How to Maximize your Marketing Automation Efforts on Cyber Monday
The biggest shopping day of the year is quickly approaching; and no, we aren’t talking about Black Friday. Cyber Monday 2014 is just a few days away.
Based off patterns from past Cyber Monday sales, we’re confident that Cyber Monday 2014 will provide record-breaking sales for every type of retailer. USA Today says “Black Friday will get crushed by Cyber Monday,” arguing that any special deals on Cyber Monday “will outshine most of the offerings on Black Friday.”
An IBM study analyzes historical and real-time data from retailers, showing a 20.6% increase in Cyber Monday online sales from 2012 to 2013. The study also showed that 2013 Cyber Monday sales were 31.5% more than those from Black Friday in the same year. What’s even more interesting is that Cyber Monday shoppers spent 5% less per order than Black Friday goers, with an average order value of $128.77 vs. $135.27. If these patterns continue, retailers can expect to see a significant uptick in traffic this year on Cyber Monday.
Importance of technology and marketing automation
These findings show the public’s shift from in-store to online sales, as customers rely on technology for purchasing products on these special shopping days.
As new developments in technology begin to influence marketing strategies, implementing a marketing automation plan is necessary for companies who wish to stay competitive. Marketing automation is the best innovation for raising product awareness among customers and keeping customers interested in products. The success of your company on December 1st could be determined by marketing automation tactics.
How will you use marketing automation to your advantage for Cyber Monday?
Create excitement for your customers.
Will you offer any special deals on Cyber Monday? Are there any promotional codes your customers may want to take advantage of? If so, let them know! Give your customers a brief preview into your Cyber Monday specials, offering special promo codes via your automation suite. Establishing interest in exciting sales ensures your customers remember to visit your site during the shopping holiday.
Make it special.
To ensure that your communication with shared clients is better than their communication with competition, take advantage of marketing personalization techniques. Personalization is necessary for a successful automation campaign in order to ensure the email does not come off as robotic, impersonal spam. Make sure communication is tailored differently to suit each customer. Provide recommendations for products that each customer may prefer, based on their past interests. A personalized, 1:1 messaging approach that is relevant to the customer will strengthen their relationship with your company.
Send reminder emails to checkout
Your customer visited your site, selected items for purchase, and is ready to buy…until they abandon their shopping cart at checkout. Whether customers are leaving your site to compare prices with your competition, or simply because they forget to return to the site for checkout, the abandonment of a shopping cart can be a tough loss. However, we recommend triggered emails to customers who have abandoned their shopping carts. These emails should be sent immediately after, the following day, and a week after the customer leaves the site. Sending three emails over this time period gently reminds the customer to buy, without being too pushy.
Why are we so sure marketing automation is the answer?
Companies that use marketing automation tend to perform better than those who do not. The Lenskold Group 2013 Lead Generation Marketing Effectiveness Study determined that 63% of companies that are outgrowing competitors use marketing automation. The same study showed that 78% of successful marketers attributed improvements in revenue to marketing automation.
Here is an impressive list of statistics that show the success of a marketing automation campaign. These statistics reveal it’s not only wise to use marketing automation for Cyber Monday, but absolutely necessary.
