It’s almost that time again – when shoppers set their alarms for ungodly hours and leave the Thanksgiving table early to wait in line outside their favorite retailer, hoping to get their hands on the best deals in town.

Black Friday has become a cultural staple, serving as the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Every year it seems to get bigger and bigger, with businesses large and small summoning their troops (well, employees) to handle the massive crowds and checkout lines.

Some argue that the escalation of Black Friday has taken all of the fun out of waking up early and hitting the stores. Between businesses choosing to open on Thanksgiving Day and headlines of someone being trampled by a crowd or getting into a fight over the last TV, this “holiday” has gotten a bad rap over the years.

But whether you’re the first one in line once you finish your Thanksgiving feast or you’d rather do your shopping online, it’s hard to argue with Black Friday’s importance to retailers. Despite a slight decline of in-store sales due to an uptick in online purchases, $10.4 billion was spent at brick-and-mortar locations on Black Friday last year. However, the most significant trend we’re seeing is the increasing role of mobile devices during the holiday season. Mobile accounted for 34% of all Black Friday purchases in 2015 – and we can expect it to be higher this year.

With online shopping playing a greater role in Black Friday mania and millions of consumers still lining up outside retail stores, it’s essential that you approach the holiday with a well thought-out marketing strategy. Black Friday 2016 is right around the corner, so save yourself the stress and start preparing now by focusing on these areas of digital marketing.

Web Design and User Experience

If you have an ecommerce business, you understand the importance of having a site that’s both easy-to-use and reliable. With the influx of traffic you may see on Black Friday and throughout Thanksgiving weekend, it’s important that your site can handle it. Nothing puts a damper on sales like a slow or malfunctioning website, so make sure that your servers are dependable and ready for the rush.

Now is also the time to take a look at your mobile user experience. Between the massive increase in mobile shoppers and the time-sensitive nature of Black Friday promotions, consumers are not going to stick around if a site isn’t compatible with their device. Consult Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see if your pages are optimized for mobile. While you may not have time to do a complete redesign before Black Friday, you can still update site content to make it more visually appealing to mobile users.

Aside from simply functioning properly, you need to take a look at the actual shopping and checkout experience. Does your website make it easy for customers to add something to their cart and make a purchase? Complex navigation or cluttered pages make for a poor experience that could turn off visitors from spending their time and money on your site. Offering perks like guest checkout, accepting PayPal payments, and remembering account information for return customers can all set your ecommerce experience apart from your competitors.

Along with having a quick and simple purchase process, you need to make sure you have the products your customers are looking for in stock. Take a look at last year’s sales to see what items were most popular as well as this year’s trends to make sure your discounts line up with things your target audience actually wants to buy. If you don’t have the season’s most popular products available at a competitive price, it will be hard for you to succeed on Black Friday.

Social Media and Paid Advertising

Whether you’re an ecommerce or brick-and-mortar business, the importance of social media and paid advertising for any type of promotion is undeniable. To build hype leading up to Black Friday, give your social media followers a first look at upcoming sales. This will not only encourage consumers to plan their shopping strategy ahead of time and put your business on their list, but it will make them feel valued and in-the-know.

To generate additional buzz and conversation, you should start running paid ad campaigns on social media several days before Black Friday. A great way to target your followers is through social-exclusive deals, enticing users to print out a coupon or cash in on an online discount code when the day arrives.

Google also offers paid advertising options that can be a valuable supplement to your social media presence. Featuring your business alongside relevant search results will help build awareness and excitement for Black Friday, while also driving qualified traffic directly to your website. Finally, make sure your Google My Business information is accurate and up-to-date so on-the-go shoppers can easily find your business’ location, phone number, and hours of operation.

Once Black Friday rolls around, it’s imperative that you have one or more employees keeping tabs on your social media accounts. Being responsive to any questions or concerns that people have while shopping will not only show that your company cares about its customers, but it could also encourage sales in the process. Shoppers will appreciate the fact that you are attentive to their needs, especially on the busiest shopping day of the year.

Email Marketing

If you have mixed feelings about email marketing, stick with me here. As a consumer, we are constantly bombarded with emails from retailers trying to get you to take advantage of yet another promotion.

Looking through my inbox, I feel like I receive a lot of the same emails every day – just with a different offer or promotion thrown in. Whether it’s an identical design, layout, or message, this is where companies go wrong with email marketing. Everyone loves buying things at a discount, but sending me an email that sweaters are 40% off for the third time this week? Thanks, but no thanks.

Where email marketing proves its worth is when companies find a way to mix in promotions with informational messages. Emails that aren’t solely about a sale, but rather educate the recipient about top trends, budgeting tips, or opportunities to give back to the community help break up the salesy emails. Then when shoppers do receive promotional messages, they’ll actually pay attention.

The best approach is to send a healthy balance of promotional and non-promotional messages all year long, so that when Black Friday rolls around, you can focus on sales and your subscribers won’t be annoyed. So say what you will about email marketing, but the bottom line is that it works if done right. And it really works on Black Friday.

In 2015, the number of Black Friday purchases driven by email marketing increased 162% from 2014. And three-fourths of all Black Friday emails were opened on a mobile device, which ultimately led to more conversions on mobile than desktop.

To take advantage of these eye-opening numbers, you must design your emails with mobile in mind. If clickable icons or text are too small to read or interact with on a mobile device, you can say goodbye to potential business from those recipients. On a high-traffic day like Black Friday, shoppers’ patience is exceptionally low. They understand that businesses are vying for their dollars tooth and nail, so they’re not going to waste their time with a company that can’t accommodate their shopping preferences right off the bat.

Like your social media and paid advertising strategies, it’s also important to establish and implement your email marketing plan a week or more before Black Friday. Get your business in a consumer’s mind before their inbox is flooded, and then keep that momentum going throughout the Thanksgiving weekend and into December.

Are You Ready for Black Friday?

Black Friday tends to bring a lot of anxiety to both retailers and consumers. There are so many deals to try and take advantage of, crowds of people fighting for the same items, and exhausted employees trying to keep the peace. However, your marketing plan doesn’t have to be this way. It’s all about planning and preparation. The key is to stay in touch with what your customers are looking for and make sure you’re highly visible on the platforms they use.

If you can strategize early and put consumers first, you’ll likely win big this Black Friday.