Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner — the perfect time to engage with customers and increase your sales in Print Shop.

There's nothing worse than scrambling at the last minute, so start now so you have plenty of time to set up your store — and your offers!  Here's a checklist to make sure you're prepared. 

Dates:

Black Friday: Friday 27 November 2020
Cyber Monday: Monday, 30 November 2020

1) Decide your discounts / offers

It is said that most buyers on Black Friday are looking for at least a 20% discount - but you can obviously get creative with your offers. People also love Free Shipping, so promote Frames and Canvases, as Queensberry's ship for free all year round when sold through Print Shop (NB shipping is an extra charge for loose and matted prints).

Here are a few promotional ideas:

• 20% off sitewide + free shipping on frames and canvases.
• 30% off Limited Edition Prints, and 20% off Open Edition prints.
• 30% off Prints, and 20% off frames and canvases (+ Free Shipping on the frames and canvases only).

2) Prepare your social media posts

It's relatively simple to announce promotional offers on Social Media. But it's always best to have each post prepared ahead of time, so you don't have to think about it on the day. Create a marketing calendar, and schedule in what you want to post on each social platform and when. Then get to work creating the content (writing copy, choosing images, creating graphics).

Also consider scheduling in posts ahead of your Black Friday sale to build suspense. Often this is what turns a campaign into a true success. Draw people in with emails and posts of what's to come (sneak peaks). You could even promote a VIP offer so if they sign up to your mailing list they'll get the discount a week early. The sooner you begin doing this, the more momentum you'll have during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when you announce the sale.

3) Prepare your emails

Promotional emails flood everyone's inbox over Black Friday and Cyber Monday. People will be looking out for them, but you'll want to spend time thinking of ways to stand out. That's why the VIP offer is so great, so you can get people signing up and looking out for your email. Sending it a week early means you're likely to avoid the craziness of Black Friday. Plan which early emails you'll send to promote your offer, what emails you'll send during the sale and what follow up emails you'll send after.

Make your graphics and images standouts, and keep your text short, clear and uncomplicated.

4) Prepare your website

Spend time optimising your website to ensure your customers have an easy buying experience.

Build a Black Friday landing page

If you're running multiple promotions then you'll want to create a landing page which outlines all these offers. Link to this in your emails, and add it to your main navigation, so people can access it during the sale and see what you're offering. This landing page should have gripping headlines and clear call to actions.

The page might be broken down like this:

• Bold headline/banner promoting your Black Friday sale.
• Your offers listed, each with a call to action taking people to your store.
• Your most popular images, with a call to action taking visitors to them.
• A section talking about your products, and their quality —and again that call to action.

Need help building landing pages and making updates? Hire one of our designers to work with you to build your store out for Black Friday. You can get in touch with us, here for a quote. Please explain what you'd like and the exact dates you'd like to run your sale.

Create banners to promote your sale

Add graphics to your homepage just before the offer launches, so visitors can see what you're offering, with a link to the sale landing page.

Use the Product Preview feature

Our Product Preview feature will help your customers visualise the product they're purchasing in Print Shop. "Room view" photographs help people visualise your images in their rooms. 
 

Make sure you have a custom domain attached to your site

The default Workspace URL can be easy to forget. Something short and sweet like printsbyXXX.com or xxxprintstore.com is a lot snappier, easier to remember, and will encourage people to come back.

Have a clear returns policy

Be the business that cares and goes above and beyond. Make sure your return policy is clear, fair, and easily accessible on your site. Offer refunds where feasible. Showing confidence in your product, and removing potential risk, will help convince those on-the-fence customers.

Other customisation:

We don't yet have widgets to implement the following, but they're important, so we're happy to help! Email Alex here, through the month of November and she'll help with the following customisation for free.

• Add a mailing list sign up form: You'll want to collect your new visitors' email addresses to stay in touch with them. You can send follow-up VIP offers after Black Friday ends. 
  
• Add an announcement bar: An announcement bar at the top of your site is a great option to keep your sale in front of people.

05) Ensure you provide prompt customer support

Set up email templates for questions you regularly get, and plan for a quick response time on both social media and by email. You'll hate missing out on sales from on-the-fence customers who couldn't get a response quickly.

06) Learn and adapt next year

We hope this post helps you prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But it's also important to use this year as a foundation for next! Once it's over spend some time reviewing what went well and what didn't. Keep your notes safe and revisit them when you prepare for next year's sale. You'll have key things you want to repeat and others you'll want to change.

Here's to a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday!

Alexandria