The 2023 holiday shopping season set a new record for ecommerce, with sales surging 4.9% year-over-year to reach $222.1 billion.
Ecommerce brands should prepare to match or increase expectations for 2024 with consumers being more accustomed to shopping online more than ever before. Take a look at our top Black Friday Cyber Monday strategies so you can boost conversions to reach your goals this season.
Building Your BFCM Strategy
Not having a strategy in place for Black Friday and Cyber Monday can cost retailers thousands of dollars in missed revenue. Having an organized, data-backed plan will increase sales and alleviate potential stress during such a busy time.
1. Start Planning Early
Although Black Friday falls on November 24th, deals are projected to start in October.
Amazon’s October Prime Day deals are predicted to run October 8-9th, and many retailers choose to start their promotions 48-hours after the sales.
Think back to last year. What worked well? What showed potential for improvement?
Review your audience trends and shopping reports before developing your strategies so you can maximize your profit potential. Next, outline your calendar with important dates so you can roadmap the release of promotional emails, special marketing material, and social media announcements.
2. Build Your BFCM Email List
Start growing your email list by offering early insider promotions and sneak peeks to what’s ahead. Segment new customers on-site and invite them to sign up for early access to Black Friday deals. Get online shoppers excited for when the time arrives.
Utilize email marketing, social media, and ad campaigns to make your brand presence known. Ad campaigns cost more the closer you are to Black Friday, so promote early before the internet gets saturated with deals to stay top of mind.
Once BFCM is over, you’ve now built up a strong sense of brand loyalty. Cycle your BFCM customers into your lifecycle emails to maintain a good relationship after the events are over. Upsellit’s Remarketing Experience provides a full suite of personalized email marketing solutions to optimize your email efforts from Black Friday and beyond.
5 On-Site Strategies for Black Friday Cyber Monday
Take a look at some of our highest performing strategies during Cyber Week.
- Up to 46% of shoppers purchased more with AI Recommendations.
- Up to 74% of shoppers converted by leveraging free shipping.
- Up to 49% of shoppers converted using urgency messaging.
We’ve fine tuned our BFCM strategies for over 15 years to help ecommerce brands succeed across every vertical. Read on to unlock our data-driven Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies for your brand to implement this season.
1. Leverage Urgency to Promote Your Sale
Time sensitivity is a huge factor in successful Black Friday marketing campaigns. Although deals can run for over a month, urgency is a key strategy to move potential customers to checkout. Utilize countdown timers to remind shoppers they don’t have time to waste.
Social proof also creates a sense of urgency as shoppers know the competition is fierce. Use low stock alerts on your product pages or on abandonment to show products are popular. Showing ‘recent views’ or ‘recent purchases’ sends the same message to promote items with fewer stock concerns.
2. Put Your Discounts and Offers Front and Center
Place your deals front and center to avoid a high bounce rate on your website. Display your promotion for the day above the fold, in a banner, or on abandonment to make your limited time offers crystal clear.
In 2023, Cyber Monday generated $12.4 billion in online sales with an increase of 9.6% year over year, making Cyber Monday the biggest online shopping day to date. This means you need to generate excitement throughout the shopping season while maintaining momentum until the very last day.
Considering most retailers can’t offer large discounts for multiple months in a row, leverage existing on-site offers to still stand out. 79% of consumers are more likely to shop when given free shipping, proving you don’t need large discounts to increase conversions.
Free gifts are another common BFCM strategy that gains attention without hurting your bottom line. You can also leverage your rewards program or highlight additional value propositions like free returns to add extra value beyond discounts.
Whatever your offer is, make sure its clear and shoppers know.
3. Use AI-Driven Recommendations to Drive Product Discovery
Cyber 5 can feel overwhelming for consumers. They’re trying to snag as many Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals as possible, and they don’t have time to scroll through your entire online store.
Presenting dynamic, AI-driven product recommendations can help shoppers quickly find similar items and discover new products they may not have been actively seeking.
Dynamic recommendations provide a seamless user experience for shoppers while also increasing order values for brands. In our case study, AI Recommendations generated $762,000 in just 30 days. Imagine how much revenue that could generate during BFCM.
4. Save Shoppers Carts for Later
Especially during Q4, carts are often used as a wishlist to bookmark favorite items. You can use this as an opportunity to capture leads by offering to save shoppers’ carts.
Save your cart strategies can generate 23% more leads and provide even more conversions. By delivering the shoppers’ cart contents to their email, they can easily complete their purchase from any device.
During BFCM, highlight your limited time offers and communicate the amount of time left to claim your promotions. Creating a sense of urgency will increase purchase intent and drive shoppers back to your website or landing page.
5. Identify Anonymous Shoppers
Although conversion rates are growing overall, the shopping cart abandonment rate for fashion retailers is still at 76%. Home and furniture companies average an 78.8% abandonment rate, and beauty brands average a 72.8% abandonment rate. It’s crucial to get as much information as possible from your website visitors while you have them on-site before you lose them forever.
Upsellit’s Anonymous Visitor ID identifies unknown users on your website to turn anonymous traffic into new-to-file leads. Creating a personalized experience using historic browsing behavior and shopper profiles allows for remarketing opportunities that align with real-time interests.
4 BFCM Email Marketing Strategies
Now that you’ve captured new leads, lets discuss email remarketing strategies to get shoppers back into the funnel to complete a purchase.
Email campaigns are crucial to create and maintain relationships with your customers. Implement these Black Friday Cyber Monday marketing strategies to recover lost sales and make the most out of Q4.
1. Notify Shoppers of Your Sales
When your Black Friday sales window begins, send emails with eye-catching subject lines that create urgency and intrigue to increase open rates. Try to keep your subjects below 40 characters.
Here’s some examples:
- The wait is up! Black Friday starts now.
- TODAY ONLY: 30% Off!
- Hurry! It’s our biggest sale ever.
- BFCM Sale: 40% Off + FREE Shipping
In the body copy, emphasize that your sales are only running for a limited time. Add personal touches, large design elements, and clear CTAs to inspire shoppers to head to your website.
2. Recover Shoppers who Abandoned Checkout
Along with emailing saved carts, promote a new or existing discount in the email to further enhance the customer experience.
Mobile shopping surpassed desktop for the first time driving 51.1% of online sales, but many shoppers prefer to finish up their orders on desktop. Abandoned cart emails are the perfect addition to this omnichannel shopping experience.
Best practice is to send a series of three emails – immediately, at 24 hours, then 48 hours. Cyber Week moves fast, so you need to stay top of mind.
If shoppers abandoned with empty carts, replace cart contents with product recommendations to inspire new purchases.
3. Notify Shoppers of Price Drops
Although you’re offering discounts and promotions during BFCM, there might be an item or two excluded from the sales. This is a great opportunity to leverage price drop alerts to help shoppers keeping an eye on specific price points.
Sending these alerts is a win-win. You get new contact information, and shoppers save money. Plus, they’ll be motivated to stay on your list since they’re looking out for product updates.
In the emails, dynamically insert product details and the new savings with a clear call to action so shoppers easily move from email to on-site.
4. Follow Up with LifeCycle Emails
Don’t stop the conversation once a purchase has been made. Keep your customers updated with information on their purchase, including shipping delays and delivery notifications.
You can also enroll shoppers into lifecycle remarketing campaigns. Lifecycle campaigns are the very definition of playing the long game. Instead of focusing on a single conversion, they set the stage for numerous future conversions.
Let shoppers know about new product releases, online shopping events and deals, or even provide product recommendations based on previous purchases.
A/B Test to Maximize Conversions
Multivariate testing is essential for maximizing your profit potential. Upsellit’s A/B testing capabilities eliminate the guesswork from optimizations, giving you confidence in your campaigns. This testing method boosts conversion rates, reduces abandonment, and enhances the user experience.
Singling out individual elements is the only true way to make data-backed decisions for your business. Test multiple offers, designs, or copy in advance to pinpoint what works best for your brand when Cyber 5 arrives.
When analyzing copy, test the length and tone of your writing to discover what speaks to your audience the most. For design, rotate varying layouts, colors and images. Even when it comes to your CTAs, the language and design can have a major impact on your conversions.
Preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024
From email marketing to on-site strategies, you now have all the tools you need to maximize your revenue and build customer relationships for the upcoming months. Plan early, analyze, and test your strategies to take on Cyber Week with confidence.
Exceed Your Q4 Goals with Upsellit
Q4 is an incredibly busy time of year. Let us help you get your BFCM marketing campaigns in place so you can increase conversions for the best Black Friday Cyber Monday season yet.
Discover more standout BFCM strategies across various industries in our Black Friday Cyber Monday case study. Gain insights into campaign results and segmentation breakdowns that have driven revenue and growth in new customer acquisition during Cyber Week. Download now to unlock these valuable insights and elevate your marketing efforts.
