Maximizing Black Friday and Cyber Monday Paid Ads

By Brendan Finegan

The season of holiday festivities and family get-togethers will be here before you know it. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are highly competitive advertising and consumer spending times. Many markets are trying to push into the post-Thanksgiving rush of customers and the online clicks that follow. With the over-saturation of Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) paid ads, you want your approach to be efficient and memorable.

A properly constructed BFCM ad preparation timeline will keep your dollars spent cost-effectively. Marketing Choices has the professional experience to guide you through the journey of paid advertising during this holiday season. Black Friday ad optimization is an exciting time to link two well-cherished spending holidays for maximum return on ad spend (ROAS).

Have a Well-Planned BFCM Timeline

One of the most important aspects of your BFCM ad campaign is mapping out your marketing strategy first. Spending money before knowing when to advertise and how much to allocate is like playing darts in the dark. Sometimes you might hit your mark, but mostly, you will be aimlessly throwing dollars around.

You should be breaking down your holiday advertisement spending into three major categories: Pre-season, Teaser Phase, and Conversion Phase. While partnering with Marketing Choices, we can help you determine which phase to target the most heavily and who your potential audience could be.

• Pre-season: This is the time to clearly outline and organize your strategy. All the hard work and preparation will pay off once you convert initial awareness to revenue. For some companies, the pre-season can start as early as late summer. If you have not started your audience-building strategy and allocating funds, October is not too late. Marketing Choices can work with anyone who is ready to start their seasonal PPC campaign.
• Teaser Phase: The Teaser Phase should build heightened anticipation for potential consumers. After you have mapped out who your target audience is, what your SEO strategy is, and what online platforms you want to use, it is time to roll out some pre-holiday advertising. This should start around early November to build audience excitement for irresistible deals and early bird shopping.
• Conversion Phase: This is the part of your high ROAS seasonal ads strategy that can pay for itself. Once you have created the groundwork for pre-holiday advertising and consumer awareness, your conversion phase will shift customer desires into real-time purchases. The conversion phase can be as early as pre-ordered items before Thanksgiving to last-minute in-store visits into late December.

Build Your Audience For BFCM

As stated before, the time and effort spent on pre-season awareness cannot be emphasized enough. Especially for small and local businesses, establishing effective consumer buy-in for your product will maximize BFCM ROAS. Audience warming is when you build a trusted relationship with potential customers. You want to give your new and prior clients a reason to make confident purchases from your store during this holiday season.

Email outreach for potential or existing customers is an effective BFCM PPC strategy. Incentivizing consumers to subscribe to email exchanges can involve them early in your advertising strategy. Deals and sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday can motivate customers as you transition from the pre-season to the teaser phase.

SEO is another essential component to getting consumers to your stores or making online purchases. Marketing Choices highly advises you to link SEO implementation with high-quality marketing content. Remaining at the top of SEO keywords will keep your business noticeable and cost-per-click efficient. You should be flexible with your BFCM retargeting strategy. Sometimes, the teaser phase may be a lot closer to the conversion phase than you think, depending on your target audience. 

How to Utilize BFCM Ads For Online Platforms

Even after the pre-season phase, SEO will continue to be the heart that pumps life into your e-commerce Black Friday ads. SEO is necessary to build initial awareness and to build anticipation for BFCM deals. Utilizing online advertising platforms will allow you to target potentially interested consumers in your products. Your online advertisements can use SEO to promote deals to get customers ready for Black Friday shopping. Whether it is for in-person sales or Cyber Monday purchases, SEO should direct customers towards the path they need for you to maximize ROAS. 

Regardless of whether you are looking to improve your Black Friday or Cyber Monday approach, SEO should drive your decisions. Marketing Choices has professionals who have years of experience in identifying efficient SEO implementation. Staying up-to-date on effective keywords at the forefront of your advertising campaigns.

BFCM Bidding and Budget Control

BFCM bidding involves investing in higher advertising costs to secure marketing spots for your consumers. Securing a good bid spot will save money on ads in the long run. A Black Friday bidding strategy should be done in the pre-season phase to ensure your advertisements are seen at a high rate. This will help you determine costs throughout your marketing campaign and optimize efficient budget control.

KPI Strategies For BFCM

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will give you significant insight into how to adjust your KPI strategy. You do not have to wait for the holiday shopping season to be over to monitor your ROAS performance. Depending on how consumers react during the teaser phase, you can pivot your keyword usage or switch social media platforms. Cost-per-click may go up during your paid advertising for Cyber Monday, so track dollars spent and conversion rates in a database. Having a team specifically for utilizing KPI software within your marketing department is something Marketing Choices can help with.

As the conversion phase progresses, remember that your marketing campaign is like running a marathon during the shopping season. Retargeting leftover traffic can direct consumers to new purchases or deals. Extending sales can be useful to keep customers motivated to return to your store. Constant online promotions should be ramped up from your teaser phase all the way to the end of the conversion phase.

Contact Marketing Choices To Create a Commanding Presence During the BFCM Season

A paid advertising campaign for Black Friday and Cyber Monday can whirl by in the blink of an eye. Unsuspecting businesses can catch themselves flatfooted when they mindlessly spend advertising dollars. We can help keep your costs efficient and your customers motivated during a hectic holiday season. Contact us to create a memorable and meaningful BFCM marketing campaign.