Making your seasonal ecommerce sales campaigns more effective

It’s almost Black Friday and the biggest shopping weekend of the year – last year’s Cyber Monday (the Monday after Black Friday) went down in history as the largest online shopping day ever so there’s a pretty good chance that this year’s will be even bigger and better. With that in mind, it’s important that you get all of your marketing plans finalised now to ensure that you get as much valuable traffic to your business website as you can now shopping season is about to hit its peak.So, how can you make your online festive shopping campaign its most effective yet?

Use Analytics The Analytics data you collected last year is a great starting point for tweaking this year’s holiday shopping campaigns. Look at which channels performed best for you – did you get great results from sharing coupon codes on Facebook for example or can lots of your conversions be traced back to Google Ads? Which days performed best for you and when did your website traffic hit its peak? Pull all of the insight you can from your data to build a picture of what you can expect and where the sweet spots are. Study buyer behaviour Shopping behaviour and search habits are changing as we all become more comfortable shopping online. Take some time to understand this shift and really study what’s driving your own shoppers. If you can forecast needs, wants and concerns, you can showcase content, products and deals that really meet shopper needs, helping you to make more conversions and keep those virtual tills ringing.According to Google price and promotions are two of the most important considerations for shoppers on Black Friday so make sure you tap into that behaviour by pushing your most compelling offers in the days around the shopping event. Make sure your site is mobile friendly Even shoppers who plan on purchasing in a physical store rely on their phones with 40% using their smartphone to research items as they shop, according to Google. Grab your own smartphone and ensure that your site is easy to navigate, loads quickly and has forms which are mobile-friendly. That way, you won’t lose out during this critical sales season. Don’t stop your campaigns too early If you really want your campaigns to be effective, keep them running longer than you may think you should. Research shows that searches peak after Christmas for Christmas-related items as savvy shoppers look for bargains or late deals on gifts so maximise the shopping opportunities by continuing your promotions after the big day.