• Explore. Learn. Thrive. Fastlane Media Network

  • ecommerceFastlane
  • PODFastlane
  • SEOfastlane
  • AdvisorFastlane
  • LifeFastlane

6 DTC Growth Marketing Tactics for Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2020

A person utilizing a laptop for 6 DTC Growth Marketing Tactics during Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2020.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 are quickly approaching. This is one of the most critical times for direct-to-consumer online retailers to run marketing campaigns, launch new products, and increase their average order value.

As a  result of the Coronavirus pandemic, more shoppers are rushing to take their shopping online than ever before. According to Digital Commerce 360, traffic to the top 2000 North American ecommerce sites jumped 125% from March to June 2020, when compared with the same period a year before.

This means whether your store is online, or you need to get online fast, preparing for a digital holiday season this year will be critical to your success.

To create a profitable Q4 strategy, planning ahead is the secret ingredient. And yes, nailing down your growth marketing tactics are a definite must. Here are 6 tactics that Direct-to-Consumer brands need to know for Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2020:

Tactic 1: Build Your Mailing Lists Now

Now is the time to start building your mailing lists. With the focus turning away from summer, fall is on everyone's minds. Building your lists now will enable you to focus more on content and messaging as you approach the holidays.

As the “Back to School” and Halloween seasons come to a close, consumers begin to shift their spending habits in the hunt for holiday gifts. You’ll want to send an email blast right around this time to your subscribers to make them aware of your offers for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Another useful tactic is to segment your customers and target them separately.

To make sure your email marketing campaigns deliver useful results, take the following steps: 

1. Write eye-catching subject lines. When an email notification pops up on a user’s mobile phone or desktop computer,  it should entice them to open it and read the content inside. According to HubSpot, 47% of marketers say they test different subject lines to optimize their email’s performance.

2. Highlight discount codes for the holidays in your email content. This can include a percentage off discount, a dollar off discount, or a buy one, get one free deal. Alternatively, you can offer free shipping, with a minimum purchase requirement to encourage consumers to spend more, or add value with bundled discounts.

3. Set your timing right for your emails. Schedule your emails for the time when your users are highly active. According to Experian data (which includes marketing data for many massive consumer brands), studies have confirmed that consumers are likely to open emails on Saturdays, followed closely by Tuesdays.

Tactic 2: Use Retargeting as a Method to Drive Brand Awareness

Retargeting is a method by which you can show ads to people whom you’ve had some sort of contact with in the past. They may have viewed specific pages of your website, or even added items to their shopping cart. Or maybe they opened an email you sent them before.

This method works by adding a pixel to your website. The pixel captures data about users who visit your website and their behaviors. This data is used to create audiences based on interactions. Then these segments are targeted through Google display or social media ads. 

This method can be a great way to increase conversations about your brand, and boost conversions. 

If you aren't convinced, consider these retargeting statistics:

– 3 out of 4 customers notice retargeting ads. 

– On Facebook, retargeted ads are 76% more likely to get clicks than regular display ads.

– Leveraging retargeting with other channels can help you sell 50% more. 

As demonstrated in these numbers, retargeting is an effective acquisition channel because it engages customers with content that they previously demonstrated interest in. This happens after a visitor leaves your website, encouraging the user to return to your store. Unlike traditional marketing funnels, retargeting does not require an email or phone number from a potential lead.

Another significant benefit of retargeting is that it is more personal than a standard marketing one-size-fits all approach. Instead, retargeting resonates with users by delivering value on topics they care to learn more about. This is because online ads are delivered to audiences based on their past interactions with your online store, like pages they visited or time spent shopping your site. 

Tactic 3: Do Your Creative and Competitor Research (Specifically for Facebook and Google Ads)

Find, or create, your own customer demographic.

When building your DTC marketing strategy, it’s important to identify and speak to your unique customer base. You’ll need to collect more information than broad demographics, like age, gender, or location. By conducting thorough market research, you can identify your customers’ specific challenges, aspirations and goals. 

For example, studies suggest that Gen Z search online for items that express their individuality and independence. Authenticity is part of their identity-building, so they are attracted to brands that express these values. Insights like this can help finetune your marketing strategy so it resonates more strongly with your target market.

UpWest, for example, is a direct-to-consumer personal care product and leisurewear brand owned by retail giant Express. Their marketing is focused on JOMO, which stands for “joy of missing out”, rather than the more commonly quoted “FOMO” (fear of missing out). This embraces their audience’s values in finding joy and embracing their true path to happiness.

Be aware that your customers will be doing their own competitor research as well to find the best product of interest. This is why providing a sense of urgency to close the sale before customers navigate away from your site is important as well. For example, a countdown timer can indicate your best deal will not always be available. 

To keep customers on your site, it’s also important to market why your brand is unique on your homepage. Call out what you have to offer that a competitor does not. For instance, you can highlight quality products, high-value bundle deals, promotions or included gift wrapping with a purchase for the holidays.

Tactic 4: Prepare for Spend and Expected Return

We’ve all heard the old adage, “spend money to make money,” but what does this mean for your marketing campaigns? Spending more doesn’t always make you more money, especially if you haven’t prepared properly. 

When allocating your budget resources for marketing campaigns, meet your audience where they are to make the most out of the campaign. 

For example, if your target customer demographic is 50 to 65 years old, you may want to steer clear of Instagram or TikTok campaigns. Instead, start with your end goal in mind. This will help you build your ideal customer first, and work backwards to create content that will resonate with your audience.

Tactic 5: Utilize Retargeting Segments in Google Ads from Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a highly useful tool for collecting user behavior for retargeting. 

This can be used for more than just remarketing databases. It can also help you to validate, or invalidate, your existing marketing and buyer personas. Either way, you can use this tool to collect vital data to ensure marketing targets are accurate moving forward. 

By further pulling data down into segments, you will begin to build a clearer picture of who is visiting your pages, and how you can market directly to them with future campaigns. For example, Bounteous recommends the following segments

Device: Model of phone, or browser used. 

Geography: Users visiting from specific regions.

Source: Users visiting from Facebook or LinkedIn links.

Site Events: Users who watched a key video or downloaded a PDF. 

Self-identified: Form fields that identify custom dimensions, and allow you to segment by interests, company size, monthly budget, or any other data your business needs and can easily collect!

Tactic 6: Upload Purchase Data Into Facebook to Retarget Users and Build Lookalike Audiences.

Facebook Lookalike Audiences help you find your next best customers. It's a powerful targeting tool that draws learnings about your successful customers, and helps you find new people who are likely interested in your products and services, too. Using the following 9 steps from Hootsuite’s blog, you can create a Lookalike Audience for your Facebook ads to help you find the best match.

1. Use the right source audience for your goals.

2. Get creative with Custom Audiences.

3. Test your Lookalike Audience size. 

4. Choose high-quality data.

5. Keep your audience up-to-date.

6. Use Lookalike Audiences in combination with other features.

7. Optimized bids with a set of Lookalike Audiences.

8. Pinpoint the right locations.

9. Try the Customer Lifetime Value Option.

Make the Most Out of Cyber Monday Holiday Marketing Campaigns

As more customers look online for their holiday gift buying, you’ll have to plan ahead to attract and retain customers so you can earn a competitive revenue. Keep these 6 growth marketing tactics in mind to take advantage of the biggest consumer spending season of the year! And, remember that shoppers are bound to return to your online store if they have a great experience learning about your incredible holiday deals.

Want to increase revenue this coming year? Contact our team to learn more about our design, engineering and growth services, and how we can help your ecommerce business get up and thriving on Shopify.

This article originally appeared in the Diff Agency blog and has been published here with permission.

Prev
How To Develop A New Product (From Concept To Market)
A man is developing a new product in a grocery store.

How To Develop A New Product (From Concept To Market)

Next
Product updates (ChargeX 2020)
Recharge logo and product updates on a black background.

Product updates (ChargeX 2020)

You May Also Like