Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some of the most anticipated and important commercial dates globally, where audiences are ready and connected for days, and even weeks, in advance to access the expected discounts.

 

In recent years, online shopping has exceeded the expectations and numbers predicted by experts in economics, marketing, and consumption, especially given the change in behavior brought about by the pandemic. According to the newspaper La República, in the case of Colombia, around 50% of users are online shoppers and 20% of them make an average of one weekly purchase. If we analyze the participation in total retail sales, e-commerce sales in Colombia reached 2.9% during 2021, and although the participation has decreased to 2.4% in 2022, they remain encouraging from a growth perspective, especially as a window of success for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as a growing channel for industry giants.

 

As this time approaches, marketing professionals must take action and focus all their attention on enriching and strengthening their sales strategy to make the most of this date. It is important to keep in mind that buyers are becoming more educated and practical every day. The high supply allows them to become discount hunters and only generate affinity for brands when there is a bond beyond the functional aspect of the product.

 

Here are some points to consider as purchasing drivers, according to a Hootsuite study: 60% of buyers in Colombia look for brands that offer free shipping, while 47% expect a simple and reliable shopping experience. On the other hand, 44% are waiting for coupons and discounts on products of interest to finalize their transaction.

With this in mind, we bring you some recommendations for this start of the holiday sales season:

 

10 secrets for a successful sales season

1. Prepare the strategy in advance

This season is highly relevant for e-commerce, and a robust strategy should be prepared well in advance to achieve the desired success. For this, it is key to define objectives, allocate a budget for the campaign that considers before, during, and after, and carry out constant testing. These are some of the tasks that should not be left to chance. There is no magic or universal formula that applies to all brands, so it is better to know the audiences and be prepared to react quickly.

2. Organic traffic will be useful if you prepare it correctly

Advertising bids rise up to +130% during the Black Friday season, so on-page and off-page SEO strategies are a point to consider to drive organic traffic to the website. It is time to analyze the current position of the brand and that of the competition to have clarity on the actions to take and traffic opportunities. Personalized landing pages remain an essential element in this season.

3. High-value audiences are key during the holiday season

Given the high competition among brands to secure the final sale, captivating the community’s attention and elevating their intention to purchase should be key points in the strategy developed. This is why remarketing ads can give up to three times the chance of getting a click, and retargeting ads for potential customers can achieve 70% more chances of converting.

4. Content is the key

This holiday season is characterized by a considerable increase in the number of daily advertisements to which the user is exposed, between 3,000 and 5,000, and this is where content plays a fundamental role. If the content is not valuable, it will not lead to conversion. This is why it is important to enhance the content that works for each brand and achieve genuine interest, content that achieves a “scroll stopper” from the user.

 

5. Monitor shopping funnel

Today, the digital world has various tools that allow constant, easy, and fast monitoring of the data of each website. For this season, it is recommended to have an individual landing page for each product to provide personalized tracking of the behavior of each item and the implemented strategy.

6. Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 is the new generation of Google Analytics that collects event-based data from both websites and applications. For this version, new features were implemented, such as “cart to view rate” and “purchase to view rate” to monitor e-commerce. It is worth migrating to this version as soon as possible and exploring all it has to offer, such as advanced tagging and attribution models.

7. Every channel counts

In such a changing digital world, it is necessary to diversify strategies due to advertising costs and to open up horizons to new emerging platforms. An example of this is Pinterest and TikTok, which show exponential growth in users and usage time, and in terms of interaction, show engagement rates worthy of analyzing to include in strategies.

It should be noted that not all channels or content should be 100% focused on conversion, but rather, the goal should be to achieve or improve brand awareness and positioning.

8. Alternative payment methods and financing

Today, it is as important to have a simple check-out process as it is to have a variety of payment options within the platforms. Users, especially in Latin America, are affected by the global economic tension and seek different financing options when making online purchases. Integrating options from the needs of each country is a plus for closing sales and definitely increases conversion. It is also important to emphasize the role of channels such as WhatsApp, Messenger, or SMS, which allow for continued communication with the user and advice in the purchasing process, even for payments outside of the e-commerce platform. It is recommended to have all payment channels available, such as credit and debit cards, PSE, cash payments at physical points, cash on delivery, PayPal, digital wallets, and even think about alternatives such as Bitcoin or “Buy Now Pay Later” financing.

9. Reduce cart abandonment

The challenge for all brands is to reduce cart abandonment and maximize sales. To do this, it is necessary to recover the user, understand the reason for abandoning the process, and convince them to return to the website. Currently, strategies are being implemented via email, WhatsApp, and SMS, with discount messages, coupons, or extra benefits if the purchase is completed within a certain period of time. This not only motivates the user to resume their cart but can also encourage them to add more items to their purchase.

10. Hyper-segmentation strategies

Databases are the most valuable assets of any company, and now more than ever, understanding the changes in privacy and third-party cookies, as well as the increase in advertising costs. These are the inputs for the correct distribution of relevant messages based on the behavior of each user. The mix of customer data, transaction data, and browsing and interaction data allows for an exercise of hyper-segmentation that will likely lead to greater conversion. Additionally, each time a contact is generated, platforms such as Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) allow for collecting more touchpoints and better clustering audiences to reach increasingly personalized, relevant, and effective messages, from manual strategies to incorporating artificial intelligence to predict behavior.

The digital ecosystem is nourished with information every day, and it is at this moment that being different, disruptive, and innovative takes on a very relevant role in the competition between brands. Captivating the user, improving their shopping experience, and maximizing lifetime value is the true challenge for this season.

 

Happy Black Friday, and may sales always be on your side.