Black Friday is looming, so if you’re not prepped to dominate your Google Ads performance, you’re going to miss the biggest digital gold rush of the sales season. In fact, optimising your Google Ads for 2023’s Black Friday sales is more essential than ever as competitors will be targeting the same traffic across a range of industries.
So, how can you ensure your campaigns stand out amidst the noise and retain a competitive edge?
This comprehensive guide will unveil the secrets to maximising your Black Friday Google Ads performance this year, and will equip you with the knowledge and strategies to achieve phenomenal results.
Understanding the Landscape of Black Friday
Black Friday marks the beginning of our holiday shopping season and is renowned for its massive sales and discounts, including the highly anticipated Black Friday sale. It presents unique opportunities for businesses to boost sales and visibility, making Google Ads crucial for taking advantage of increased consumer interest around the event’s deals.
With consumers eager to make multiple purchases amidst a range of irresistible offers, a well-executed Black Friday campaign can significantly increase your revenue when effectively applied throughout the event and following Cyber Monday Sales.
The Role and Evolution of Black Friday in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
To maximise your returns during the highly competitive Black Friday Sales period, you must first consider PPC’s role and evolution in promoting the event. In recent years, Black Friday has transformed from a single-day event to an extended shopping extravaganza. This evolution has led to a shift in consumer behaviour, with many shoppers now actively seeking out Black Friday deals and discounts on various platforms, including:
- Google Ads
- Social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram)
- Email marketing campaigns
- Retailer websites
Understanding how to use these platforms effectively will help businesses reach a wider audience and drive more sales during this highly competitive period. Evidently, you may have to adapt your strategy to stand out to potential customers against your competitors.
To do so, a crucial opportunity to seize is utilising Google Ads’ extensive reach with standout campaigns, featuring a strong structure, eye-catching ad creative, and more.
Optimising Your Campaign Structure for Black Friday
Optimising your campaign structure is fundamental to making your Black Friday Google Ads campaign distinguishable from the competition. This involves:
- Setting clear goals and objectives
- Allocating resources effectively
- Targeting the right audience
- Learning from successful campaign examples
- Adjusting Ad creative and copy to incentivise audience purchase
Delving into the details of campaign structure optimisation can boost your ad effectiveness and draw in more customers during Black Friday, while keeping your ad costs in check.
Setting Clear Goals and Objectives
A focused and results-oriented Black Friday Google Ads campaign requires the establishment of clear goals and objectives. It allows you to measure the success of your Google Ads campaigns and make adjustments as needed to maximise your Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) within your Google Ads account.
Conducting market research to identify consumer pain points, and developing relevant tactics to address these, is one method for establishing clear goals and objectives. By defining your campaign’s goals and objectives, you can create a roadmap to success and stay on track throughout the Black Friday period.
Allocating Resources and Budgeting Effectively
Maximising ROAS during Black Friday requires effective resource allocation and budgeting. Allocating your budget strategically allows you to make the most of your campaign and ensures its success. One way to do this is through increasing spend on specialised sales asset groups with your eCommerce store’s Performance Max (PMAX) campaign. Through prioritising spend to promote asset groups with key sales messaging, your PMAX campaign is more likely to bid on Black Friday related audience signals at a lower Cost-Per-Click (CPC).
Additionally, adjusting your listings to improve visibility for products which offer a higher return value, whilst on sale, can also increase the campaign’s ROAS with every purchase. The more often you promote high-converting products, the likelier your Black Friday campaign is to generate revenue.
Starting your campaigns early can also help reduce CPC, because less competitors may be bidding on the same keywords as you. Learn how early you should start Black Friday marketing here.
Targeting the Right Audience
Engaging the most relevant audience segments and tailoring your messaging to middle-of-funnel potential customers can maximise returns on your Black Friday campaigns. Concentrate on your warm audience – those who have recently interacted with your site within the past month – as this can improve the effectiveness of your Black Friday marketing strategy.
To further enhance your targeting efforts, consider utilising ad customisers to create scarcity in your ads, such as referencing inventory status. This tactic can entice potential customers to take action quickly before the items they desire sell out.
By targeting the right audience and crafting compelling messages, you can make the most of your Black Friday campaign and drive sales.
Learn From Inspiring Campaign Examples
Analysing standout Black Friday ad campaigns and product-segments, on Google Ads, can provide valuable insights for crafting well-targeted content. Drawing insights from such campaigns can also aid in the creation of innovative and engaging Black Friday ads that resonate with your target audience and yield results.
To analyse successful campaigns, or product-segments with high traffic potential, utilise Google’s range of industry analysis tools such as Google Analytics (GA4), Google Trends, or Google Keyword Planner. We also recommend these 5 free digital tools to help your overall marketing this Black Friday.
Crafting and Optimising Ad Creatives
Optimising ad creative involves designing targeted ads and leveraging ad extensions for maximum impact. This creates a higher Click-Through-Rate (CTR) and conversion rate during Black Friday, ultimately boosting your campaign’s success.
When crafting and optimising ad creatives, direct your attention towards highlighting brand and product benefits that are highly attractive for customers, as identified through consumer analytics and research.
Designing Targeted and Engaging Ads
Designing targeted ads ensures a higher CTR and conversion rate during Black Friday. This can be achieved by considering the audience you are targeting, the message you want to convey, and the visuals you want to use to create an engaging experience for your audience.
One way to design captivating ads is by reviewing (but not copying) high sentiment phrasing within successful competitor campaigns to inform your own Google Ads campaign text. Tailoring your use of website placements and exclusions in PMAX campaigns can also help get your ads in front of the right eye-balls.
You can also captivate your reader and inspire them to click through your website by:
- Crafting compelling headlines that reflect key messaging
- Using emotional language (but no exclamation points!)
- Highlighting your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Leveraging Ad Extensions for Maximum Impact
Implementing features like countdowns, sitelinks and other ad extensions can guide consumers to the best deals and enhance ad performance during Black Friday. Ad extensions provide additional information to potential customers, making your ads stand out from the competition and boosting click-through rates.
For example, you can use sitelinks to drive customers to specific pages on your website, such as a Black Friday deals page, and call extensions to make it easier for customers to contact you directly. By leveraging ad extensions, you can improve the effectiveness of your ads and increase the likelihood of conversions during the busy Black Friday period.
Perfecting Keyword Targeting and Bidding Approaches
Perfecting keyword targeting and bidding approaches involves choosing between smart bidding or manual bidding. For this year’s Black Friday Sale, we strongly recommend utilising smart bidding, which considers audience signals to promote your campaign’s products to high-intent audiences.
For PMAX campaigns, consider utilising a Maximise Conversion Value strategy throughout the sale period to capture increased consumer demand.
For search campaigns, we advise you use a Maximise Conversions strategy. Where conversion data is sufficient (think more than 30 conversions per month on average), you may also increase your ROAS Target or decrease your CPA Target to increase captured value from conversions at reduced cost.
Focusing on long-tail keywords and tailoring strategies for Black Friday searches can also improve ad performance. Long-tail keywords are more specific and often less competitive, making them more likely to convert potential customers. This is because users searching for highly specific keywords generally have a high intent to purchase.
Additionally, avoiding overly broad keywords such as “Black Friday” can help you bid more effectively.
Advanced Strategies: Google PMAX and Remarketing
Your Black Friday Google Ads performance can be further enhanced by employing advanced strategies like optimising yourGoogle PMAX campaigns and using precise remarketing. By navigating the challenges and opportunities of Google PMAX and remarketing accurately, you can increase your sales and visibility.
Optimising Google PMAX Campaigns
Seizing the opportunities of Google PMAX during Black Friday can lead to increased sales and visibility. Google PMAX allows businesses to display their products in an interactive and visually appealing way, targeting customers who are actively searching for Black Friday deals.
To maximise your success with Google PMAX campaigns for Black Friday, consider strategically setting sale products in a separate campaign with a higher bid, budget, and campaign setting priority. This will allow you to promote products that are on sale without increasing bids for everything.
Remarketing with Precision
Setting up remarketing campaigns and utilising dynamic ads can help you reconnect with potential customers and boost conversions during Black Friday. Remarketing is an incredibly powerful online advertising technique that enables you to re-engage with users who have already interacted with your brand, giving you a chance to reach out to potential customers who may have been interested in your offering but didn’t take action yet.
One effective technique is using Google Dynamic Ads to target recent visitors and insert a dynamic timer in your ad copy, creating a sense of urgency and encouraging potential customers to take action quickly. By remarketing with precision, you can revive frozen relationships with customers and increase conversions during Black Friday.
Monitoring, Analysis, and Adjustments
Continuous improvement and success of your Black Friday Google Ads campaigns can be ensured by monitoring, analysing and making adjustments based on key performance indicators and data-driven decisions.
Optimising your campaigns for maximum performance and staying ahead of the competition can be achieved by tracking important metrics and making informed adjustments, particularly using Google Analytics 4.
Key Takeaways for Black Friday Success
Implementing the strategies and insights discussed in this guide can help you maximise your Black Friday Google Ads performance and achieve record sales in 2023. Thriving during the most competitive shopping season of the year is possible by:
- Understanding the landscape of Black Friday
- Optimising your Google Ads campaign structure
- Honing your Google Ads keyword targeting and bidding approaches
- Employing advanced strategies like Google PMAX and remarketing campaigns
- Monitoring key performance indicators
In conclusion, maximising your Black Friday Google Ads performance in 2023 requires a strategic approach that combines effective targeting, engaging ad creatives and data-driven decision making. By implementing the strategies and insights discussed in this guide, you can not only achieve record sales but also establish a lasting connection with your customers. Be sure to check out our Top 10 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Marketing Tips if you’re looking for more.
So, gear up and get ready to soar high and conquer the digital landscape this Black Friday!
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Until next time,
The Digital Marketing Team at Springboard Digital.