💥 6 CRO Hacks that CRUSH for BFCM

Hi there,

This is your highest ROI 3-minute read before BFCM. 6 CRO hacks that don’t take more than 5 minutes to implement. Call me CRO Santa.

I’ve optimized nearly $1 billion in BFCM revenue in the past 10 years. My biggest piece of advice:

Don’t forget you’re selling a product, not a sale. The number of brands that look like walking billboards in BFCM is lame. Their P&Ls look just as lame. Remember you’re selling a product, not a discount. Lead with strong copywriting and USPs. Have incredible product images. Do the basics really well.

OKAY HERE’S 6 WICKED GNARLY CRO HACKS FOR BFCM. These don’t take more than 5 minutes to implement, and you don’t need to know how to code to do ANY of these.

Hack #1. Change the names of your shipping options

Change the names, not the prices, for your shipping options. Make them Holiday/BFCM-oriented. This is what I’ve seen work best on a large supplement brand I work with:

Their AOV during BFCM was almost 30% higher, about $100, compared with a year-round AOV of $80. Almost 20% of shoppers took this wild $29.99 shipping, even in early December just to guarantee their gifts/items arrived on time over others. It’s WILD that $80 purchases PRINTED additional $30 upsells for shipping. This takes no more than 5 minutes.

Hack #2. Change your product name for a discount

There are 100 ways to display a discount on your website, but I’ve frequently found this one to be the most effective. Instead of dozens of hours of labor on custom-discount images, badges, tile cards, and new copywriting… be boring and just add it to your Shopify product names. Again, this takes no more than 5 minutes.

Hack #3: Add “a drop” of BFCM to your popup

A lot of people have a lot to say about popups… but what I can say is this: I’ve TESTED (maybe 10 websites hands-on), the biggest BFCM winners were the ones who mentioned BFCM the least. This ties in with the concept of not over-optimizing for a sale, but remaining firm in selling your product and its benefits without the sale overtaking the message, USPs, and reasons customers buy. Here’s an example I mocked up with the “touch of BFCM”

I don’t have concrete evidence or data to prove it, but over the years I’ve started to think that time-based emotional triggers work best in CRO. I think it beats discounts, free things, even incredible testimonials. Not sure why, if you have some research on it reply to this email, would love to read it!

Hack #4: Collections Page Headlines

This one is one of the most stupid-simple improvements I’ve done for 100+ brands in BFCM. Wild ROI on the 5-minute effort. Most Collections Pages have a simple name like “Denim Jackets” but give it that “drop of BFCM” by adding a word or two. “Denim Jackets, Holiday Sale.”

There are tons of creative ways to slide in that discount and memory-anchor it (as the first thing they see on the page) on top of a slew of products they can buy from you. I’ve seen some brands go as aggressively as changing the entire title to “Sale” like this one:

Hack #5: Go AGGRESSIVE on your post-purchase upsells

Look at this GNARLY upsell:

Back when I ran the JellyBee this was our biggest lift (we could attribute) for a BFCM website overhaul. If you read Billion Dollar Websites (my book, live in 5 DAYS)... in Chapter 9, Upsell Like a Savage, I give the concept that when a salesman pitches… they should pitch HARD. If not pitching, shut the hell up.

Think of your post-purchase upsells, not your pre-purchase upsells, as your jab-jab-right hook moment where you have nothing to lose and already made the sale. SELL AS HARD AS POSSIBLE, NO SHAME. I don’t use this philosophy on websites, just on post-purchase upsells as we have nothing to lose. Again, this takes no more than 5 (maybe 10) minutes to do.

Hack #6: “Fast + Free Shipping”

From the shipping options in Hack #1, the same applies for FREE shipping! So many brands offer “Free Shipping” as an incentive. Does it cost you anything to add the word “fast” which is what customers want? 

Change “Free Shipping” to “Fast + Free Shipping” and watch performance skyrocket.

Still reading? Hell yeah. If this has been valuable, I ask you 2 things:

1. Reply back here with what you want to read about, give me a 1-10 on this email, #helpmeoptimize

2. Billion Dollar Websites, my first published book, is coming out in 5 DAYS!!! Give me a follow on Twitter or LinkedIn, I NEED you there on the launch day :) 

HACK THOSE HOLIDAY WEBSITES LADIES AND GENTS 🧑‍🎄