Are you ready to skyrocket your sales and leave the competition in the dust this Black Friday / Cyber Monday frenzy? The holiday shopping season is just around the corner, and it’s the perfect time to capitalize on the shopping frenzy that sweeps the nation. But, success in advertising during these high-stakes shopping events doesn’t come easy.
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So fasten your seatbelt and get ready to unlock the golden tips to advertising success during the most lucrative shopping days of the year.
What’s this shopping bonanza about?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the most popular shopping events, perhaps even the biggest sales events of the year in many countries around the world. This four-day shopping frenzy marks the beginning of the annual holiday shopping season, known for significant discounts and deals offered by retailers.
Considered the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the United States, Black Friday falls on the day after Thanksgiving, which is the fourth Thursday in November and it is commonly known to promote in-store and online deals. Cyber Monday takes place on the Monday following Black Friday, typically the first Monday in December. The term “Cyber Monday” was coined in the early 2000s as a marketing strategy to encourage online shopping.
Why should you care?
So Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are huge sales events with the potential to boost revenue, attract new customers, and solidify brand loyalty. This shopping frenzy is a great opportunity for advertisers and affiliates to increase their revenue. There’s a huge interest in this seasonal sales period, from people from all over the world, since the American phenomenon has surpassed its borders.
According to Demandsage, people spent around $9.12 billion in 2022 during Black Friday sales and this year, the sales are expected to reach $9.8 billion.
Sounds interesting?
-> Shoppers eagerly anticipate Black Friday because they expect to find substantial discounts and exclusive promotions. This anticipation can result in high levels of engagement and purchasing, making it a prime time for businesses to attract customers.
-> By participating in these promotions, businesses can gain a competitive edge over their rivals since customers are more likely to prioritize Black Friday deals.
-> The data generated during Black Friday sales can provide valuable insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and shopping patterns. This data can inform future marketing and sales strategies.
Preparation kit
Since people are aware and enthusiastic about the incoming sales events, brands and affiliate marketers should start preparing deals that will appeal the most with what people want. That being said, the key is to find hot offers and promote them with traffic types that best match its audience!
Here’s a bit of know-how about planning a Black Friday advertising strategy, to make you shine among your competitors.
Top ROI-generating offers
These categories thrive during Black Friday due to their alignment with consumer expectations for discounts, gift potential, and practical value. Their broad appeal, combined with targeted marketing tactics and strategic promotions, provides affiliates with an excellent opportunity to drive significant traffic and optimize their ROI.
Black Friday is widely known for highly attractive tech deals. Consumers are eager to purchase new gadgets, from the latest smartphones and laptops to smart home devices and gaming consoles.
Electronics often come with higher price tags, leading to higher commissions for affiliates. Discounts offered during Black Friday make them more accessible, driving more significant purchase volumes and better ROI.
Black Friday falls just before the holiday season(winter, Xmas), making it an attractive time for consumers to buy gifts or update their wardrobes. Affiliate offers on clothing, shoes, and accessories are particularly appealing as people look for deals on fashion essentials and statement pieces.
Beauty products often lead to repeat customers, which means potential long-term benefits if the affiliate partnership includes recurring commission structures.
Black Friday deals on newer, innovative home appliances encourage shoppers to upgrade from older models, providing affiliates an opportunity to promote products with compelling before-and-after benefits.
Services offer versatility, as affiliates can promote a range of options like cloud storage, fitness apps, or e-book subscriptions. This allows them to cater to specific niche audiences and secure conversions more easily.
Inviting visuals & convincing copy
Deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday should be designed to attract and engage customers, but more importantly, create a sense of urgency and drive sales. To do so, take note of the following tactics used in the past.
Use bold visuals with thematic colours.
Feature high-contrast colours such as black, white, and red, with prominent headlines highlighting discounts.
Use clear, direct CTAs: “Shop Now,” “Grab Your Deal,”
The goal during Black Friday is to convert, so the CTAs need to be direct and action-oriented to move people through the funnel fast.
Include social proof: testimonials, before and after, star ratings
Consumers seek reassurance that they’re making a wise choice, especially during this deal-saturated period.
Include seasonal allusions:
Black Friday opens the end of the year shopping frenzy when many people are avid to find the best deals for their Christmas presents, self-pampering gifts, winter retreats, school break and the like, which you can emphasize to relate to customers and grow your sales.
Emphasize urgency:
Black Friday is synonymous with fast-paced shopping and quick decision-making. Ads need to push customers to act immediately before the deals run out.
Exclusives and limited editions:
Introduce exclusive or limited-edition products that are only available for Black Friday or Cyber Monday. This also creates a sense of exclusivity and urgency.
Showcase savings visually: “Up to 70% Off”
Display large, bolded percentages (e.g., “50% OFF”), since customers are specifically hunting for value during this period. Many shoppers are often deal-driven rather than feature-focused, so prioritizing savings appeals directly to their mindset.
Early bird specials:
You can offer special deals to early shoppers, either before the Black Friday/Cyber Monday start or during the early hours of the event. Many people anticipate this sale season and look for early shopping to get the best deals and make sure there is enough stock.
Bundles and packages:
Create value-packed bundles or gift sets that include related products at a reduced price. This encourages customers to buy more and can increase the average order value.
Gift cards:
Consider offering bonus gift cards to encourage repeat business after the holiday season.
Look to promote offers that give extra incentives like free delivery or fast delivery.
The timing element
In 2023, Black Friday will be on the 24th of November, and Cyber Monday will fall on the 27th of November. In this context, the early bird gets the worm saying applies here very well. But how early should you start promoting Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Naturally, preparing an advertising campaign for BFCM requires quite a preparation since it involves all industries and all countries. Add the fact that over half of holiday shoppers will begin their buying journey well before Black Friday underscores the importance of initiating your marketing efforts well in advance.So preparing early will increase your chances of success since you’ll be able to do your prior research in no rush.
Now, assuming you have your offers figured out, if the context allows, how about you build some anticipation, let’s say 1-2 weeks before the big sale? Think of promoting countdowns, sneak peeks, and deal reveals for your audience to get excited about. Managing to raise awareness before your competition will score you more deals.
Getting closer to the event’s eve, you’ll want to launch your campaigns as early as possible since a significant portion of shoppers start their purchases at midnight, or early in the morning, between 5 AM and 10 AM.
Finding your audience
Consumer shopping behaviour changes quite a lot during the Black Friday bonanza due a series of characteristics and trends, and as an advertiser, it is important to understand how things roll during this period if you want successful ad campaigns.
For start, Black Friday has expanded beyond a single day, with many brands offering deals throughout the entire week leading up to the big sale day. Enter early shoppers who often start browsing and buying well in advance.
At the same time, besides the well-prepared enthusiast, there’s also the impulse buyer. The urgency and excitement of Black Friday and Cyber Monday can lead clients to purchase items they hadn’t planned to buy because the deal seems too good to pass up.
Black Friday statistics also show that most of the customers are moving towards online spending and nearly all shoppers will spend a few hours looking for deals. Besides the convenience, consumers also feel they can get the best discounts online.
Mobile devices take the stage during this sale frenzy. Additionally, to the payment flexibility, shoppers prefer to browse and make purchases from anywhere, whether they’re at home, at work, or on the go. People use their smartphones to search for deals, compare prices, read product reviews, and make purchases.
By targeting mobile devices, you reach consumers where they are actively engaged in the shopping process and prompt them to immediate action. According to Tidio, consumers find shopping via an app on their mobile device (42%) more appealing than filtering products on a website (37%).
Successful ad campaign tips
Test test test.
Don’t Create One Ad and Call It a Day. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the busiest days of the year for online advertising, so naturally, you’ll want to get the most out of your campaign by using a variety of creatives, ad types, and marketing channels. Treat these few weeks as the ultimate time to go all out and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Work smart, not hard.
Utilize Mondiad’s targetCPA to automate bidding strategies and drive the ROI metrics you care about most.
Always track and tweak your results.
If available, use analytics from previous marketing campaigns to determine which ads to run on each platform. If this is your first campaign, after Black Friday, review performance data to understand what worked well and where improvements can be made for future campaigns.
Choosing the right ad formats:
Don’t forget to take everything with a grain of salt. These are just our observations based on our decades of industry experience but you should use them as guidelines. The advertising industry is very dynamic, and great opportunities may arise from your own findings/combinations.
Whether you go for the classic or the in-page push format, these ads work so well since they do not take space on a website and when they appear, you just can’t miss them. During this shopping frenzy, they can be your advantage to reach and engage your ideal customers, especially if you create catchy Black Friday-themed creatives and choose the right timing. As we noticed, utilities(app installs), dating and finance campaigns are very popular Black Friday advertising campaigns.
Since this is the period for exclusive promotions, price drops, and special bundles(you get the gist), you’ll want to catch your clients’ attention in the best way possible. And what screams advertisement, if not banner ads? They’re big, bright and so in your face that you can’t miss them. Come check our pre-set sizes/placements as well as our inventory, then get to work. Nutra and e-commerce offers should work really well this time of the year.
And last but not least, you’ll never go wrong with the good old popunders. The non-invasive, full-page message will always get a reaction from its viewers, especially if you include some catchy, entertaining elements and a bomb offer. Sweepstakes and Betting ads work even better for Black Friday Advertising since people are already looking for a good deal and they are more prone to winning goodies.
Top affiliate offers
Our partner CPA networks have prepared some exclusive insights, tips, gifts and offers to make you richer this Black Friday season. Just in time!
2023 Black Friday Top ROI Generating Affiliate Offers – From Our Partners
Now that you know all about Black Friday and Cyber Monday advertising, it’s time to put theory into practice. Also, stay close to our social media channels for another surprise.
