Black Friday 2022: 10 Tips To Drive More Ad Revenue

So you’ve finished your Thanksgiving dinner, happily settled back in your chair, and thought it’s probably time to go and launch a campaign for tomorrow’s Black Friday to collect all the cream of the astronomical spending… 

Boo! Wrong. Just like with most date-related campaigns, you should get your Black Friday ads ready much earlier than the night before. Yet, not too early. The timing is a tricky one here. As are other important details. 

That’s why today DecenterAds has gathered 10 tips that’ll help Publishers & Advertisers benefit from Black Friday 2022. Sit back, read on, and let’s get your programmatic strategy ready for the autumn holidays!

Tip #1. What to expect?  

According to Adobe, YoY online sales will grow by 2.8% this year. And the whole holiday season spending volume will hit around $209.7 billion. 

Tip #2. When to start? 

DecenterAds 2021 statistics show that increased customer activity begins to appear at the beginning of the week of the season of discounts and holidays. November 20 and 21, 2021 saw a spike in requests per day that skyrocketed to 84.9 million on November 21 and reached a weekly peak of 109.2 million on November 27, 2021. The number of ad impressions per day reached its peak on November 23-24. 

Thus, the ideal time to start your campaigns would be somewhere around one week before the date. The last moment to hop on this train is Thanksgiving morning, right before you stuck your turkey in the oven. 

We expect the most profitable days in 2022 to be November 20, 21, 23, 24, and 27 (the eve of Cyber Monday 2022). Advertisers should think in advance and implement their advertising strategy built on an effective CPM model to enable the maximum number of ad views these days and generate the desired profit. Check out DecenterAds DSP to see all tools available to implement your campaign for the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.

As for the Publishers, they should start prepping even more in advance. Both events are at the end of November, but people start keeping an eye on potential buys much earlier, sometimes even months in advance. So start working on your website ASAP: remind the shoppers of what’s coming after Thanksgiving 2022, share Black Friday shopping tips, lists of potentially interesting goods, etc. 

Tip #3. When to finish? 

Each holiday date of the 2021 season – Thanksgiving, November 25, Black Friday, November 26, Cyber ​​Monday, November 29 – was characterized by a drop in indicators, as customers view ads and discount offers in advance and, accordingly, make most of the purchases before the specified dates.

In 2021, CPM began to rise actively already on November 22, two days before Thanksgiving, but on November 25-26, 2021 (Thanksgiving & Black Friday) dropped sharply to 3.7. The day before Cyber ​​Monday 2021 and on November 29, CPM also declined.

Summing up, the worst (it is useless to spend a budget) days for a spend in 2022 would probably be:

• November 24-25
• November 27-28

Advertisers should take these nuances into account in their advertising strategy. Publishers may want to consider a strategy to provide more ad space deals in the week leading up to the holiday discounts.

Tip #4. How to tackle lowering traffic? 

Publishers may have a hard time competing with online retail giants such as Amazon, which pull over significant amounts of traffic. In addition to that, quite a lot of people still (even despite covid) prefer to hunt discounts in offline stores like Walmart, which has its own fair share of Black Friday ads. 

People go to big marketplaces because they are the first thing that comes to mind when you think about big discounts, especially on appliances and electronics. You can try to break through this mindset with unique targeted content on Black Friday online deals to give the users something valuable to come to your site for.

Tip #5. Who to target? 

According to Deloitte’s data, the deals aimed at younger audiences are a win-win option as 58% of Gen Z and 54% of millennials rely heavily on Black Friday deals. However, the offers for older generations are also justified: almost 40% of Generation X and around 37% of boomers look for Black Friday sales as actively as preparing their signature Thanksgiving stuffing.

Tip #6. Which strategies to adopt? 

The BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) payment method is something Publishers should definitely have an eye on. It has been growing in popularity for several years in a row, according to Adobe’s data, and there’s a good chance that it will be a great consumer magnet again in 2022. 

For Advertisers, we recommend investing in a strong retargeting strategy. You can attract people who already have had contact with the brand, which makes them more likely to react again. And use the same tactics for reaching customers that clicked on your ads on Black Friday but didn’t buy: they may come back later for some of the Cyber Monday deals.

Tip #7. What products to choose? 

For every holiday, there’s a top-performing category of goods. So take notes for 2022’s most anticipated gifts list:

• Thanksgiving day – toys. Gabby’s Dollhouse, pop tubes, Sensory Toys, Sassy Stacks of Circles Stacking Ring STEM, Pop Ball It Fidget, Astronomical Refracting Telescope, Gravity Maze Marble Run Brain Game, Mini Drone for Kids with Camera, Tamagotchi Original Marble, Scratch Paper Art-Crafts Gift, Magic Mixies Mixlings, Skill Game Toy with 2 Balls, Flying Orb Ball, Fortune Teller Crystal Ball, etc.

• Black Friday – home decor and appliances, clothes, and sports gear. Silonn Ice Makers Countertop, Bucket Floor Cleaning System, smart water bottles, Bamboo Cheese Board and Knife Set, Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker with Egg Cooker Ring; Multigroomer All-in-One Trimmer, Neck and Shoulder Relaxer, Scented Candles, massagers; Oversized Microfiber & Sherpa Wearable Blanket, Men’s Long Sleeve, Leggings for Women, Unisex Classic Clogs, etc.

• Cyber Monday – computer & TV electronics. Bigger Screens in the 70-79 inch range, Performance Business Desktop Computer, Professional Thin LED Monitor, Wyze Cam v3, SABRENT 4-Port, MacBook Pro Charger, Portable External Hard Drive, Apple Pencil; Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, Stereo Headphones with Noise-Canceling Mic, Xbox Series X, Xbox Core Wireless Controller, PS VR, Splatoon 3 – Nintendo Switch, Stereo Gaming Headset for PS, Head Strap Accessories in VR, etc.

Tip #8. Best ads for BF inventory? 

We at DecenterAds strongly recommend opting for in-app video ads. They are a bit more expensive than banners but generate way higher CTR and ER. Last year, in-app video viewability peaked at 78%, which is quite impressive.

Tip #9. Best platform? 

According to Adobe, go mainly for desktop/laptop before the dates, but shift more towards mobile as the dates get closer to reach more last-minute buyers.

Tip #10. What to do with the data? 

The holiday season will leave you with tons of data from this year’s campaign. And the best thing you can do with it is to run deep analytics, building a data-driven Black Friday strategy for the next year. Some of the learnings can also be used as soon as the Christmas sales come. 

If you need any help interpreting the data or setting up your next campaign, reach out to our support – we are there for you 24/7. And stay tuned for more holiday insights!

Next time we’ll focus on the winter season and how to get the most out of your Christmas campaigns. 

 

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