Articles in The 'Promotions' Tag

Black Friday and Cyber Monday – How Will You Compete?

by Marni Weinberg

Both online retailers and shoppers wait with great anticipation for these sacred two days to roll around, and for very good reason; Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the biggest online shopping days of the year and as a retailer, you do not want to disappoint!  On the flip side, as a shopper, you do not want to be disappointed! The expectations are huge. What kind of promotions have you got up your sleeve? How will you compete with all of the retailers who will be aggressively marketing their websites? The answer is really simple: By advertising offers that are too good to pass up! Below are just a few of the most popular tried and true offers that statistically perform well year after year.

HINT: Be sure to include coupon codes in your ad copy. They work wonders in terms of tracking which ads/offers performed best.

Exclusive Time Sensitive Promos. Sort of like an “early bird gets the worm” deal. For example: 6 am to noon special savings. Most retailers make these the biggest offers of the day. Be sure to specify time zones.

Free Shipping. This one is a biggie, perhaps the biggest and shoppers have come to expect it. If you do not offer it year round you should definitely do so for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Sales will likely be lost otherwise.

Site Wide Discounts. Also a big one and very common. It gives your shoppers the freedom to purchase whatever they want and receive a nice savings.

Free Gift with Purchase. A great incentive – especially around the holidays. Shoppers are getting another gift they can either keep for themselves (if they are greedy, ha ha) or give to someone else.

Free Gift Wrap. Shoppers love this. Gift wrapping can be tedious and cumbersome and many wait until the night before to get it all done. This way — they get their gift shipped and wrapped. What could be better?

Take advantage of these two huge shopping days and capitalize on the increase in traffic and sales. Happy Holidays!

Design vs Marketing: Why Collaboration is Key

by Jessica Hammer

Good landing pages and e-mails can drive traffic, increase conversions, and promote branding. But these small, important snippets of your company promotion are a lot more work than they appear. The planning, targeting and design will provide fruitful rewards if they are approached in a well rounded and experienced manner.

Speaking as a designer, I am often tempted to jump right into a promotion, in an effort to make a beautiful creative off the bat. I want something striking, well laid out, and well, pretty!

However, what I often forget is the importance of closely collaborating with our Campaign Strategists, or Marketing team. They are the troops on the front line, the ones who are speaking with and studying, not only the client’s campaign every day, but general marketing trends. They have an up-close view on the client’s campaign, brand and other current promotion efforts. They also have updated knowledge on placement of elements, calls to action and effective headlines. Without all this important information, I cannot hope to make a creative that speaks to that unique client’s unique customer.

So although it forces me to bend my pretty design, add in content that destroys my white space and color buttons beyond my original plan, it is my job as a designer to resolve these issues, and work with a Marketer to make a creative that represents our client in the best, and most appealing way!