Black Friday, Christmas, Sales strategy: Don’t miss your end-of-year campaigns on Meta
The end of the year is a crucial period for e-commerce businesses. Between Black Friday, Christmas, and the sales season, there are plenty of opportunities to boost your sales. To stand out in a competitive market, a well-thought-out strategy on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) can make all the difference. Here are the best tips to maximize your performance on Meta ads and make the most of this intense period.
1. Plan Meta Campaigns in Advance
One of the most common mistakes advertisers make is waiting until the last minute to launch their campaigns. Competition is fierce during this time, and advertising costs are much higher. For instance, with a media investment of 1000.-, you’ll reach significantly fewer users during Q4 than at other times of the year due to the increased broadcasting costs.
Our recommendation: Set up campaigns with consideration objectives to prepare your audience and get visibility before your competitors.
Indeed, launching conversion campaigns too early is not very useful. Do you do your Black Friday and Christmas shopping three months in advance? Generally, no, and your customers don’t either.
- Advantage 1: Campaigns with consideration objectives are cheaper than conversion campaigns. So, even with a small budget, you can still achieve significant visibility.
- Advantage 2: Consideration campaigns help build audiences that can be retargeted later (remarketing) in conversion campaigns! This is an engaged audience since they’ve already seen your ad.
2. Segment Audiences for Better Targeting
Meta introduced a new feature in 2024 called audience segmentation.
This is a major development that allows you to specify audience signals in your ad account settings to distinguish between:
- “Existing customers”: the current customers of your site
- “Engaged audience”: users who know the brand or have interacted with ads but haven’t made a purchase
- “New audience”: users who don’t know the brand yet. Potential future customers.
It’s important to have this audience segmentation activated in advance in the ad account so the algorithm can accumulate data.
Practical tip: Use pre-configured audience segmentations to create distinct acquisition strategies between your hot and cold audiences.
3. Highlight Offers with Visually Impactful Ads
Visuals in social ads are the first thing your future customers will see. The role of an optimized ad visual is, first and foremost, to capture attention and stop the user from scrolling through their feed. In short, the visual should catch the eye.
It’s unthinkable to have only one or two visuals in a social ad campaign, especially for end-of-year campaigns.
Our recommendation: Have at least three visuals to test and create iterations.
Example:
- Visual 1: Present the product and its benefits
- Visual 2: Show the problem the product solves
- Visual 3: Display a customer testimonial
Based on the campaign’s results, analysis will reveal which of the three visuals performed best, and once identified, the next step will be to create iterations.
Practical tip: Include holiday-related elements, such as Christmas motifs or a “Black Friday” banner with festive colors, while staying true to the brand image.
4. Use Dynamic Ads in Remarketing
Dynamic ads are perfect for e-commerce. Meta can automatically generate personalized ads for each user based on their interests or purchasing behavior. This means potential customers will see the most relevant products for them, increasing the chances of conversion.
Example: If a user visited a product page without purchasing, dynamic ads will display that product directly in their feed, reminding them of their interest in it.
Practical tip: You’ll need to create a product catalog in Meta’s sales manager in advance.
5. Create a Sense of Urgency
Scarcity and urgency are powerful psychological drivers, especially during sales and periods like Black Friday. Using phrases such as “limited offer,” “last days,” or “while stocks last” can prompt immediate purchases.
Practical tip: Add a countdown timer to your ads to reinforce the sense of urgency.
6. Highlight Special Offers and Promo Codes
End-of-year users actively search for deals. Promotions should be prominently visible in Meta ads. Highlight discounts, exclusive promo codes, or “two for the price of one” offers to attract potential customers. You can also add a promo code in the ad interface, which will be displayed directly in the ad (see below).
Practical tip: Present an offer in multiple ways in the visuals. For example, one visual could emphasize a promo code, while another could highlight the monetary discount.
Example:
- Visual 1: “30% off”
- Visual 2: “$20 discount!”
7. Leverage the Reminder Feature
Since 2024, it’s been possible to run campaigns on Instagram only, optimized for the Reminder feature. This is especially useful for reminding users about a promotion on the day it happens.
With this type of ad, Instagram users can set a reminder directly from the ad itself. If they choose to receive reminders, they’ll get notifications before and during the event.
Practical tip: Retarget users who interacted with Reminder campaigns in your conversion campaigns.
8. Analyze and Adjust in Real-Time
Campaign performance can change quickly, especially during intense periods like Black Friday, Christmas, or sales. It’s crucial to monitor real-time statistics and make necessary adjustments, whether in audience, budget, or creatives.
Practical tip: Use Meta’s analytics tools to track impressions, clicks, conversion rates, and ROI of your ads.
In conclusion, the end-of-year period is a real goldmine for e-commerce, but it requires a well-thought-out Meta ad strategy. By planning your campaigns in advance, segmenting your audiences intelligently, optimizing your ads, and regularly monitoring performance, you’ll maximize your chances of success.
Adopt these tips to make this period a commercial success, whether for Black Friday, Christmas, or the sales!
Contact us now to learn more and start increasing your sales or leads through social media!