Cyber Monday sales are up 33 percent this year over 2010, which should indicate to internet marketers that consumers are ready to shop online this holiday season.

Following more than $800 million in Black Friday online sales, yesterday’s Cyber Monday spending proved to hit new ecommerce highs. According to IBM’s Cyber Monday Benchmark, Cyber Monday sales were up 33 percent over 2010 and up 29.3 percent over Black Friday. For marketers, this should be a sign that consumers are increasingly ready to spend online – and internet marketing efforts must encourage consumers to convert.

IBM reports that the average order value yesterday hit $198.26, demonstrating 2.6 percent growth over the average order of $193.24 on Cyber Monday 2010. Marketers already thinking ahead to next year (or planning holiday shopping promotions for later in the season) should note that shopping peaked at 11:05am PST (or 2:05pm EST). Additionally, mobile traffic to retailers’ sites is gaining ground, showing 3.9 percent growth over 2010. As such, brands should consider local SEO to foster discovery among on-the-go searchers.

In addition to optimizing website content marketing efforts for consumers, the Benchmark reveals that social media marketing is key to online holiday shopping.  Traffic referred from social networks accounted for 0.56 percent of all online sales on Cyber Monday, with Facebook proving the top social referrer. As such, it’s clear that integrated marketing efforts that direct social users back to websites are key to online conversions.

While the Black Friday/ Cyber Monday rush is over, marketers still have to prepare for Peak Week with multichannel content marketing efforts. As Brafton reported last year, the first week in December, known as Peak Week, is a prime online shopping time for many holiday shoppers. Last year’s Peak Week spending hit $17.5 billion.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.