cybermonThis is just a quick blog post to put an important date on the calendar: Cyber Monday 2009, which falls on November 30.

As you doubtless know already, Cyber Monday is: “A Shop.org-coined term for the Monday after Thanksgiving, which is seen by many retailers, consumers and the media as the official kick-off to the online holiday shopping season.”

Obviously, November 30 is the latest possible date that can be a Cyber Monday, which suggests that online retailers will need to make the most of Cyber Monday 2009 and the shopping days that follow.

But why mention this now? Because it’s never too soon to get ready for the high traffic of the holiday season.

I’m not just talking about making sure you have the bandwidth and server capacity to meet expected demand, I’m talking about gathering the visitor data you need to collect before November rolls around. This is the data you will use to segment your traffic in order to target it with personalized offers, messaging, and promotions. You need to be collecting that data now. You can’t wait until November .

And the more of that data you can gather, the more effective your behavioral targeting will be, and the more accurately–and profitably– you will be able to target personalized messaging and promotions during the holiday season.