Sales are powerful because they create scarcity. Temporary availability is a powerful motivator, and major sales every year confirm that finding. Everyone loves sales: new visitors, returning customers, thrifty shoppers, and lifelong brand ambassadors go out of their way to stretch what their dollar can buy.With that in mind, here are 3 sales strategies right out of Ampry’s new playbook:
1: Pre-Sale Hype
Remember the bookstore lines to read the newest Harry Potter book? Let’s do that again, but this time you’re behind the cash register.Pre-sale hype creates loyal followers even before the products are on sale. Early attention also generates traffic because search engines and social media sites love to spread whatever’s new.And people love learning something that’s “secret.” They want to capitalize on the action before everyone else knows about it, because a) it’s flattering and b) it guarantees they’ll get a seat at the table. It’s one thing for information to be “fresh off the press,” but engage new visitors before the sale even comes!When done right, these placement types create pre-sale hype:
- Notification cards asking if they want to opt-in to get early access when the product launches. Make the benefit clear on these cards. Otherwise, visitors will just click “No thanks, I won’t get notifications in my inbox.”
- Create a top bar with a countdown timer 2-3 days before the sale starts. These can be especially powerful if they’re dynamic. (instead of “two days,” say “47 hours, 38 mins, 09 seconds, 08, 07…)
- Change your welcome opt-in to include an offer around the upcoming sale. For example, advertise a site-wide sale happening in two days and ask if they’d like to be the first to know. Create a teaser button that displays on the site when this popup isn’t open.
2: Sale
Ribbon’s cut, doors are open, “20% off this week only!” Now what?First of all, this isn’t the time to slow down. Too many marketers believe that the start of a new campaign is the finish line. That’s just not the case. That kind of tragic inattention loses leads and stifles sales.Second, acknowledge your strategy’s changing needs. Just like a racecar changes gears to accelerate, or a roller coaster picks up the pace on steep climbs, your sale strategy should evolve to become more active, visible, and streamlined.So here’s what to do when you’ve hit this point:Welcome Opt-ins and Cart Abandonment SaversDuring the sale, other incentive-based placements like welcome opt-ins or abandoned cart savers should speak to incentives of the sale. If you have welcome opt-ins or abandonment savers already, change their language to match the sale language. (Ex: rather than say, “Get 10% by signing up for email” the welcome popup should say, “Sitewide 20% off sale, opt-in to get early access to future sales.”)
As always, emphasize the benefit. Benefits are appealing because people want to know that spending money was worth it. In this case, emphasize getting a sale on amazing products, instead of putting an exclamation point after “Give us your contact info!”Welcome opt-ins and cart abandonment savers work with any format, including video. If you have a front-facing persona, or the sale is complex, have a video in the welcome popup that introduces the sale and restates the call to action.
Top BarNo visitor should wonder whether there’s a sale: they should only wonder what they can buy. During the sale, your main top bar announcement should speak to the value propositions of the sale. We’ve seen different tops bars that are specific work better than top bars with vague value propositions.If you’re doing a tier-based sale or buyers need to spend a certain amount to qualify, you can display a different top bar targeted to your cart page. This top bar can dynamically say how far away the user is away from that threshold or if they already qualify.
Mobile Navigation MenuPeople are used to shopping on their phones: during lunch breaks, scrolling through social media, and at other times when they aren’t near computers. Having a bad mobile menu is a great way to drive away sales, that’s why we recommend using Ampry’s Mobile Navigation placement. If you’re using that placement, update it so that sale items or categories are easily accessible for mobile visitors. We recommend simply swapping out one of the links you already have in the placement with a sales category link.
3: Final Push
Here’s an interesting fact about runners: completion times increase around hour markers.Why? Because there’s a deadline.There’s no magic in an arbitrary number but it becomes powerful when it becomes a finish line. Runners want to complete their race within the deadline, so they increase their efforts to reach the goal.That’s the response you want from visitors: have visitors commit to work harder. Let them know the sale ends soon. If the product’s relevant and they’re interested, visitors will run faster to get a good completion time.The best placements types to run in the home stretch are:Top BarThere’s nothing that makes a sale more urgent than creative copy mixed with great visuals. On the sale’s last day, change the top bar to include a countdown timer with great copy that communicates something like “sale ends soon!”
Sitewide Abandonment SaversOn the final day of the sale or during the final hours add a sitewide abandonment placement that increases the urgency to purchase while the sale lasts. For example, change the top bar to say “Before you go, today’s the last day to shop the sale!” Make sure you exclude cart pages and checkout so the cart saver doesn’t conflict with this sitewide placement.
Bottom Line
Getting the word out means adapting to where the campaign is. Optimizing your pre-, during, and final day plays will increase results across the board. Maximize everything you’ve put into this product by continuously maximizing your sales results. If it seems daunting, remember that the difference between “great” and “amazing” is a little more time and effort.Take your sales to the next level! If you’re ready to raise that bottom line to the ceiling, download our Sales Playbook today and unlock early access to three bonus sales strategies!