In our increasingly digital 21st century world, Black Friday has a younger sibling that's just as important — if not more so — for entrepeneurs:
Cyber Monday.
It's the year's biggest online shopping day.
Just as customers swarm brick and mortar retail stores on Black Friday to take advantage of deals and discounts they just can't afford to miss, they hop on their laptops on Cyber Monday to order the perfect holiday gifts for their families, friends, and colleagues.
If you're in ecommerce, it's time to start bracing yourself.
As Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday draw ever closer, online retailers of all kinds are starting to focus on their strategy for maximizing sales on this important day of the year.
One concern for smaller retailers is the presence of big competition.
Can you really compete with Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, and other massive retail corporations?
Actually, you can.
In a recent blog post, leading ecommerce SaaS platform Shopify explains how customer advocacy and loyalty can help give you a serious edge over even the most intimidating of competitors.
Small Businesses Can Compete With Customer Advocacy
Black Friday Cyber Monday represents a growing opportunity for everyone, but that also makes it a fierce competition for consumers’ hard-earned money.
BFCM, for many businesses, is pay-to-play through search engine and social media ads.
Smaller retailers going up against larger companies often don’t have the big budgets to compete on the same level for reach.
But they may have a loyal audience and existing customers they can rely on to support their small business.
According to Dylan Jawahir of Battle Balm, who shared his BFCM experience from last year with me, it’s about using your advantages to make up for a smaller advertising budget:
“I learned that as a small business owner with limited funds, I'm not going to have the reach that the bigger companies have. I can't compete with their large budgets. I can't do it all myself. So, I focus on promoting Battle Balm to my existing customer base in a way that incentivizes them to tell their friends. It takes a little bit of preparation up front, but by leveraging my fan base, I get increased sales, while my fan base is rewarded for spreading the good word! Everyone wins!”
Whether it’s through referral marketing or enticing customers to share a deal with their social network, selling through an existing network of customers can be a more cost-effective way for small businesses to participate in BFCM.
You can find more great tips to help you get ready for the year's biggest online shopping day over at the Shopify blog.
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