💰 Cyber Week Post-Mortem

Happy Cyber Monday, Sellouts!

Cyber Week 2024 is almost behind us, and if you’re like me, you’re equal parts thankful and exhausted. Amid the chaos, some strategies hit the mark…and, well, others missed by a mile.

Once the chaos settled, I debriefed with Mike Dalton, growth marketer for brands like Budgy Smuggler and Hyro to uncover what worked, what bombed, and what you need to know for next year.

Here’s our list of lessons  from Cyber Weekend (Week? Month?...Year? 🫠)

1. Kill the Discount Codes

Ditching site-wide discount codes and manually adjusting product prices (regular vs. compare-at price) led to huge conversion gains.

Rather than telling your customers to use a promo code, adjust your website prices ahead of time.

Here’s why it works:

• It makes discounts feel more intentional.

• Customers see the monetary value upfront without needing to go to the checkout.

• No confusion over where to apply a code.

Takeaway: Plan ahead and batch your pricing changes to avoid last-minute scrambling.

2. Protect Your Margins on Bestsellers

If you use the prior pricing technique, not every product will need a deep discount. 

Apply heavier discounts to slow movers while keeping bestsellers at their standard promo price. Customers are still motivated to purchase, but you avoid unnecessarily slashing margins on items that sell well without heavy incentives.

Takeaway: Use tiered discounts to balance margins, move slower inventory, and protect your brand’s profitability.

3. Simple Ads Won

This year’s top-performing creative? Clean, static ads showcasing discounts and a direct call to action.

Example: Ten Thousand’s Cyber Week ads were concise, impactful, and high-converting.

Takeaway: Test your messaging on someone outside your team. If they’re confused, simplify it.

4. Repurpose Existing Creative

Instead of shooting all-new content, tweak your best-performing creative. Add animations, adjust headlines, or swap out the call to action. 

One client repurposed their highest-performing ads with minor edits and saved a fortune. It allowed them to promote Cyber Weekend using ads they knew worked, saving money in the process.

Takeaway: Identify top-performing creative pre-Cyber Week, then iterate.

5. Don’t Stop at One Sale

For customers who purchased during the sale (or pre-sale), offering small perks like free express shipping or mystery boxes can motivate a second purchase. We saw an additional six figures in sales from utilizing this strategy.

Takeaway: Segment post-purchase audiences and reactivate them mid-sale.

6. Pre-Sale Hype Works

60-70% of Cyber Sales will come from your email subscribers; warm up this list well before your deals go live.

O&M’s “Win Your Wishlist” giveaway packed their email list, and when the sale hit, those new subscribers converted almost immediately.

Takeaway: Run pre-sale campaigns to grow your list and reward subscribers with early access.

7. Inject Scarcity Mid-late Sale

Black Friday starts earlier every year, and while this can drive early traffic, it also creates fatigue. 

To overcome this, O&M ran a free gift promo on the last day of Cyber Monday. The result? Hesitant buyers converted, closing the week strong.

Takeaway: Hold back some stock or release exclusive bundles mid-sale to motivate sales. Exclude existing buyers from communications to avoid buyer’s remorse.

8. Don’t Let Out of Stock Items Kill Conversion Rates

If your homepage features sold-out items, outdated promos or low value items, your customers will leave very quickly

One client struggled because their site wasn’t dynamically updated when stock ran out, leading to higher bounce rates.

Fix: Dynamically set up Cyber Week product collections to exclude out of stock items. Have back up landing page layouts to promote slow moving items that remain in stock. 

9. Avoid Tech Changes During Cyber Week

Another client attempted a last-minute website redesign mid-sale. The result? Confused customers and plummeting conversion rates. Never. Again.

Fix: Lock in your site at least two weeks before Cyber Week. If it’s not tested by then, it’s not happening.

10. Subpar Deals = Subpar Results

Shoppers expect big, clear offers, and anything less will drive them to competitors.

We released a small ‘Click Frenzy’ offer two weeks before Cyber Week and the sales didn’t justify the investment we made.

Fix: Be bold. If you can’t go big on discounts, add extra value (e.g., free gifts or bundles).

11. Backup Communication Is Non-Negotiable

Assuming every customer sees your emails is a mistake.

Budgy Smuggler had a fallback strategy: resending unopened emails and deploying SMS campaigns to drive traffic when web volume lagged.

Takeaway: Always have fallback communication tactics ready if metrics start falling short.

What worked (or didn’t work) for you this year? Hit reply, I’d love to hear your lessons.

Talk soon,

Luke

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