Trends and successes of an increasingly crowded Black Friday

As every year, Black Friday always leaves us with conclusions, trends and, above all, a lot of learning about how both online and physical consumption is at the moment. In this post we want to briefly summarize some of those aspects that we have observed as a digital marketing agency. Here we go!

If we talk about Google Ads...

• The trend of increase in the cost of CPCs This has made it more expensive to reach the same target audience, as was the case throughout 2022. This has meant that if the conversion rate has not grown in proportion to make up for this increase in price, the returns of many businesses have fallen, even though volumes may have been good. Even soWe have had experiences in verticals where the CPC has been maintained or reduced, as in the case of perfumery.
• About the Performances MaxThese campaigns have been Google's big bet this year and, although we did not know very well what to expect, due to the loss of control in the Display network, YouTube, Discovery, etc., they have worked well. Of course, in the accounts with less investment, if we have detected that much of the traffic was not in Shopping, we have opted to remove the resources of the campaign and only leave the tabs active, thus investing the entire budget in Shopping, and the results have been positive in the cases in which we have done so.
• Watch out for seasonal adjustments! Google's own algorithm already predicts an increase in conversion rate during peak times and they don't make as much sense.
• In certain sectors, the results of Sunday - Monday (especially at night) improve on Black Friday. It is possible to sense a relaxation during these days by the competition, being possible to get a better return on investment (Childcare, Fashion, Air Conditioning...) Something that also happened during the Singles Day where the competition bet less.
• In ecommerce with physical storeThere has been a notable increase in the physical business with respect to the online trend (something logical considering the pandemic situation of past years).
• Mature and informed usersThe user of this Black Friday, is a mature user, who arrives better informed to this date, so the Ecommerce with a good promotion, have had better results than those who have only set the web and have not made a real reduction.
• Sectors such as electronics have noted a lower average order than in 2021.

If we change platform and switch to Social AdsThe main trends that have been seen are as follows:

• Increase in CPMsThe CPM for the week of BF in 2022 increased by 27.47% over the previous week. However, if we compare this year's CPM with that of the previous year, the day of Black Friday saw a decrease in CPMs by 39.36%. Although we have also observed that in certain sectors such as, for example, textiles the average CPM was 5% higher than last year.
• Thanks to the decrease in CPMs compared to the previous year, we have managed to improve the CPC, which has also decreased. This is thanks to the fact that CTRs are down less than CPMs, but they are also down on average by 19.36%. Overall, we have reached more people than last year with less budget.
• More traffic and outreach campaignsOutreach campaigns have played a very important role in some accounts this BF. Helping to maintain and increase their online visibility and in some cases even had the highest profitability of the account.
• Another effective strategy has been to up investments the weeks before to reach the week of the BF and Friday itself with a high investment, as the problems of investing all the budget you want on the day of the BF due to the high competition continue.
• The ads took less time than the previous year to come out of review and there were no cases of ads stuck in review during the BF day.
• The brand image actions remain fundamental for a good Black Friday, it is necessary to maintain online visibility on these dates above all with differentiated investments.
• TikTok has been a surprise for its low advertising costs and high performance in quality and quantity of traffic. It is still not as converting in Analytics, but it has certainly been something very interesting that has surely helped to generate more e-commerce sales. In addition, the most interesting thing is that most of the users that arrived through this channel were new users.

From an organic point of view, the SEO has also undergone changes with respect to other years. For example...

• Users no longer search for the keyword "Black Friday" with the desired product, but search for the name of the item directly, as they know they will find deals during the week.
• Users have started their searches much earlier (end of October) and the contents of top products, buying guides, YouTube reviews, etc. have played a very important role, as users have refined their search more than in previous years. 
• Many customers have reported that their web sites have been slower and this is because the server was not prepared for an increase in visits.
• Customers who have not betting on an organic Black Friday, have hardly had any variations in their searches. 
• Web-wide discounts do not offer much versatility and do not allow to expand the search intentions related to Black Friday, unless this is worked 4 or 5 months in advance. This is especially true for small or medium-sized websites, because in large e-commerces the trend changes significantly.

In other words, websites that have not anticipated Black Friday with a clear organic strategy have seen little or no change in traffic.. Those sites that have done so have increased their revenues by more than 50% over last year. At this point, we have also analyzed what the big players are doing on their websites and this is what we have observed:

• 100% has opted to set the ambiance of the home focusing 100% on Black Friday.
• Use of an eye-catching main banner that covers a large part of the screen with an immediate CTR to the Black Friday category.
• Links to main categories with striking and concise images.
• Top products in carousel format, but still giving importance to category links.
• Use of various labels, counters, stock, etc. on the product thumbnail.
• Use of financing methods such as deferred payment or payment by installments.
• Brands section with offers.
• In the Black Friday category as such, we have opted for filters on very large sites and in subcategories for smaller sites.

What other conclusions have we drawn?

Inquiries on social networks both in comments and direct messages have increased, i.e., social networks have become a strong customer service channel as well.

Clients who have worked with the marketing automation with value actions such as sweepstakes and discounts have performed well. In addition, form campaigns to generate leads in this part of the marketing have also worked particularly well, attracting many first-time buyers. Another interesting point was the "countdowns" as we saw that the channels that used them had a better user response by creating that sense of urgency.

Analyzing the email marketing We have seen that small clients get more visibility for their communications in the days or weeks leading up to the BF than on the day itself. That is, the impacts work better if reported before and after as a last hours reinforcement. Similarly, the open rate increased on pre-BF mailings focused on preferred purchases.

Inflation has also made its presence felt this Black Friday as, due to its effect, we have seen a "fake" growth in revenue. Therefore, we advise you to look at the volume of orders and the variation of the average ticket to evaluate trends.

And you, how have you experienced this year's Black Friday?