Episode 54 of eCommerce Uncensored is a Q & A session. Paul gets Kevin and Jason’s take on some questions related to eCommerce, focusing on the holiday sales campaigns coming up.

Question #1: How many email variations should I create and send out for Black Friday/Cyber Monday offer?

Answer: Let’s start by recognizing that Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales are not just one day long. Plan on at least a week long promotion.

There is no set formula for the number of email variations you should send, but you’ll always want to:

• Start with a kickoff email-create a sense of urgency
• Send an email right before the sale ends
• Fill in the gaps, coming up with as many excuses to email your list. Definitely send emails on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and as the final days of the promotion take place. You’ll be sending the same offer, but with different subject lines and creative.
• Use the 5 Keys for Getting eCommerce Emails Opened, Clicked Through, and Ultimately More Sales.

Question #2: Between social media and email, which strategy tends to be more effective during the holiday season?

Answer: Nothing is going to have a better ROI and higher conversion than email. You are emailing people who are already familiar with your brand so you’re already at an advantage. We will certainly be running all of our holiday campaigns through both email and social media, but anticipate a greater response from email.

Question #3: If my product is not selling, should I move onto a different product or focus on a pain point or issue my product solves?

Answer: If your product is not selling there are two possibilities…maybe you just haven’t nailed down the messaging that gets your product across to the right customer base OR maybe people really just aren’t interested in it.

If your product isn’t selling don’t give up after the first failure. Give yourself some time to test different strategies, platforms, or demographics. You may see you’re getting initial traffic but not conversions, so that’ll show you interest exists. Try running a free plus shipping offer. If you can’t give it away for free, its very unlikely that it will sell down the line. Don’t try to force it and spend a fortune on something that isn’t working, but do give yourself some time before moving on.

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The post EU054: Q & A – BFCM Email Frequency, Email vs Social Media & Moving On From Failing Product appeared first on eCommerce Uncensored.