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The Secret to Capitalizing on Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday Feature

As the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday gets a lot of attention as the calendar moves towards the end of the year. But what about giving Cyber Monday some love?

Falling on 30th November in 2021, this year marks the 15th anniversary of the official Cyber Monday celebrations. Since 77% of online retailers see a bump in sales in the first Monday after Thanksgiving, it’s well worth it for businesses to make the most of the online shopping bonanza. 

Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday is all about big deals and crazy sales, however unlike Black Friday, the focus is all online. 

Here are some ways you and your business can make the most of Cyber Monday this year. 

1. Focus on the big sellers 

Shoppers will be looking for any kind of deal on Cyber Monday, but many will arrive with a reasonably fixed idea of the kind of things to buy during the celebration. 

While your company may already have a fixed inventory, it’s worth knowing the kinds of products that sell the best during Cyber Monday. 

If it’s possible for you to do so, you might consider pivoting to products such as:

  • Electronics. Smartphones and other consumer electronics are consistently the most popular types of products purchased on Cyber Monday. 
  • Toys. It’s worth remembering that Cyber Monday is in the run-up to Christmas, and lots of gifts are being purchased. Lego, board games, and drones sell big. 
  • Cosmetics. Again, cosmetics are popular Christmas gifts, and top among them are fragrances. One fragrance was sold every 1.85 seconds on Cyber Monday 2018. 
  • Travel. This is a relatively niche service to sell, but it’s worth knowing that Cyber Monday represents the highest sales of holidays for the year. 
  • Clothing. If your traffic is predominantly mobile, clothing should sell well. Shoes are particularly big sellers on Cyber Monday, with a pair sold ever 2.5 seconds in 2018. 

2. Make Cyber Monday into Cyber Week 

Let’s be realistic: as a small business, your resources are limited. It’s more challenging to ensure you have peak traffic on your website bang on Cyber Monday. 

You can turn this weakness into a strength by turning Cyber Monday into Cyber Week. Make your deals available for a whole 7 days, and give your customers more time to shop. 

You should still focus on creating urgency and pressure to purchase, but allow shoppers time to compare your deals and come back later. 

3. Leverage social media

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest have an oversized influence on brand success during Cyber Monday deals. 

Not only are they a great way to get the word out to new and existing costumes about your deals, but they can also be an extra sales platform. 

  • Optimize your social marketing by using highly targeted ads that clearly state your deals and create urgency. 
  • Consider creating a hashtag to organize hype around your brand. 
  • Make your Facebook and Instagram posts shoppable. Since almost half of Cyber Monday purchases are made on mobile devices, this makes it easier for that traffic to buy with you. 

4. Optimize your website 

It might come as no surprise that we’re sharing this piece of advice, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable. 

Ensuring your website is tidy and your onboarding flow is optimized should be a priority in the run-up to Cyber Monday. 

Make sure that you do these things before the sales event:

  • Check site speed and capacity. A slow or crashing website will cost you sales. Make sure your hosting is solid and your load times are short. 
  • Create landing pages. Themed landing pages that drive shoppers towards your deals will convert better than sending ad traffic straight to your homepage. 
  • Create urgency. Add features to your website which encourage shoppers to make speedy purchases. Consider a countdown time or ‘limited time’ messaging. 
  • Remove roadblocks. Check your website for bottlenecks in the purchasing funnel. Make it as easy to make a purchase as possible. 

5. Partner with other businesses

Cyber Monday offers huge opportunity, but also represents massive competition. As a small business, it’s easy for your voice to get lost in the din of brands trying to make sales. 

It might be worth teaming up with other small and medium-sized businesses to extend your reach and get heard by your target customers. 

Consider co-branding deal, offering cross-recommendation, and generally pooling your marketing efforts. 

6. Offer something unique 

Unique Surprise Chocolate Bar

Cyber Monday is obviously all about great deals, but the small businesses that stand out are the ones that take a unique approach to the event. 

This starts with thinking about promotions more in terms of 70% discounts than 10%. However, you might also consider offering a prize draw, or promising to donate a portion of your profits to charity. 

However you decide to make yourself stand out from the crowd, be sure that you put it clearly in your marketing messaging. Help shoppers understand why and how it benefits them. 

7. Plan for next year 

Alright, so Cyber Monday this year is not that far off, and there’s plenty you can do to prepare. But once it’s over, there’s tons you can do to ensure next year’s event is even more successful. 

Be sure to have tracking tools running throughout the event, so that you can analyze your store’s performance, and optimize it next time around. 

Things you should consider include?

  • Spot bottlenecks in your onboarding, where you lost traffic or sales. Fix these issues before next Cyber Monday. 
  • Identifying the early indicators of overall seasonal performance. Over the years, you should be able to predict and influence sales. 
  • Use your previous year’s numbers as a baseline. Use them to spot performance signals, and identify negative trends early. 
  • Streamline your website update process, so it’s easier to adjust your ads or pages as issues emerge. 

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Written by

Author avatar

Duncan

Duncan is obsessed with making website building and eCommerce accessible to everyone. He explains the best tools and the latest digital marketing trends in ways that are clear and engaging. His focus is on supporting the sustainable growth of small to medium-sized enterprises. When not writing, he enjoys deep sea fishing and endurance cycling.

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