Are You Ready for Black Friday?

Unless you're one of the people who camp in the cold outside malls and shopping plazas for days awaiting Friday's amazing deals, the post-holiday holiday is really a win-win for both consumers and retailers. Savvy shoppers can find super shopportunities, while smart marketers can rake in the revenue.

Are you ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

E-commerce is also a huge component — so if you're selling online, are you ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Here are a few quick tips to help with some of your digital marketing:

Email Blasts - Make sure your message is laser-focused and your value proposition is communicated in your subject line. Merchants will be bombarding users this week and without a strongly-worded offer, you're likely to get ignored. Use a free tool like http://subjectlinegold.com (sign-up required) to analyze subject lines before sending. You'll also want to schedule emails in the morning or early afternoon if you're trying to build awareness, or around/after dinnertime if trying to promote purchasing.

Social Media - Of course you have sales and promotions to talk about, but so does every other company your followers have liked. The key to remember is that people are logging on to be social, so don't just simply post links to your landing pages. Engage with your fans! In your marketing message, you may want to ask a question — what was special about their holiday, or how will they plan to use whatever amazing product you're offering them? The more people are engaged, the more likely they are to share with their friends and you'll easily expand your total reach.

Online Advertising - Sharing on social media may not be enough — you may want to consider using promoted posts to extend your reach ever further. If you're looking to reach additional audiences however, consider Facebook ads (especially mobile news feed ads) and Google AdWords search ads. Just be prepared to pay a bit extra for your bids — this time of year is very competitive, so you'll likely need to spend 2x to 4x normal amounts to reach the same audience otherwise. 

Happy Marketing!

-Jeff