The ultimate Black friday marketing playbook: a step-by-step guide to maximizing revenue
Black Friday may seem like a distant event, but savvy businesses know that now’s the time to set up the groundwork for success in November. Competition for ad space intensifies as the holiday approaches, making it harder and more expensive to stand out in a market flooded with promotions.
By starting now, you can create hype around your products and brand while it’s still affordable, priming your target audience to anticipate your big sale and retargeting them for best results in the future.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to get an early start and set yourself up for success. Even if you're starting late, we've got you covered with tips for campaigns you can launch at any stage.
The essential stages of Black Friday marketing campaigns
The best way to structure your Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategy is to execute it in phases.
Starting around three months before, you should target potential customers with enticing messages, gradually building interest and capturing leads to generate excitement around your upcoming offers.
Let’s explore each stage of the process below.
Three months before Black Friday
Advertising on social media platforms can become as much as 19% more expensive in November due to increased demand from businesses targeting holiday shoppers.
Starting your Black Friday campaigns three months before the event allows you to reach your audience while ad costs are still relatively low. This gives you a head start in building awareness and capturing leads before the competition heats up.
Key goals
Maximize your reach and budget: Lower ad costs mean you’ll be able to broaden the reach of your prospecting campaigns, building brand awareness and introducing more people to your best offers.
Early sales: Starting early can also lead to more purchases well before Black Friday actually starts, giving you a revenue boost and helping cover some of the ad spend costs as you scale your campaigns.
Build a retargeting audience: Because of high prospecting costs around Black Friday, retargeting should be at the core of your strategy. But to run retargeting ads, you need to start with prospecting campaigns well in advance, building an audience while the ad costs are still lower.
Test and optimize: Finding which video ads perform takes time and testing. Starting early will give you plenty of time to gain insights and fine-tune your campaigns, giving you better ROAS as the cost-per-click starts rising in November.
Ad strategy
The best approach this early on is to run prospecting campaigns with the goal of making sales. This will help get your ads in front of high-intent audiences that are likely to be interested. It will also help more accurately show which creatives are working, giving you concrete data you can use later in the BF promotions.
You will generate some sales at this stage as well, and you’ll be able to build a retargeting audience that you can then run campaigns on as Black Friday gets closer.
Creatives
Creatives
At this stage, the most important goal is to create and run as many different video ads as possible. You need to mix and match various elements, such as hooks, ad length, tone of voice, angles, or USPs.
Also, try including different people (also called creators) in your videos to see which ones resonate with your audience, tracking the performance of various combinations of gender, traits, looks, and other variables to find the most promising options for your Black Friday campaigns.
In terms of prospecting goals, you want to focus on creatives that help familiarize your audience with the product, which is why you’ll need to find ways to showcase the product in different ways.
Possibilities range from straightforward information ads that use the problem -> solution angle, but also more creative options. For example, you can use storytelling videos where people go through their daily routine or introduce your product in dialogue form.
The main goal: find what resonates with your audience. These insights will be crucial when you’re ordering content from video creators for your November campaigns. That goes not just for the content, but the creators as well. If you see that one person consistently produces better results, you should focus on using them in more videos to maximize your returns and match what your audience responds to.
One month before Black Friday
Another key period to consider in your Black Friday strategy is one month before the date. It’s when most people start looking forward to Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, which means that they are less likely to buy now, opting instead to wait for savings opportunities during Black Friday.
This is the perfect time to get in front of potential buyers while the ad auction prices are still somewhat lower, running lead generation campaigns that will get you in front of people you can close in a few weeks.
Key goals
Capture people looking for deals early: Most audiences have learned to expect great deals over the Black Friday period. Many even postpone their purchases, hoping to get a better price for the items they want. Others may be more open to buying something they didn’t even know they wanted because Black Friday is the best time to get great value.
Build a Black Friday audience: By getting leads into your funnel early, you can ensure that you will be able to reach them with your Black Friday offer when they are ready to buy and actively looking for the best Black Friday deals.
Take advantage of cheaper ad costs: Since the ad auction prices haven’t reached their peak, you can still generate good returns, especially if you already have momentum from prospecting campaigns earlier on.
Ad strategy
At this stage, it makes sense to run lead generation campaigns, collecting emails from people who are ready to purchase on Black Friday and are looking for deals.
With Black Friday so near, the fear of missing out is high, so you can emphasize that some items might become sold out soon, mention limited availability, and urge people to get onboard now and secure the special Black Friday pricing.
For added motivation, you can also provide a sneak peek into your upcoming offers to those who subscribe, or even hint at how much people might potentially save in the ads themselves.
Creatives
Creatives
While the earlier campaign mainly focused on showcasing the product and creating desire, a month from Black Friday is the time to lead with what most buyers are looking for, which is amazing deals. Your ad creatives should shift from displaying your products, instead leading with your main offer and creating a sense of urgency.
These ads should be shorter, driving the user to take action right now. That being said, you should still clearly communicate the main value of the product, which will also help anchor your pricing and make the special Black Friday offer look even more appealing.
Here’s a suggestion for creative ad angles you could run:
- One that fully and clearly communicates the upcoming Black Friday offer and its value. This is the more straightforward option, which should prominently display what the buyer will get, how much it costs, and why it’s such a great deal they can’t miss out on.
- The other option should lead with the fear of missing out without revealing the offer itself. The creator should convince the user that this deal is simply too good to miss out. They should use phrases like “When I saw this deal, I thought they were joking. Trust me, it’s mind-blowing.”
In terms of the CTA, go with something softer than on the Black Friday week. These ads are about creating a sense of urgency and excitement, so consider options like “Stay tuned” or “Sign up for early access.”
A week before Black Friday
The week before can be looked at as the beginning of your main Black Friday promotional period. This is when you should unveil your best deals, either as early-bird specials or as the main discounts you'll maintain throughout Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
You can use email, your social platforms, and paid ads to let audiences who have already interacted with your brand know that now is the time to buy and secure the best deals before popular items sell out.
Key goals
Maximize your revenue: With Black Friday almost there, shoppers are actively looking for deals and are much more likely to purchase. You want to maximize your revenue by increasing your campaign’s duration to a week before and potentially a week after Black Friday.
Convert warm leads: Since the leads that have interacted with your ads are expecting great deals, you want to let them know and give them time to act on your offers. By reaching out to your leads and running retargeting campaigns early, you can make sure that they will choose your offer over the competition, whose offers they might not have seen yet.
Leave time for optimization: Starting early gives the algorithm more time to optimize your ads, increasing the likelihood of it serving the right ads to the right people when Black Friday actually comes.
Ad strategy
Send an email to your email list, and start promoting the early specials on social platforms as well. You can retarget all of the audiences that interacted with your business in the last few months and more (your core audience), and also start introducing your offer to new prospecting audiences.
Don’t forget to utilize lookalike audiences based on your most engaged users, website visitors, followers, and email subscribers, and most importantly, purchasers.
Creatives
Creatives
The week before Black Friday is all about your main offers. So your creatives should lead with the amazing value of the deal you’re offering, which will help capture the attention of audiences already looking for huge Black Friday savings.
If you did your work in the months before, you should already have a selection of winning ads to choose from. Now is the time to pick the top-performing creative elements, adapting the angles and main ideas to suit your Black Friday ads. This could include working with your best video creators, choosing proven USPs, creative angles, and more.
The video ads themselves should be brief, clear, and focused on sales or your early offer, if you have one available. You should avoid ads based on storytelling because most buyers are looking for the deal.
In terms of the offer itself, you can either have an early-bird offer or simply start running your Black Friday offer for the entire week.
If you don’t have an early-bird offer, you can also tease the audience with a preview (“Here's a glimpse of what's coming this Black Friday! Don’t miss out.”), encourage them to act early (“Only 7 days until our Black Friday sale! Start making your wishlist now."), or build anticipation ("Biggest sale of the year starts soon! Are you ready to save big?").
During Black Friday
If you’ve started the early Black Friday campaigns during the week, you should continue and refresh the early BF campaign with more targeted ads, ramping up spending during the four-day shopping weekend.
If you have built a large enough retargeting audience before, you should have some room to grow and scale your efforts during the four-day weekend. However, you will probably end up running prospecting campaigns as well to ensure you maximize your opportunities.
Key goals
Maximize sales window: This is the make or break 4-day period that will determine whether the months of work preparing were worth it. If your buyers are primed and you have winning creatives, you can turn Black Friday into your best revenue week of the year.
Get in front of people who are ready to buy: Most audiences will be much more likely to make impulse buying decisions, making FOMO and discounts much more effective at driving sales and getting new customers onboard.
Ad strategy
Focus on running retargeting ads as much as you can, supplementing them with prospecting campaigns when you reach plateaus. Continue to ramp up spending during the four-day period, adjusting your strategy quickly based on the results you get with different ads.
It’s crucial to refresh creatives often, as ad fatigue becomes a major concern during Black Friday. Potential customers will quickly become blind to your ads, scrolling over them and getting attracted by the competition, unless you can keep your brand fresh in their minds with new, exciting creatives that capture attention and create desire.
Creatives
Creatives
The ads themselves must be short, sharp, and have a very strong CTA. At this stage, everything is all about the sale and nothing else. You can even include multiple CTAs throughout the ad, without waiting until the end.
As you prepare the creatives, focus on including elements that are proven to convert and resonate with your audience. Ad auction costs will be high, competition will be fierce, so you need to use the best creatives you have to generate as many immediate sales during the peak Black Friday period as possible.
Avoid any fluff like testimonials or other “I did this and that” type ads; you want to get right to the point, and do it quickly to not lose your audience’s attention.
You can use urgency and scarcity ("Act fast! Only a few hours left for our Black Friday sale"), a direct CTA repeated multiple times ("Shop Now! Unbeatable Black Friday prices just for you"), and emphasize the value that the buyer can get ("Why pay more? Get the best deals this Black Friday only"). You can also mention that this deal will not be available after Black Friday (“The best deal this year, we will not be offering these discounts anymore”).
During Cyber Monday
Even though the Black Friday weekend is over, there are still plenty of opportunities for maximizing your revenue. As you enter Cyber Monday, you should continue pushing Black Friday/Cyber Monday offers for a few more days, with the goal of catching your customers on their second shopping lap.
To maintain attention and excitement, you can go with even steeper discounts when people buy in larger quantities or bigger bundles. This is especially important if you want to clear more inventory before the end of the year.
Key goals
Extend your sales window: It’s important to not cut your Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotions too early, as there is significant revenue to be generated if you push your offers for longer, running both retargeting and prospecting campaigns while also mixing and matching winning creative elements to maintain interest.
Clear out your stock: As the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period nears the end, you should be aggressive with your offers, as this is the best opportunity to offload inventory before the year ends.
Ad strategy
Just as with earlier Black Friday promotions, the period around Cyber Monday is all about the urgency and the fear of missing out. But now, you should emphasize the fact that only a few days remain to take advantage of these offers, so buyers should act now if they don’t want to miss out.
Once again, it’s crucial to refresh your creatives so that they don’t become repetitive. Remember, your audience is getting bombarded with ads, so anything that they’ve already seen multiple times will get scrolled past.
Creatives
Creatives
Ads should be short, with a complete focus on pushing an immediate sale. It’s also important to switch messaging from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, as people will be used to BF promotions and will be more responsive to new ones, expecting fresh, better deals.
As before, focus on FOMO, leading with messaging, like “Last chance to purchase!” or “If you missed BF deals, CM deals are here.” You can refresh proven creatives, adding more visuals, stronger CTAs, and urgency elements that show how little time remains to purchase.
When retargeting people who have visited the website or engaged with your ads during the Black Friday period, you could shift the focus towards pitching the product and its value. You could highlight reasons why they need it, showcasing social proof and positive reviews, as well as the main USPs, which can work very well on people who haven’t been convinced by the Black Friday discount ads alone.
However, even if you highlight your product and how it can help, the underlying message should still revolve around the “Last chance” messaging, as the urgency is what will ultimately drive sales right now.
After Cyber Monday
After Cyber Monday ends, you could take a break from promotions, but that’s not the only approach. You could also look at the post-Cyber Monday period as an opportunity to run an early Christmas sale, repackaging your offers to maintain some momentum and keep generating sales throughout December.
Key goals
Target late Christmas shoppers: Even though Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be the biggest sales days of the year, the period between BF and Christmas is when people who haven’t yet taken advantage of Black Friday deals remain active, looking for last-minute gifts at a great price.
Leverage retargeting audiences: You can continue promoting to the retargeting audiences you’ve built for the Black Friday campaigns, adjusting your offers and messaging to maintain interest.
Ad strategy
As the holiday season approaches, many people start feeling the pressure to find the perfect gifts for their loved ones. This is a prime opportunity to drive sales by emphasizing the limited time left to take advantage of your Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals.
Highlight the benefits of shopping early, such as avoiding the last-minute rush and ensuring gifts arrive on time. If you offer fast shipping or delivery, be sure to include this information in your messaging to further incentivize customers to buy now.
Creatives
Creatives
Switch your ads from Black Friday to Christmas, communicating that the product can be a perfect gift idea. In terms of creative elements, you can also use Christmas-themed music, colors, and graphics.
For messaging, you want to address the needs of most audiences around this time, which is the urgency of finding gifts on time. Encourage viewers to take care of their gifts now, saving money and ensuring that they receive the gifts in time before Christmas ("Don’t Wait – These Christmas Deals Won’t Last Long!” or "Choose your Christmas gift now and avoid delays!").
How to prepare your Black Friday campaigns
The stages above are a good framework for maximizing your reach and revenue potential in the months before and after Black Friday. However, its success hinges on you being able to quickly produce creatives on demand, scaling your efforts, and building on winning ads to maximize results.
That’s where having access to Billo creators and competitive pricing can be such a game changer. With Billo, you get access to 5,000+ vetted creators who know how to create engaging and results-driven content for TikTok, Meta, and other platforms. You can filter creators based on gender, age, interests, setting, attributes, and more.
Provide specific instructions to video creators and quickly combine elements to ensure your videos align with your goals at different stages of the BF and CM campaigns. Or, use Black Friday video templates, customizing them to fit your brand and leveraging ideas that are proven to convert.
The plan outlined in this guide can work great not just for Black Friday, but for almost any event you want to run promotions for. It allows building an audience and testing creatives in advance, helping you maximize your reach and sales on the most important dates in your calendar.
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