2017 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Trends

There’s still time to get your promotional email messaging out for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. According to Forbes, there was a 15.2% bump in online sales in 2016 versus 2015 and that trend is expected to continue. To go even further, 40% of sales occurred on a mobile device. What does this mean for associations? Associations should be looking closely at how each touchpoint on a mobile device and online overall is experienced across all digital properties during the buyer’s journey. Here are a few key trends to watch out for and how associations should respond so they don’t miss out on big opportunities.

Multiple Touch Points

One trend we expect to see this year is a growing importance of multiple touch points during the buyer’s journey. This includes email, digital and social channels, the website, events, and even direct mail and/or print; all play a part in creating a consistent, personalized experience for the potential member. These potential members expect to be able to begin the journey on desktop on search and later finish on their mobile device, for example. Associations should be thinking about how they are showing up on potential members’ social feeds and drawing them back to their website to convert them. Email going out should be personalized and grab the reader’s attention with catchy messaging and attention-grabbing imagery, all while being as simple as possible for the reader to understand the deal.

Mobile First

According to Forbes, 60% of shoppers are doing research online on their phones. Ideally, every vantage point on your website and email is one click away from a purchase. To take it one step further, every call-to-action should be optimized for mobile. 

Millennials May Not Be Buying It 

All this effort to stir heightened sales around Thanksgiving seems to fall short on the 13 to 35 crowd. According to Forbes, 75% of millennials will ignore the door-busting deals and instead spread their shopping out over a few weeks. One way associations can take the high road (like us!) is to appeal to the anti-spending draw-back millennials seem to respond to by offering a way of giving back. Patagonia and REI do this really well by closing their doors on Black Friday and encouraging loyal customers to go outside. They will also make donations to environmental causes instead of promoting consumerism. Bringing it back, associations should appeal to millennials by encouraging them to participate as mentors or showcase how your association gives back to its community.

Knowing trends and what to expect is one thing, but executing on a seamless, integrated strategy across multiple touch points to a range of demographics is what will get you results. Whether your branding leans more towards a membership drive, an event promotion, or the millennial appeal to a more altruistic approach, play up your brand in your email sends in the next few weeks. For more on email best practices and ideas to send more effective emial, watch the webinar lead by Adam Higgins on "Really Effective Email".