Say it with me people … it’s October! When you receive this email on Tuesday morning you will be, exactly 51 days, 14 hours, and 45 minutes away from Black Friday.
That means we all have a lot of work to do. Which is why this week is all about getting ready for The Show. We’ve plucked some of the best BFCM preparatory resources online to share with you this week, so let’s get on to it.
1. Black Friday Bootcamp
Privy put together a series of videos to help you get ready for Black Friday … and golly, they sure did a good job of it. It’s called “Black Friday Bootcamp” and instead of a crusty drill sergeant barking at you to “drop and give me forty!” you have a bunch of pleasant eCommerce experts giving you advice.
Seriously, check this bootcamp out for yourself.
2. Maximizing holiday sales with limited-time offers and promotions
Pixel Union is one of the top theme and app providers in the Shopify ecosystem, so they know their way around the holidays. Well, they just posted an article talking about all the different kinds of sales and promos you can run to hold customers in rapt attention. And they have a few tasty discounts at the end so you can sample the goods.
Read the article on the Pixel Union blog.
3. When did “sell” become “influence” anyway?
You shell out some marketing bucks and send free merch to the “influencer” who posts a happy picture of themselves using your product on Instagram. But did it work?
Lots of folks talk about influencer marketing. This article not only tells you a lot about how it works, but it suggests a few techniques to actually track if it’s working – GASP! And that’s the real rub, right?
Solve your influencer problem.
4. Finally, some good shipping news
Most shipping companies charge a bit extra for residential deliveries. But this article reports that both UPS AND FedEx have suspended the residential surcharge for the holiday season, staring on October 21st. Makes total sense. During the holidays there are so many residential deliveries that it’s easier to make a profit AND they have to remain competitive.
Read about UPS and FedEx stuff.
5. Content is hard … creative content is harder-er
We all need help and inspiration when making creative content that keeps people engaged. Except for me – I’m an emailing genius. But for everyone else, a little inspiration never hurts.
When the mind is blank and content deadlines are a’coming, give this article a read and see if it cranks up those creative marketing juices.
Read about it on the Shōgun website.
The entire time I‘ve been working on this email I’ve had “Black Friday” by Steely Dan cranked up. Just seemed like the right thing to do.
Do you know someone else preparing for BFCM? How about you forward this email that person right now – just to forward this email.
Happy Selling,
Zachary