BFCM is one of the most critical weekends for businesses, whether eCommerce or brick-and-mortar. And while many think it simply contains throwing out sales and promotions, to reap the rewards truly, you will need to plan strategically.
At Blend, we aim to find all the ways businesses can make the most of marketing opportunities - and this one, in particular, is one you should leverage.
We’re here to give you ten ways to prepare and leverage BFCM for the long term.
1: First Impressions Last
Remember that this will probably be the season you gain the most traction on your website. Everyone from loyal customers to the average Joe that’s never heard of your brand will pop on to your site to find out what you’re about. This will be your time to shine. Pop-ups are the highest-converting type of sign-up form. You can leverage this by targeting non-subscribers to sign-up to email marketing and customers already in your list to receive the BFCM news first.
Remember to implement a multi-step form to collect email addresses and phone numbers to get the most out of your marketing. Klaviyo makes this process smooth and easy, giving your customers the best first impression.
2: Critical Flows to Implement
On the topic of Klaviyo, around this time of year, customers are speed-searching to find the best product for the best price. This means they won’t always stick around to read your brand story. And as disappointing as that may be, it doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to get them to come back. Implementing a Browse Abandonment Flow AND a Cart Abandonment Flow will quickly bring customers back to your store.
Klaviyo allows for dynamic variables and images to make these flows look seamless and personalised to the specific customer. You could even use the opportunity to cross-sell related products in case it’s not exactly what they were looking for or lead them to an Octane AI quiz to find the perfect solution.
3: Be Intentional
Throwing sales and promotions out the door is excellent for the next two months, but over the long term, you’ll find subscribers quickly leaving you in 2022. Merchants must strategically plan BFCM sales and promotions to reap the long-term rewards of excellent CLV. Using a tool like Recharge will help you build relationships with your customers instead of sales.
You will need to make informed decisions on how to let BFCM 2022 play out. It’s all about measuring your data. Make sure you can measure your promotions and set goals for how you want these metrics to play out.
4: Let Them Cancel
While the obvious goal is to get as many subscribers in your pot as possible, you don’t want to make any subscription process frustrating. When managing their subscription, changing their order, or even cancelling, ensure that it’s an easy and informative process for customers.
Also, push the fact that it’s easy before they subscribe. Many customers want to change their product for a subscription instead of cancelling, so it’s vital to make them aware of the subscription management capabilities they have at their fingertips.
5: Start Now
Speaking of giving customers what they want, one of the best things you can do for your customers and your business is to implement an NPS survey. You’ll be able to get first-party data and track how your current customers feel about your brand. Starting now will give you a heads up on other companies and be well prepared for BFCM.
Not only that, but you’ll be able to use the data collected to segment your customers further. At Blend, we help our clients implement these surveys onsite and through email marketing to ensure we hear customers at every step of their journey. If you’re looking to implement an NPS survey on your start and get ahead of the pack, give us a call.
6: Post Purchase Promotions
The Post Purchase Flow is one of the most incremental flows you could have for your business. Once customers hit the “Checkout” button, they tend to wonder if they made the right decision. That’s where you need to meet the customer where they are and reassure them that you haven’t run away with their money and that you care about their thoughts and how they feel.
Implementing a Post Purchase Flow will allow you to cross-sell products based on recent purchases and ensure that customer support is only a click away. The best part is that 72% of customers are more likely to sign up for your loyalty program post-purchase journey. This would be the ideal time to promote your program and reward them afterwards.
7: Push Referrals Over Promotions
Referrals are a cheap (sometimes free) way of customer acquisition, and they have a higher chance of customer retention. 78% of customers who experience excellent service over BFCM would be more likely to refer a friend or family member to use the brand.
It would be a good idea to reward those who refer your brand with discounts, free shipping, or exclusive products to encourage brand ambassadorship and build customer retention in the long run. This can be implemented in your Post Purchase Flow using an integration tool like LoyaltyLion with Klaviyo.
8: Empower Customers
Contrary to popular belief, customers don’t enjoy relying on customer support for answers. They’d much rather be able to find all the information they need when they need it. Using an app like Gorgias can empower your customers to find the answers to their questions, track orders, and return or cancel orders easily.
9: Don’t Number Your Customers
Customers don’t want to feel like a number. They want to feel like they have a specific relationship with a brand and want to feel like they’re heard. Ensure to listen to your customers throughout BFCM and beyond that while personalising emails by targeting them specifically, looking after VIP customers, and encouraging engagement.
10: A Perfectly Integrated Tech Stack
To maximise your targeting and CX, it’s vital to have a tech stack that speaks to each other. Ensure that customers reaching out to customer support will be common knowledge in your integrations so that no other sales or messages go out during that time. This will allow a seamless customer journey while tracking where the customer is so that you can target them more precisely. An app like Gorgias, which integrates with almost everyone, will ensure everything is on track.
Bonus: What NOT To Do
- Over-rely on discounts. Remember that you don’t want someone using your brand for a deal. To focus on customer retention, alternative incentives can work just as well, if not better. Using something like early access will keep them hooked way past BFCM.
- Overwhelm customers. Remember to keep a light touch, specifically with new customers. Small changes like time delays in your flows will ease them while getting to know your brand.
- Be irrelevant. Ensure to keep your messaging relevant with segmentation, even during the holidays.
- Send to one extensive list. While segmenting within your flow is a must, sending certain things to certain people is crucial. For example, target last year’s BFCM purchasers with this year’s sales or something related to what they bought the previous year.
Blend & BFCM
As Shopify experts who love being thrown into the deep side of all things marketing, development, and design, we believe it’s never too early to start preparing for the year's significant events. If you need assistance ensuring that your customer acquisition and retention climbs this BFCM, give us a call.
Published: November 01, 2022
Last updated: October 23, 2024
