Cyber Monday emphasizes importance of online marketing

Happy Cyber Monday! Cyber Monday, coined in 2005, is the Monday that immediately follows Black Friday. Just as Black Friday represents the biggest physical store shopping day, Cyber Monday is the biggest online shopping day, as people continue their Christmas shopping when they return to work.

Cyber Monday is big business. In 2009, comScore reported that consumers spent $887M online on Cyber Monday (excluding travel), the second highest spending day of 2009.

Cyber Monday also emphasizes that it’s about a holistic marketing approach and multiple channels: not just social media sites like Twitter or Facebook. Rather the whole e-commerce toolkit. Other channels that are essential are mobile shopping sites and mobile-friendly websites, mobile marketing, social coupon sites like Groupon.  Most importantly, though is a good website that is user-friendly, makes the purchasing process simple: clear calls to action, compliant and accessible coding. Ideally, marketers should engage in usability testing to test different site versions and see which one is likely to lead to more sales.