And after Black Friday?: how a CDP can boost Holiday Season campaigns

The end of the year is an eagerly awaited time for markets that see Black Friday, Christmas, New Year and even school breaks as opportunities to boost sales.  But after Black Friday, how to push your sales strategies even further?

And knowing that Americans plan to spend roughly $998 on gifts, food, and decorations in 2021, according to data provided by the National Retail Federation (NRF), it is time to roll up your sleeves and get to know your customer better.

By the way, have you noticed that there are many comparisons and clusters? All the time we can cross-reference information about clients to group them in niches according to their preferences, purchase profiles, etc.

And it is through these data crossings that we define the best strategies.

Whether they are campaigns, promotions, events, or even a simple email, your sales can perform better if your team is able to understand the real needs of each client and adapt your company's communication to the consumer's behavior.

Keep reading to understand how a Customer Data Platform can be what is missing to kick-start your sales during these seasonal dates.

What is a CDP?

Customer Data Platform. This all-in-one tool can change for good - and for better - the strategy and processes of your Marketing, Sales and Customer Success teams.

In a nutshell, a CDP is a solution for collecting, storing, and organizing your customers' data, creating a unique ID for each one and clustering it in an intelligent way so that you can not only make segmented campaigns, but also propose any kind of personalized service.

But you can learn more about this solution by reading our article: DMP x CDP x CRM: Differences and Strategic Benefits

And after Black Friday?

Black Friday is over. One less commercial date this year. And now the focus needs to be on thinking about the others such as Christmas, New Year's, School Holidays, and other seasonal opportunities that come with summer or winter - depending on where you are...

To understand the real benefits of a CDP, we will use practical examples here.

Let's assume that your electronics brand has the right tools to know, in advance, the items in greatest demand by your customer base. And, after Black Friday, you did not make the profit you expected.

Knowing this information and having this need to improve sales, let's imagine that there is still a high demand for some specific phones. 

This week, after Black Friday - and Cyber Monday - your company can already start to boost ads not only related to these devices, but also to complementary products such as phone cases, films, headsets, special chargers, smart watches, among others, to get closer to the goals that were not achieved on BF.

Do you see how, by using a CDP, there is no missed opportunity?

Surveys, NPS are also interesting options to collect opinions and further feed your CDP base with key behavioral and demographic data.

An example of the results is the recent study by Zoox Survey Ads - a tool available to Zoox clients that traces an X-ray of customer behavior and consumer expectations - which revealed that 58% of the almost 19 thousand respondents usually take advantage of Black Friday to buy something and 61% prefer to make their purchases through digital platforms or e-commerces.

In addition, the most desired items for purchase are phones, tablets and computers with 33%, followed by clothing items with 31%, appliances with 28%, and cosmetics with 19%. 

Among the 42% who say they have the need for spending restraint, there are ways for a CDP - coupled with research - to understand other needs of this audience in order to provide offers that fit the desired price limit or the products and brands that make the most sense for the cluster.

See other data from the survey below:

Designing a long term strategy

A long term strategy for the end of the year can greatly help your business optimize resources. It is somewhat common for companies to invest in media in this final stretch of the year, which not only increases their cost on Ads platforms, but also the audience becomes more saturated with ads and promotions. Do you see the need for accurate targeted campaigns?

In this context, the correct use of data can be the differentiator between you and your competitors.

Since Black Friday serves as a warm-up for Christmas and other dates, it is essential to use the unique customer ID provided by a CDP to run look alike campaigns as we suggested above.

In summary, we want you to grasp the advantages of having data as your main allies when it comes to understanding who your target audience is in order to make the best segmented campaigns or offer personalized services.

But, as we couldn't let the opportunity slip by, we've separated for you 4 other bonus tips to develop your long term strategy... 

1.Omnichannel and channel optimization now!

Start by talking to your tech developers, your favorite UX person, or even your marketing team to think about optimizing your sales channel and other customer touch points. It is important that all of them are aligned and talk to each other - as an omnichannel strategy proposes.

And since most people choose to shop through mobile devices such as cell phones and tablets, think about how best to make navigation an ally of a pleasant shopping experience.

Also, try to offer payment solutions that are compatible, varied, and reduce noise at the point of purchase, and reward your best customers with whatever you can - an experience, a discount, premium content, something that can also help you gather more information.

2. Go beyond marketing

Use data to think about logistics too - you can avoid stock problems, for example, by having an up-to-date database of your products. This same stock control can improve your relationship with suppliers, as well as avoid problems with a customer at the time of a purchase.

In these cases, there are already big data solutions capable of cross-referencing data from previous years even to help your company predict the chances of an increase in demand and thus prepare in advance.

3. E-mails as allies

With social media , it may not seem like it, but e-mails are strong allies in converting sales. The ROI ("Return On Investment" or, in a free translation: "Return On Investment") in this channel has an excellent performance.

According to Shopify, in 2018, about 24% of year-end sales in e-commerce were driven by email marketing. Is it or is it not to invest?

4. FREE Ebook

And of course, since we're here immersed in sales solutions, year-end campaigns, and e-commerce optimization, we couldn't leave out our Big Data Solutions for Retail Ebook. With it, you will become an expert in the latest sales technology trends.

Enjoy your reading!