How to Prepare Your Online Business for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

2020 has been a difficult year in many ways. However, that doesn’t mean we all have to end our year on a sour note. Why? Well, the holiday shopping season is around the corner! And even in less ideal conditions, it has a lot of potential to give your business a much-needed boost.

Whether you have a team of one or thousands: you need to organize a Black Friday plan of attack so you can make the most of it.  💸💸💸

Get ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

You have to prep your business to make the most of the holiday shopping season! Here’s how:

1. Where does your business stand?

First of all, it’s important to take a look at where your business stands right now and where you want it to be. By deciding this, you can set goals and make a plan to accomplish those.

Regardless of what you’re selling online, it’s important your website is prepared to process a sale. Are you selling tangible products? Then you will need to see how much stock you have and if it can handle the sales. Make sure to stock up extra on your best-selling items. 

Make sure to also include a plan on how to keep Black Friday and Cyber Monday customers coming back. 

2. Decide what your marketing campaign is going to be

When you know what your goals are and what you want to sell, it’s time to create a marketing campaign. It’s good to start advertising well before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to prepare your customers for what’s coming.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is a great way to promote your products and holiday offers. They’re not only good for distributing your deals, but also good to boost specific posts to target a specific audience.

If you want to make the most of social media, make sure to tailor each post to each platform, and use trending hashtags.

Email marketing

Email marketing is great at any time, but especially during the holiday shopping season. Sending email campaigns to those who are already engaged with your website, makes it possible to create personalized deals and messages. By doing this, your most loyal customers will be prepared for your upcoming deals.

Search Engine Marketing

Chances are big that people are searching with search engines for the products or services you’re selling. Search Engine Marketing on, for example, Google Ads and Bing Ads make it possible to be at the top of potential customers’ search results. With different types of campaigns, you can continuously remind people about the products they saw on your website. This might eventually lead to what we want: a conversion/sale!

3. Check your competition

Competition during the holiday shopping season is big. This makes it even more important to keep an eye on rival online retailers. Are they offering gifts, free shipping, and personalized messages? Then it’s important that you do it better!

If you have a limited budget, then you can always promote “free” benefits, such as customer service, the way in which your products are made, and what sets you apart from others. 

4. Update all the technical aspects of your website

Having enough products in stock and promoting your website is one part of preparing your website for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, it’s also necessary to have a website that works well and is ready to take on the extra holiday shopping traffic. We don’t want your website to be overloaded! To be sure of this, you’ll probably need to talk to your hosting provider.

For everyone with an e-shop: make sure that your site works well for e-commerce and provide your shoppers with a safe shopping experience. 

5. Create a back-up plan

2020 for sure taught us that we all know that even the best plans can go wrong. So it’s always important to prepare for unexpected circumstances, such as your website being down.

Are you prepared for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

If Black Friday and Cyber Monday are important for your online business, this is the time to prepare your website and marketing strategy! With a website that can handle the crowd, you’ll be able to handle Black Friday and Cyber Monday with ease ánd turn these visitors into long-term customers!