Yes, it’s that time of year again. No, not for Thanksgiving turkeys and hanging the mistletoe. We’re talking about Black Friday. More specifically, Black Friday advertising.

If you’re hoping to rake in the profits this holiday season, prepping yourself and your business for the Black Friday rush is crucial to creating an impactful multi-dimensional brand. It also allows you to get a little creative too.

Our shopping behavior may have changed over the past few years, but people still respond to Black Friday with their wallets. Don’t believe us? Let’s look at the (staggering) numbers.

Let’s Talk Black Friday Statistics

As you can imagine, Black Friday is the subject of some staggering commerce statistics. Let’s take a closer look.

• Black Friday 2018 - 10B
• Black Friday 2019 - 12B
• Black Friday 2020 - 14B
• Black Friday 2021 - 17B

Like we say, the numbers speak for themselves. And with Black Friday, there are massive numbers.

The continuous upward trend in the billions of dollars only means one thing: you need to craft the best Black Friday advertising plan for your business. Black Friday is becoming a force unto itself, too. Shopping behavior drastically drops right before and right after Black Friday.

Let's say you're in the market for a new 4K Smart TV. You're in no rush, just something you know you'll need. It's November 3rd, a couple of weeks before Black Friday. What do you do? You wait, of course. There’s likely an appealing Black Friday deal right around the corner, after all. Let’s take another example.

Christmas is finally over and you've bought gifts for all your adorable nieces and nephews. You might've gone a little over budget, but you can't put a price on their little smiles, right? Now suppose you see an impulse purchase in front of you. Will you buy it? 

It's hard to say, but you're likely to hold off on that purchase. This is quickly making Black Friday an absolute monolith in our shopping culture. And an interesting psychological phenomenon, too!

Does your business have a cohesive Black Friday advertising plan to pull in your target audience and other potential customers? It’s time to talk about Black Friday advertising, and more importantly, whether or not your brand’s website and unique holiday ads can pull in your target audience and other Black Friday shoppers in one go.

Let's Talk Black Friday Advertising

Now that you know that you need to prepare for effective Black Friday advertising, it’s time to make a game plan. Most businesses start prepping a comprehensive Black Friday advertising plan three months prior. 

Start Early

Your best asset in the Black Friday advertising game is time. By the time you ask yourself, ‘should we start making a Black Friday advertising plan?’ you’re already too late. 

That means starting to build up your brand’s presence. Whether through comprehensive SEO efforts, search engine marketing, or social media marketing, building your brand’s presence has never been more critical than right now.

Find a Black Friday Deal That Works For You And Your Customers

A good Black Friday Deal is the bread and butter of the shopping holiday. As such, you must find an effective Black Friday discount to offer your customers while also monitoring your bottom line. 

For example, you might engage in some cross-selling, where you can group similar items in a bundle to increase sales. Think about it: you sell a vacuum, and a great way to increase your sales is to offer a state-of-the-art hose attachment. Or maybe a carpet cleaner with an especially effective cleaning solution. Cross-selling is a solid advertising strategy.

Upselling and Cross-Selling

Upselling, too, is an excellent method of bolstering your sales. It’s when a business offers an upgrade or higher-quality product to a customer. If you run a subscription service, you could provide more perks to those who upgrade their subscription package to a higher tier.

Upselling, along with cross-selling, can quickly help your business, regardless of your Black Friday advertising plan. 

Either way, find a digital marketing method that resonates with you and your customers. Then, in the off-season, continue some of these practices. Your target audience will especially appreciate it.

Use What Works After Black Friday

When you executed your Black Friday advertising plan, what did your customers respond to best? There’s no need to discard a winning formula just because the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is over. 

Engage in paid advertising, improve your SEO presence online, and create regular deals, implementing upselling and cross-selling.

Don’t Forget: Advertising Costs Go Up During the Holidays

You’ll quickly find out that holiday advertising costs are much higher than anytime else during the year. It’s pretty straightforward to explain. Firstly, other businesses are heavily competing against other companies. Secondly, there are higher CPC ads. Businesses that provide the highest bidder for ads will come out the Black Friday victor. 

A side effect of coming up short in the Black Friday advertising game is decreased performance, so you must acquire a piece of the advertising pie this holiday season. 

Test Multiple Platforms and Analyze Your Data

While your e-commerce business may have killed it in the online store, don’t ignore other aspects of your brand. It may be tempting to put all your proverbial eggs in one basket; make sure you test multiple platforms. Adequate testing allows you to diversify your brand, give your customers more options to engage with you and your content, and is just good business sense.

Use analyzed data from using your platforms to help bolster your brand going into next year’s Black Friday advertising. 

In short, people want to shop. Are you in front of them when they’re on the lookout for the best Black Friday deals?

Black Friday Advertising: Are You Prepared?

Now that you are more aware of the wild world of Black Friday advertising, take progressive steps towards preparing your business for the iconic holiday. 

To sum things up, Black Friday is a crucial time for businesses, especially e-commerce. Not only that, but shopping behavior is growing each year exponentially. That’s why effective Black Friday advertising is vital to compete but also to collect valuable shopping data.

Either way, if you’re not actively planning right now, it might be too late.