2024 Black Friday Ad Campaigns: Adapting to the Election
Black Friday is a key event for brands, especially as they strive to close out Q4 on a high note and meet their annual targets. The stakes are high and many luxury brands rely heavily on the surge of sales during this shopping period to make or break their year.
But in 2024, the end-of-year period faces an additional pressure: the Presidential election.
As the country gears up to watch Harris and Trump battle it out on November 5th, the usual dynamics of consumer behavior will inevitably be affected both in the lead-up to and after D-day. Historically, there has been a lull in shopping behavior during the election process, creating an added layer of uncertainty for brands trying to navigate the competitive landscape of Black Friday.
So, how should you adapt to these unique circumstances? From pre-event preparations to day-of tactics and post-event strategies, every stage of your 2024 Black Friday paid advertising approach needs to adapt to the election. Let’s break it down…
Pre-Black Friday PPC Best Practices: What to Do in the Lead-Up
With 2024 being an election year, the lead-up to Black Friday looks a little different. Here’s how to build brand equity and meet your sales targets despite the predicted lull.
ADJUST YOUR FORECASTING
In previous election years, online shoppers dramatically cut back their spending from one week before the election to one week after. As such, online sales are predicted to dip from October 29th to November 12th.
However, Google still expects consumers to spend the same — if not more — as last year over the Black Friday period. This means spending will likely be condensed to a shorter, more intense timeframe. Your Black Friday forecasting should reflect this so you can adapt your paid ad strategy accordingly.
REVIEW DATA FROM PREVIOUS CAMPAIGNS
Unless this is your brand’s first-ever year participating in Cyber Week, then you’ll have some prior data. Don’t go into this year’s event blind. Look at your previous Black Friday ad campaigns, including the more and less successful ones, and see what lessons can be learned.
Ask yourself the following:
Did some messaging types perform better than others?
Did ads that focused on the benefits perform better than the ones that focused on features?
Did you get into the first position with your paid search ads? If so, what was the bid?
Were any keywords too competitive?
Did you do any retargeting? Was it effective?
Was the budget enough? Was there a high ROI?
What happened in the aftermath of the promotional period? When and by how much should you lower your spending budget to avoid impacting your ROI and losing money?
Remember, there is no ‘right answer’ to these questions. What works for one brand might not work at all for another. That’s why it’s important to reflect on your own brand’s past performance and data. Be mindful that this year’s campaigns will be affected by the election too.
A/B TEST IN THE LEAD UP
Black Friday is not the day to be running your A/B tests. That’s when you want to invest more in your top-performing paid ads. During Cyber Week, paid ad prices are at their most expensive, low bids will have ad delivery issues, and risking a low-performing ad on the day of is just reckless.
Get your A/B testing done in September and October. Test which headlines, images, copy, messaging, media types, formats, calls-to-action, and bidding strategies perform best, then lean into your most successful variations during the promotional period.
SET UP TRACKING
You won’t have a lot of data to know how successful your Black Friday ad campaigns were unless you set up tracking. Make sure all tracking pixels, tags, and conversion tracking tools are properly set up and functioning. This will also allow you to monitor performance in real time and adjust as needed.
Tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, and conversion tracking on your ad platforms should be configured to capture data on clicks, impressions, conversions, and orders.
CREATE HIGH-QUALITY CREATIVES
Every business is investing in paid search and paid social around Black Friday. You don’t want your brand’s ads to be just another ad that your target audience scrolls on by, you need to catch their attention. To set your brand apart from the rest, you need scroll-stopping visuals and messaging.
This is especially important for luxury brands. High-quality creatives don’t just catch consumer attention, driving clicks and conversions, they also convey the quality of your brand and product. Blurry pictures, clumsy copy, or poor design give the wrong impression of your brand to first-time or returning customers, lessening the value of your brand.
Attractive visuals, compelling copy, and cohesive design are the foundations for advertising luxury brands online. When done right, just one glance can convey a sense of prestige, cementing your brand’s credibility in the luxury market.
Remember that your creatives should be tailored to the platform you’re advertising on — what works on Facebook may not necessarily perform well on Google Display or Instagram. Consider hiring a professional designer or using high-quality stock images to ensure your ads look polished and professional.
If you’d like to see which creatives and social paid ads your competitors are running on Meta, you can do so through the Facebook Ad Library.
WRITE ENTICING COPY
People often underestimate the importance of getting your wording right, but it can make a world of difference in the performance of your paid ads. From your headlines to your captions, your visuals, and your calls to action, they are all pieces of a paid ad puzzle that should fit together seamlessly.
As general guidance, you want your copy to be clear, concise, and action-oriented. Highlight the most attractive aspects of your Black Friday offers, such as discounts, limited-time deals, or free gifts with purchase. Incorporating urgency into your copy with phrases like “Limited Time Only” or “While Supplies Last” will encourage customers to take immediate action. Don’t forget to mention Black Friday directly in your copy.
This year, Cyber Monday falls on December 2nd, so you can even push gifting and “guaranteed delivery before Christmas” messaging to target Holiday shoppers.
SCHEDULE CAMPAIGNS IN ADVANCE
Launching your campaigns on Black Friday is like trying to buy your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. It means you were unprepared and you’re now running around trying to get everything sorted at the last minute.
It’s difficult to launch paid campaigns on Black Friday through to Cyber Monday. They can often get stuck in the review process and risk not getting delivered.
Plan and schedule your ads ahead of time to avoid technical glitches and human error, and take some of the pressure off on the day. Rather than scrambling to get your ads live, you can focus on monitoring and optimizing campaigns.
During Black Friday: PPC Best Practices
As previously mentioned, most spending is expected to occur during Cyber Week itself this year, with fewer online purchases made between mid-October and mid-November. To help make up for this lost revenue and make the most of the intense shopping period, you’ll need an aggressive paid ad strategy from November 26th to December 3rd. Here’s how to make sure your campaigns are performing at their best over this period.
PAUSE YOUR USUAL ADS
There’s not much point running your usual ads during Black Friday. You’re better off investing that budget into your Black Friday paid ads.
Take all of these usual ads and add the label ‘Evergreen’. This makes it easy to pause and reactivate them once Cyber Week is over. It’s also a good idea to label your Black Friday PPC ads with ‘BF’ and the year, so you can easily switch them on and off. Including the year prevents you from accidentally switching on any old ads.
DOUBLE DOWN ON YOUR EFFORTS
Usually, the earlier you advertise your Black Friday promotions, the less competition you’ll have in the paid ad space. However, we predict October and early November 2024 to be saturated with political ad campaigns that will grab consumers’ attention instead.
So, don’t waste your budget advertising your Black Friday offers when consumers won’t be as responsive - you have “free” channels like SEO, organic social, and email marketing for that.
Instead, start building anticipation from mid-November onwards, using words like “soon” or “upcoming” to grow interest. Then, double down on your paid advertising efforts from Tuesday 26th onwards to drive orders and make up for any lost conversions from earlier in the quarter.
INCREASE YOUR BUDGET
Black Friday is one of the most competitive times of the year for paid advertising, so be prepared to allocate a larger budget to your campaigns. With increased competition, cost-per-clicks (CPCs) tend to rise, and you’ll need to spend more to maintain visibility across the platforms you're advertising on.
If you’re hesitant to increase your budget, consider this. Consumer intent to purchase is higher than ever during the Black Friday sale period. They’re not researching, they’re looking to buy. If the Cyber Week deal is compelling enough, they’ll also be more willing to try out new brands during this period.
So, with ads more likely to convert to orders during this time, you’re likely to see a higher return on investment (ROI). Even if your CPCs or cost-per-impression are slightly higher, they’re still more likely to turn into a sale. Consider your increased ad spend as a strategic investment. A higher budget leads to more orders, leading to an even higher budget for next year.
It’s essential to monitor your campaigns closely to ensure that your increased budget is driving the desired results. Keep in mind that a higher budget can help you outbid competitors and secure prime ad placements.
REGULARLY UPDATE YOUR FEED
Make sure that your feed reflects the same price as your website for each product or service. If it’s not correct, then your ads will show your original price, significantly impacting the performance of your Black Friday ad campaigns. Plus, if Google catches this discrepancy in price, they may prevent your product from appearing in the feed.
It can take Google up to six hours to approve changes to your feed, so make sure that you update your feed immediately after updating the prices on your website — whether it’s at midnight or the day before.
It’s typical to set your shopping feed to update every 24 hours, but on Black Friday, it’s advised to update it more frequently — especially when products go out of stock or promotions change.
TRACK AND REVIEW DATA TO ADAPT YOUR STRATEGY
This year’s Black Friday results are difficult to predict. Previous election distractions resulted in online sales losses of $800 million, so you’ll need to be flexible — and real-time data will help you make informed, strategic decisions.
Continuously monitor your campaigns’ performance throughout Cyber Week, paying close attention to key metrics like CTR, conversion rate, and ROAS. If you notice that certain ads are underperforming, don’t hesitate to pause them and reallocate the budget to higher-performing ads. Similarly, don’t be afraid to double down on efforts that are working well.
Be prepared to make quick decisions based on the data you collect, whether adjusting bids, changing ad copy, or refining your targeting. The ability to adapt on the fly can significantly impact your campaign’s success.
RUN RETARGETING CAMPAIGNS
Retargeting is a powerful tactic to capture orders from customers who have already shown interest in your products but haven’t completed a purchase. Set up retargeting campaigns to reach users who have visited your website, added items to their cart, or engaged with your ads.
Consider offering additional incentives, such as an extra discount or free shipping, to entice these potential customers and get them over the line.
Post Black Friday PPC Best Practices
The frenzy of Black Friday is over and you’ve (hopefully) had an incredibly successful week of orders. However, to make up for potential lost revenue from earlier in the quarter, you need to make December count and keep driving orders for the Holiday.
ANALYZE AND USE DATA FROM BLACK FRIDAY
If you set up all your pixels and tools correctly for Black Friday, you should now be sitting on a goldmine of data. Take the time to analyze the performance of your ads, identifying what worked well and what didn’t. Not only will this set you up nicely for next year, but you can also use this data to build more effective targeting profiles and audience segments in the last few weeks of December.
CONTINUE RETARGETING
Black Friday may be over, but you are now aware of more customers who are in the market for your brand or products. You can set up retargeting campaigns to reach these customers in the weeks leading up to the Holidays, offering them exclusive deals, free shipping, or guaranteed Holiday delivery. Messaging like “Order before X date” is particularly effective here.
After your delivery cut-off, promoting gift cards or vouchers is a great way to convert shoppers. Alternatively, use your paid ads to direct them to your brick-and-mortar stores by displaying opening times and stock availability.
ADJUST BIDS AND BUDGETS
Don’t forget to review your paid ad budget. You may want to lower your bids on retargeting campaigns to reflect the reduced competition and lower cost-per-click. However, keep an eye on performance — if certain campaigns are still driving conversions, you may want to maintain a higher budget.
Have a Successful Black Friday PPC Campaign
Black Friday is a high-stakes event that, with careful planning and execution, can be one of your most successful events of the year. Remember, preparation is key to a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday — particularly in 2024’s election year.
To maximize your brand’s success with Black Friday, work with the experts in paid ads at Block & Tam. Get in touch with our specialist paid search and paid social team today.
