Scott Sanders came to help prepare ecommerce businesses for BFCM and Christmas sales. He started by talking about advertisement spending. Cost per click (CPC) can increase by 140% during the holiday season. However, the average order value (AOV) does not increase. Scott raised a few methods to raise your online store’s AOV.

1. Start new customer acquisition before costs rise.
2. Conduct customer re-acquisition through segmented email marketing.
3. Present offers and promotions (e.g. bundling).
4. Set tiered discounts and shipping based on spending thresholds.

Next, Scott explained the differences between a cold audience and a warm audience. The former refers to people who have never interacted with your ecommerce brand. The latter is the same as existing customers or followers of your brand. The method of acquisition will differ between these two types of audiences.

The most effective channels for cold traffic acquisition are Facebook ads, search ads and Instagram (both ads and organic posts). It means that gaining new customers will cost a lot of money.

For warm traffic acquisition, the most effective channels are segmented email offers, general email offers, Facebook retargeting and Instagram retargeting. Scott also mentioned SMS and Messenger as a channel for existing customer engagement. However, he warned the crowd not to spam their customers.

The next topic was the execution of holiday sales. Scott said he wishes the audience would be able to learn the achievable volume of sales without being overwhelmed. First, he recommended putting effort into email marketing during the period before the holidays. It is still the best way of engaging with your warm audience.

Next is the distribution of content. Scott claimed the importance of not continually posting sales promotions. Instead, he advised continuing to build your ecommerce brand with engaging content. Reinforce your brand message. Let your audience know why they should buy your products.

When you promote sales, you can make offers that may increase your sales.  Scott warned the audience about discounts. Discounts can increase your sales volume. However, it could also decrease your profit. You have to calculate a safe percentage. Scott gave us a list of possible offers.

• Site-wide discounts
• Specific product discounts
• Coupon codes
• Free shipping
• Holiday collection discounts
• New/exclusive products
• Buy One, Get One Free (BOGO)
• Discount tiers by order value
• Product bundles
• Gift wrapping

The next topic was the sale phases. According to Scott, there are phases between pre-Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) and New Year. Each one consists of different aims and marketing activities.

First is the Pre-BFCM Sale period from Nov. 8 to Nov. 28. The aim during this time is to build anticipation among your customers. According to Scott, research shows that 70% of shoppers in the U.S. search for BFCM bargains. Let them know about your upcoming sale well in advance. The recommended methods are sending three or four brand-focused emails and using paid ads. Scott also suggested adding a link to a landing page or a lead generation page. You can build an email list of people who will likely buy from your online store.

Now you have entered the BFCM phase from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2. During this time, go heavy on your marketing. You can send more than you think without annoying your audience. However, remember to provide value. On Black Friday, send up to three sales-focused emails. Scott recommended sending them in the early morning, midday and evening. The weekend is when people calm down. Send two emails per day. One should be a brand-focused email. The other would be a sales email. The objective during the weekend is to prepare your audience again for Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is the same as Black Friday. Send up to three sales-focused emails and distribute them throughout the day.

Next is the Holiday Sale phase from Dec. 3 to Dec. 9. Scott said this is also a pre-Christmas Sale period. He recommended sending one email per day as a single campaign series. Make sure it is a brand and product-focused email. For example, feature some of your best-selling products. You can also suggest a product that you want to promote for Christmas.

After that, the Standard Shipping Deadline comes up. Remind your audience about the deadline from Dec. 10 to Dec. 15. You can continue sending one email per day, each focusing on a different product.

As we get closer to Christmas, the 2 Day Shipping Deadline kicks in from Dec. 16 to Dec. 21. Again, remind your audience that this is the last chance to get their Christmas presents ready.

The last phase is the New Year’s Sale from Dec. 24 to Dec. 31. Tell your audience that this is the last chance to get discounts during that year. You can also write a call to action along the lines of, “Set yourself up for next year with these discounts!”

Scott moved on to the topic of automation. He highly recommended automating your communications with your customers. You can use email sending services such as MailChimp and Campaign Monitor to automate your email. Scott provided a list of automation examples.

• Welcome series
• Cart abandonment
• Brower abandonment
• Back in stock
• Happy Birthday
• Loyalty points
• Customer win-back

Scott added, “… [I]f a customer purchases from you in that sales period, try not to send them all [of] the other sales emails.” Therefore, you have to remove their email address from the automation list. However, you can still send them other brand-focused content.

You should also consider your international audience. Try to localise the time you send your emails. You have to be careful with shipping promises as well. Unless you have local distribution, there may be delays. The last point to consider is having campaigns for each different country. Scott said to think about aspects such as religion, beliefs and languages.

Lastly, Scott told the audience, “Don’t panic.”