Prepare for Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday is approaching fast, and if your company is not prepared you could miss out on the most lucrative online shopping day of the year.  Experts are expecting an increase in sales from last year’s $1.5 billion and if you’re not ready, then the consequences could be disastrous.  Most companies started their Cyber Monday Campaign weeks ago, but there is still time to gain market share even if you are late.

As you prepare for Cyber Monday the most important thing to keep in mind is Consumer Experience.  Try to make the consumer want to come back to your site, and purchase products from you year-round.  In order to facilitate this type of loyalty, and to increase this year’s Cyber Monday traffic, there are several steps your company can take.

1. Establish Trends

Examine your product and your target market.  Use tools like Google Trends to see what keywords consumers have searched for in the past and decide if this information is still relevant to your business this holiday season.

Once you have decided which search terms are relevant to today’s consumer, try to target the consumer through SEO and Google Keywords.

It may be too late to become a leader in your industry, but you may still have enough time to increase your page rank by careful selection of Keywords and establishing this year’s holiday trends.

2. Content, Content, Content

Now that you have established what your consumer is looking for, revise your content to match their search terms.  Try to make your webpage fit their search and improve their user experience.  You want their process to go seamlessly through web search to purchase while on your site.

Try to be the answer for any questions they might have.  Such as; what presents to purchase, how products work with each other, product reviews, and then use social media to push your new content.

3. The Importance of Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is a great method of connecting directly with the consumer.  Not only can you target your consumer specifically, but they can also improve your page ranking.

Google recently rewrote their algorithm for how they prioritize data and create webpage ranking.  Their new approach gives the consumer more power in deciding which WebPages appear highest in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).  Their new algorithm, titled Hummingbird, is designed to be precise and fast, and pay special attention to online social media users.  This can be beneficial to many smaller firms if they can create a large audience of influencers, or people who share and discuss content online.

Influencers can have a big impact on driving internet traffic to your firm’s Webpage.  When these influencers +1 content using Google+ this content is more likely to appear higher in the SERP for them, but it also increases the page ranking for everyone that follows them.  This means that a small group of influencers can change the landscape for who sees your firm’s content.

Although Google’s new Hummingbird Algorithm looks at all online social media channels, companies that have a large Google+ following are more likely to be successful with SEO because Google is able to view all the content from Google+ rather than mining through third party sites, so be strategic with which social media networks you target, and who you target, in order to get the most benefit.

4. Consider Consumer Access

Today’s consumer is constantly on the go and plugged-in.  Thusly, they want to be able conduct their business at their convenience through the use of smartphones or tablets.

If your company does not currently have a mobile site, it is probably too late to build one before Cyber Monday, but it is not too late to make changes to your existing site to improve your firm’s accessibility.

The most effective way to improve mobile accessibility is through website speed.  Use tools like Google Analytics to illustrate your website’s performance and make the necessary changes.

5. Prepare for a Spike

Be prepared to see increased traffic, and be sure your server and your website can handle a spike.  A good way to mitigate large spikes is to inform customers of promotions throughout the holiday season via staggered e-mail.  Be prepared for the worst and talk to the IT department and be sure that your website can handle spikes. A site shutdown could be disastrous and cost your company millions in lost revenue, so plan accordingly.
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Chris Placencia is a Carmel Valley business owner and studied Business Administration and Marketing at Cal State San Marcos.  He owns and operates Jason Paul Marketing, which is an original and innovative marketing firm dedicated to helping its clients achieve the highest level of exposure via the Internet and Public Relations.