BFCM Pop Quiz Answers
Thx for taking our quiz. Read below for correct answer and explanations on what to do better for your holiday marketing strategy.
Question: Why would a brand lower its monthly ad spend from Black Friday to Christmas?
Correct Answer: Because paid ads designed to get new customers are very expensive during holiday season
Comment: The Fall strategy is to focus on customer acquisition earlier when it’s less expensive and switch to retargeting ads during prime holiday season. That way, your brand isn’t bidding on lookalike audiences during holiday season which will be very competitive this year.
Question: How do brands handle promotions and get around the flooded email inbox on Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Correct Answers:
Start sending via SMS and/or Facebook Messenger because they have no inbox
Comment: It’s time to start SMS. It’s a virtual no-brainer if your sales are over $30K per month. Some folks like email. Others like SMS. And the benefit of SMS, especially when you’re marketing to repeat buyers is that SMS has no inbox which is why open rates are 80+% and clickthrough rates are often over 50%.
Question: What is Shipageddon?
Correct Answer:
The current state of holiday delivery: delays and chaos as parcel companies already stretched thin tackle a surge in holiday packages.
Comment: FedEx, UPS and USPS are all experiencing exceptional high volume because so many people are not doing activities in person. This stress to the system will impact the eCommerce holiday season. Our best guess is that the season will be front-loaded. In the past, from Dec 12-Dec 23, brands would use free shipping deadlines and shipping cut-offs as a call to action. In 2020, we anticipate shipping carriers move up shipping cut-offs, perhaps up to a week ahead of normal. That will change the second half of December promotional calendar too. We suggest doing either clearance earlier or launching a new product at that time.
Question: What do the initials "BFCM" stand for?
Correct answer: Black Friday Cyber Monday
Bonus Question: What are holiday strategy best practices?
Correct Answers:
Growing my email list throughout the year so I have customers at-the-ready.
An email calendar with unique announcements and promotions from mid-Nov to Dec 31.
Comment: Holiday strategy is about much more than Black Friday. The email calendar should start in Mid-November and stagger new announcements/promotions for the last 6 weeks of the year. Brands should take a hard look at the calendar and determine how to make unique messages.
Good luck with your 2020 Holiday Sales!
Want to learn more about Holiday Strategy? Listen to the Needle Movement podcast where we walk through all our recommendations to make your holiday sales a rousing success!
Want to create a bulletproof 2021 plan? We’ve already worked through over a dozen Black Fridays and are happy to talk through marketing recommendations.
Needle Movement specializes in done-for-you services in email marketing, SMS and Messenger. We’ll show you how to accelerate your owned media revenue and how to craft an email calendar that delivers high results and goes far beyond just what to discount on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
