Last Minute BFCM Tips For Success

Hey! Welcome back to Brand Building With Nicholas.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Superbowl of eCommerce is finally here. This is the biggest week of the year for most brands. And for some brands, this week can be a make or break for reaching annual sales goals.

At this point, you should have already planned everything out. Your content should be made, your offer tested, and your landing pages built. 

The holiday season is the culmination of the last 180 days of work that your teams have put in to get ready for a smooth Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

So what do you need to do to make the most out of your holiday season?

Pre-Click And Post-Click In Sync

One of the most commonly missed opportunities and sources of inefficiency is when your pre-click offers and post-click experiences aren’t aligned with each other.

When someone clicks on an ad or from one of your emails for a specific offer or product, they need to be directed to that product or offer. Or at the very least, be one click away from it (ex. A collection page).

With that being said, your offer needs to be crystal clear on your website or landing page.

This is the season where people are with their family and constantly distracted so they need to be aware of your offer no matter what phase of the buying journey they are in.

For example, if they click on your ad for an offer, they need to be able to resume their buying journey later while still knowing what your offer is.

Remember, confusion kills sales so make sure your shoppers know exactly what they are getting.

Build Extra Trust 

With ad spend going up and new people entering your ecosystem, it’s crucial to build more trust to help show that your website is the best place to spend money this holiday season.

Keep in mind that a lot of shoppers aren’t buying for themselves so additional trust your product will fit someone else’s needs can go a long way.

And don’t forget about your return policy. With gift giving return policies can go a long way to building buyer trust.

You wouldn’t want to buy someone a gift if they can’t return it if it doesn’t work for them. Neither do your shoppers. Add extra emphasis for your return policy if you’re a heavy gift giving store.

Utilize Your Lists 

During the holiday season, people are expecting to get lots of emails. Don’t be afraid to send more emails than normal!

With that being said, utilize your lists and your segmentation. In addition to your most engaged segments, tap into less engaged lists with your offers to bring people back into your ecosystem.

With email sends way up this week, make sure you nurture your audience with your offers too. Build rules so that if people don’t buy or even open, they get reminded of your offers. There is a lot of buzz this week so a lot of people will need some extra reminding.

Double Check EVERYTHING

This may seem obvious, but double check everything about your buying process.

Are your ads going to the right place?

Does your landing page work with your offer?

Is your discount applying as it should?

Does your fulfillment team need to do anything special?

For offers that are more complex (free gifts, auto-add products, etc…) it’s important to test your offer otherwise you will run into a customer service nightmare!

Pay Attention To Credit Card Limits and Blockages

This one is a little more specific, but it can create a MASSIVE issue for your ads.

As you scale your ad spend, pay close attention to your spending limits and your card usage. The last thing you want to do is hit a limit and have your ads get turned off!

You also need to monitor your fraud prevention. If you start spending more quickly, some banks can see this as potential fraud and lock your card. I see this happen every year so be prepared!

Talk with your bank about higher limits and give them a heads up about higher spending during this holiday season so you don’t run into issues. Also, having a backup credit card on file can help prevent any on-platform issues as well.

For most people, this is a time of relaxation and family time, but for us eCommerce people, its game time! It’s time to put the gas on and reach our goals.

With all this in mind, it’s also important to remember that your brand is unique. You’ll see a LOT of screenshots and posts on socials and people who blew their sales goals away. What you won’t see as much of is the opposite: brands falling short and having issues.

If you don’t have the holiday season you’re expecting, it’s ok! Keep your head up and keep moving forward.

If you need some help during BFCM, shoot me an email and I’d be happy to help you out.