Black Friday shoppers often make purchases both online and in-store, but online sales have been growing exponentially in the past years. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have contributed to this growth. In 2020, during Black Friday 100 million consumers shopped online and US companies brought in $14.13 billion in online sales.
Naturally, with this much potential, the competition is tough for companies during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For marketers, it’s crucial to know what consumers are looking for.
According to IBM, the pandemic accelerated the shift from physical stores to online shopping by at least 5 years.
Facebook ads for Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2021
While Facebook is an undeniably important platform to reach consumers, with the speed of growth online shopping is witnessing, the Facebook Audience Network is becoming more and more competitive. Facebook Dynamic Ads can be a great tool to boost sales but only if you can get the right people to pay attention to your ads.
A great way to reach your audience is to make sure you know what they are searching for so you can persuade them with their own wants. This is true when it comes to your product, but it’s also important to consider it when it comes to your campaigns.
Especially on days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, people are on the lookout for deals as much as they are for products. So, a great way to plan your campaigns is to do it around offers that people want.
The offers consumers look for on Black Friday ads
Black Friday is about getting the best deals, so people naturally lean towards companies and brands that offer promotions they find the most attractive.
According to IMI international, the top 5 offers consumers appreciate during the year’s biggest sale event are discounts, local deals, consumer reviews, recommendations, and novelty
- Discounts
We don’t need to tell you to have Black Friday sales, but the most important thing here is that your audience knows about your discounts. If they don’t know you have a big discount on your products, they can’t be persuaded by it. So, when planning campaigns for the day, make your discount offers loud and clear in the ad creative.
- Local deals
Consumers responded that they look out for local companies and brands during Black Friday. With the iOS 14 update limiting data for many advertisers, this is good news since you can still advertise based on location. This Black Friday is a good opportunity to do geo-targeting. Adjust your ad-creatives to locations and give your audience the local deals they’re searching for.
- Consumer reviews
Reviews from other customers, social proof, is a proven way to persuade potential shoppers in general. For Black Friday, it’s the third most common thing people consider when making purchase decisions. But considering the competition for consumer attention on the day, you shouldn’t risk it by limiting customer reviews to your webshop. To grasp your audience’s interest immediately, add product reviews to ad creatives.
- Recommendations
Similar to consumer reviews, recommendations are a way to legitimize your product in the eyes of your audience. User testimonials that recommend your product increase your chances against competitors on Black Friday. However, just like consumer reviews, don’t let your recommendations stay hidden on your website. Add testimonials to ad creatives to convert with social proof.
- Novelty
No matter the product, people are attracted to the idea of newness, and Black Friday, the day of deals and offers is an opportunity to try something new for consumers. For brands and companies, this is an opportunity to showcase and promote "new" or lesser-known/purchased products. Take advantage of your customers' purchase mindset during this say by clearly indicating the newness of your products on your ads.
This is true for Facebook Dynamic Ads throughout the whole year, but especially for competitive times like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas, you need to set your ads apart. Customizing your ad creatives with the offers your audience wants is a great way to do so during the holiday season where people do most of their yearly shopping and are on the lookout for good deals.
Black Friday is almost here and the rest of the season comes quickly after but it’s not too late to adjust your ads. You surely have some seasonal offers for your consumers, but make sure your ad creatives reflect everything you’re giving them.
