The Monday You’ll Actually Enjoy

4 ways to make the most of web retail’s busiest day of the year

“Cyber Monday” may sound like the title of a Tom Clancy thriller, but in reality it’s the online counterpart to “Black Friday,” the biggest shopping day of the year. While Black Friday takes place the Friday after Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday occurs the following Monday, and is considered to be the ceremonial kickoff of the online holiday shopping season.

Consumers may pound the pavement for great deals from brick-and-mortar stores on Friday and the rest of the weekend, but when they’re back to work (and their computers) on Monday, that’s when the online shopping blitz goes into high gear. This being the case, retail advertisers should spend some time getting their Sponsored Search campaigns ready for Cyber Monday. Shoppers may be full of turkey and stuffing, but they’ll be ready the next day to start gobbling up the deals.

What motivates holiday shoppers?
According to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, 40% of shoppers say that sales or promotions are the most important factors when determining where to shop for holiday gifts. As the average consumer plans to spend $832.36 this holiday season and 44.2% of those consumers plan to buy items online, it’s more important than ever for advertisers to make their holiday ads as appealing and well-crafted as possible.

Furthermore, as of mid-November, 72% of consumers have completed less than 10% of their shopping, while only 2.2% of shoppers are already finished. So there’s still plenty of time to get your campaigns in shape before Cyber Monday and keep them that way for the remainder of the holiday shopping season.

4 strategies for a green Christmas

Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you prepare your campaigns for the post-Thanksgiving shopping blitz:

1. Call out any special holiday deals. Users always respond to things like discounts, coupons and sales, but the holidays and the current economic downturn make a good deal look even better.
2. Highlight lower-priced items when possible. If the price is right, things that may have once seemed like impulse purchases may now be irresistible to consumers looking to score a sweet last-minute deal online.
3. If you offer free shipping, be sure to include that in your ad copy. Free shipping is an extremely popular (if not the most popular) incentive for consumers, so if you offer it—even with restrictions—be sure to let your customers know.
4. Stress the ease and convenience that online shopping offers over the traditional mall shopping experience. Be very direct in stating how consumers can save time, money, fuel and hassle by buying online, rather than schlepping to pricey, crowded shopping destinations.

With a clear holiday plan that includes strongly crafted ads, Cyber Monday could lead to a lot of happy Tuesdays, and a pretty festive holiday season in general for your company.

— Noah Belson, Content Quality Analyst

Photo courtesy of Flickr user slightlywinded.