Black Friday is a huge deal in the brick and mortar retail world. In fact most businesses do not even break even or turn a profit, called going in to “the black,” until that day. Additionally, most retail stores gain 40 to 50 percent of their profits from this day until Christmas. So needless to say it is a day that any retailer who has an online presence needs to take advantage of.
All this being said, retailers that have spread out onto the online world look forward to
the Monday following Thanksgiving – Cyber Monday. This day is a big boost to the overall sale figures of the year. Traditionally, Black Friday sales make up most of the profits for this time of year; however, the rise in Cyber Monday sales have continued to gain steam over the last few years.
While the importance of these two days cannot be underestimated, Cyber Monday lends itself to the way that America is shopping more and more these days, online. This is not just confined to moms and dads shopping on a home computer. Cyber Monday business is booming on mobile devices as well. Individuals of all ages are logging on and shopping with these devices more so than ever before. It is not surprising that it has been predicted that people will actually be shopping on their mobile devices while standing in line for other after Thanksgiving sales. This can only help to boost sales even more.
Social media sites are prime real estate for Cyber Monday advertising. Most of America now gets their news online, and more and more get all their news and advertisements on social media sites such as Twitter or Google+. So what better place to advertise your Cyber Monday sales than on your business’s social media platforms? The answer really is a no-brainer.
Each social media platform has its own special population of users and its own special way of doing business. It’s to your advantage to take some time in advance to do a little research into what your chosen demographic finds useful or what they want. This may be a little bit of work but so worth the time and effort.
If you have a brick and mortar store, then advertising for your Cyber Monday sales can be handled not only online but during the Black Friday event! You might consider offering coupons and/or special codes to redeem even deeper discounts on featured deals during Cyber Monday. This is really killing two birds with one stone. You coordinate the sale in your store and online with a combined effort toward each.
No matter what, when you properly utilize social media you can benefit from these wonderful opportunities. It just takes a little forethought and planning to boost your sales and even turn a profit that you may not see the rest of the year. Cyber Monday is here to stay and will only gain in popularity and profitability as we as we grow more and more toward being a true cyber-culture.