How to Get Ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday with Meta Ads
Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) is the biggest opportunity of the year for most businesses using meta advertising, when consumers are most willing and motivated to make purchases. But you need to have a plan.
The problem is that businesses know this is an important moment. In the month leading up to Black Friday, they spend more money on marketing and advertising. Because of this, there is more noise and competition.
Just because this tends to be a profitable time doesn’t guarantee results. As advertising revenue and competition increase, so will the cost of reaching your audience. With poor planning, you may regret it in retrospect: Advertising dollars and opportunities were wasted.
Don’t let it overwhelm you. I’ve written down some basic steps to plan a successful BFCM. Before we discuss how to handle meta advertising, this includes some general marketing planning.
Plan and build early
If you’re a procrastinator, I understand. Generally speaking, I’m most comfortable procrastinating and taking action on deadlines when inspired. But this is not the time to wait until the last minute.
You need to start planning and building immediately so you can attract all the necessary people and resources. Everyone needs proper warning so you’re not scrambling to accept a premature offer on Thanksgiving Day.
These questions will help shape your offer and lay the foundation for your campaign…
1. Is it a site-wide discount or a specific product discount?
You need to consider whether your offer applies to a single product, multiple products, or all products. Keep it as simple as possible.
Will you use promotional codes or update your website to reflect the new prices?
2. When does it start and end?
You can start your offer on Black Friday and extend it into Cyber Monday. But in recent years, extending this window has become popular.
In fact, I have followed this approach myself in recent years. I started my Early Black Friday Cyber Monday deals a few weeks before what is usually a short sale window. It helps avoid confusing noise while also having some ultimate urgency.
3. Will anyone get special treatment?
I’ll talk more about leveraging multiple channels later, but I tend to notify the people on my list first. In some cases, I even give special treatment to people who have purchased from me before or who have been on my shopping list the longest.
4. Are there any restrictions?
Scarcity and urgency can help further motivate people to buy. But there are also potential dangers if not implemented in good faith. We’ve all seen too many examples of false scarcity, and it’s a great way to lose trust.
I’m planning separate offers, one exclusive to a special group and one more general. The exclusive version will have restrictions, but the public version will not.
5. What creativity is needed?
Does the website need updating? You may want to consider setting up a sticky promotion bar on your homepage or on every page. Does the landing page need updating? What creativity does your ad need?
Consider all of this early so whoever produces the creative assets has ample preparation time.
Leverage multiple channels
One mistake meta-advertisers make is that they put all the pressure of their monetization campaign on the ads themselves. But you should use all channels to help your ads be more effective:
- organic society
- Paid social
- website
- Podcasts/Other
Each channel supports the other channels. The more cohesive your deployment is, the stronger your results will be.
My lists are an important part of my overall marketing strategy and success. People on my list know to receive my emails because I provide value every week. I would send them quotes from time to time. I plan out when to send these offers and who on my list will receive each email.
Apply this to any channel you deploy.
Focus less on the “how”
Before I started creating the ad, I started with a general marketing plan because I didn’t want to assume that all of this would be addressed. Now let’s take a look at your meta ads.
Too many advertisers focus too much on the technical setup (the “how”) rather than the fundamentals that actually drive results. This is where advertisers can get lost in an endless web of strategies and random expert advice. When developing your plan, don’t get lost in the “how to” of meta-advertising.
Don’t get bogged down in questions like…
- How many campaigns will you run?
- How many ad groups are there in each group?
- How many ads are there?
- How will you achieve your performance goals?
- tender?
- aim?
- Placement?
If you treat these things as secrets that you will or will not have a profitable BFCM, then you are setting yourself up for failure. No strategy or campaign structure can guarantee your success.
Start simple
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that I recommend a simplified approach to meta advertising. While you can always add complexity later, you’re better off starting simple and going from there.
There are a few places to start…
1. Minimize the number of campaigns and ad groups Put your budget together.
2. Focus on using sales volume Activity goals and performance goals Maximize conversions If you want to sell anything.
3. Persistence default value Used for attribution settings and placements.
4. Yes, tend to broad goals In most cases (read this and the one about positioning).
The less you worry about these details, the more time you can devote to what matters most. You can add complexity if it’s absolutely important, but it should be secondary throughout the planning process.
Focus more on “what”
The “content” of meta-advertising is the most important. It’s the collection of all the factors that have the greatest impact on whether your marketing campaign is successful. ‘What’ are you selling?
Things like that…
- product
- price (quote)
- messaging
- creativity
- landing page
Choose a product that will be easy to sell during this time. And make sure to create an interesting offer that’s hard to ignore.
After that, you’ll know that no ad or landing page is perfect. Because of this, they can always do better, and you can always do more. Invest the most time and planning here.
When creating your ad, map out your ad’s customer persona, pain points, solution, and angle. It’s more complicated than simply putting up a picture of the product and saying in all caps that it’s a special offer. Or maybe include it in your options and see how that goes.
Read my blog post for more guidance on copywriting and creative planning.
Put most of your energy into creative optimization
Perhaps the most confusing and misunderstood area of ad creation is creative optimization through placement. Even if you’re an experienced advertiser, it’s easy to mess up this part.
Some things to consider…
1. Different aspect ratios based on position and format.
This is where Meta can play a bigger role. Although you’ll be asked to provide three versions (1:1, 9:16, and 1.91:1) when uploading your creative, these are not optimized. In some positions, 4:5 is better than square. Whether 1:1 or 4:5 can be used will depend on the format.
I’ve created a grid that can help with this problem.
2. Center the important parts so they remain croppable.
While you can customize your creatives by placement to ensure that each placement uses the optimal aspect ratio, there’s an easier way. Whether you use 9:16 or 4:5, make sure you can crop it to 1:1 while maintaining its integrity.
This is what I do when using Flexible Format since there is no way to customize via placement when using that option in the first place. Test by cropping the top and bottom while keeping the middle square. If you’re willing to consider this version an ad, the creative should fit in any placement.
3. Pay attention to creative diversity.
Meta now recommends creative diversification to get the most out of Andromeda. This means more formats (static images, videos, carousels, catalog ads) and significantly different visuals and messaging.
Don’t create more variations just to check a box. Each version should serve a purpose or reflect a unique perspective.
If you need help, read this article.
4. Use advanced preview before publishing your ad.
Don’t overlook advanced previews. Use this tool to verify how your ads appear on placements before you waste your budget on avoidable mistakes. This simple step can help catch a lot of issues before publishing.
If everything looks good, it should be safe to publish regardless of placement.
now you
What are your plans for BFCM this year?
Let me know in the comments below!
