Black Friday Success & Cyber Monday Expectations!

 Crown Advertising and Marketing

245 Newtown Road, Suite 103, Plainview, NY 11803

516-470-2700 www.crownad.com

 

The anticipated craze of black Friday didn’t disappoint retailers this year! Internet sales totaled $816 million dollars, a 26% gain on last year, mostly in part from heavy online promotional activity (www.BBC.CO.uk). Around 50 million Americans visited online retail sites on black Friday 2011! 

Amazon.com was the post popular online destination Friday, with “50% more visitors than any other retailer,” (www.BBC.CO.uk). Following Amazon was Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Apple. 

In-store black Friday success was not too far behind, with a 7% sales increase from last year (www.BBC.CO.uk). Black Friday is viewed as the start of the Christmas shopping season for most retailers and consumers, which is why outrageous discounts and sales are offered as a one-time only, kickoff to the shopping season. 

Mobile shopping accounted for 9.8% of all online sales, compared to 3.2% last year (www.BBC.CO.uk). IBM said “Apple’s iPhone and iPad had generated the most mobile internet visits to online stores, accounting for more than double the traffic originating from devices running Google’s Android system,” (www.BBC.CO.uk).

Today, known as “cyber-Monday”, is expected to be America’s busiest online shopping day of the year. Close to 123 million American plan to make an online purchase, according to a survey commissioned by the US National Retail Federation, a 15% increase on last year’s numbers (www.BBC.CO.uk). 

“Retailers have invested heavily in mobile apps and retail content as the appetite for Cyber Monday shopping through smartphones and tablets continues to rise,” said Vicki Cantrell, executive director of the NRF’s website shop.org (www.BBC.CO.uk). 

What is your business doing to encourage purchasing on cyber Monday? Do you have a mobile application? Share your ideas, discounts, applications and links with other retailers on our Facebook wall linked HERE.

Cyber Monday & Online Shopping Tips to Find the Best Bargain this Holiday Season!

 Crown Advertising and Marketing

245 Newtown Road, Suite 103, Plainview, NY 11803

516-470-2700 www.crownad.com

 

Cyber Monday is the latest craze in holiday shopping. Following Black Friday’s trend, Cyber Monday has turned into the biggest online holiday shopping day, and kicks off the online holiday shopping season. 

Here are several tips provided by FrugalLiving.About.com, to help find the best bargains and deals while surfing the web for holiday gifts. 

• Sign Up For Newsletters: If you have a favorite retail store that you plan on shopping at, sign up for their e-newsletter a few weeks before the sales begin (so now would be the PERFECT time!). It’s a great way to stay in tune to special deals and promotions, and a great way to score special subscriber-only coupons.

• Shop at Sites that Offer Free Shipping: Many stores offer free shipping on Cyber Monday, so take some extra time to scope out the stores offering this deal. If you don’t see free shipping offered on the site you’re on, check out a competitors website!

• Seek Out Coupon Codes: Head to one of the sites dedicated to finding and posting coupon codes, like currentcodes.com or retailmenot.com. You just may find a deal, free shipping, free merchandise, percent off your order, etc. to give you extra savings!

• Bonus Tip: Bookmark retailmenot.com. Then, the next time you’re shopping online, just click on the link, and it will display all the coupons for the site that you’re on!

• Order through a Rewards Site: Access a store’s website through a rewards site, and you’ll earn points or even cash for your efforts. Some rewards sites worth checking out: Upromise, MyPoints, FatWallet and Ebates.

• Compare Prices: Before you place an order, compare prices on a price comparison website like pricegrabber.com to make sure you’re getting the best deal!

Happy Shopping!

Use Social Media to your Advantage This Holiday Season!

 Crown Advertising and Marketing

245 Newtown Road, Suite 103, Plainview, NY 11803

516-470-2700 www.crownad.com

 

Take advantage of this holiday season to increase your social media traffic and brand awareness! Using you Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media accounts as leverage during this time to offer special promotions and discounts can really step up your marketing campaign and get your name out there. 

Here are a few things you can do to get the most out of your social media campaign this holiday season, provided by Examiner.com:

 

• Black Friday: Offer something special on your social media accounts this Friday, like a discount, special promo code or special deals exclusive to social media followers. 

• Small Business Saturday: American Express Open’s Small Business Saturday on November 26^th, the day after black Friday. Run a campaign that offers special discounts on your products or services similar to black Friday, or have a promotion where anyone who purchases your products this day can win a great prize in a random drawing. The ideas are endless.

• Food Drive: Commit to donating money to your local Food Pantry or other charitable organization during the holiday season. For every new Facebook friend you gain during the holidays, donate $1.00 to the organization. You will not only gain a lot of new followers, but you’ll be helping those who really need it this year. And, the money you donate is tax deductible! 

• Toy Drop: If you have a physical location for your business, partner with Toys for Tots or another local Toy Drive organization and become a local drop off for donation. Your business will be listed in their advertising and you will likely get new people into your location. Offer something in return to get people dropping off at your location, like a discount on your product or service, a drawing for a prize, etc.

• Photo Contest: Have your current friends enter crazy holiday pictures, or their family holiday photo card, Christmas tree pictures, etc. into a holiday photo contest. 

Use the Holiday season to really step up your campaign and make the most of your social media pages. If you need help, contact Crown Advertising. For more information visit CrownAd.com.  

Crown Advertising Case Study: AHRC Suffolk

 Crown Advertising and Marketing

245 Newtown Road, Suite 103, Plainview, NY 11803

516-470-2700 www.crownad.com

 

The AHRC Suffolk not-for-profit organization hired Crown Advertising to handle their issue. Because they did not have one unifying document that explained the broad reach of the organization, they were lacking in philanthropic support. Crown Advertising took on their case.

Here are the details:

Challenge: To encourage philanthropic support of an organization dedicated to helping the developmentally disabled live better, fuller lives. 



Situation Analysis: AHRC Suffolk is a not-for-profit organization that provides educational, vocational, residential and other services to developmentally disabled children and adults in Suffolk County. Although a number of individual brochures highlighting specific AHRC Suffolk services existed, there was no unifying document that would explain the broad reach of the organization to potential supporters and other shareholders. 



Solution: Crown Advertising developed a case statement based on the three principle areas AHRC Suffolk impacts — Living, Learning & Working.

Strategies: After obtaining information from both agency personnel and clients in the organization’s education, vocational training and residential living areas, what struck us was that despite their many differences and the disadvantages endured by AHRC’s clients, each was striving toward a similar goal — to live life to the fullest. In addition to developing comprehensive overviews of each area, we developed short profile stories entitled “Lives Well Led,” focusing on both the strivings of AHRC clients and the good works performed by AHRC personnel and supporters. These stories helped to provide emotional context to go with the descriptions of each service area. Thematically, Crown’s design team focused on the idea of metamorphosis and growth of the individual client, as symbolized by the butterfly. 



Results: The Living-Learning-Working brochure has become a vital tool for fundraising and critical government relations efforts, and also helps provide solid information for potential corporate partners as well as families of prospective students and clients.

Crown Advertising customizes each of their client accounts to ensure they reach the hearts and minds of their stakeholders, from traditional advertising techniques to the latest in multi-platform marketing, social networking and web strategies. For more information, visit www.CrownAd.com.