Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) is a retail phenomenon that sends both shoppers and businesses into a buying-and-selling frenzy. For eCommerce businesses, BFCM has massive potential to drive revenue, set the tone for the holiday season, and make or break seasonal sales records.
But BFCM isn’t just a time for excitement and sales — it’s a stressful time, too. Such a high-stakes time of year inevitably increases the pressure on your team and your resources.
Enter email automation, the superhero of modern marketing strategies, and your team’s one-stop solution to BFCM burnout. Here’s how automation can save your team time and energy this holiday season, so you can continue giving your all to BFCM marketing.
How Automation Can Help During BFCM
Picture this: it’s a few weeks into the fall season and your marketing team is stretched thin.
Not only is everyone keeping up with regular day-to-day tasks and content creation, but they’re also busy preparing graphics, updating copy, and crafting convert-worthy campaigns for the upcoming rush of BFCM. In a regular week, manually crafting and sending emails is already daunting, but with the sky-high pressure and volume of BFCM efforts, it’s simply impossible.
This is where the power of automation comes into play. With email automation, you can create and schedule emails in advance and set them up to send automatically using triggers based on certain customer behaviors or actions…and there are 5 main types to consider.
5 Types of Automated Emails for BFCM
For BFCM promotions and celebrations, we’ve found 5 emails that lend themselves nicely to the automation process. However, it’s worth noting that there are endless ways you can leverage automation to better fit your brand, your customer behaviors, and your sales goals. There’s no “rule” that limits you to only 5 automated emails!
Here are the 5 types of automated emails we think work best for BFCM.
1. Countdown to Black Friday: Build anticipation by sending a series of countdown emails that tease your upcoming deals. Include sneak peeks, early access offers, and highlights of the products on sale.
2. Abandoned Cart Recovery: Capture lost sales by sending automated emails to customers who added items to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase. Offer incentives or limited-time discounts to entice them back.
3. Personalized Recommendations: Use customer data to send tailored product recommendations based on past purchases or browsing behavior. This increases the chances of conversion while enhancing the customer’s shopping experience.
4. Flash Sale Alerts: Set up automated alerts for flash sales or time-limited deals. Urgency-driven emails can lead to impulse purchases and create a sense of excitement for your subscribers.
5. Post-Purchase Follow-ups: After the BFCM frenzy cools down, continue engaging with your customers through post-purchase follow-up emails. Express your gratitude, offer additional discounts for future purchases, and ask for feedback to improve your services.
Benefits of Automation for BFCM
Setting up automated emails for BFCM makes things easier and faster for your team while keeping your customers a top priority with personalized and timely communications.
These are some – but not all! – of the benefits of automated BFCM emails:
■ Efficiency: With automation, you can set up your email campaigns well in advance, freeing up your team to focus on other critical tasks during the BFCM rush.
■ Personalization at Scale: Automation tools help you personalize your emails based on customer behavior and preferences. You can segment your audience and send tailored offers, product recommendations, and reminders, creating a more engaging and effective customer experience.
■ Timely Engagement: Automated emails can be triggered based on specific actions, such as cart abandonment or website visits. This ensures that your customers receive timely reminders and incentives to complete their purchases.
■ Consistency: Maintaining a consistent brand voice and message is crucial, especially during high-stakes events like BFCM. Automation ensures that every customer receives the same high-quality experience.
■ Data-Driven Insights: Most email automation platforms provide valuable analytic options that allow you to track open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. These insights help you refine your campaigns for optimal performance.
Putting It All Together
In the world of eCommerce, timing is everything. With email automation, you can deliver the right message to the right person at the right time, giving your business a competitive edge during the bustling BFCM season. So, gear up, automate, and watch your sales soar as you make the most of this retail extravaganza.