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    Category: Marketing Strategies

    Important digital marketing tips for promoting Boxing Day sales

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Since Boxing Day is just a few nights of sleep away, we recommend bookmarking this blog and reviewing it next summer so that you can sort through its contents, pull some ideas, and prepare your holiday digital marketing strategy a few months in advance. After all, the holiday season really starts at the beginning of November, which means that you need to find ways to attract shoppers early for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Boxing Day, and beyond. 

    Competition is high during the holiday season, making it challenging to promote your brand to stand out from the rest. However, with a well-developed digital marketing strategy, you’ll be well on your way to boosting traffic, conversions, and revenue using the following various channels and techniques. 

    Launch some shopping ads

    If your e-commerce business sells physical products it’s important to launch a shopping campaign as part of your digital strategy. Shopping ad campaigns help give customers a presentation of your products along with prices and offered discounts. These types of ads are also visible on search engine result pages, making it easier to attract targeted traffic to your website. That said, we recommend that you start your ad campaigns at least a few weeks before the holiday you’re targeting (for example, December 1 would be a good deadline to set if you want to launch a Boxing Day ad campaign). 

    Create engaging copy

    While there are a variety of ways to bring traffic to your website during the holiday season, festive copywriting is a great way to stand out when competition is high. Whether you choose to put new content right on your homepage, under the description of your products and/or services, or through your social accounts, it’s important to write copy that ties in with the holiday season, and if you can, include sales and discount information as well. 

    If you want to go the extra mile you can also take the time to design a landing page to match. Not only will this boost Boxing Day sales, but it will offer page users a place to click that leads them directly to the holiday hype. Plus, there are many ways to make the landing page appealing by opting to have promotional rewards and offers, a beautifully designed banner, and even a countdown clock to show urgency and prompt visitors to take advantage of a time-sensitive discount. 

    Set up remarketing campaigns

    It can be challenging to boost your sales during the holiday season when many other businesses are doing are attempting to do the same. That’s why you need to recapture the people who have shown interest in your products or services before. Remarketing campaigns allow you to easily advertise interested consumers while also retargeting existing customers who are likely to convert. Emails are also an effective channel to do this. Simply make a list segmentation filled with customers who have recently purchased and let them know about your Boxing Day offers! 

    *Before you run or schedule a campaign to promote holiday offers, be aware of the right time to achieve the best results from your target audience. If you need help using Google Analytics or social media insights and/or other tracking tools to promote your digital marketing strategy, Trek Marketing is here to help with your holiday planning!

    Are there any other ways that you prepare for the approaching holidays? Please drop them below to share with our readers. 

    How to create a holiday content strategy

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    While it’s far too late to orchestrate a 2021 holiday season digital content strategy, there are many annual upcoming holidays where an equal amount of planning is required. That said, for this blog, we’re going to focus on the festivities to come. Between holiday baking and wrapping gifts, you should also be putting spirited cheer into your business’s content, jam-packing it full of consumer goodies that grab some of that holiday traffic. While having a digital content strategy months in advance ensures the best outcome, there are many ways that you can implement great content weeks or even days before the season begins. 

    Anticipate the season’s trends 

    The thing about holidays is that they return year after year, which means that data from previous seasons can help e-commerce business owners predict popular trends. For example, simple, accessible resources such as Google searches can tell you a lot about mobile shopping trends. With the buzz of popular holidays like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and Boxing Day, mobile traffic is likely to increase due to people trying to avoid the crowds. This means that your digital content strategy should be catering towards making shopping convenient. This could include sending out an email or social media message advertising a pre-holiday sale or an add-to-cart discount that encourages consumers to buy more to receive a larger deal. 

    That said, how else can analyzing past trends help you with your digital content strategy?

    • Allows you to prepare pages, blogs, or other types of content that’s optimized for mobile searches
    • Email marketing and social media marketing can take a bit of time to prepare which is why it’s important to launch your discounts with ample time to take advantage of them.
    • Cater to users that are searching for holiday gifts and be sure you advertise them taking into account shipping waits. 

    Ask your audience

    In some cases, there might not be enough data on your industry to plan a successful digital content strategy. If this is the case for you, we recommend asking your audience what they want. 

    Marketing research requires time and resources, which is why many small businesses opt to spend their time targeting what their audience wants based on what their audience has asked for. 

    The best way to grab hold of their answers is through surveys that ask indirect questions like:

    • What’s your #1 concern going into this holiday season?
    • How are you planning for the holidays this year?
    • What are you most looking forward to during this holiday season?
    • How could our brand make your holidays run smoother?
    • What’s your best holiday memory?

    The goal of these questions is to get a feel for your audience’s goals, concerns, interests, and struggles and find innovative ways for your product or service to solve them. 

    Audit existing content

    If you don’t have the resources to create new content, you can audit existing content by updating it. This is only possible if you’re a more established business that has published holiday-related content before and you simply want to update it so that it applies to a new shopping season. For example, if you wrote a blog that was entitled, “2020 gift guide” it would be easy enough to change it to “2021 gift guide” and simply add some new products and then hit publish. 

    We do recommend that new business owners write fresh content on their own or hire a professional copywriter to handle the challenge of creating engaging content with traffic potential.

    What other methods do you use when preparing your digital content strategy? Please drop feedback in the comments section below. 

    3 ways holiday shopping has changed since the beginning of the pandemic

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Now that we have been living amid a pandemic for almost two years, there is less uncertainty around what might happen. Most people are understanding that measures taken are to keep them safe and are on board with following these recommendations and presumptive measures to avoid the need for business closures. We’ve also adapted to the world of working-from-home, virtual appointments, and opting to get back to activities through a pre-booking system. Needless to say, one thing that hasn’t slowed down is holiday online shopping! 

    Shoppers are spending more

    At the beginning of the pandemic, many businesses were forced to close which means employers laid off working staff to front the costs until they could reopen. Now that we know more about how this virus is transmitted, we know that masks and social distancing do wonders for keeping people well, which has allowed brick-and-mortar businesses to reopen alongside in-person meetings, conferences, and events. That said, customers who enjoy online shopping have continued to do so, and those who learned how to make purchases online to avoid contact in stores, have also continued to rely on e-commerce businesses as a method of convenience. 

    In 2021, both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores are booming once again, and with a regular paycheck, and appreciation for hugs and gathering, shoppers are spending more, especially on their holiday online shopping. Whether they’re making up for lost times or simply eager about seasonal festivities, consumer spending is on the rise and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. 

    Shoppers are carrying out purchases with time to spare

    While e-commerce businesses and their digital marketing teams begin prepping for the holiday season before the end of summer, shoppers too, are prepping their lists early. If COVID has taught us anything, it’s to expect shipping delays and stocking issues. These supply-chain shortages have prompted earlier holiday online shopping, giving gift-givers a greater opportunity to find the items they want to wrap up this season. While last-minute shopping habits die hard for some (partially due to the flexibility of shopping in-store for more generic items), many people relish finishing their shopping early, and we expect this trend to continue. 

    Shoppers are willing to hunt around

    Before the pandemic, if their favorite chain store or small business was out of the desired item, many consumers would opt for an emailed reminder when the item became in stock. However, with some businesses unable to restock inventory must-haves for weeks, shoppers question their loyalty and are willing to look elsewhere to fulfill their checklists. 

    We’re sincerely hoping that this issue becomes gets buried for 2022! Although, we recommend that you use your email and social media platforms to keep customers updated if you’re experiencing a shipping or supply issue. Honest transparency is a great way to maintain customer loyalty. Also, be sure you pass on the savings by setting up a promotion code schedule to offer a meaningful way for shoppers to return to your online store. 

    Have you noticed any ongoing changes in your industry since the start of the pandemic? Please drop them in the comments section below to spark a conversation.   

    Have you considered AI as part of your brand’s digital marketing strategy?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Digital marketing has vastly grown in popularity as e-commerce business owners expand their hunt for the best methods and channels to distribute their products and services to the online masses. That said, with such an expansion, artificial intelligence (AI) has made leaps to help marketing professionals perform their jobs more efficiently than they could just a few years ago. Needless to say, since AI can be used in several ways, it’s important to determine which processes hold more value for your marketing campaigns before you invest in any type of AI-related experience. Continue reading to find new ways that you could be using AI in marketing. 

    AI predictive features add personalization 

    AI is a great resource for data collection—instead of manually sorting through each customer interaction, businesses use AI programs to compile the information into easy-to-read reports. So, why can’t businesses owners and marketing professionals alike use it to make smarter decisions for their campaigns?

    Think about times where you’ve shopped a website that was set up to offer personalization. Elements suggesting that you may also like other products is an AI customization that makes each visit unique to the consumer based on their search history and previous purchases. This not only improves the customer experience but also ensures that what’s displayed is more likely to fit the needs of the shopper, resulting in more sales, engagement, and site traffic.

    AI improves content creation

    Much of digital marketing involves creating consistent, fresh content to post on a website, making category pages and blogs an essential part of any marketing strategy. Depending on the industry, consumers may even rely on content (reviews, testimonials, etc.) to reassure their decision to make a purchase. While there’s no arguing that content is key, brainstorming topics ideas is both challenging and time-consuming. 

    With the power of AI, marketing professionals can analyze consumer behaviour on these pages through a machine learning system that provides feedback to improve future content. For example, elements such as time spent on page providers writers with some insight into how far the reader is delving into the content and where they can place photos and/or videos to increase this engagement. 

    The use of chatbots and natural language processing (NLP)

    Natural language processing (NLP) is a form of machine learning that understands, analyzes, compiles, and creates human speech. Many businesses utilize this type of AI in marketing, whether it be as a chatbot technology or as an aid when writing emails and/or blogs. 

    We’re living in a world where chatbots understand a consumer’s basic request and can respond to them based on the specific keywords or phrases provided. These AI tools make it possible for businesses to provide 24/7 service, answering questions for customers around the clock and providing long-tail sentences for those who may not be savvy with their words. 

    Trek Marketing works in partnership with Numinix Web Development using AI practices to make our client’s businesses thrive. Want to find out more? 

    Do you use AI in any of your marketing strategies? Drop a comment below to tell us more. 

    3 creative ideas for your holiday marketing campaigns

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Halloween is long over, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday are upon us, and the holiday season is coming up quickly! Now is the perfect time to revamp your holiday marketing campaigns to get customers excited about your brand and give them a reason to shop. It goes without saying that incorporating some holiday spirit into your digital marketing campaigns acts as the best method to grab their attention, but since every other business will be doing the same, listed below are three creative ideas that can help to separate you from the rest. 

    Send out festive emails

    Whether you’re planning to offer a holiday discount code that can be used during a sale’s event or you’ve simply restocked some top-selling products and want your customers to know, to achieve optimal engagement with your email-based holiday marketing campaigns, be sure to put some added time into making them festive. This could include simple elements like a red, green, and white colour scheme and cheery, jovial imagery like presents, garlands, holidays lights, and snowman. This will ensure that you’re mindful of your audience and the fact that they may celebrate different holidays. However, if your demographics align, feel free to throw in a Christmas or Santa to appeal to the masses! 

    Since the holiday season is the perfect time of year to let your customers know that they’re valued, we recommend offering some sort of incentive to be considered as an online vendor for their shopping lists. 

    Launch a holiday-themed ad

    Google Ads is a great place to launch holiday-themed advertisements and promotions. That said, e-commerce businesses need to remember to research and utilize relevant keywords, such as “holiday”, “Christmas”, or “seasonal sale”. While the Google Ads platform is a great start, don’t shy away from promoting your products and services on social media sites like Facebook or Instagram if these platforms are places where your target audience can be reached and your holiday marketing campaigns thrive. 

    While there aren’t many weeks left before the holiday season, you can spend time now optimizing your website for technical SEO to achieve higher search engine rankings in the future. SEO is a great way to increase organic presence and creating high-quality content is still one of the best ways to get noticed online. 

    Advertise a contest or giveaway

    During the holiday season, it’s certainly a struggle to gain attention from your audience, especially with so many competitors looking to do the same. However, by promoting contests or giveaways that encourage people to participate, many brands can expand their reach, which grows their following! The trick to hosting a contest is to do so on social media. Ask users to follow your account, tag friends for more entries, share on their stories for added entries, and remain following to take part in future contests. While you will need to giveaway a prize with a certain value, access to new, interested consumers is far more rewarding. 

    What other ways do you prepare for the holiday season? Drop a comment below to share with our readers.

    Amp up your digital marketing these 3 ways

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Each new year ushers transformation to the world of digital marketing. Thus, digital marketing strategies must constantly undergo a revamp to remain effective in improving customer relationships, visibility, conversions, and growth. Listed below are three ways that you can focus on remaining on top of your business and craft new strategies to achieve your desired results.

    Utilize the social platforms that will benefit your business most

    While harnessing the power of social media is a great way to reach your target audience, we recommend that you not get caught up in the craze. With so many social channels to pick from, you must weigh the pros and cons of each one and select an amount that’s manageable for you or your digital marketing team. It’s way better to be unique and authentic on the platforms where your audience engages most than to overextend your means by trying to post on every single channel. After all, if the demographic you’re advertising to spends most of their time on Instagram or TikTok, doesn’t it make more sense to spend your time creating content there? Maintaining social accounts is a huge task and if you want your digital marketing efforts to be noticed, implement your strategies in a way that best suits your brand’s personality.

    Examples of the top social platforms to implement your digital marketing strategies:

    • Facebook (recently renamed Meta)
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • TikTok
    • Pinterest
    • Snapchat
    • YouTube
    • Whatsapp
    • Reddit

    We recommend selecting two to three of the above options for your small business.

    Tell stories by utilizing your customer reviews

    Not only are business reviews valuable in developing trust with prospective customers, but they can also be used to further your digital marketing efforts. Customer feedback is a gold mine for any sized business. While business owners must listen and respond accordingly when the review requires you to get in touch, positive assessments can be used in so many ways—you can turn these reviews into stories for your blog, create an image with the review copy and place it on your social channels, or simply ensure that the reviews section of your website is up-to-date so that shoppers can read them to help answer some of their questions. All of the above examples will help you appeal to wider audiences through authentic customer feedback. 

    Strive to always be flexible and adaptable with your business

    Some digital marketing strategies might work long-term, while others will be required down the road. Change in any digital space is inevitable, so you need to be ready to jump onto new opportunities and understand that what’s working today might not be the case for tomorrow, next week, or next year. Part of growing your digital marketing strategies is embracing the pace of your niche industry and the nature of an adapting digital world, so be sure you learn how to leverage new tools and trends so that you gain the most success in each of your digital marketing efforts. 

    If any of the above amped-up digital marketing suggestions seems daunting to you or you simply want tips to further your understanding and the direction you need to go, our team of digital marketing professionals is here and ready to answer all of your questions and take on any of the workload proving to be challenging.

    Which one of our amped-up digital marketing strategies are you most excited to work with? Drop a comment below to start a conversation. 

    Everything you need to know about keywords and digital marketing

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Online visibility is one of the most important ways to achieve high sales and conversions and the measurability requires a strong online presence so that consumers can find, learn, and purchase from your e-commerce business. While there are many ways to get noticed on the wide web, SEO keywords research should be a huge part of your digital marketing strategy. 

    How do keywords relate to digital marketing?

    When consumers enter a query into a search engine like Google or Bing, they type in words or phrases to guide their search. These are referred to as “keywords” and in terms of organic content, whichever websites can best encompass what the user is looking for will pop up as an option for them to click. 

    *Keep in mind that sponsored ads purchase their placement and will always appear at the top, regardless of how well they match your query.

    While this may sound simple enough, search engines use complicated algorithms to assist users with their search results, and there are a wide variety of factors (ex. website credibility, publishing activity, and keywords used) that determine where a website is placed. 

    How do you know which keywords to use:

    • Top keywords are terms that users will search for
    • Relevant keywords should have a connection to your brand
    • It’s important to sprinkle keywords seamlessly by integrating them into all types of content

    We recommend working alongside a Search Engine Optimization expert to assist in your SEO keywords research that you know which terms to focus on and so that you can begin using them strategically throughout your digital marketing content. 

    Are there different types of keywords?

    Yes! There are three types of keywords.

    • Short-tail keywords usually consist of one or two words. These terms are broad and have a high search volume.
    • Middle-tail keywords consist of three to four words and are more specific but might have a lower search volume. 
    • Long-tail keywords consist of four or more words and due to their specificity, the search volume is so low it might only target niche consumers. 

    While it may seem more strategic to opt for keywords that have the highest volume of searches, the best digital marketing strategies use a mixture of types of keywords to ensure they have the highest chance of converting visitors.

    Tips to researching the best keywords for your content strategy

    While there are many SEO keywords research tools available, here are some tips to get you started:

    • Brainstorm ideas: What words do you think that your target audience are searching for to find a company like yours? Write down what comes to mind. 
    • Organize your list: Separate your keywords into categories to keep everything organized.
    • Research trending terms: Enter one of your brainstormed ideas into a search engine and then scroll down to look for related searches. These terms might be relevant queries for your target customer and possibly some phrases that are advertised by your competition. 

    How to add keywords to your digital marketing content

    A successful digital marketing strategy requires finding keywords and effectively using them. Since keywords are one of the main resources bringing consumers to your website, it’s important that your content be well-written and easy to read. 

    Aside from content pages and product descriptions, blog posts are another great way to strategically place keywords throughout your website. Just be sure that you add new blog submissions regularly and use the words naturally throughout the posts to achieve a higher organic search ranking.

    That said, here are some other ways to slip keywords into your content: 

    • The titled
    • Subheadings
    • Photo captions
    • Image file names
    • The URL of the post
    • Meta-description
    • Within the first sentence
    • Within the final paragraph

    Do you have any further questions about SEO keywords research and how to implement the terms? Drop a comment below to share with our readers. 

    4 Digital Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Whether you’re a new entrepreneur or a seasoned e-commerce business owner, there’s no denying that digital marketing is an important investment for anyone who runs a small business. Since digital approaches to reaching target customers aren’t going anywhere, you should know a lot about the tools at your disposal to ensure that you’re working towards building a strong strategy. Below we will share some digital tips on improving your search engine optimization (SEO), building an audience on social media (SMM), and some best practices for utilizing email. 

    Don’t put all your efforts into one area

    While there are many ways a company can market their potential offline—promotion through relevant events and conferences, business cards and/or flyers, or wrap your car with your business information—digital marketing is a more powerful way to promote a small business. Efforts like SEO, SMM, and email marketing are digital channels that allow you to connect and interact with your target audience with sales and conversions in mind. Since all of these digital marketing strategies provide something different for your small business, be sure to spread the budget around and slowly build up each online strategy over time.

    Be smart with data

    There are many insights that can be found within your business metrics if you know where to look. With everything from Facebook reach to website bounce rates and everything in between. That said, the best way to move forward is to focus on a particular metric and see how it has changed over time, then you can add it to your list of upcoming marketing efforts to get you closer to your overall goals. For example, if you’re trying to grow your audience using existing email subscribers, you might want to track the number of clicks a paid ad earns to attract brand-new customers outside your current audience. If you have three new subscribers, your data should let you know with confidence where those emails came from. 

    Interact with your audience in a meaningful way

    You don’t need to only focus on social media when looking to connect with your target audience. Other elements like creating new content pages or sending out polls by email are also great ways to directly access your customer base and train them to rely on your platforms for meaningful, engaging messages. 

    Heavily invest in your SEO strategy

    Copywriting takes new heights when it’s sprinkled with snazzy, industry-relevant keywords that are highly sought after on search engines. While it’s important to retain information to ensure your copy speaks to customers in a language that they understand, possessing the right keywords will ensure your digital marketing efforts for your small business don’t go unnoticed, as search engines will point visitors towards your site. Aside from content curation, savvy SEO services should include time spent on securing backlinks, reorganizing page layouts, and ensuring best practices for headers, URLs, and meta tags to keep up your presence in ongoing searches.

    Keep Track Of Your Competitors

    Whether you own a large or small business, keeping track of your competitor’s marketing efforts should be automatic as it is one of the best ways to gauge how you are doing in the market. This is also your chance to find your edge amongst other small businesses in your niche, therefore getting more pieces of the pie or market share. This strategy will save you tons of marketing budget and time as you can see what’s working and what’s not. Trial and error are expected, especially in digital marketing, but finding ways to gather data without taking risks efficiently is a huge plus.

    Keep Trying New Things

    What’s cool about digital marketing is the avenue and broad stream of opportunities to gather your online presence. Sure, you have to be consistent in your marketing campaigns, but you shouldn’t be afraid to do things differently from time to time. When the market is bombarded with the same marketing strategies all day long, trying to get the same attention, adding a slightly different touch to your marketing efforts makes all the difference. If you’ve been doing well in SMM for a while, try spending some time on Email Marketing and try your luck. You might be surprised by how many opportunities you leave on the table. 

    Know Your Audience

    Before you make any digital marketing efforts, it is crucial to find out who you are trying to target. As you dabble around market segmentation, you’ll find it easier to know where they are and what type of marketing strategies should be best to get their attention. This increases the accuracy of your marketing efforts, saves you tons of budgets, and allows you to spend your focus where it’s needed. Small Businesses will benefit from this strategy as they tend to have a more focused niche than larger companies. Use this advantage to penetrate those untapped markets.

    Add Visuals to Your Content

    Most of you might agree that content remains the king when marketing. However, the types of content today are pretty different compared to previous years. You may notice that a lot of visual content is the ones that are taking giant leaps, whether in video format or simply adding related images in blogs. Statistics show that including visuals in your content increases more than 80% of the engagement and 20% or more clicks. Creating content with images makes it more shareable than just plain texts. Think of images as icing on top after writing a very insightful and exciting copy.

    Be Consistent With Your Brand

    Being consistent with your brand and what you’re brand is standing for is an excellent way to gain and keep loyal customers. Flexibility is essential in Digital Marketing, but your small business’s mission and vision should remain consistent as it grows with your followers. Always look at the bigger picture and create marketing efforts that you think will last the test of time and stay relevant for years to come.

    Good Customer Feedback for Social Proof

    Have you ever bought a product before without even thinking twice just because your friend bought the same thing? Most of you can probably relate to this. This is the power of feedback. Say you successfully led your potential buyers to your landing page. One of the first things they’ll look for is the reviews. Making efforts to get as many good quality reviews as possible is one of the best ways to grow your business.

    Do you have any questions about our digital marketing tips for your small business? Drop a comment below for a prompt response. 

    Fall-inspired social media content ideas for your business

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    On the hunt for some fall social media post ideas that can offer your business that added edge? Engaging content isn’t hard to create and incorporating seasonality to make those connections sets you up for successful interaction. That being said, below are some fall-inspired content ideas to get your social media marketing strategy started. 

    Incorporate fall images

    A good social media marketing strategy involves harnessing the power of what’s going on around you to build content that’s inspiring and relatable. This means that if you want your social posts to get more engagement and clicks, perhaps offering an autumn vibe might get the attention you’re hoping for. Whether you sprinkle your products among fall colours (red, orange, yellow, and brown) or simply take some seasonal photos with the appropriate scenery (pumpkins, hay bales, and scarecrows), a stockpile of seasonal images is a great way to get yourself notice above other social media posts. 

    Offer a seasonal discount

    Who said that you needed to wait until Black Friday/Cyber Monday to offer your customers a little discount? Whether you want to highlight an upcoming Halloween sale or simply offer a coupon code that can be used until the end of October, shoppers get excited about seasonal savings and are inclined to start their holiday shopping early with the right incentive. 

    Update your followers about the seasonal activities you’re doing

    Consumers love getting an exclusive look at your personal life, whether it be with your friends and family or behind the scenes of your business, so, we recommend incorporating some fall-inspired activities into these types of posts. Share your employee pumpkin carving content, some DIY fall decor that you made for the shop, or even a trip to a local apple picking spot with your family. Also, make sure to ask your followers to comment on what they love doing this time of year as a way to connect with them. 

    Create a guide to fall essentials

    Pretty much any business can have a fall twist with the right imagination, which is why it’s important to separate your products from the ones that can be enjoyed more this time of year. Whether you sell coats, skincare products, or wine, think of an ingenious way to guide the consumer through your products and how they engage with the season. This means highlighting your water-resistant outerwear, products that keep the skin hydrated during cold weather, and seasonal wine flavours!

    Ask questions on social polls

    This is a great way to engage with shoppers on Instagram, especially if you utilize some fun GIFs on the story features. Keep in mind that not every part of your social media marketing strategy needs to be sales-focused, and at times, a greater focus needs to be on engagement and interaction. Ask your followers what their favourite activities are by giving button options for them to click, then once you’ve gathered lots of opinions, share the results back on your stories!

    Which of the above content ideas is most inspiring to you? Drop a comment below to share with our readers.

    Your 6-point checklist to prepare for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Are you a business owner who’s always on the hunt for some digital marketing tips? Since online shoppers love a good deal, if you haven’t started preparing for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, now is the time to get your e-commerce store ready for customers who’re looking to indulge in some pre-holiday spending. After all, seasonal sales are the bread and butter for many merchants and there’s an assortment of ways that you can reach out to new and existing customers using our 6-point checklist below.

    #1 Offer deals in October

    With an influx of people looking to shop online for their holiday purchases, it’s best practice to plan your Black Friday/Cyber Monday strategy in October. This ensures that you have plenty of time to carry out your digital marketing campaigns and provide customers with enticing coupons and special offers that they can use leading up to the shopping holiday. 

    #2 Troubleshoot your site speed

    While it’s never recommended to change your website’s functionality within the months leading up to the holiday season, a lack of speed is a sure-fire way to turn customers off. Before drawing too much traffic to your website through special offers, consult with a web development company to ensure that your website is performing how it should and that the checkout process is ready for orders. 

    #3 Ensure that you have some enticing product and service descriptions

    It’s one thing to have really great products and services, but it’s another when their descriptions tap into the shopper’s emotions, influencing their values, and enticing them to buy. Aside from having SEO-friendly copy to get the traffic you need, we also recommend that your content be professionally written and express some urgency to persuade shoppers who may be uncertain. For example, adding phrases such as “limited time only” or “selling out fast” can make a huge difference in your sales. 

    #4 Cross-sell your products and services

    You don’t just want your customers to purchase the one thing they came for only to leave your site forever. In fact, once they landed on your website, you should use this opportunity to refer them to something that will naturally fit well with their interests. For example, if you own a footwear store and a customer has come in search of shoes, it only makes sense to also offer them some socks. That said, to consolidate your Black Friday/Cyber Monday efforts, you may want to create a specific holiday landing page or the navigation bar to make deals easier to grab for customers who’re ready to take advantage of your cross-selling approach. 

    #5 Utilize social media

    Social selling is a powerful way to prepare for shopping holidays, especially if you don’t own a business with a physical storefront. Whether you run advertisements through Facebook or schedule posts on a variety of channels, it’s important to create hype so that your campaigns reach people within your target market. Also, keep an eye out for trending hashtags that can be incorporated to boost your posts.

    #6 Send out some emails

    While the above digital marketing tips are all great ways to prepare for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, the best way to marketing to loyal customers during this annual event will always be through email to the inbox. Just because your newsletters should be actionable and sent out during the sale doesn’t mean that they can’t be prepared well in advance by having content and images ready to go. That said, if you’re sending out regular emails, alludes to your upcoming sale and leaves hints at what you will be offering for when the time comes.  

    What other points make it onto your prep checklist? Let us know in the comments section below.