2017 marketing calendar for e-commerce… · date, and helpful examples, you have everything you...

2017Marketing Calendar

for E-Commerce

This e-book intensively covers the topic of hol iday promotions and

how onl ine businesses can leverage key sales dates to dr ive more

leads and sales . With a complete calendar, specific info for each key

date, and helpful examples, you have everything you need to run high

convert ing seasonal promotions .

While much of the informat ion with in th is e-book is specific to

e-commerce reta i lers, the same framework can be appl ied to

B2B businesses, publ ishers, and bloggers . Even i f you aren’ t sel l ing

products on your website, implement ing seasonal market ing

pract ices can help you increase v is i tor engagement and convers ion

rates .

INDEPENDENCE DAY

LABOR DAY

HALLOWEEN

VETERAN’S DAY

THANKSGIVING

BLACK FRIDAY

CYBER MONDAY

GREEN MONDAY

FREE SHIPPING DAY

CHRISTMAS

JUL 4

SEP 4

OCT 31

NOV 11

NOV 23

NOV 24

NOV 27

DEC 11

DEC 16

DEC 25

VALENTINE’S DAY

PRESIDENT’S DAY

ST. PATRICK’S DAY

APRIL FOOL’S DAY

EASTER

EARTH DAY

CINCO DE MAYO

MOTHER’S DAY

MEMORIAL DAY

FATHER’S DAY

FEB 14

FEB 20

MAR 17

APR 1

APR 16

APR 22

MAY 5

MAY 14

MAY 29

JUN 18

The Ult imate Guide to Hol iday and Seasonal Promotions for E-Commerce

Introduct ion

2017 Hol iday Schedule

February01

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Candy

Greet ing Cards

Flowers

Jewelry

Key Valentine’s Day Stats:� Cart abandonment is h igh. 76% for Retai l and 86% for Travel 2

� Onsi te prompts (pop up, message) help convers ion rates . 28% cl ick to

convers ion rate for Retai l and 12% for Travel

� Re-engagement emai ls work . 5% convers ion rate for Retai l and 23%

convers ion rate for Travel

Clothing

Dining

Travel

Key Product Categories:

1 https ://www.stat ista .com/stat ist ics/285028/us-valent ine-s-day-sales/

2 https ://www.veinteract ive .com/us/blog/infographic-valent ines-day-ecommerce-stats-part- i/

Valent ine’s Day e-commerce sales totaled almost $20 mil l ion in the U.S .

a lone1 . I t ’s the first b ig sales hol iday of the year so make i t count . Keep in

mind that Valent ine’s Day is not just for romance. Consumers wi l l spend

money on family members, chi ldren, co-workers, pets, and so on. Even i f

you don’t sel l t radi t ional Valent ine’s Day

products, use the opportunity to reach

out to leads and past customers .

Valentine’s Day - February 14

Key Takeaways: � Use pop ups & promotions

to engage shoppers on-si te

� Run a cart abandonment

promotion


March

St. Patr ick ’s Day is always a fun hol iday. Make your shopping exper ience

fun for your shoppers to help keep them act ive on your s i te!

St. Patr ick’s Day - March 17

Key Takeaways: Create a St . Patr ick ’s day promotion to engage shoppers & include discount

or f ree shipping incent ives for an extra sales push before the end of Q1 .

Celebrate the founding fathers of the

U.S . with a heavy dose of capital ism!

President ’s Day sales are typical ly

used to clear out hol iday and winter

season inventory. This date is also a

great t ime to showcase new spr ing

arr ivals .

President’s Day (USA) - February 20

February16

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Key Takeaways: Run an end of winter,

beginning of spr ing, or

clearance sale


Apri l01

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Apri l Fool ’s is an excel lent t ime to

use humor and fun in your market-

ing . Dr ive traffic to your s i te with

fun emai ls , intr iguing social posts,

and potent ial ly a promotion.

April Fool’s Day - Apri l 1

Easter is posi t ioned perfect ly on the calendar for the big summer sales push.

Summer st i l l hasn’ t arr ived but th is is

when consumers start looking to gear

up on summer i tems. Easter themed

designs are also very fun! Ask us how

to run an Easter egg hunt for a

discount on your s i te!

Easter - Apri l 16

Earth Day - Apri l 22Not a big fan of eggs? How about using

another spher ical object to promote

your summer sales? Earth Day is a big

promotional favor i te for outdoor brands.

I t ’s a lso often overlooked by many

e-commerce businesses.

Key Takeaways: Use this under-utilized sales date

to better reach email subscribers

with promotional messaging

Key Takeaways: Use this opportunity to market items

for warmer weather and get people

excited about the months to come.

Key Takeaways: Be funny, but still very clear with

your marketing message. Confusion

always hurts conversions!


May01

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The Mexican hol iday celebrat ing the v ictory of the Batt le of Puebla is

huge in America! Americans are massive

fans of General Ignacio Zaragoza. . .oh

sorry, I meant tequi la . This is another

opportunity to engage shoppers with a

fun promotion v ia emai l and on-si te .

Cinco de Mayo - May 5

There is money to be made dur ing the shopping per iod for Mother ’s Day.

Aside from the hol iday season, Mother ’s day provides the biggest opportunity

for sales . Everyone has a special mother or woman in their l i fe who deserves

something on Mother ’s Day.

Mother’s Day - May 14

Memorial Day - May 29

While you should have already

been market ing warm weather

goods earl ier, Memorial day is

the key date in k icking off

summer.

Key Product Categories:Jewelry

Flowers

Clothing

Electronics Gif t

Cards

Key Takeaways: � Push your summer products hard

� Run a summer contest to collect

emails (think slow summer months,

holiday season)


Key Takeaways:Use this opportunity to market

items for warmer weather and

get people excited about the

months to come.

Key Takeaways: Drive seasonal summer sales

with bright, fun on-site

promotions.

Summer sales are slow

but consumers get

pumped over the 4th of

July. I f you sel l anything

relat ing to America, th is is

the sales hol iday for you!

Independence Day (USA) - July 4

While i t doesn’ t qui te boast the

sales numbers of Mother ’s Day,

Father ’s Day has quickly become

a big ecommerce sales date .

Father ’s Day market ing campaigns

should start short ly after Mother ’s

Day.

Father’s Day - June 18

June14

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Key Takeaways:� Dads are hard to buy for.

� Create buying guides & dad

focused landing pages

� Offer free shipping, present

info on ship dates ( th is is

a t ime sensit ive hol iday,

people need their orders

in t ime!)

Key Takeaways: Use th is key date to dr ive

t raffic to your s i te dur ing the slow

summer months . Get fest ive with

emai l , social , & on-si te promotions .


July

November01

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Show appreciat ion for the men and women who have served in the US

armed forces by offer ing special promotions and discounts to veterans!

Or just run a big sale to ent ice ear ly hol iday shoppers .

Veteran’s Day (USA) - November 11

Thanksgiv ing is a great t ime for f r iends, family, footbal l , and most impor-

tant ly food! I t a lso marks the beginning of the most hect ic t ime for onl ine

reta i lers . Enjoy yourself but find some t ime to go through some last minute

checks before the crazy shopping begins .

Thanksgiving (USA) - November 23


This is a great time to send out Black Friday and Cyber Monday reminders

with a holiday theme. Enjoy this holiday and use it as a purpose to reach

out.

Key Takeaways:

November

Key Takeaways: � This sales date requires a ton of preparat ion, don’t take i t l ight ly.

� Market ear ly and consistent ly.

� Use a Black Fr iday promotion provided by Justuno! We’ve got you covered

� Focus on lead generat ion throughout the year to make a better

Black Fr iday

� Run l imited t ime sales, d iscount when you can, and offer f ree shipping.

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Key Black Friday Stats: � Black Fr iday accounted for $3 .34 Bi l l ion in onl ine sales last year 3

� $1 .2 Bi l l ion in Black Fr iday mobi le sales

� Desktop Convers ion rates are 2X higher than mobi le convers ion rates

� Average dol lar amount spent per person has been around $400 over

the last 3 years

3 http ://www. inquis i t r.com/3748502/black-fr iday-sales-figures-2016-onl ine-sales-hi t-new-record-with-3-34-bi l l ion- in-purchases/

Black Fr iday means you have a lot of th ings to take account of. Make sure

your promotions are ready to go beforehand so you can focus on other

th ings that wi l l be going on (support , inventory, website host ing, etc . )

Black Friday - November 24


November

Key Takeaways:

� Present a cal l-to-act ion pop up to direct shoppers to your sales pages

� Use an exi t offer on the cart page to dr ive same vis i t sales

� Extend Black Fr iday sales through Cyber Monday

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Key Cyber Monday Stats: � A record $3.45 Bi l l ion in sales last year4

� Desktop traffic surpr is ingly dominated over

mobi le

4 http ://www.pract icalecommerce.com/art ic les/131369-Sales-Report-2016-Thanksgiv ing-Day-Black-Fr iday-Cyber-Monday

Black Fr iday and Cyber Monday have essent ial ly

meshed into a 4 day sales weekend cal led Cyber

Weekend. Whether you choose to market your

sales separately or al l together, the same things

apply.

Cyber Monday - November 27


December01

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Green Monday is the largest

onl ine sales day in December,

especial ly s ince there are st i l l

plenty of mot ivated shoppers

looking to cross i tems off their

l is ts .

Green Monday - December 11

Free Shipping Day is a day in which reta i lers are encouraged to offer f ree

shipping with del ivery in t ime for Chr istmas Eve. The event has grown in

popular i ty & is an excel lent dr iver of sales from businesses that part ic ipate .

Free Shipping Day - December 16

Key Takeaways: � Offer free shipping on orders if it makes sense with your margins.

� You can also use free shipping thresholds to increase your order sizes. For

example, if my average cart size is $50, then I would offer free shipping on

orders of $75 or more. This increases cart sizes and makes free shipping

more accessible for your business.

Christmas - December 25

By now, the major i ty of the hol iday

work should be finished and you

can relax . . . for a day. Then you have

to deal with returns, exchanges,

and back orders .


Key Takeaways: In the week between Christmas &

New Years, push clearance items

to flush inventory so you can

start fresh in the following year!

Key Takeaways: Run sales promotions on your site with

a holiday themed pop up.& strongly

consider offering free shipping. As the

big holidays approach, shipping will

be a strong deciding factor.

October

Halloween is the 4th largest e-commerce sales hol iday and i t ’s a super fun

t ime of the year. There are tons of creat ive th ings you can do with design,

copy and market ing. A great way to BOOst on-si te engagement dur ing the

Hal loween season is with a spooky hal loween themed pop up promotion!

Halloween - October 31

End of summer & back-to-

school are the two themes

that go along with Labor

Day. This is the ult imate

t ime for a quarter ly sale .

Labor Day (USA) - September 4

September

Costumes

Decorat ions

Candy

Dental Hygiene Products (A

pathet ic attempt at humor)

Key Product Categories:

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� Market early. This is a t ime-sensitve

hol iday so be upfront about shipping

t ime & cost .

� Get crafty with design & market ing copy

� Run a free shipping promotion!

Key Takeaways:

� Run a clearance sale on summer i tems

� Market back-to-school specific products

Key Takeaways:

Seasonal Sales Opportunit ies

Beginning of the Year Clearance Sales

You’ve just finished up with the busiest and most lucrat ive t ime for ecommerce reta i lers .

Time to relax, r ight? Not so fast . You’re most l ikely deal ing with excess inventory and

it ’s in your best interest to clear that inventory to make room for th is year ’s stock. Use

clearance sales, bundl ing, and other tact ics to move old and slow moving products . For

a ful l l is t of ideas for clear ing inventory, read 14 ways to turn excess inventory into cash .

Summer Sales are Slow, Prepare and Execute Early

July is the slowest month for e-commerce with sales dipping by 30% compared to big

sales months l ike December5. August is also part icular ly s low early on unt i l back to

school sales start to k ick in .

I f you’re sel l ing i tems specifical ly for summer, i t ’s imperat ive that you prepare and

execute your market ing strategy early. You want your summer shoppers complet ing

purchases in Apr i l , May and June before th ings start to s low down. Lucki ly, you have

several b ig sales hol idays in that t ime frame that you can use to get people to your s i te .

Here are some additional marketing ideas to help you during slow online sales months.

5

https ://gigaom.com/2012/06/25/when-do-summer-shoppers-splurge-onl ine/

6

http ://blog. justuno.com/back-to-school-sales-market ing-infographic

Back to School Sales

Back to school shoppers start as ear ly as apr i l . Yes, 40% of B2S sales occur in August

but over 50% of B2S sales occur before August6. In the ear ly summer months, i t ’s bene-

ficial to craft a market ing strategy that specifical ly focuses on reaching B2S shoppers .

Holiday Sales

Much of the focus dur ing the hol iday season goes to Black Fr iday and Cyber Monday.

This makes total sense. That weekend is the biggest opportunity to dr ive sales .

However, the compet i t ion is fierce and putt ing al l your eggs in one basket puts way

too much rel iance on a 4 day span.

Instead, start market ing to your shoppers ear ly, stay consistent , and look for other

sales opportunit ies . Green Monday is the biggest day for sales in December. Small

Business Saturday (11/25) should be a big focus for smaller reta i lers . Free Shipping

Day is perfect for dr iv ing last minute hol iday sales . Q4 is going to be your biggest

sales per iod so get strategic and seek out less obvious sales opportunit ies in

addit ion to Black Fr iday and Cyber Monday.


http://blog.justuno.com/14-ways-convert-slow-moving-and-excess-inventory-into-cash-ecommerce-marketing

http://blog.justuno.com/e-commerce-sales-strategy

Choosing a Type of Promotion

Email Pop Up - List Building

The most valuable pre-transact ional convers ion. Emai l remains the most effect ive market-

ing channel for dr iv ing sales and also opens you up to a var iety of market ing opportunit ies .

Whi le your ul t imate goal with big sales dates is convert ing a sale, acquir ing an emai l can

pay big div idends in the long run. Here are the benefits of gett ing an emai l :

1 . Ident i fy the v is i tor and can now view them as a lead

2 . Direct ly market to leads v ia emai l market ing

3 . Tr igger automated emai l campaigns

4 . Fuel Facebook ad campaigns

(custom audiences and lookal ike audiences)

5 . Tr igger cart abandonment campaigns


Note : Very rarely do first t ime v is i tors complete a purchase on thei r first v is i t . Target first t ime v is i tors wi th an emai l

capture promot ion whi le target ing your repeat v is i tors and current customers wi th more sales focused messaging.

Call-to-Action Pop Up/Bar - Funnel Traffic

An overlooked type of convers ion. A CTA cl ick directs website v is i tors to key pages of your

website . This could be a h igh convert ing product page, a sale page, or important informa-

t ion on shipping cost and t ime. The purpose of a CTA cl ick is to direct shoppers to pages of

your website where they are more l ikely to purchase. Prompting a v is i tor with a CTA tends

to be for prospects in the middle of the funnel but is certa inly not restr icted to that use. An

effect ive way to engage vis i tors with a CTA is a CTA pop up or unobar.

Global Site Messaging - Inform Visitors

Sometimes you need to inform every v is i tor of something important . This could be a

f ree shipping threshold (Order of $100+, receive free shipping) , ship dates for

t ime-sensi t ive hol idays, new product announcements, etc . The best way to accompl ish

th is is with a messaging bar at the top or bottom of the browser window.

Here’s a first hand exper ience where I wish a s i te would have provided some messag-

ing. I had a last minute Chr istmas gi f t idea for my brother. I t was December 21st and

I needed to know i f I could get the i tem by Chr istmas. Unfortunately, there was no

messaging on cut off dates for i tems to

arr ive by Chr istmas. The absence of s imple

messaging caused me (and probably many

others) to leave the s i te without purchas-

ing.

Don’t miss out on sales from motivated

shoppers just because you don’t provide

enough informat ion!

Designing Your Promotion

The design of your promotion plays a big

part in how effect ive i t is . General ly speaking,

a hol iday or seasonal themed promotion wi l l

stand out and convert at a h igher rate . I t a lso

shows that your business is act ive and up to

date which establ ishes trust with the

consumer. Here’s an example for inspirat ion.


Exit Pop Ups - Sales Conversion & Cart AbandonmentI t ’s important to engage shoppers r ight before they

leave your s i te in the hopes of gett ing them to convert .

This is especial ly t rue when the shopper is on the cart

or checkout pages. To dr ive shoppers to purchase,

present an exi t pop up offer ing a promo code for a dis-

count or f ree shipping. This is incredibly effect ive in

driv ing sales from cart and checkout pages and also

helps prevent cart abandonment f rom ever occur ing.

New VisitorsIn order to fuel your sales funnel , you must focus on convert ing new vis i tors . I t just

makes sense. I t doesn’ t matter i f you’re dr iv ing traffic through SEO, paid ads, social

media or referrals , you must engage th is audience with an ent ic ing emai l pop up. This

effort alone wi l l support your t raffic generat ion campaigns and increase market ing ROI .

Why an emai l pop up? 98% of new traffic wi l l not convert into a lead or customer dur ing

their first v is i t . Whi le they may return to your s i te in the future, there’s no guarantee of

th is occur ing. So how do you increase your chances of dr iv ing them back to your s i te to

purchase? Acquire an emai l and direct ly market to them!


Common Audiences for E-Commerce PromotionsChoosing Your Audience

As mentioned earl ier, you’re not going to treat al l t raffic in the same manner. Convers ion

goals may be different based on where the v is i tors are coming from or what act ions they

perform on s i te . To help you get started and to generate some traffic segmentat ion ideas,

here are several audiences that you can target with your promotions .

Repeat VisitorsThey are back on your s i te so they must ’ve l iked something. Many shoppers take

mult iple v is i ts or market ing touches to final ly complete a sale . S ince these v is i tors have

made i t back to your s i te, you can assume that they are interested in what you offer.

This is a perfect opportunity to welcome them back to your s i te with a personal ized

message. This could be a “welcome back” offer, a CTA to a product col lect ion, or just

a helpful message with informat ion on shipping or a current sale .

Cart AbandonersEvery onl ine reta i ler has to deal with cart abandonment and there are a lot of great

strategies for dr iv ing cart abandoners back to complete a purchase. However, the

moment a shopper leaves your s i te, you lose control of potent ial ly closing that sale .

And i f the v is i tor is on a cart or checkout page, they are so close to purchasing. Don’t

just let them leave.

Prevent cart abandonment f rom oc-

curr ing by present ing an unlocked

exit offer to shoppers who attempt

to leave the cart or checkout pages

& provide an incent ive to purchase

( f ree shipping, small d iscount, etc . )

This keeps the shopper on your s i te

& fulfi l ls their needs without having

to pr ice shop or coupon hunt ( two

major causes of cart abandonment) .


Window ShopperThe window shopper has common onl ine pract ices that you can ident i fy to del iver a

personal ized message at key moments dur ing their v is i t . Window shoppers are ei ther

researching products, pr ices, and vendors OR are ready to purchase and are s imply

looking for the best deal possible .

There are two behaviors that we can

use to ident i fy them as a window

shopper. F i rst , t racking page v iews

al lows us to ident i fy th is shopper as

interested in our products . Second,

the act ion of leaving to compare

pr ices with another vendor OR find a

coupon code. We never, under any

c i rcumstances, want a shopper to

leave our s i te . The internet is too big

and too distract ing to r isk i t .

P resent an exi t pop up to window shoppers with an offer invi t ing them to stay and

complete their purchase. This could be free shipping, a discount, a gi f t with purchase, or

another ent ic ing incent ive .


Notes on Major Traffic Sources

An Important Note on Mobile VisitorsMobile t raffic is d ifferent and therefore should be treated differently. I t ’s th is exact reason

why Justuno has both desktop and mobi le promotions because design and target ing wi l l

differ.

In addit ion to th is , Google has recently updated their pol ic ies regarding mobi le pop ups. In

short , Google does not want you to present a pop up to v is i tors immediately after they cl ick

through from a Google search result . Besides that restr ict ion, you are free to use mobi le

pop ups on your website!

A s imple segmentat ion technique is engaging v is i tors with pop ups or promotions based

on what t raffic source they come from. Here are a few major t raffic sources that you’ l l most

l ikely be deal ing with .

Email

I t ’s bad market ing pract ice and

unnecessary to ask a current emai l

subscr iber to subscr ibe to your

emai ls . Instead, present a different

offer or pop up to v is i tors who cl ick

through from an emai l .

Facebook

I f you’re invest ing in Facebook ads, you should engage th is t raffic with some sort

of promotion with the goal of increasing convers ion rates for th is channel . Higher

convers ion rate = Higher ROI f rom Facebook ads. You can even target v is i tors based

on specific ad campaigns!

Google Organic Traffic

Organic t raffic is awesome! These v is i tors

found your s i te based on relevant search

terms so they’re most l ikely interested.

Aim to capture their emai l with a contest

or another emai l l is t growth

promotion.

Note: Please See the important note on mobi le v is i tors below. This specifical ly appl ies to mobi le search traffic

Here’s an art icle that provides a full breakdown of Google’s

pol icy update and best practices for mobile pop ups.

http://blog.justuno.com/google-policies-2017-mobile-pop-ups-overlays-interstitials


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BEFORE YOU LEAVE...

Congratulations, you’vemade it through the e-book!

Now i t ’s t ime to get going on your next hol iday orseasonal promotion. Here’s a quick checkl ist to

recap the process covered in the e-book.

� Choose an upcoming promotional opportunity (View calendar)

� Determine what your goals are for this promotion

� Choose a type of promotion based on your goals

� Design your promotion to fit the season or holiday

� Select the audience(s) for the promotion

� Connect your email marketing/CRM platform (recommended)

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2017 marketing calendar for e-commerce… · date, and helpful examples, you have everything you...

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