How I Think About Marketing

I thought I would let you into my mind, so you can see how I think of marketing.

The way I strategize to grow my own company.

And what you’ll read next will probably come as a shock, as I don’t really view marketing in the same traditional way you read online.

Now before I dive in, let me give you a little bit of context.

My company is NP Digital. It’s a digital marketing agency where we help companies of all sizes grow.

That’s where I focus my marketing efforts… to grow NP Digital.

Digital marketing will only take you so far

Even though I am a marketer, I don’t believe marketing alone builds a massive company or brand.

Just think of it this way, the number of people that search for the term “shoes” is roughly 1,220,000 per month just in the United States.

But Nike, sells more shoes than that in the U.S. each year and they aren’t the only shoe company around.

Globally they sell 780 million pairs of shoes each year.

How could that be?

People don’t always “search” for what they are looking for.

When I buy shoes I typically just go directly to Nike because I am familiar with their brand and their products. I don’t think I have ever Googled for shoes.

The same goes with ads, yes, I have been shown ads for shoes on Facebook and Google, but it’s never led me to purchase a shoe.

Now that doesn’t mean marketing or SEO doesn’t work. All of that helps you build a brand, which is what causes the majority of purchases.

Here’s an interesting stat that you may not know… 59% of people prefer buying products from brands they are familiar with.

That’s why there are so many more shoe sales in the world than searches. It’s estimated that there are 14.5 to 19 billion shoes purchased each year, but yet the online searches don’t even make up 1/20th of that number.

And when you look at Nike’s brand, they generate more searches on a monthly basis than people just typing in the word “shoes”.

It’s roughly 5 to 1… for everyone person typing in “shoes” into Google, 5 type in “Nike”.

That’s the power of building a brand.

Time solves all problems

Because you are here, you are probably somewhere familiar with marketing and you may even be an expert on it.

But let me ask you this question… have you heard of the following brands?

• Isobar
• Wunderman Thompson
• Huge
• Performics
• Grey

Those are all ad agencies that have thousands of employees. But yet most of us, even though we are familiar with marketing have never heard of them.

And it doesn’t mean they don’t have a small brand, they more so have a large brand within a very specific audience segment.

And that audience is their ideal cliental”. If you are a large company that can spend $25,000,000 or more on marketing each year, you probably are familiar with those companies.

So the key isn’t to just build a big brand like Nike, it’s to build a big brand with your target audience.

Now if your product or service targets everyone, kind of like Nike does, then of course you’ll want to build something everyone knows.

What you’ll also find is your brand will naturally grow over time.

Even though you probably haven’t heard of the ad agencies above, their brands have grown to be large by just being in business for enough years.

Just like Nike.

Sure Nike spends over 3 billion dollars on ads, but what really helps is that they have been around since 1964.

Let’s break down what time really means

I thought it would be fun to share with you some numbers on the power of time.

As I mentioned above, I am focused on growing my company NP Digital. It’s currently on its 4th year in business.

That’s not a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it is something.

But here is what’s cool when we first started out in year 1 all of our business was generated through SEO, content marketing and social media marketing.

Those were the channels we leveraged to generate sales.

Fast forward to today, we still leverage those channels, but now 27% of our sales are generated through word of mouth, referrals and brand recognition.

It’s not the biggest percentage, but just imagine what happens when you are in business for 20 years or even just 10. It’s a massive compounding effect, assuming you provide a good product or service.

So, if you really want to grow your revenue you just have to be patient and keep doing good work and of course do good marketing as that is what will kick start the natural growth.

So, what’s your plan Neil?

I already spend a lot of my time on marketing, but I am doubling down in ways you probably won’t have guessed.

• More social media – I’m now producing content on a daily basis for social media (nothing revolutionary here, but it gets the brand out more).
• Maintain SEO – even though I am big on SEO… you can only rank for so many keywords. I’ve been doing it long enough where it is mainly on maintenance mode.
• Podcasting – been doing this for years now. Averaging over a million downloads a month. Podcasting hasn’t really kicked in yet as it hasn’t been widely adopted.
• Speaking at conferences – towards the end of the year I will be back on the speaking circuit. You can’t touch as many people as you can through content marketing, but at conferences people pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for a ticket, so they are the right audience.

But what else?

Those marketing tactics are just the standard ones that we all know about and use. I am now starting to go after channels that we take for granted…

• TV ads – within 30 days I will have TV ads going on stock channels like Bloomberg and CNBC. A lot of the people viewing those channels are my ideal audience. It’s unconventional, my competition won’t touch it due to poor ROI, but I believe TV is one of the best channels if you want to build a massive brand. Plus it’s not much more expensive than Facebook.
• Awards – we’ve already gotten a lot of awards for our work. We will keep applying for more. It hasn’t driven any business yet, but I do think it is great for brand building in the long run.
• PR – we hired a PR agency last month. They recently got me interviewed on CNBC. It only drove 7 visitors, but it is a start. Eventually the goal is to be consistently interviewed on TV.
• Research firms – there is an age old saying in the business world… “you don’t get fired for buying IBM”. In the marketing world, getting in Forrester and Gartner can create a similar effect. It takes a long time and costs a lot of money to get in, but in the long run you generate leads from large corporations. As they turn to Forrester and Gartner to figure out which marketing agencies to hire.

I’ll add more to the mix as we grow. For now, just adding the 4 new channels to the mix above is already a lot of work.

And compared to the digital channels I started with, I bet the new additions won’t have as high of a conversion rate or even return on investment.

But that’s alright. The goal is to build a big business and sometimes you have to invest even when no ROI can be made because you know in the long run building a brand with your ideal audience will pay off.

Conclusion

Most marketers that I know of focus on ROI. For every dollar they spend they want to make 2 or even 3.

I look at things differently. I focus on building a brand and a reputation. Even if it doesn’t produce an ROI directly, I believe it can help you become a leader within your industry.

And if you can become a leader, eventually the numbers will work out, but of course it is a gamble.

It’s the same reason I got into blogging back in 2005 when others weren’t willing to. I believed that if you educated and helped others out, eventually it would pay off. But for the first 8 years I was in the hole and couldn’t show a return.

I’m experience the same currently with producing videos for YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. But in the long run I believe it will pay off.

Now the real question is, are you willing to play the long game and invest where others aren’t willing to?

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Your guide to social media comments: How to post and respond

Social media is all about engagement and interacting with your audience. This means that when your followers and customers actually leave social media comments on your posts, you need to be responding – even if they’re not necessarily the nicest comments.

It can seem a little daunting to know the best way to interact with customers as your brand, so we’ve put together this guide on the different types of social media comments you’ll face and how to respond to them.

Let’s dig in!

Why responding to social media comments is important

First things first, let’s cover the basics. We already mentioned that you need to be responding to social media comments, but why is this so important?

One of the main goals of social media marketing is building a brand community and engaging your audience, and responding to social media comments is a key part of that, regardless of whether they’re positive or negative.

Positive comments are great and give you a chance to make connections with your audience and build your reputation. Negative comments give you the opportunity to fix mistakes and right wrongs, helping customers to feel better about your brand and become return customers

Responding to even neutral comments is just a way for you to nurture customers and take advantage of this unique one-on-one channel that social media offers to your brand.

How to handle different types of social media comments

There are four main types of social media comments that we’re going to cover, and each needs its own separate approach. All responses will need to still to adhere to your social media brand voice, so be sure to update or include these guidelines in any existing style guides you’ve created.

1. Positive comments or feedback

When someone responds to one of your posts or mentions your brand positively, you always want to acknowledge the comment and thank them for their time. Let the customer know you appreciate them and their positive feedback.

Here’s a simple example from Pocket.

A quick acknowledgement and thanks to the customer for their comment is all it takes when it comes to positive feedback.

2. Neutral comments

Not every comment is a raving review or an upset customer. Some are neutral, whether it’s the user asking a question; making a comment about the product, post or photo; or even tagging a friend in the comments.

Based on what the comment says, try to take this as an opportunity to engage the commenter, either by striking up a conversation or asking a related question.

Take a look at this Instagram example from Nailboo. Continuing the conversation is so much more meaningful than simply leaving a like on the comment.

3. Negative comments

There are a few different ways to deal with negative social media comments. Many times, you want to be sure to respond so you can help fix the situation. Resolving issues like problems with orders or products can help turn a negative comment into a repeat customer, and social can also be a source of insight into larger issues your brand needs to take action on, like recurring complaints that could indicate a defective product batch or a critical flaw in your service.

Sometimes, though, brands face negative comments from online “trolls” who are simply trying to stir the pot. This might include comments with an aggressive tone, overall criticism or questioning of your company’s conduct, or messages targeted at specific individuals in your company. If your brand hasn’t done anything actually wrong, these are best to ignore or escalate to a manager to review, depending on the severity. You may also want to ban or block repeat trolls..

Handling negative comments requires a lot of consideration and care on the part of social media teams. Learn more about providing customer service on social media to help you understand how to handle negative comments and reviews, and consider creating guidelines for escalation management that go into detail about specific scenarios.

4. Comments related to a crisis

A crisis for social media teams could be a major global issue that’s affecting customers or a time when your brand might be facing PR or legal backlash. This varies from typical negative comments in that the team is likely facing an unusually high volume of comments, and critical comments may be much more severe or serious.

Crisis management is an important part of your social media strategy to have in place in advance of these situations. It can help your team navigate the stresses of these challenges successfully, and set up guidelines to protect your brand’s reputation and retain customers.

While you’ll want to develop a fully documented crisis management plan, there are a few basic steps you can keep in mind and communicate to your team. For example, take screenshots of relevant comments and make sure they’re sent to your HR, legal, or other necessary department so they can be fully handled appropriately and everyone is aware of the crisis.

How to respond to social media comments

Now that you know what kind of response you should be sending to various types of comments, let’s review how to actually respond to social media comments on each of the major platforms.

We’ve put together step-by-step instructions to make sure you’ve mastered the comments section of each social media network your business has a presence on.

1. Facebook

It’s pretty simple to respond to comments on each platform. The tricky part can be making sure you don’t miss a single comment. In order to do this, you’ll just need to head over to your Facebook Page manager and click Inbox in the left sidebar.

From there, you’ll see this sidebar pop up where you can access your Facebook comments and make sure you don’t miss any notifications.

From there, you can click over to posts that have comments you need to respond to. Simply click Reply underneath the comment to leave a response.

Once you finish typing out your response, hit Enter or Return on your keyboard to send your comment.

2. Twitter

Twitter will always show you your notifications on the Notifications tab in the left sidebar.

To respond to a mention on Twitter, you simply need to click on the comment bubble icon at the bottom of the tweet.

A popup will appear for you to type out your response, then you simply need to click the Reply button for your message to send.

3. Instagram

To view your Instagram notifications, head to the app on your smartphone and tap the heart icon in the top right corner. This is where you’ll see likes, comments and follows from your audience.

Click on any comments you’d like to respond to, and you’ll automatically be taken to the post. Simply tap Reply to respond to the comment and type out your answer or acknowledgement.

If you’re trying to leave a social media comment on someone else’s post, all you have to do is tap the comment bubble icon directly below the photo to be taken to the comments page.

After you type your comment, simply tap the Post button for it to send.

4. LinkedIn

Commenting on LinkedIn posts is incredibly straightforward. Simply head over to the post you want to leave a comment on or reply to a comment on. To leave a new comment, click on the Comment option and a text box will appear. Type in your comment and hit enter.

To reply to someone else’s comment on your post, open the post and click on the “X comments” link (in the example below, we can see that there are 2 comments), then click Reply on the comment you want to respond to.

Type your response, then hit Enter or Return on your keyboard.

5. Pinterest

If you have a business account on Pinterest, this visual search engine has recently upgraded the way they manage comments. While commenting may not be as common as other interactions on the platform, users can now see comments that have been left on their Pins so they can answer questions or respond to feedback.

First, click on the megaphone icon to view recent comments left on your pins. Click through the list on the left sidebar to find any unread comments you may not have seen. Then click Reply underneath the comment to leave your response.

Type out your comment, then tap Enter or Return on your keyboard to send it.

To leave comments on other Pins, open the Pin, click the Comments tab and type in a message to leave on the Pin.

6. TikTok

If your brand has a presence on TikTok, you definitely want to make sure you’re monitoring comments and engaging with viewers to help grow your account.

To view comments on a video, tap the comment bubble icon on the right side of your screen. Then, to reply to a comment, all you need to do is tap on the comment and a Reply to [username] text box will appear with your smartphone’s keyboard.

Click Send on your keyboard when you’re finished with your reply.

7.  Sprout Social’s Smart Inbox

Or, to make your life even easier, you can handle most of your social media comments from Sprout. Sprout’s Smart Inbox brings together comments and messages across all platforms into one view, and you can respond directly from Sprout rather than logging into individual networks. You can further filter, tag and search to make sure you’re zeroing in on your busiest channels, or catching comments related to a specific theme. Monitor notifications and respond to comments all at once in your Smart Inbox using Sprout’s social media engagement tools.

You can start by reviewing your newest messages to find the most important ones to address and respond to social media comments across platforms from one app.

Start managing your social media comments

Ready to start managing your own social media comments? Get out there and start engaging with your followers and customers. To help you tackle your social strategy more efficiently, check out our 2021 social media toolkit.

This post Your guide to social media comments: How to post and respond originally appeared on Sprout Social.

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How to Do Multiple Location SEO

Having multiple-location SEO enables businesses to attract website traffic from various states or countries across the globe.

It brings a lot of benefits to e-commerce businesses that offer worldwide or international shipping. If you have it in place, you can expand your customer base and quickly grow your business.

How to do multiple-location SEO? Here are some of the tips you need to know.

What Is Multiple-Location SEO?

To attract locals from various locations, you probably need to adopt a local SEO strategy.

Imagine your business has franchises or branches in various cities or countries. You can serve multiple areas or ship products internationally or worldwide.

How do you attract traffic from consumers based on a particular location? The solution is multiple-location SEO.

Multiple-location SEO helps you improve your search traffic from various locations. This way, locals who make searches related to your niche or services can see your website at the top of search results.

For instance, a search for McDonald’s in New York leads to Google search results with information on nearby branches in the city.

If you were traveling to Las Vegas, you’d also find branches and website results about McDonald’s that are related to your location.

In short, multiple-location SEO lets search engines differentiate between multiple locations. Hence, local customers can get relevant information on the products and offerings available in nearby outlets.

If you want more in-depth information about how this works, check out my definitive guide to SEO.

What’s the Benefit of Multiple-Location SEO?

What makes multiple-location SEO good for business? Here are some of the benefits you need to know.

1. Boost Local Marketing Results

Taking advantage of Google’s multi-location SEO features can boost your marketing efforts.

Google offers location-based data, such as drop pins on digital maps with information on your business’s exact address, opening hours, and other relevant information. First-time customers can also use the “Street View” function to find your outlet easily.

For example, when a tourist searches “Starbucks near me” on Google, you’ll get a map with information on nearby outlets, links to their website, and directions.

2. Attract Local Customers

Of course, multiple-location SEO can attract more local customers within the vicinity of your outlet.

According to website design company Go Gulf, 46 percent of all Google search results pertain to local information. Also, 72 percent of consumers that conducted a local search visited a store within five miles from their current location.

These numbers show incorporating a multiple-location SEO strategy is good for business.

When customers search for a local establishment offering a specific product or service, the search results will present the local businesses that specialize in it.

Food enthusiasts based in Washington, D.C. looking for a restaurant can conduct a search for “restaurants Washington.” Popular restaurants in the area will be displayed in the search results.

3. Boost Brand Awareness

Multiple-location SEO can raise awareness of your product or service by increasing traffic to product pages.

When customers use keywords related to your business’s offerings, your product pages could appear in the top search results.

Imagine a new resident browsing for items for his apartment in Washington, D.C. He conducts searches like “mattress Washington,” or “furniture Washington.” Businesses that are optimized for SEO within these locations will appear at the top of search results.

The bottom line is adopting a local SEO strategy can increase sales. Businesses who want to improve their visibility in a local area can improve their local presence.

Should E-Commerce Businesses Optimize for Multiple Locations?

More consumers have shifted to e-commerce because it is fast and convenient.

The unique advantage of e-commerce is its ability to cater to consumers from various locations, states, or countries.

Even if your e-commerce business is based in the U.S., your online shop will be viewable to consumers in countries like France, Italy, or Germany. All you need to do is enable international shipping, and you’re all set.

Sadly, international customers won’t be able to find your business if they can’t find you on the search engine. Hence, adopting a multiple-location SEO strategy is crucial for your business’s profits.

Multiple-location SEO is not merely about attracting traffic to your website. You can also use it to attract customers to your regional website and create unique pages and content for a particular location.

Let’s say you’re a clothing retailer catering to international customers.

Online stores in Singapore may offer different products compared with your e-commerce store based in the U.S. As a result, you can build a multiregional site to accommodate consumers within these locations.

An example is clothing retailer Uniqlo, which has an online website for Singapore.

It has a separate online store for US consumers.

With multiple-location SEO, Singaporean consumers will be redirected to your Singapore website. They’ll be able to view products which they can purchase and ship to their homes. Likewise, consumers based in the U.S. will also enjoy these same benefits.

Furthermore, you can adjust to local trends and create exclusive product lines that interest local consumers. When consumers search for these products, they’ll view them on your local website.

Steps to Optimize for Multiple Locations

How can you optimize your store for multiple locations? Here are some tips you need to know.

1. Create a Page for Each Location on Your Website

The first step is to create pages based on your business’s or consumers’ location.

You can get this done by building a logical site structure to make it easy for search engines to find landing pages dedicated to a particular area.

For example, if your e-commerce store had various locations, then you can adopt the following URLs:

yourecommercestore.com/locations/newyork (for a specific state)

yourecommercestore.com/locations/newyork/manhattan (for a specific district)

Let’s say you have a store at East River Plaza in Manhattan. Then, you can use the following URL:

yourecommercestore.com/locations/manhattan/east-river-plaza

2. Optimize Each Page for the Location

Google won’t know your page is for a specific location unless you make an effort to optimize it.

This involves including the location in your title tag and meta description. Consider this search result for restaurants in New York City. The title, URL, and description have the keywords “restaurant New York City,” which helped it earn a top spot in the search results.

3. Create Localized Content for Each Location

Next, you’ll have to create localized content based on the products and services available in a particular location.

E-commerce stores with distinct products and services based in each region could consider creating the following landing pages:

• Store location: Create dedicated landing pages with information about your physical outlets (if any). Ideally, this should include your opening hours, address, map with your location pinned, and directions.
• Images: Add photos of your physical outlets (if any).
• Product pages: For products available in a particular location only, create product pages optimized based on location. For example, the McDonald’s Korea website has a menu page based on their current location.

• Service pages: Describe the services you offer in the particular location.
• Blog posts: Create blog posts designed to attract local customers based in a particular region.

These efforts ensure local customers will find information that is relevant to them when they check out your website and make a purchase.

4. Sign Up for Google My Business

Create a Google My Business account with listings for each location of your business.

You can check out my blog post on How to Optimize Google My Business to learn the basics about creating your listing.

A good listing should include basic business information, product photos, reviews, and social media pages. According to BrightLocal, 5 percent of Google My Business listing impressions lead to calls, clicks, or inquiries about the direction.

Take, for instance, this listing for Miyako Sushi based in Pennsylvania. The listing includes reviews from the web, popular times, website link, address, contact information, and any other pertinent facts to consumers.

This Google listing has all the information that consumers need to learn about the business. They can make an order, read reviews, and visit the website with the click of a button.

5. Showcase Reviews

Consumers regularly search for reviews before considering a purchase from an online store.

According to the State of Online Reviews by Podium Market Research, 93 percent of consumers said online reviews could influence their buying decision.

A Bright Local study found transitioning from a 3-star to a 5-star average rating on Google can lead to 25 percent more clicks. Businesses that achieved a 5-star rating also took around 69 percent of clicks in the local search, beating other competitors by a large margin.

Customers can easily write a review by clicking on your Google My Business listing.

Let’s use the previous example on Miyako Sushi and look at the reviews.

Shortly after, you’ll be able to view a pop-up with an option to “Write a Review” in the upper-right corner.

To get more reviews, create an email asking customers to leave a review after making their purchase. You can also share reviews or testimonials to encourage customers to share their experiences with your business.

For better results, you could give customers a small incentive to leave a review, such as coupons or freebies.

6. Create Local Business Listings for Each Location

Besides Google, you can create local business listings on sites like Yelp and Bing to improve your local search results.

Similar to Google My Business listings, this should include relevant business information such as location, hours, and directions.

Here’s an example of a listing on Yelp for the Atlanta Breakfast Club:

As you can see, there’s crucial business information, such as links to reviews, health and safety measures, website links, and contact info. This information will help you attract local customers or tourists researching breakfast restaurants in the area.

As we’ve mentioned previously, consumers love businesses with reviews, so ask consumers to leave a review on these listing websites. In case there are any negative reviews, be sure to respond so you can satisfy frustrated customers and increase your average review rating.

You can also add links to these listings on location-specific pages on your website. This way, customers will be able to get the information they need with the click of a button.

7. Build Backlinks for Each Location

Backlinking is a crucial part of multiple SEO.

Businesses who want to improve their rank across multiple locations will need to build backlinks to individual pages for each location on their website.

You can get this done by reaching out to bloggers in your community.

If you own a restaurant, consider getting in touch with a food blogger so they can write a blog post or review about their experience. You can also get in touch with vloggers in your area to post video content about your restaurant online.

Host or participate in events within your community to get featured on local websites. Partner with organizations that can help you make an impact and build connections with locals. Network with journalists who can get you involved in newsworthy events and get you published in local publications.

The more backlinks you earn, the more likely you will boost your rankings in local search results.

Conclusion

Multi-location SEO can bring a lot of benefits to your business.

Not only does it provide you with an opportunity to increase brand awareness, but you’ll also attract local consumers. Since many people conduct local searches, you can even improve your customer acquisition results.

To reap the benefits of this SEO strategy, you’ll have to create a page for locations relevant to your business and optimize the page. Afterward, get reviews and create local business listings so customers will have a good evaluation of your business.

Follow the steps in this post, and you’ll be on your way to increasing local traffic to your website.

How will you do multiple-location SEO for your business?

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7 Strategies for Memorial Day Sales

Memorial Day means many things to many people. At its heart, it’s a day to commemorate the brave American soldiers who died fighting for this country. For many, the Memorial Day weekend also marks the start of summer and a chance to grab a deal in the annual holiday shopping event.

The shopping event is no longer the preserve of brick-and-mortar stores. Research by Namogoo shows e-commerce fashion sales soared over Memorial Day 2020, up 380 percent compared to the year before. Conversions increased by 335 percent, too.

These kinds of figures don’t happen by magic, however. Marketing plays a crucial role in your store’s success.

That’s why I’m going to show seven strategies to send your Memorial Day sales soaring.

7 Tips for E-Commerce Memorial Day Sales

A record-breaking Memorial Day doesn’t happen by luck. By using one or several of the following tips, you give your store a better chance of getting noticed, winning new customers, and having a great weekend.

1. Run a Paid Ad Campaign Showcasing Your Sales

Succeeding over the Memorial Day weekend is all about standing out. Big brands may do this with television commercials or billboards. Smaller brands often stick to social media. I recommend combining the two via a paid ad campaign on social media.

While few brands can afford to go all out on a TV ad, many e-commerce brands can afford a short paid ad campaign, especially if it’s optimized for conversions.

There are two crucial factors you need to get right: The channel you advertise on and the creative you use.

I recommend sticking to Facebook or Google for your paid ads. These platforms offer the greatest reach and the best targeting tools to help make sure your paid media budget goes the furthest.

When it comes to ad creative, it’s all about standing out. Using red, white, and blue, and an American flag are a given. But also consider including summer-related imagery that so many consumers relate to the holiday.

It’s essential to remember that, unlike Independence Day, this is a day of remembrance. Keep your tone respectful of the fallen and their loved ones, even if you’re focusing on summer fun. This ad from My Mind’s Eye does a great job of finding this balance: It’s eye-catching, positive, and still reminds viewers of the reason for the holiday.

Use Memorial Day hashtags on social media platforms, but be careful about the kind of content you post. Some people may be using these hashtags to search for information around the holiday itself and may be offended by overly promotional material.

2. Tease Your Sales on Social Media Without Revealing What They Are Until Memorial Day

Teasing your Memorial Day sales on social media is a fantastic way to drum up anticipation and build a potential customer base well before the big day. By running it on social channels, you have the chance to pick up thousands of new users who have never shopped with you before.

Get your social media calendar in place well ahead of the holiday. The more time you have to post, the more anticipation you can build. This is as true for your email marketing campaign as it is for your social media posts.

For example, The Pampered Iggy—an artist who makes outfits for Italian Greyhounds—teases their upcoming Memorial Day sales in this simple but effective image:

3. Run a Flash Sale

Unlike the winter holiday shopping season, Memorial Day sales last for a couple of days at most. This makes it ripe for flash sales.

These sales typically come with substantial discounts and are all about encouraging consumers to make impulse purchases. They’re also a great way to grab some press attention and make sure customers visit your store over your competitors.

Focusing on your new summer products is the best strategy here. Many consumers wait until Memorial Day weekend to make their spring and summer purchases, so they’re on the lookout for this season’s items. Make the discounts too good to avoid.

Getting the word out about your sales will be just as important. Consider using a paid ad campaign as I described above to promote your sales, but don’t forget about your email list or social media followers.

4. Sell Winter Items at a Deep Discount

Everyone loves a discount, especially on Memorial Day. Price drops between 20 percent and 90 percent are common. There’s no better time to get rid of leftover winter items while attracting new customers than to sell them cheap.

These sales can run alongside your standard Memorial Day sales events, or they can stand on their own. It all depends on what products you stock for summer. Brands that tend to do well during the summer months may prefer to emphasize their new line of products. On the other hand, winter sports stores may just want to make their steep discounts the center of attention.

5. Honor Veterans and Their Families

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for fallen soldiers. This is why it’s essential to stay positive but not too celebratory about the unofficial start of summer.

Richard Levick, chairman and CEO of LEVICK, says:

Remembrance and relaxation both play important roles in our lives, but they should occupy separate spheres…When brands forget to respect that separation, and when executives who don’t understand the true meaning of Memorial Day are in control of a company’s marketing and social media outreach, insensitive—even offensive—things happen.

In particular, he recommends against potentially exploitative imagery of military funeral services, families in mourning, and so forth. Many companies juxtapose these images with messages of “FLASH SALE!” and “Happy Memorial Day!” which can ruffle feathers.

Not all veterans and families want to hear “thank you for your service” on Memorial Day and want the day focused on those who have been lost. That said, honoring veterans, active duty military, and their families can be done tastefully and well, without drawing focus away from the meaning of the day—chances are many of them have lost someone in the line of duty.

There are many ways you can honor veterans and active service people. One option is to give them early or preferential access to your sale. Another is to offer them discounts or special offers. You could even give away small items as gifts.

But a particularly special thing you can do to show your understanding and gratitude? Donate a portion of your proceeds from your Memorial Day sale to a charity supporting the families of fallen soldiers, like the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) or the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation. Mention this plan in your Memorial Day marketing materials, but keep the focus on those who need the help, not how awesome you are for doing this.

6. Contact Websites Running Sales Roundups to Get Your Store Featured

The Memorial Day weekend is a fantastic source of content for new publications, many of which include roundups of all the best sales. It’s not an accident when brands get included in these roundups. More often than not, it’s the result of a lot of outreach work.

Start by finding publications in your industry that have produced Memorial Day roundups in the past. If they did a roundup last year, there’s a good chance it will be on the editorial calendar this year.

You can also target bigger, broader publications that aren’t necessarily tied to one industry. Here are just a few websites that have created Memorial Day sales roundups in the past:

• Forbes
• TechRadar
• House Beautiful

Next, draft an email to send to each of these publications. Personalize it a bit, but you can keep the bulk of it the same. Highlight what you have on sale over the Memorial Day weekend, the kind of discounts customers should expect, and why your deal is better than your competitors.

7. Set Up a Virtual Event With a Live Sale Segment

You don’t have to have a brick-and-mortar store to run a live sales event.

There are even some pretty significant benefits stores can realize by running virtual sales events. They are way more accessible for one. You’ll be able to accommodate significantly more attendees (which means more customers), and they’ll be able to tune in from anywhere in the world, too.

It will also be much cheaper to run a virtual sales event than an in-person one. Webinar software and a high-quality camera will cost a few hundred bucks at the most. That’s pretty much all you need. It will be much cheaper for customers who don’t have to travel to your store, too, meaning more money to spend on the sale.

You’ll want to make your sales event as fun and inclusive as possible. To this end, make sure to run games and activities and not just showcase your products. You could even run giveaways and competitions to give away some of your newest products for free.

Make sure that you devote a good chunk of time to your sales products, though. The whole point of running this kind of event is to increase sales, so it makes sense to spend at least the latter half of the event modeling your new clothing range or showing your new products in action.

After the pandemic, you may be facing more competition than usual when it comes to online events. It will pay to get the word out early and promote your virtual event as much as possible. Social media, email campaigns, and your website are all great places to start.

Memorial Day Sales FAQ

Which channels should I run paid ads on?

Facebook, Instagram, and Google are three of the best platforms to run paid ad campaigns on this Memorial Day weekend.

How long should my flash sale last?

It can last as little as a few hours, but don’t let it go on for longer than the weekend.

How can I avoid looking like I’m cashing in on an important holiday?

You can incorporate both summer and solemnity. Don’t overdo it on the joy, but keep the message positive. Consider donating proceeds to relevant organizations.

What should I include in my outreach email to publications?

Keep your email as short as possible, but try to stand out. State how much consumers can save, what products are on sale, and any other essential details.

Which platform should I choose for my virtual event?

Facebook or Zoom are two popular platforms that are relatively inexpensive (if not free) and stable to run events on.

Conclusion: How to Increase Memorial Day Sales

Memorial Day weekend is one of the biggest shopping events on the calendar. You can’t just launch a sale and expect customers to turn up, however, especially if you’re an e-commerce store.

Running ads, making the most of social media, and reaching out to online publications are vital to get the word out. Making sure your sale strikes the right tone with customers will be key to increasing conversions.

But don’t stop there. The best e-commerce stores use the Memorial Day weekend as a jumping-off point and do everything they can to keep holiday sales high after the Memorial Day spike.

Which tactics are you going to use this Memorial Day?

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