A good Black Friday technique? Invest in paid social ads! In this blog, we’ll be revealing tips on how to make the most of paid social Black Friday ads.
Be clear on the audience and message for your paid social campaigns
Black Friday is one of the most competitive times of the year, with brands all vying for the attention of customers. It’s a time when costs are higher and that is going to impact your paid social strategy, so preparation is key.
Begin by choosing the audience you want to target and the message you want to convey. Do you want to come across as entertaining? Are you creating a Black Friday campaign that taps into the feeling that Christmas isn’t far away? Answering these questions will help to align your goals.
Prepare all the social media platforms you plan to use
Next, decide on all the social media channels that you’re going to be using paid ads for and how your audience uses them. For example, if you’re offering Black Friday deals to a younger audience then Instagram and TikTok are the right channels to use.
Instagram advertises can reach a youth audience of 83 million, while 60% of TikTok users are Gen Z.
Experiment with different paid social ad formats
When you have an idea of the social media channels you plan to advertise on, think about how ad types line up with your Black Friday goals.
We’ve created a list of goals and paired them with the ad types that could work:
Awareness
On Black Friday, you may want to generate awareness of your brand and show that you have specific offers. In this case, video ads are ideal because they convey a lot of information in a short amount of time, help to tell a story and list multiple products.
Black Friday video ads to consider are:
- Facebook video ads
- Instagram video ads
- Instagram Stories ads
- YouTube bumper ads
- Twitter Amplify pre-roll
Conversions
If the goal of your Black Friday campaign is conversions, static image ads are ideal for boosting conversions. This is because static image ads highlight products and encourages shoppers to convert directly from the ad through call-to-action (CTAs).
Another benefit is the one-click method that this ad type provides. Shoppers have an easy user experience and are directed towards the product quickly.
Static image ads to use are:
Facebook Carousel ads
- Instagram Carousel ads
- Twitter Summary cards
- Pinterest Promoted pins
Engagement
Engagement is another common Black Friday metric and video ads are ideal for attaining this goal. As a medium, video provides a great opportunity to show your brand personality and to be creative with your campaign.
Recommended video ads for increasing engagement are:
Facebook video ads
- Instagram Reels ads
- TikTok video ads
- Twitter Timeline Takeover video ads
- Pinterest Promoted video pins
Create a Black Friday loyalty programme and tailor your ads to the campaign
Black Friday isn’t solely focused on offering products at a steep discount and getting quick sales. It’s about fostering long term customer retention and encouraging shoppers to invest in your Black Friday deals every year.
To do this, set up a Black Friday loyalty programme that incentivises consumers to become a part of your brand community. The programme could provide additional discounts, extra resources and free shipping.
From a paid social perspective, you could create ads that promote the loyalty programme and offer early access. For instance, you may create awareness-led ads across Instagram and Facebook announcing the launch of the programme and enticing people to sign up before Black Friday.
To take it a step further, make sure the loyalty programme is tiered e.g. gold, silver and bronze. You can then generate ads that are targeted at different demographics.
For example, you might create a video ad that promotes the gold tier to affluent parents who have a high amount of disposal income to spend on Christmas presents for their children.
Re-engage with previous customers
If you have successfully built a community of shoppers who love your Black Friday campaigns, don’t be afraid to reengage with them for continued revenue.
This means analysing data in your CRM system and narrowing down the customers who are most likely to respond to your campaigns again. Segment these customers into lists and generate social ads that appeal to their buying behaviour.
Test and optimise
In the run up to Black Friday it’s a good idea to test as many different ad formats as possible. Are static image ads more effective for driving conversions or are video ads? Have you found that one social media platform is better than another?
Also do customer research across all channels. Run polls on Instagram and Twitter to see which products your audience would like discounts on. Send emails asking for feedback and incentivising people for a loyalty programme.
By doing this legwork ahead of time, you’ll be in a stronger position to create paid social ads that cut through the Black Friday noise and convert consumers into customers.
Start your Black Friday social ads with Bobble
With years of experience in paid social advertising, we can help you maximise your Black Friday conversions. Get in touch with us today for more information.
