now that you’re flush with rich, new data, plan an in-depth post-mortem to diagnose exactly what worked and what didn’t. Evolve successful roadmaps, and take failures back to the drawing board to reconfigure for next year. The countdown is on for Black Friday 2022!
Black Friday and Cyber Monday success is no accident - it’s a result of careful planning, teamwork, and hard labour. If your brand is ready for record-breaking 2021 Black Friday and Cyber Monday digital marketing performance with Google Ads, Facebook Ads, email, social, SEO and more, we know an excellent Montreal marketing agency that will be here to help. Good luck to all, and get it done!
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