Could Your eCommerce Brand Benefit from Cyber Week?
Can you hear bells ringing in the distance? No, they’re not Christmas sleigh bells. That’s the distant ring of cash registers as one of the biggest sales weeks of the year fast approaches: Cyber Week.
This online-only sales holiday presents shoppers with the chance to snag a bargain and gives eCommerce stores a serious sales boost. Is your eCommerce brand prepared?
What and When is Cyber Week?
Cyber Week originated in the US from Black Friday, a post-Thanksgiving day of incredible bargain shopping in the lead up to Christmas.
Online shopping quickly gained popularity, and so Cyber Monday began in 2005. The single-day event soon morphed into a weekend and eventually an entire week, stretching from Cyber Monday to the Sunday— hence “Cyber Week”.
Considering the borderless nature of the internet, it’s hardly surprising that Cyber Week has been adopted by so many countries outside of the US. Cyber Week is now an international period of online bargain shopping, no matter where you live.
What Cyber Week Can Do for Your eCommerce Store
Shoppers are spending millions of dollars every Cyber Week, so the financial benefits aren’t hard to see. It’s a great chance to offload stock, including any specific products you’re trying to clear out.
But there’s more to gain than just sales.
The real appeal lies in its positioning not as a one-week sales period, but a launching-off point.
Closeup of woman doing online shopping on digital tablet at cafeteria. Woman buy elegant shoes on online market website. Back view of two girls using digital tablet to shop online.
With the right promotion and sales strategy, Cyber Week can:
- Attract new customers to your brand
- Build your email database
- Grow your social media following
These people can then be re-targeted throughout the year, providing even more opportunities for loyal brand followers and repeat customers.
5 Ways You Can Take Advantage of Cyber Week
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Promote
Cyber Week isn’t a magic ticket to easy sales. A successful Cyber Week relies on putting in the necessary work long before the festive season. Your customers will be preparing for this sales period weeks or even months before, and so should you.
Build anticipation for your upcoming sales across social media through both organic and paid. This means posting about your offers on social media (especially Facebook and Instagram), as well as running Social Advertising campaigns to reach users outside of your existing audience.
“Your Cyber Week campaign doesn’t end once the sales roll in. It’s just as important to measure results to see what’s working, what’s not, and what can be changed.”
This is also the perfect time to expand your digital marketing channels to reach even more people. Think beyond your current platforms and extend your reach with Platform Advertising and Search Engine Advertising. These services cover often overlooked ad space on YouTube, Spotify, podcasts, Google shopping and more.
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Automate
There’s more to an effective campaign than just switching it on. You have to roll it out in carefully planned stages.
The key to pulling this off is to work smarter, not harder.
Email marketing automations are a great way to effectively promote deals, communicate with users throughout the sales cycle, and guarantee more sales. For example, you could automate a series of countdown emails to get Cyber Week on your subscribers’ radar (and keep it there).
You can read more about email automation in our recent blog post.
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Incentivise
Customers might be ready to spend big, but that doesn’t mean they’ll spend their money on your brand. You need to provide an incentive to guarantee their sale. Give them the deals they didn’t even know they needed.
Some of the ways you can win those customers include:
- Offering free or fast shipping
- Free samples or bonus products with every purchase
- Bundling products together (for example, buy one get one free)
This also ties in with your email marketing strategy. Offering coupons and deals to your email subscribers is a great way to convert an open email to a sale.
“Give them the deals they didn’t even know they needed.”
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Measure
Your campaign doesn’t end once the sales roll in. It’s just as important to measure results to see what’s working, what’s not, and what can be changed.
The best way to do this is through a live reporting dashboard. This will give you a real-time view of each marketing service’s performance so you can make the necessary adjustments without any confusion.
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Retarget
Cyber Week sales are great, but you know what’s just as valuable? The user data those transactions give you.
Let’s say someone visits your eCommerce store after seeing your ad. Regardless of whether they’re buying something or not, you can now re-target them through various advertising channels. This is especially valuable in the post-Cyber Week lead up to Christmas.
Target them through Social Media and Google’s Display Network. Send out abandoned cart emails. Offer discounts and coupons. The important thing is to keep your brand and products on their mind when they’re most open to making a purchase.
“The real appeal of Cyber Week lies in its positioning not as a one-week sales period, but a launching-off point.”
If a customer does make a purchase, use this as an opportunity to both promote your brand even more. The best way to do this is by incentivising them to share their purchase and buy again.
Offer them a discount on their next purchase for sharing their new product across social media. This not only encourages them to buy from you again, but encourages their friends and social media followers to check out your brand.