Black Friday Ads: Your Strategy Guide
Want to level up your Black Friday ads? There’s no better time than now to do so!
We know that Black Friday is a few months away yet, but the earlier you start planning, the better!
Read on for three of the most important steps when it comes to planning for your Black Friday ads strategy, and hear from our experts about their must-dos and no-go’s for a successful seasonal period.
Three Steps for Black Friday Ads Success
There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to PPC, never mind during Black Friday. However, there are a few things that anyone running Black Friday ads should be considering to drive success.
Preparation
When it comes to preparation for Black Friday, there truly is no time like the present.
One of the biggest mistakes made in the run up to Black Friday is leaving planning to the last minute – failing to be prepared is preparing to fail!
Our comprehensive Black Friday Checklist can help you to start the planning process before it’s too late, download it here.
Budgets
Due to the uplift in shopper intent during Black Friday, many businesses choose to invest more in PPC during this period.
In the past, we’ve seen budgets for Black Friday increase significantly in order to adhere to demand and an uplift in buying intent from shoppers, and having these budgets agreed on in advance is important to both drive the best possible performance through budget allocation, as well as making sure that budget doesn’t run out on Black Friday.
Timeframe
Despite Black Friday being advertised as a one-day event, it’s not uncommon for businesses to spread Black Friday activity over a full week, month, or sometimes even longer.
Search behaviour has evolved, and shoppers are doing more research before purchasing than ever before. In the run-up to Black Friday, this research could be the difference between a conversion for your business, or a competitor, so ensuring that you’re visible in the run up to (not just on) Black Friday is essential. Additionally, continuing promotions following the ‘official’ Black Friday period could improve your conversions as you pick up on those who may have missed the peak sales period.
Expert PPC Tips for Black Friday Ads
Having been through the Black Friday preparation period plenty of times already, our experts have shared their tips that will ensure your Black Friday ads are effective. Read on for more.
“My biggest tip for a successful Black Friday would be to not leave preparation for the last minute, because there are so many things you have to align. What are the promotions going to be? How much do you expect to sell? This is to ensure that the client orders the right amount of products to meet that quota. My first conversation about Black Friday this year was in February, which is quite early, but when you take into account all of the months of preparation needed internally to accommodate something as big as Black Friday, then sometimes the conversations have to happen pretty early.”
“My biggest piece of advice for Black Friday would be to get all budgets approved well ahead of time, and implemented as early as possible.”
“My biggest tip for a successful Black Friday would be to get started way earlier than you think. Now more than ever, it’s not just a single day – it’s a month, or sometimes even more than a month. Start looking at your budgets early, start looking at what you want to capture early, and most importantly make sure your tracking is working as attribution can take us back as far as 90 days. Make sure you know what you want to achieve, and that will lead to a key bit of performance over the month.”
“My biggest piece of advice for Black Friday would be to plan your promotions in advance. Make sure you know all the ins and outs of your promotions including when they’re starting and when they end. A lot of people leave it to the last minute, which means that they can’t get a lot of the activity approved that they need to get approved. It’s such a busy time and you want to make sure you’re taking as much real estate up on the search results page as you can.”
What Now?
To get your hands on our exclusive PPC Black Friday Blueprint – jam-packed with practical advice from our PPC experts, real-life case studies, and marketing insights from partners including Salesfire, Lunio, Shoptimised and Infinity – download here!
