3 Tips to Stand Out on Black Friday and Cyber Monday Ads
The end of November will bring us a massive sale in many international and local e-shops. Black Friday has been a big deal for decades, initially in the USA, but now all over the globe.
RTB House analysed hundreds of campaigns in almost 40 markets and determined what kind of conversion growth advertisers can expect during the consumer surge, plus proven tips and tricks for excellent results in Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The potential of Black Friday conversions is huge – even greater than those before Christmas. This is likely because “deals” are more abundant when everything from electronics, furniture and fashion merchants provide extreme price cuts.
RTB House’s analysis of campaigns in almost 40 markets showed that client campaigns performed almost 70% better in Black Friday and nearly 30% in Cyber Monday in comparison to the average result for November 2015. According to data aggregated by the company, the total traffic on the websites was also more than 30% higher on Black Friday and 20% on Cyber Monday than an average.
Black Friday is not about a single day, but rather the four-day weekend and generating momentum. Apart from obvious sales reasons, it’s an opportunity to create interest that influences future customer engagement. By providing the best online deals when consumers are actively seeking them, merchants can more easily achieve brand recognition, holiday sales and return customers. Going a step further by tailoring ads to individual users during this weekend is one of the most powerful tools to encourage purchases from the most important visitors and maximise return on investment.
By following these three tips below, you can easily create campaigns that will stand out among other similar ads.
#1 Show Products They Wanted to Shop Before
Creating a sense of urgency is important during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For instance, with personalised retargeting for the shopping holiday, merchants show on ads with products that the user browsed before and display it with a customised, urgent offer. Visitors who came to your site days, weeks or even months ago may have not purchased and Black Friday is a high-potential opportunity to re-engage them with products they already want. Retargeting even makes it possible to prepare a teaser campaign to inform previous customers about upcoming Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals around the corner. Let your banners say: “Hey! We haven't seen you for a while on our website. Come and check out what we’ve prepared for you on a Black Friday weekend!”
#2 Attract Buyers Who Want to Buy Right Now
Retargeting tools help you catch users at their highest momentum of purchasing intent and build connections with your existing and future customers. Responsive and individually tailored ads help you rapidly engage and re-engage the right users at the right time, which is key for the short window of opportunity during Black Friday weekend. With personalised ads, your campaign can optimise in real-time by displaying products which were browsed on Black Friday, and then reappear on Cyber Monday with the specialised ads about discounts or reminding them of the product.
#3 Exploit Upcoming Holidays to Maximise Sales and Promotions
Retargeting campaigns allow you also to plan not only one purchase – but an entire string of customer engagement events. An intelligent ad and retargeting tool does not only follow a user’s history and needs, but also sparks interest in future products. By setting up during Black Friday, you’ll start the user’s journey of facilitating holiday purchases and hint at consumer what more they may need.
For example, if your e-client has bought a winter jacket during Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales, personalised retargeting can show ads with matching products, like scarf or gloves, over the next days and weeks. This sequential planning of ads allows you to prompt the user to consider buying in your e-shop also before Christmas time.
To make a conclusion: Black Friday 2015 was a game-changer. According to Salmon’s digital commerce experts (http://internetretailing.net/2016/05/shoppers-predicted-spend-5bn-extended-five-day-black-friday-weekend-salmon/), in 2015 US retailers saw a tipping point as online sales overtook offline sales, while UK sites went down as shoppers waited to buy. Shoppers will spend £5bn over the course of a five-day cyber weekend in the run up to Christmas 2016, according to new forecasts.
Shopping behaviours have changed and events like online Black Friday should play an important role in our e-marketing strategies. This year, the heightened shopping period is set to run from Friday 25th November through to Cyber Monday on the 28th. To get the full potential out of upcoming events, marketers should begin planning their online operations as early as the beginning of November.
The data used in this research was derived from personalised retargeting tools developed by RTB House. The analysis covered selected campaigns served by the company in November 2015.