The Advertisers Guide to Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Ah, Black Friday/Cyber Monday! 🥰That carefree and innocent time of year where spirits are high, smiles are brimming, and… it’s perfectly natural to dropkick old ladies in the face, whilst crushing the toes of innocent bystanders as you race at breakneck speed through crowded aisles in a hell-fire (somewhat squeaky) shopping cart to bag the last 2 for 1 on Dr. Pete’s protein paste.

 

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday Weekend, better known as the all-out “war of the retailers” is as big as it gets. Bringing in a global $7.4 billion in digital spend last year, all sights are set on 2020, to be the biggest shopping spree yet. 

And digital is just what we came to preach. The Black Friday/Cyber Monday that’s steadily approaching is unlike any other seen before. With worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns and quarantine still very much a reality, the vast majority of retailers are targeting online shopping, and with so much action hitting the web, a tidal wave of traffic is sure to follow!  

So? How do you break through all that noise and snatch a piece of the action? 

We’ll take you through our favorite affiliate advertising tips to tame the beast that is… Black Friday! 

Let’s start with the magic question. What are you planning to market?

Top Verticals to Target for Black Friday

You’ve only got a few days and you need to make them count! However, Black Friday and Cyber Monday happen to be one of the few shopping occasions where you don’t have to dig deep to find out what will fly off the shelves the fastest.  Literally, everything does!!

With so many consumers flooding the online retail space in a bid to buy up as much as they can as quickly as possible, what makes an online advertiser really stand out are the ads themselves. The deals, the incentives, the copy, and the imagery make all the difference (more on this later). 

But, when paired with hot topic products, in ultra-popular verticals, the selling potential hits an all-time high, and given the short purchasing window, you want a sure-fire winner from the start. 

It goes without saying that eCommerce is where the money is! Target audiences snatch up retail products as if their lives depend on it, but there are a few other popular verticals that you might not have considered exploring just yet.

When it comes to retail, you can’t go wrong with…

🍎 Health + Wellness 

🎮 Games and Gaming (Especially Cyber Monday!)

💻 Entertainment + SaaS (Especially Cyber Monday!)

🏋️‍♂️ Fitness + Nutra

Then, if you want to move outside the box a little, other verticals you might try include… 

🏇🏻 Sports Betting

🎰 Casinos and Gambling 

💻 VPN 

💜 Online Dating

Advertise the offers that you’re most comfortable with. Where possible, advertise products/services that… 

 – You’ve tested yourself (or at least heard of) before.
 – You’re passionate about (or, at least, don’t entirely despise)
 – You’re confident in their credibility (or at least, know they aren’t a scam)

Reputation is everything and the last thing you want to do is advertise something that you don’t know anything about or that can get you in trouble.

So, with a few key verticals covered, where, in this big wide world are you sending your ads to? You’ve got the product. Now it’s time to…

Target the Right Region

The reach of Black Friday/Cyber Monday spans far and wide, with more than 65% of the world’s countries taking part in the online advertising landslide. The vast majority of traffic flows in from tier 1 countries with a strong GDP, as you’ll see below, but the sheer magnitude of Black Friday is catching on to the rest of the world and it pays to do your research before assigning your campaign budget.

Image courtesy of JungleScout

Top regions to target.

🇬🇧 UK

🇺🇸 USA

🇩🇪 Germany

🇫🇷 France

🇮🇹 Italy 

🇪🇸 Spain

🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇧🇪 Belgium

Pro Tip? Yes, the above countries have a massive pull in terms of online spending, but at the same time, this is widely known and tends to breed fierce competition in the tier 1 sector. Yes! You’d be crazy to skip them, but if you are advertising a product/service that’s more niche, it might be worth your while to run a parallel campaign that targets a few tier 2 and 3 countries as well.

Image courtesy of Statista

Combine a Few Different Ad Formats 

Find the sweet spot between ad formats that are not overly aggressive (to the point of giving both publisher and consumer visual heart attacks), while at the same time avoiding being too subtle in your approach either. Find the ads that suit the site, push the message clearly, and rise above the rest without being overly invasive. Our pick for the 2 best ad formats to use for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend?

Pop-Under Ads

A top-seller and an effective way to bring in conversions. Website owners and users will thank you, as the ads are only seen by the end-target once they are done browsing and interacting with the website. They appear as a new tab below the one the user is scrolling and are literally the last thing seen before exiting the webpage. This ensures top of mind ad placement and the ability to be remembered. Not convinced? Check out 5 Reasons Why Pop-Unders are so Effective.

Interstitial Ads

These guys are known for their maximum visibility and reach, but the real magic of Interstitials comes from their fixed delay in exit times. The ads come with a 5-second countdown window that can only be closed once the timer is up. With a larger display window and heightened visuals, Interstitials are the Ultimate Cure for Banner Blindness.

Final tip? Use the above two ad formats in combination with one another to achieve maximum reach. Test them constantly, change them up according to your offers, and find the winning combination that yields consistent returns.

Below are a few additional recipes for success we’ve picked up on our 10+ year online advertising journey. Grilled to perfection and served up by our awesome Key Advertiser Manager, Evgeniy Martynov. 👨‍🍳

Black Friday Advertiser Tips

Run Promo’s, Discounts, and Giveaways

Unmissable deals are vital for standing out on Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Consumers are scrolling through every site imaginable looking for offers that are better than the last.  

Make sure you secure the widest-reaching audience by running giveaways, promos, incentives, or discounts on paid features. Basically look for any add-ons that will separate you from the crowd and an endless ocean of offers. 

This is the time to reach target audiences that might not have bought the products/services before, but are now egged on by a sense of buyer anticipation. The incentives need to be just too damn good to pass up. Make your unique differentiator stand out in the copy and craft a visually appealing (and concise) landing page that reinforces the offer from start to finish. 

Going back to a few verticals we spoke about earlier on, try placing incentives like… 

• Percentage reductions for eCommerce/SaaS/electronics etc. 
• Free trials and/or vouchers that reduce sign up costs for VPN subscriptions. 
• 50 Free spins for casino sites etc.

Pro tip? In your copy, don’t forget to add urgency to EVERYTHING! When it comes to these types of holidays, you’re dealing with consumer FOMO on steroids, so use strong sell CTA’s that get the message across instantly. Things like…

• “Today Only!”
• “Flash Sale!”
• “Don’t Miss Out!”
• “Ending Soon!”

You get the picture 😁. Check out what your competitors are doing, scroll through past campaigns, and look for creatives that tick all the boxes. I.e

• The ability to drive urgency
• Ultra-Strong CTA’s 
• Unmissable deals/discounts/incentives
• Eye-catching creatives
• Clear offers

Keep Your Ads Mobile Specific 

More than 50% of Black Friday/Cyber Monday web traffic came from mobile in 2019, it’s a must to optimize your existing campaigns to mobile traffic, and while you’re at it run a few exclusive offers on mobile alone. Keep in mind that mobile shoppers are mostly active at night or on the weekend, so set your ads live for peak engagement periods. Cover your bases and don’t only target one device type.

As a final note, make sure that your landing pages are fully optimized to accommodate mobile traffic. Look out for things like…

• Page speed
• Entry/exit times
• Image sizing 
• Copy placement

So, with that said, we’re just about done here. Take Black Friday/Cyber Monday by storm and make your mark on a multi-billion dollar day. Oh, and one last thing. 

Grab a Holiday Season Welcome Offer On Us!

Seeing how we’re in the holiday spirit, we figured why not end the year off with a bang. That’s why, until 18 December, all new advertisers will get a special Deposit Bonus when topping up on the Adcash platform.

Get a $/€50 bonus on your $/€200 deposit 🏆
Get a $/€125 bonus on your $/€500 deposit 🏆🏆
Get a $/€250 bonus on your $/€1000 deposit 🏆🏆🏆

Send an email to [email protected] with “Holiday Campaign” in the subject line and share your account ID with us.

This promo is a one-time bonus offer, applicable to new advertisers only. Limited bonuses are available. Please see the T&Cs here.

We’ll leave you off with a few words from the man with the Black Friday magic touch. 

Take it away Evgeniy!