As Black Friday approaches, businesses are preparing for the busiest shopping season of the year. To help you stay ahead of the competition and drive meaningful results, we’ve gathered some top tips and actionable insights from the Vixen Digital team.
Whether you’re looking to boost traffic, enhance conversions, or streamline your budget, these strategies will ensure you’re ready. But, you should also consider if it’s right for your business because let’s face it – it doesn’t make sense for everyone. Let’s dive in!
Should you take part in Black Friday?
Black Friday, which falls on November 29th in 2024, has evolved into one of the most significant shopping events of the year in the UK. Retailers prepare for a surge in consumer demand by offering deep discounts and extended promotions to capture shoppers’ attention.
But before taking part in Black Friday, it’s important to consider whether it’s the right fit for your business. While the event is a revenue driver for some, it’s not for everyone. Some brands experience ‘discount fatigue’ and are rethinking their participation due to environmental concerns and the impact on their profit margins or brand identity.
To make an informed decision, think about your brand’s positioning. Will offering discounts align with your long-term goals, or could it potentially devalue your products?
It’s also helpful to consider the data on consumer behaviour and spending to help determine whether it’s worth it.
2024 Black Friday Data Predictions
UK Black Friday spending in 2024 is expected to reach £3.8 billion, reflecting a 27% increase from the £3 billion projected in 2023. However, this is slightly lower than the £3.9 billion planned in 2022 (Finder). Despite a reported 28% drop in consumer interest in Black Friday in 2023, as reported by PwC, the anticipated increase in spending this year suggests that shoppers are regaining interest, likely driven by easing inflation.
Per-person spending is expected to rise to £122, up from £113 in 2023, with Londoners leading the way by spending an average of £174 each, while regions such as the South West show less engagement. Although 59% of UK adults plan to make purchases this year, in 2023, growing concerns over sustainability led 30% of consumers to reconsider their participation due to environmental impacts, which is likely to be an ongoing trend.
Source: finder.com
The generational divide reported by Finder is also noteworthy. 86% of Gen Z plan to shop during Black Friday, compared to just 31% of Baby Boomers and 26% of the Silent Generation.
These figures, as well as consumption differences between genders and geographic locations, highlight the importance of evaluating how your target audience engages with Black Friday to determine if it aligns with your goals.
If you decide that Black Friday is the right fit for you, then it’s time to get your strategy in place. Let’s explore:
- Tops Tips for your Meta Ads This Black Friday
- Google Ad Tips for This Black Friday
- Long Term SEO Black Friday Strategies
Top Tips for Your Meta Ads This Black Friday
If you’ll be running meta ads this Black Friday, our Paid Social Specialist, Sophie, has some key tips.
She explains, “If you’re looking to make the most of your Meta ads, and you haven’t already got your strategy in place, now is the time. With competition at its peak and CPMs on the rise, it’s crucial to have a plan that not only captures attention but also converts at a cost-effective rate. “
Here are Sophie’s Top 5 tips for success:
- Set a Cost Cap
- Build Your Remarketing Audiences
- Extend Your Campaigns
- Use Budget Scheduling
- Craft Irresistible Offers
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For a Quick Round-Up: Check Out Sophie's Top 3 Tips
Set a Cost Cap
With CPMs soaring in November, Sophie recommends using cost caps to control your cost per result. This prevents your ad spend from spiralling out of control and helps you focus on what’s most important—getting results without constant manual adjustments.
Build Your Remarketing Audiences
Remarketing is more cost-effective during Black Friday. Sophie advises that if you haven’t started running awareness and traffic campaigns, now’s the time. Building those audiences will help you retarget when the deals drop, maximising conversions.
“Building effective remarketing audiences takes time, and we recommend that you start running some awareness campaigns and some website traffic campaigns to build those audiences. When it comes to Black Friday, you’ll have a pool of people that you can target generally at a lower cost, and they’ll already be interested in your product.”
Extend Your Campaigns
“Don’t limit your campaigns to Black Friday weekend.”
Sophie suggests extending your activity throughout November to avoid peak CPM spikes. It’s a smart way to manage your budget while generating sales consistently.
Use Budget Scheduling
“Black Friday, as you know, is highly competitive. You’ll likely need to increase your budget during this time. Doing so manually can push your campaigns into learning…”
Sophie recommends using budget scheduling to avoid throwing your campaigns into the learning phase when increasing spend. This ensures your performance remains steady even during peak times.
Craft Irresistible Offers
It might seem like an obvious one, but Sophie’s final tip? Stand out from the crowd with an irresistible offer!
Consumers’ interest may be returning, but the market is increasingly competitive, so an eye-catching offer is crucial for success.
Bundle products or offer exclusive deals that can’t be refused. This strategy is more likely to catch attention than standard discounts.
With Sophie’s expert advice, you’ll be well-prepared to make the most of Meta Ads this Black Friday.
Ensure your Meta Ads are set up for success this Black Friday and beyond with the help of our Free Meta Ads Audit Template.
Google Ads Tips for Black Friday Success
If it’s Google Ads you’ll be running this Black Friday, early planning is crucial. Maggie, our Vixen Digital Co-Founder and PPC expert, shares her top tips for maximising your Google Ads and ensuring your campaigns are a success:
- Start Early
- Tease Your Offers
- Use Countdowns & Customisers
- Adjust Budgets & Expectations
- Review & Adjust Bidding Strategies
Let’s explore them further.
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Maggie's Top Google Ads Tips for Black Friday
Start Early
“Make sure that any ads and promotions are set up in your account in advance. It can take 24 hours or often even more, especially for promotions to be approved by Google. So what you don’t want to do is launch them an hour before Black Friday starts and find they’re not approved on time—you’ll miss your boat.”
Maggie emphasises the importance of starting your strategy, deals, and pricing as soon as possible. Competitors are doing the same, and customer expectations will be high. Have your ads, extensions, and promotions prepped in advance to avoid any delays.
Tease Your Offers
Maggie suggests using teasers to build anticipation. Encourage newsletter sign-ups or offer early access to your Black Friday deals to create a buzz before the big day.
Use Countdowns & Customisers
Create urgency by adding countdowns in your ads!
Maggie says – “Use countdowns in your text ads ahead of Black Friday to count down to when your offer starts. It helps create a sense of urgency, so customers know they have three, two, one day left to take advantage, encouraging them to use that offer now before it runs out.”
This is particularly effective to remind customers of when deals go live or end. Pin your Black Friday offers to make sure they feature prominently in your ads.
Adjust Budgets & Expectations
With Black Friday being so competitive, Maggie advises preparing for higher click costs. Ensure you have an additional budget planned to avoid running out halfway through the day.
“Black Friday is very competitive, and if you stick to the same budget as throughout the year, you might run out before the end of the day. So if you have any leftover budget or can add more for the day or week, now’s the time to do it.”
Review & Adjust Bidding Strategies
If you’re expecting good performance, Maggie recommends adjusting your bidding strategy to capture as much high-quality traffic as possible. Be flexible to take full advantage of the increased volume.
With Maggie’s expert insight, you’ll be well-positioned to maximise your Google Ads performance this Black Friday.
Maximise your PPC performance further this Black Friday and into the new year with our tailored Free PPC Audit Template.
Long-Term SEO Black Friday Strategy
For SEO, it’s important to remember that this is a long-term strategy. We don’t recommend implementing any one-off, short-term strategies for Black Friday.
Sean, our other Vixen Digital Co-Founder and SEO expert, shares the story of a client who was targeted by an affiliate marketing company that placed UTM links on discount code websites despite our client never offering discounts. The result? It negatively affected their branded search rankings.
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Black Friday Marketing Strategy: Essential Black Friday SEO Tip
Here’s a quick rundown of what happened:
- The client was targeted by an affiliate marketing company, which placed UTM-tracked links on various discount code websites.
- The issue arose because the client never offered discounts, yet these UTM links falsely implied they were running promotions.
- This confusion negatively impacted the client’s branded search rankings, as users searching for the brand encountered misleading discount links.
- The presence of these discount pages caused SEO issues, with the brand losing control over its search results and potential trust with customers due to the misinformation.
We worked with the client to regain control by advising them to create a page explaining their stance on discounts and promotions. This helped rebuild their rankings and reinforced transparency with their audience.
How Sean's SEO Fix Worked:
- Creation of a Black Friday/Discount Page: Sean advised the client to create a dedicated page explaining their stance on discounts and promotions, clearly stating that they do not offer discounts or participate in promotions.
- Improved Transparency: This page served as a transparent explanation for customers, helping to clarify the client’s approach and rebuild trust.
- Reclaiming Branded Search Rankings: By creating this page and ensuring it ranked for terms like “brand + discounts” or “brand + Black Friday,” the client regained control over branded search queries and pushed out misleading affiliate content.
- Long-term SEO Strategy: This approach helped not only in the short term by improving rankings but also supported the client’s long-term SEO efforts by establishing trust and credibility with their audience.
Thankfully, Sean managed to rectify the situation for the client, and some great lessons were learned that could be useful for all organisations, whether you’re planning to partake in Black Friday or not.
Sean’s key takeaways for “Black Friday SEO”:
- Research Your Brand Terms
Conduct keyword research on terms like “your brand + Black Friday” or “your brand + discount code.” Make sure you rank well for these terms with dedicated pages. - Create a Black Friday Page
If you’re running Black Friday deals, centralise them on one page. This improves both SEO and user experience. If you’re not participating, explain why and use it as an opportunity to build trust with your audience. - Transparency Builds Trust
Whether you’re running discounts or not, be authentic and transparent with your customers. This strengthens your brand’s trustworthiness and helps build a loyal customer base.
By following Sean’s SEO advice, you’ll not only see benefits during Black Friday but also set your brand up for long-term success.
Final Thoughts on Black Friday Marketing Strategies
Black Friday offers some great opportunities for businesses to boost their revenue and visibility, but it’s super important to assess if it’s the right fit for your brand.
Not all businesses benefit from heavy discounting, and factors like brand positioning, long-term goals, and consumer expectations should be carefully considered.
With competition at an all-time high, having a well-structured digital marketing strategy across SEO, Google Ads, and Meta Ads can make a significant difference.
By following the actionable tips provided in this guide and strategically linking your efforts to your broader marketing goals, you can navigate Black Friday in a way that benefits your business while also resonating with your audience.
