With the pinnacle of the holiday season just around the corner, brands must make their last minute campaigns convey urgency. However, with fewer days to mull over potential ideas, marketers […]

With the pinnacle of the holiday season just around the corner, brands must make their last minute campaigns convey urgency. However, with fewer days to mull over potential ideas, marketers should look at their most recent successes to develop programs that will bring in additional revenue, and Cyber Monday campaigns may be the solution.

comScore Holiday Shopping TrendsAccording to comScore’s post-Cyber Monday data, ecommerce sales grew by 17 percent when compared to the same Monday in 2011 and reached $1.47 billion. While consumers purchased products on Cyber Monday to take advantage of promotions and deals, brands may have learned more about their target audiences through compiled data, such as the influences that push new and existing audience members into conversion.

In addition to Cyber Monday seeing an increase in overall sales, mobile commerce gained a higher percentage of sales in 2012 than the previous year. According to data from Monetate, tablets and smartphones totaled 14 percent of Cyber Monday web traffic and transactions, a 7 percent year-over-year increase. Brands may not want to transition their upcoming marketing programs to speak solely to mobile shoppers by creating unique applications, but becoming aware of these consumers can help guide efforts down the right path.

Mobile Shopping Cyber Monday VolumeWanderful Media released a new report that delves deeper into the behaviors of mobile shoppers. While professionals may think these consumers convert through their devices most often, data indicates that 91 percent of survey respondents have visited brick-and-mortar stores as a result of their online experiences. These online events, such as email promotions, coupons and online ads, compel recipients to react by opening up their wallets and visiting their closest retailers in person. The study also found that the most effective direct marketing method was email, while the most common online research tool remains search engines.

Marketers who plan to unveil new campaigns to drive last-minute shoppers to convert may benefit from evaluating recent data from Monetate and Wanderful Media. The studies show that mcommerce continues to increase, but mobile marketing often drives in-store transactions, too. Therefore, brands must make it easy for prospects to buy products or services no matter their point in the sales cycle and their current locations. Sending a plethora of media to consumers – branded content that provides immediate value – can encourage recipients to respond, and marketers shouldn’t focus too closely on driving mobile transactions when users still prefer to buy products they’ve held in their hands.

Ted Karczewski is an Executive Communications Associate at Brafton. He works to develop his own voice and apply his passions to the evolving world of SEO and content marketing, but he doesn't shy away from writing for fun. After graduating from Suffolk University, Ted used his Communications degree to test out Sports Journalism before Marketing at Brafton.