The Vantage Buzz – November 2023
Hi,
We’re already right in the thick of the holiday season for our e-commerce clients, and particularly for our American friends, we hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Did you know that the 5 days around Black Friday are responsible for approximately 4% of the total yearly online customer spend? And post-Black Friday, customers are still looking for that great deal!
We can’t emphasize enough that because this can be the most profitable time of year for your online business, checking up on your promotions daily (even multiple times during the day) is essential. Also, dig into what happened during your sale yesterday, and use the results (as well as last year’s day-by-day results) to apply optimizations to your campaigns and promotions based on your findings.
Be aware that you may want to make knee-jerk, impulsive changes to your promotions, so be sure to take your time to do a bit more digging before making any hasty adjustments.
Most importantly, don’t forget to spend some quality time with your loved ones this holiday season!
Your monthly ad-Vantage reading below:
Business:
Google Search regularly updates its search ranking systems to make sure they’re showing the most relevant, helpful content possible. And, a big core update (the 2nd in less than 2 months) happened in November.
Google Search seeks to reward content creators who share helpful, reliable content that’s primarily created to benefit people. If you’re already doing this on your website, then during the newest November Google Search Core Update you may have noticed you’re performing better in search results.
However, if you notice your organic site traffic drops right after a major Google Search Update, Google has a guide on how to self-assess your content to ensure your website is using the SEO fundamentals.
Helpful Google Links:
Q&A on Google Search Updates
SEO Fundamentals
E-commerce:
How’s your online store’s user experience? During your Black Friday promo did you notice there were changes you could have made to your website, which may have helped to increase sales? Sometimes we have to learn from what we didn’t do in order to set ourselves up for success in the future.
Shopify outlines some great best practices to improve your customer experience on your online store.
User experience improvements in a nut-shell:
1. Prioritize function above all
2. Build sales funnels, not web pages
3. Capture attention and intention
4. Write user-centred copy
5. Make online store navigation intuitive
6. Always consider mobile e-commerce user experience
Are you maximizing your business’ sales potential by using all available direct marketing channels for your promotions this year? HERE are some top direct marketing channels for prospects who are determined to be likely buyers.
Are you using email marketing leading up to your business’ sales? As in, are you doing this right now? We’re in it people… sale season crunch time!
If you want to get the most out of your marketing efforts this holiday season, we hope you’ve been connecting with your current customers and newsletter subscribers. It’s time to be bold with your marketing!
A few tips on your email marketing strategy:
• Don’t be afraid to go broad. This is the time of year when you can target those who have shown engagement over longer durations. Instead of targeting those who have engaged with your brand in the last 30 days, open it up to the last 60 or even 90 days.
• Be more aggressive with frequency because, during this time of year, your email might get lost in the sea of competitors.
• Re-engage with your loyal, returning customers. We know it’s important to acquire new customers, however, a separate more personalized email just for your faithful, repeat customers could improve their lifetime value.
• Compare against your business’ benchmark and not against a benchmark of vague, industry standards. Look at what you did last year and ask yourself how you can improve your brand’s success this holiday season.
General Intrigue:
This year, Shopify set a Black Friday record, raking in a 22% increase in global sales compared to last year! More info HERE.