Last Minute Email Marketing Tips for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

As Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday fall in line to mark America’s shopping season, shoppers are queuing up in malls and retail outlets to take advantage of the biggest deals of the year. Similarly, the online shoppers too are proactively hunting for the best offers on the Internet. Last year, American people spent around $1970 million on Black Friday according to data provided by the Statista, and the number is going up year by year.

Black Friday Spending in the US (Statista)

Black Friday Spending in the US (Statista)

 

If you are a retailer or an online seller who still hasn’t planned the Email marketing campaigns for the most profitable days to come, worry not! Here are few last minute Email marketing tips that you may implement to take advantage of the biggest shopping season to follow.

1. Design an Appealing Email Template and Start Bombarding Emails

Since you haven’t planned your marketing strategy well in advance, you do not have enough time to segment your customers and send them the personalized messages and offers. But if you are a small business with a smaller customer base and you can send personalized emails before the big day arrives, go ahead!

According to some studies, half of the American people come to know about the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals through emails. Also, since you are sending them emails right a day before the big day, your messages remain fresh in their minds, and there are chances that they may consider your offer.

2. Attach an Invitation or An Offer with the ‘Thank you’ note

The shopping season in the US actually starts from Thanksgiving Day when enterprises send Thank you notes to their customers and offer them various promotional discounts and gifts. You can always use this as an opportunity to invite your customers to visit your store or e-commerce website to avail exciting offers. Sending your customers thank you messages along with the promotional offers is actually an excellent way to express your gratitude to them. And it will also create a strong base for the trail of your marketing emails to be sent.

4. Play with Interactive Elements

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the occasions when the sole motive of marketers is to sell. Customers’ inboxes are piled with emails of sales and discount offers. The designs and pitch of such emails often remain the same and thus many emails stay unopened.

If you want the receiver to open your email, give them something new – something unique.

Add interactive elements like an animated GIF image or a video in your email. Create and convey a story on and around the offer and give a clear CTA at the end. Make sure all the essential details of the offer are shown through the GIF crisply and relevantly.

4. Give Customers the Reason of Value

If you want to entice a customer, offer him/her a value that is difficult to resist. By ‘value’ we refer to the emotions created by personal, social or promotional benefits.

If you have aimed this holiday season’s revenue to be a part of some social benefit, mention it in your emails. Let your customers know that you are not just running after your profits, but also are working for the betterment of society. People tend to respond more positively and to make purchases when they find that they are contributing to some good social cause.

5. Create a Sense of Urgency

Convey your Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers and remind your customers the time when the actual sale starts. Using phrases like ‘Limited Stock’, ‘Early Bird Offer’ create a sense of urgency which will drive customers to act quickly.

6. Use Strong Call-to-action

Though you do not have much time to plan, it is sensible to create strong calls to action that give you umpteen opportunities for immediate conversions.

7. Be Smart in Offering Discounts and Gifts

Don’t forget that your marketing exercise for Black Friday and Cyber Monday is to generate higher sales and make profits. Find those items which you would like to clear from stock by the year-end and offer discounts that ensure you a certain percentage of profits. Refrain from making crazy offers.

8. Compliment Your Email Marketing Campaign

Email marketing alone is just not enough. If you compliment the same by being active on social media and sending SMS to your prospects, you have a higher chance of attracting more customers to your website or retail store.

9. Reward Your Loyal Shoppers

If you have the data of your last year’s shoppers or the ones who buy the most from you, you can offer them better rewards than you are offering to most others. Since those shoppers already have a shopping experience with you, they may respond to your offers positively.

You are not too late if you still wake up and start with an action-oriented marketing exercise. The coming week is a money-spinning time for most marketers from which they must bring out the best.