Reporting best practices to ensure Black Friday/Cyber Monday success

As the holiday season approaches, businesses worldwide gear up for one of the busiest and most lucrative periods of the year: Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM).

These shopping events offer a significant opportunity for brands to boost sales and revenue. However, to make the most out of these campaigns, ensuring deliverability best practices is crucial. Campaign reporting  and a holistic view of analytics plays a pivotal role in this process, as it enables businesses to gauge the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and optimize their strategies for maximum impact. Let’s delve into the best practices for campaign reporting and analytics to ensure that your deliverability is BFCM ready.

1. Define clear objectives

Before building any campaign, it is essential to set clear and specific objectives. While working with many clients, often across multiple industries, most marketers simply run “business-as-usual campaigns” without a defined and clear goal and purpose. Without a defined purpose, it becomes challenging to measure the success of email efforts accurately. Inboxing Maestro strongly recommends outlining the key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your goals, such as click-to-open rates, conversion rates, revenue generated, or return on investment (ROI). These well-defined objectives will serve as the foundation for your reporting and optimization activities throughout the year and during the BFCM period.

2. Implement advanced tracking and attribution

Accurate data is crucial for campaign reporting. Ensure that your tracking systems are in place and functioning correctly. Klaviyo offers a comprehensive and advanced attribution and tracking methods such as UTM parameters, conversion pixels, and event tracking to capture relevant data. Furthermore, employ multi-touch attribution models to attribute conversions and revenue accurately across different touch points. This approach will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of which marketing channels and campaigns are driving the most significant impact especially during BFCM.

3. Monitor email deliverability metrics

Email marketing remains a powerful tool for driving sales during BFCM. However, to make sure your emails reach the intended audience, you must closely monitor email deliverability metrics. Key metrics include open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints along with reputation and deliverability metrics like, domain/IP reputation, inbox placement rates. These rates will help you see the holistic view of your email campaign performance, allow you to identify any issues beforehand and take corrective measures to improve email deliverability. Keep your email list clean by regularly removing inactive subscribers and engaging with your audience through relevant and personalized content. If you're interested in implementing a comprehensive deliverability and reputation analytics system to power your email performance, Inboxing Maestro will help take care of end to end implementation and also manage the deliverability health of your email programs.

4. Utilize A/B testing

A/B testing is an invaluable technique for optimizing your marketing campaigns. By creating multiple variations of your campaigns and testing them with different segments of your audience, you can identify the most effective elements and messaging. You can test different subject lines, call-to-action buttons, visuals, and content to refine your campaigns for maximum impact during BFCM.

5. Integrate data from multiple sources

To gain a holistic view of your marketing performance, integrate data from multiple sources into your reporting system. This includes data from email marketing platforms, social media channels, website analytics tools, deliverability and reputation analytics, and CRM systems. A centralized reporting dashboard will allow you to analyze the interconnectedness of different marketing channels and optimize your strategies accordingly.

6. Real-time reporting and alerts

During the intense BFCM period, real-time reporting is essential for staying on top of your campaigns' performance. Implement automated reporting and alert systems that notify you of any significant changes or anomalies in your data. Real-time insights enable you to identify and address potential issues promptly, allowing you to make data-driven decisions and maximize your campaign's effectiveness.

7. Analyze past BFCM performance

One of the best ways to prepare for BFCM is to analyze your past performance during these events. Look at historical data, identify trends, and learn from previous successes and failures. This retrospective analysis will provide valuable insights into what worked well in the past and what you can improve  for the upcoming campaigns.

8. Establish benchmarks and targets

Finally, establish benchmarks and targets based on historical data and industry standards. Setting realistic targets helps you gauge the success of your BFCM campaigns and provides a basis for measuring performance. Aim to exceed your benchmarks, and if you fall short, use the data-driven insights from your reporting to make informed adjustments for future campaigns.

Final Words

In conclusion, by optimizing these 8 best practices, businesses can gain a comprehensive understanding of their marketing performance to ensure the most successful Cyber Weekend yet!

If you want to get deliverability ready for the upcoming BFCM season, get in touch with Inboxing Maestros (ceo@inboxingmaestro.com) to help you navigate through the BFCM period with confidence, and maximize your chances of success during this critical holiday season!

-Mohsin Farooqui ( @inboxingmaestro)