21 September 2023
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the biggest shopping events of the year. Your planning for these days needs to start long in advance of the actual days themselves, but don’t worry - we have you covered.
In this blog, we’ll break down our top tips for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies.
Start early
Big calendar marketing days can sneak up on you pretty quickly, so we recommend that you start planning 6-8 weeks before to keep your Black Friday marketing strategy prepared for anything. We have observed lackluster outcomes when businesses attempt to run a month-long promotion right before the highly anticipated Black Friday and Cyber Monday events. It's noted that shoppers are more likely to shop with a businesses if they know there's a sale happening in advance, so be prepared and start planning early!
A crucial element of preparing for these shopping extravaganzas involves finding the ideal moment to launch your campaigns. Festive campaigns usually kick off weeks prior to significant dates, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Right now, shoppers are anticipating brands to start promoting their sales, leading up to the holiday season. It being the time of the year people only want to shop with people they know are on sale. Recognising when shoppers are inclined to make purchases or begin contemplating imminent sales empowers you to have your campaigns primed in time for these receptive junctures.
Additional tricks in formulating your marketing strategy for Black Friday and Cyber Monday focus around constructing customer profiles for your target audience. Your shoppers may belong to diverse demographic categories; thus, comprehending their characteristics comprehensively will be advantageous for your seasonal campaigns and help you focus your messaging accordingly.
Customer profiles highlight all the essential particulars about a specific cluster of customers. You can exploit this information to devise a seasonal marketing strategy that harmonises with the desires and requirements of your audience. A customer profile will facilitate prudent decisions concerning campaign messages, creative materials, channels to employ, and the most suitable targeting tactics.
Use your data
Examining historical data to reveal patterns is another crucial aspect of creating winning campaigns for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Analysing your past advertising campaigns for these events gives you valuable understandings into essential trends, aiding you in determining the prime products or services to centre your new campaign around. For the most Earth-shaking revelations, delve into data from the two preceding years. Don't neglect your first party (customer) data either, this can help you fine tune your next advertising campaign.
Another invaluable spring of information is to scrutinise overarching consumer trends. These perceptions can enhance your comprehension of which products or services are poised to excel during a particular seasonal occasion and can also offer enlightenment into consumers' shopping behaviours.
Build anticipation
Utilising interactive and innovative ad formats for your Black Friday vs Cyber Monday marketing endeavours will aid in captivating your intended audience's attention and fostering brand recognition.
Interactive advertisements encourage users to engage in an action that unveils content within the ad itself or directs them to a designated landing page.
This action could involve hovering over the ad or clicking on a specific element. This interactive viewing experience presents an ideal method to enhance and complement your broader holiday marketing strategy, while also serving to notify customers about your premier Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. With the Black Friday advert for Apple it shows us how the company has used interverted links to set reminders on the user's device of when the sale starts.
Shoppable videos stand out as an ad format for Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns as they exhibit products while permitting users to browse directly within the banner. This ad format streamlines the transition between awareness and conversion for users.
During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, dynamic countdown ads prove particularly advantageous, as they can be harnessed to inform or remind users about your sales. Incorporating a dynamic countdown component creates a sense of urgency among your audience, prompting them to make purchases. If your Black Friday sales are limited to a 24-hour window, a dynamic countdown ad ensures your audience seizes the opportunity without missing out.
Make sure you tell a story
Seasonal campaigns frequently centre around occasions that hold emotional significance for consumers. For instance, Mother's Day and Father's Day are dedicated to honouring our parents. Black Friday and Cyber Monday tap into the festive mood. As these shopping extravaganzas unfold at the onset of the holiday period, many consumers perceive them as a chance to initiate their gift-shopping for their loved ones.
With this in mind, do not underestimate the potential of storytelling within your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns, as it has demonstrated its ability to evoke emotions. An effective approach to instil emotions in your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns is by harnessing the potential of video advertising. By merging auditory and visual components, you can craft video advertisements that not only evoke emotions but also linger in the minds of viewers.
Whether your campaign narrates a tale that resonates with your audience or one that simply brings laughter, the very act of eliciting emotions establishes a foundation for shoppers to forge an emotional bond with your brand – causing them to contemplate your brand as the two significant shopping days draw near.
Be on top of contextual targeting
Contextual advertising represents a cookieless targeting approach that relies on content, rather than user data, to engage the appropriate audience at the opportune moment. Through this method, targeting is grounded in the content itself. This builds a connection with individuals who are receptive to the message conveyed by your advertisement.
Harmonising adverts with pertinent content results in a more personalised encounter for your audience. As an illustration, with contextual targeting, an individual perusing a blog post discussing the finest holiday presents for their mother might encounter an advertisement highlighting a Cyber Monday flash offer for a gift that would greatly appeal to their mother's tastes.
Utilise retargeting
These days, most people need to see your ads more than once before they buy. Current research says it is increasing, and will take someone seeing your ad more than 10 times before they place that all important order.
Retargeting campaigns present a strategic approach to re-engage consumers who have previously displayed interest by delivering them focussed messages. Through repeated exposure to your ads, the effort required to secure their conversion is slightly reduced compared to individuals who haven't interacted with your content.
Especially for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, dynamic retargeting emerges as an essential tool. It permits you to present an advertisement showcasing a product that a user has previously viewed, this time highlighting the discounted price. This personalised ad serves as a reminder, encouraging the user to re-engage with the product or service, thereby fostering greater interaction and brand recollection.
To effectively utilise retargeting for Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing, commencing your campaign ahead of time is pivotal. This allows sufficient time to establish a pool of users for retargeting. Subsequently, retarget these users in proximity to Black Friday and Cyber Monday (or precisely on those dates) to entice them to capitalise on the sales opportunities.
Want a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing campaign?
Whether you’re looking for a Black Friday eCommerce strategy or a Cyber Monday advertising campaign, we have you covered. Get a free Google Ads audit below to get your ad campaigns BFCM ready!
