BGT Helps Businesses Leverage Spirit of Cyber Monday Throughout the Holidays
Miami headquartered interactive marketing agency BGT Partners offers insight to spur sales during the online buying season
Miami, Fla. December 03, 2007 – Cyber Monday has come and gone, but it isn’t too late for businesses to take advantage of the online holiday buying season to increase sales and drive revenue. According to a recent online retail focused survey* the internet will influence 30.2% of total holiday sales this year, up from 28.9% in 2006. BGT Partners, South Florida’s leading interactive marketing agency, offers advice on some easy and effective guidelines to help businesses leverage the spirit of Cyber Monday throughout the holidays.
“Cyber Monday is impactful to e-tailers because it serves as a barometer for end of year sales,” said David Clarke, Managing Partner at BGT Partners. “This milestone marks a critical point on the timeline for the holiday “shipping” season that can make a big difference in businesses yearly revenue”.
The term Cyber Monday was coined by Shop.org in 2005 when online retailers began reporting disproportionately high web traffic on the Monday following Thanksgiving.
Predictions for the online retail market in 2007 remain optimistic amidst calculations for a less than stellar holiday forecast for retailers resulting from rising gas prices and other influential market factors that shape overall consumer spending.
BGT Partners tracked a 55% increase in visits, a revenue spike of 43% and rise in demand for orders of 68% for a prominent client site on Cyber Monday versus averages from any given day in November.
About 31.9% of the US adult population was expected to make e-commerce purchases on Cyber Monday this year, an increase of 18%* from last year. The momentum is expected to continue through peak online holiday shopping days November 23 – December 16.
“Media and campaign tracking tools and programs have significantly evolved in 2007 and it is becoming easier to quantify the results and act on them,” said Clarke. “The amount of media purchased over Cyber Monday may not show immediate returns but will help spur sales over the following critical weeks”.
Clarke went on to explain that the internet has democratized the way every retailer, whether big or small, puts to good use its advertising spend. The same tools that eBay and Wal-Mart use are now attainable for medium sized businesses and the internet’s capability to measure ROI and track where every single dollar spent is going, has opened a new array of possibilities for more targeted media spend.
BGT Partners Online Holiday Shopping Check-list
The following is a list of eight important guidelines that can help any business take full advantage of the online channel to drive sales:
- Holiday hindsight is 20/20 – look at your business and traffic data and learn from the outcomes of past holiday seasons. There is always a bell curve, find it and exploit it when creating your holiday budget timeline
- Speak the search language of the consumer – leverage leading tracking tools to better analyze the data you have gathered and review the functionality of your campaigns and search terms. Use a balance of niche and general terms to make sure even novice web surfers will find your products
- Ready, set, go! – develop and deploy your updated content, campaigns and keyword additions
- Stay on point – track your campaigns, conversions and ROI and most of all, budget wisely. Overspend early and you will run out of funds before the end of the season
- Get all of your promos in a row – optimize campaigns daily during the days leading up to the kick-off of the holiday buying season for e-tailers (Black Friday and Cyber Monday)
- The 11th hour – make sure the campaigns meet the needs of your site and business. Keep in mind that the highest volume of online consumer spending occurs after 6:00 p.m. As key shipping dates pass perform ongoing optimization to maximize the sale of items which can make it by the holidays. Live person support may also prove helpful
- Keep your eye on the ball – during ramp down from the holiday madness, adjust campaigns based on well tracked metrics; this will ensure ROI and conversion targets will be met and your business will not bottom out
- For posterity – record best practices to capture your data for next year
###
About BGT Partners
BGT Partners is a global interactive services firm that helps companies strengthen their brand and business relationships through digital marketing and technology solutions. We have created interactive marketing solutions for clients such as Florida Power and Light, 2008 Beijing Olympic Committee, Ryder, Avaya, Sony, the Walt Disney World Company, and FedEx. Founded in 1996, BGT is headquartered in Miami, with offices in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Paris. BGT has earned the reputation as one of the Global 2000's foremost professional services firms. For more information on BGT Partners please visit www.bgtpartners.com.
** Survey conducted by BIGresearch on behalf of Shop.org
