PPC best practices during Black Week
To succeed on the biggest shopping event of the year, it is essential to ensure your Google Ads strategy is in place so you have the best possible foundation when the season kicks off. The right strategic approach can make the difference between an average and a highly successful Black Friday and Black Week.
We have compiled our best tips for achieving success with Google Ads during Black Week — tips you can integrate to optimise your campaigns and maximise your revenue on the busiest shopping day of the year.
1. Review last year's performance
Learn from what happened last year so you can get more out of this year. Dive into the data you collected during last Black Friday to evaluate what worked and what did not. This gives you the opportunity to perform even better this year.
2. Make noise before Black Week
To maximise your results during Black Week, it is important to create buzz before the week begins, as Black Week is characterised by intense competition. Make sure to make your customers aware of your offers with a clear message.
Although ads are normally approved within 24 hours, in the lead-up to Black Week this can take up to 3 days or more. Upload and save all your ad variations at least one week in advance to ensure they are approved in time for the big day. We recommend starting Display and YouTube advertising 7–10 days before Black Week.
However, it is crucial to find the right balance, as creating noise too early can have a negative impact on sales during this period.
3. Use remarketing lists across channels
One advantage of building your brand before Black Week is that during Black Week you can target people who have previously interacted with your business and visited your webshop. By setting up remarketing campaigns, you have the opportunity to increase your visibility among interested potential customers. This increases the chance of converting them into paying customers who choose your business over competitors. Therefore, bid on the various segments that include previous visitors and previous buyers.
4. Search Ads
Maximise the return from your Search Ads and target these campaigns towards your preferred destinations and keywords. Search campaigns play a crucial role in the customer journey, as they often represent one of the last steps before a visitor converts and becomes a customer. This is where you have a unique opportunity to capture their attention and direct them to the right products or offers.
5. Promotion extensions
Also make use of time-limited promotion extensions in your search campaigns to highlight your campaigns as much as possible. This is essential for improving the visibility and click-through rate of your ads, especially in connection with Black Friday. With promotion extensions that include your best Black Friday deals, you create even greater ad relevance that helps capture users' attention. In this way, you can maximise your campaign's potential and ensure your offers reach the right audience.
6. Target your email list
Update your email lists before Black Week and make full use of them by creating a customer list targeting your existing email subscribers. These subscribers represent a segment of your audience that has already shown interest in your products or services. Black Week is therefore an ideal time to reach out to them with tailored offers and messages. Also link your Ads account directly to your email provider, such as Klaviyo and Voyado, for relevant data and continuous cross-channel interaction.
7. Use seasonal adjustments for Smart Bidding
We recommend using seasonal adjustments in Smart Bidding to improve your performance. Smart Bidding is known to be conservative in its bidding during the Black Friday period, which is why you should use seasonal adjustments to achieve the best possible results. The “manual adjustment” makes it possible to adapt your campaign budgets and how aggressive you want to be during specific periods of Black Week. Also apply data exclusions after Black Week to avoid bidding continuing at an unnaturally aggressive level. Here it is important that you have a full overview of the entire Q4 — not just the individual week.
8. Have a clear campaign plan
Finally, it is essential to develop a clear campaign plan so you are aware of the key time periods, CTAs, offers, and other aspects. To remain competitive during the event, it is recommended to offer customers a discount of at least 25%. You can also consider bidding on searches for your product or brand combined with Black Friday/Week. Make sure your campaign setup is ready at least one week in advance, as this gives both you and Google the best conditions for achieving success during the campaign period. Get the final preparations in place before Black WeekWhen it comes to increasing visibility, driving traffic, and converting visitors into customers, PPC is a channel that truly comes into its own.
That is why Paid Search is an indispensable part of peak season preparations for a successful sales period. With the right approach and strategy for the event of the year, you are well equipped to cut through the noise and reach your target audience. Use our PPC guide for Black Friday as a reference to create the best conditions for maximising your results and achieving success for your business. Get started today and put the final preparations in place before the autumn peak season truly begins!
