So what is Cyber Monday? Basically, Cyber Monday is to online retailers what Black Friday is for brick-and-mortar retailers. These online events have been around for a decade and can help level the playing field for small businesses. According to Forbes, Cyber Monday online revenue for 2014 reached $2.68 billion – a nearly 20% increase over the totals in 2013. It is important to note that more than one-third of these purchases were made via mobile devices. This shows the amazing evolution of online sales.

Lets go back to the beginning. According to Wikipedia, “Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. The term “Cyber Monday” was created by marketing companies to persuade people to shop online. The term was coined by Ellen Davis and made its debut on November 28, 2005 in a Shop.org press release entitled “‘Cyber Monday Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year.” So in essence, it is working.

Unlike big-box operations like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target and others, the average small business owner or local retailer doesn’t have the advertising dollars to draw in the consumer. That’s why small businesses need an effective strategy for Cyber Monday. So, here are some tips that can potentially help you edge out some of your competitors:

• Have a dedicated landing page and URL for your Cyber-Monday sales event, something like www.yourdomain.com/cyber-monday/ and create a solid landing page there that is clean, clear and focused. Be sure to have the page content proofread and double-checked to ensure that there are no misspellings or errors in prices advertised. Focus on four to six main products and make those a priority, rather than throwing everything you offer at the consumer up front.

• Let your followers be the first to know. As a small business that has dedicated social media followers who routinely follow your brand, can let those people know about your Cyber Monday event first, and will share it with their networks. These are the followers that you’ve spent all year cultivating and in many cases, they would rather spend their money and their influence with a brand that they trust – rather than larger brands who they feel do not have their best interests at heart.

• Target customers with exclusive offers. Door-Crasher items and other exclusive limited-time offers account for 40% of sales during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period. No matter how big or small your business is, consumers are looking to get value out of their purchases. While you, as a smaller shop, may not be able to offer price cuts on hot items that the large retailers do, you can still use exclusive offers to sell excess inventory. For example, offer a special deal for those who purchased products from you the previous week. This will let them know that you still value their business. This will also go a long way in building trust and loyalty.

• Always be doing your homework. You want to know the focus of any Cyber Monday deals that your competitor is offering. Above all, don’t try to compete just on price – compete on the advantages that you offer over them. But do not stop with one look at your competitors’ strategies. Watch them carefully to make sure they are not trying to follow your lead and simply under-price you. Being a small business, it will be easier for you to change strategies on your Cyber-Monday offerings, than it will be for a much larger competitor.

Only readers of this blog will know about a very exclusive offer that Telsec has for Cyber Monday. If you call Telsec Sales and Executive Office Administrator Victoria Graziosi at 416-363-9035 today and sign up for a virtual office solution, she will not only give you one month of service free, but she will also give you two free half-day boardroom or meeting room rentals (normally $60 for virtual office clients, $100 for non-clients and always free for office tenants). Alternatively, you can choose to receive one free Daily Office Rental (valued at $100 for Virtual Office cleints and $160 for non-clients) as your Cyber Monday Bonus. Be sure to quote the promo-code “Cyber Monday” when you ask for the special deal.