Key Dates & Timelines Leading to BFCM

Photo by Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash

The best time to prepare for Black Friday/Cyber Monday is... the day after it's over. That's right, it's never too early. But if we're honest, very few of us focus on BFCM a year in advance.

So, in this update we'll outline the key dates and timelines for working in-house or with a team like ours. To play on an old adage: an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of sweet, sweet conversions. Or something like that...

Key Dates

Adopt a steady and methodical strategy to develop your holiday campaign plan. Keep your eye on the prize by visually marking the following dates:

• Thanksgiving

• Black Friday

• Cyber Monday

Organize and Plan in August & September

• Design engaging holiday visuals
• Build email flows
• Optimize upsells/cross-sells (impulse buys)
• Set up seasonal promotions and discounts
• Customer loyalty strategy
• Build leads (capture the surge of traffic whether they buy or not)
• Clear delivery, return, refund, and cancellation policies
• A/B or user test campaign material
• Tracking systems, dashboards

2-3 Months Ahead

• Campaign Setup: Set up ad campaigns, email campaigns, and technical integrations. Consider offering free shipping as a holiday promotion.
• Promotion Planning: Plan out the promotional calendar. When will you tease the holiday marketing campaign?

1-2 Months Ahead

• Testing: Test all elements, from landing pages to ad copy. Ensure everything is optimized for mobile devices.
• Training: Prepare all team members for the upcoming holiday season.

3-4 Weeks Ahead

• Soft Launch: Consider a teaser to build anticipation and engage your audience.
• Final Review: Double-check everything. Ensure the online store is stocked.

Finalize in November

1-2 Weeks Ahead

• Promotion: Ramp up promotional efforts. Send out promotional emails with an enticing subject line.
• Monitoring & Adjustments: Monitor website traffic and be ready to tweak the marketing campaign.

During the Campaign

• Active Monitoring: Keep an eye on web traffic and customer experience. Engage with holiday shoppers on social media platforms.
• Optimization: Adjust in real-time to maximize ROI.

Post-Campaign

• Analysis: Post-holiday sales, analyze the campaign's performance.
• Feedback & Learning: Document learnings for the next year.

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