Order to Cash: What It Is and Why You Should Care | Handshake
Cyber Monday Sales: How B2B Brands Can Capitalize
1. Post Link: 4 Ways for B2B Brands to Get the Most Out of Cyber Monday Sales
4 Ways for B2B Brands to Get the Most Out of Cyber Monday
Sales
It’s tough to ignore Cyber Monday and Black Friday ads. They’re everywhere––in your inbox
and mailbox, on social media profiles, and nearly everywhere else you look. The sales madness
builds on the already stressful holiday season.
The vast majority of promotions, of course, are given by retailers rather than manufacturers and
suppliers, who are competing for the lowest price and most creative offer to take advantage of
the estimated $2.8B spent on Cyber Monday, $1.3B on Thanksgiving, and $2.4B on Black
Friday.
And this makes sense. B2C sales, whether online or brick-and-mortar, lends itself to
promotions. The transactions are simple. B2B, on the other hand, faces challenges across
accounting, inventory, specialized contracts and discounting, order fulfillment, multiple shipping
locations, and more. It’s just too complex and risky to take on mass-produced promotional
campaigns.
Yet, with all the attention, wouldn’t it be nice if B2B brands could indeed share a piece of this
vast pie? Perhaps there is.
Below are three ways you can provide value to your customers during the holiday season,
which, additionally serve to enhance your relationships, value, and sales.
2. 4 Ways to Take Advantage of Cyber Monday Sales
1. Supply Email Content That Supports Your Retailers
Quite likely, your customers are planning for Cyber Monday, but do they have everything in
place for their promotions? This can be an arduous and stressful process for many retailers.
Those of your retailers with eCommerce stores, for example, will need to have a well rounded
strategy around handling (and testing for) increased website visits, assuring products have the
necessary detail consumers demand, and an understanding of how to convert these seasonal
shoppers into year-round customers.
What content via whitepapers, webinars, email newsletters, etc. can you provide your
customers to support their efforts? Educate your retailers with the insights they need, and their
success will transfer into better relationships and increased business over the long haul.
2. Make An Important Announcement
Are you hosting a large event in the near future? Launching a new product? Making key internal
staffing decisions? The time between Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be the best time for
the announcement. In fact, Statistics show 90% of employees will be checking their email
inboxes for Cyber Monday deals. This means that your customers will have their eyes on their
email. Leverage this rare attentiveness to email by making an announcement you want your
customers to hear.
3. Give In, Hold a Promotion
If you have the right B2B solution, you can considering offering promotional discounts. If you go
this route, be sure to follow these holiday email tips via Mailchimp, who send and track the
statistics of millions of holiday emails every year. If you don’t feel like reading through it, here
are some of the key takeaways:
Email open rates actually decrease during the holidays (likely due to email overload).1.
In response, you’ll need to give a nearly “uncomfortable” promotion or discount to combat2.
this.
Create promotions based on your best customers.3.
Last, make sure you have a solution in place that can handle promotional campaigns.
4. Optimize Your Mobile Experience
It’s no secret that B2B buyers expect the same experience and functionality they find (and
provide) in the B2C marketplace. However, most B2B brands still have catch-up to play in order
to provide the purchasing experience of a marketplace like Amazon. Additionally, approximately
50% of Cyber Monday and Black Friday deals are expected to be on a mobile device this year.