Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021

How are we already entering the final stretch of 2021!? With the majority of holiday campaigns ready and raring to go, there is no denying that these past 12 months have presented their own set of unique opportunities and tiresome tribulations. That said, there remains ample opportunities and guidance we can seize upon from some of the very best PPC marketers this Black Friday and beyond.

So, we rounded up our expert team of PPC Geeks and asked them for their unique and ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – and here is what they said, starting with Kate G.

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Kate G

When asked to come up with an ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021, five main areas came to mind:

1. Start Planning Early – Make sure everything is set up and in place so that you can hit the ground running. In essence, the earlier you start planning, the more chances you have at generating superior results.
2. Generate as Much Hype as Possible – In the run-up to Black Friday, it’s important to use your lead-up period wisely, generating as much hype and interest as possible. Indeed, this can take the form of social media posts or a bespoke email marketing campaign aimed at informing your customers of upcoming deals and promotions.
3. Update Your Ads – As obvious as it sounds, it’s vital that you highlight any promotions you have running during Black Friday in your ad copy. Simply put, your ad copy needs to entice users into clicking your ads and not your competitors’.
4. Increase Your Budget – On and in the lead up to Black Friday, to ensure you capitalise on the increase in potential customers and the influx in sales, increase your budget; It could just tip the balance in your favour.
5. Deliver the Kind of Deals That Drive Sales – Anyone can serve up great promotions on Black Friday, but be sure to look at your sales data to see where you can drive more sales. Indeed, prioritise particular products or entire product ranges rather than pursuing a kind of blanket approach.

And last but not least, prepare your website accordingly. I suggest checking the speed of your website and make sure it is optimised for an uplift in visitors, which is certainly to be expected on Black Friday.

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Dan T

To me, no ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 can be complete without giving data the respect it deserves. And so, with this in mind, my top tips include:

1. Use Your Data to Help Guide Your Decisions – Do you know your audience? It’s a simple question. Do you know where they are right now and how they buy things? By conducting solid research and using your data properly, you can find the very best places to spend your budget. Indeed, this could be a mix of the many unique PPC platforms including Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Amazon, Instagram and YouTube Ads respectively.
2. Understand What Parts of Your PPC Strategy Need the Most Work – We only know what we know. And so, gaining an understanding of what is hurting your accounts is likely to be one of the single best things you can do in the run up to Black Friday. Because of this, consider the likes of your Search, Shopping, Display, Video, App and Social Media Ads, for example, and make sure you have an understanding of how they’re performing and what may be negatively impacting them.
3. Get a Second Opinion – I suggest having a second pair of eyes look over your ads before Black Friday. At PPC Geeks, our experts are more than happy to help, executing the most useful and valuable audit from our extensive list. But be quick, as places are limited as Black Friday is just around the corner.

But, my best piece of advice: don’t let the unknown wreak havoc on your Black Friday plans. Is Google PPC worth it?

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Chris S

I like to keep my tips short and precise as I believe this makes for easier application. And so, when preparing my ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021, I instantly thought of these very specific and extremely useful tips

1. Plan as early and as thoroughly as possible
2. Make sure your data is accurate, and then check it again.
3. Put together value bundles made up of multiple complementary products.
4. Review what worked for you and other retailers last year – even more so in the years before Covid. The world is constantly changing; don’t be caught out.
5. Don’t overegg your expectations. Black Friday can be unpredictable, while it is certainly not what it used to be.
6. Be prepared for the usual pre-Black Friday dip as users wait to see what deals are released.
7. Consider if you’re running a Black Fri-day, weekend, week or month of promotions. Every variation is unique, so be sure to look to major retailers for case studies to see what works best.
8. Make sure you have the best team in place to deliver the best results possible. The best way to do that, I suggest, is to hire the PPC Geeks to relieve some of that workload and help your Q4 results absolutely rock!

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Matt R

Last year, I have previously contributed to a guide who also put together an ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday. However, they mainly concentrated on the holiday season as a whole, despite what the title suggests.

That said, here is my top advice:

1. Explore Google in-market and audiences related to both Black Friday and your specific industry.
2. Increase your remarketing budget, mainly concentrating on basket and abandonment. Indeed, I also suggest that you incentivise your users with a deal that feels almost unique and personal to them.
3. Put together value bundles made up of multiple complementary products.
4. Consider providing free delivery on certain weekends.
5. Review any website performance opportunities using Google insights.

That being said, just keep promoting what makes you unique and push those products that are showing great results to capitalise on the demand for them. Good luck.

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Alen

Having worked in PPC advertising for as long as I have, you come to learn a lot about Black Friday. And so, when I was asked to contribute towards an ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021, I jumped at the chance.

My top tips for combating Black Friday PPC are:

1. Start Building Your Audience Early – Whether it is existing customers or no-converted users, building your audience early is never a bad thing. Furthermore, retargeting your customers with a bespoke deal also provides you with something worth testing in the run-up to Black Friday.
2. Plan Your Tracking Setup in Advance – By planning your tracking set up beforehand, you can get a head start on a number of things including amassing and measuring results, retargeting and even preparing for your next influx of users.
3. Set a Budget for Your Pre-Sale Campaign – From amassing leads to nurturing your newfound potential customers, it’s hugely important to get ahead of the game and set a budget for your Black Friday pre-sale campaign.

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Rory B

My tips for dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 are as follows:

1. Use promotion extensions and Google Shopping this Black Friday.
2. Set up new RSAs to highlight particular promotions.
3. Pin several deals or phrases to one headline so Google has a mixture to try and react to.
4. Make sure your landing pages reflect your ad text. Moreover, any promotions in the text should also be highlighted clearly via banners and images on your website.
5. Use audience and remarketing display ads with your Black Friday deals denoted clearly to maximise exposure.
6. Be open and prepared to spend a bit more on pre-sale than usual.
7. The market tends to get more competitive in the run-up to and during Black Friday, so relaxing target CPAs or target ROAS ever so slightly can help keep your bids competitive.

Now that was nice and easy, wasn’t it? Good luck and have a prosperous Black Friday.

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Stephen B

When first asked to contribute to this ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 I was, in fact, about to take a much-needed holiday. However, upon my return, I jumped at the opportunity to get involved.

And so, here are some of my favourite PPC tips for the upcoming Black Friday sales:

1. Hire PPC Geeks – This one is a no-brainer. Of course, you should hire PPC Geeks, we are one of the best PPC agencies in the business.
2. Increase Your Budget – If you are able to do so, I highly recommend increasing your budget. However, only if you are in a comfortable enough position to do so because, if you are not, it could have a detrimental impact further down the line.
3. Send Out Pre-Black Friday Emails as Teasers – In the run-up to Black Friday, shoppers routinely check their emails so as not to miss out on any upcoming sales. So, be sure to capitalise on this excitement by using your lead-in period wisely and send out a number of pre-Black Friday mailshots.
4. Utilise FOMO Messaging – “Be quick,” “Act fast,” “Deal ends soon.” FOMO messages such as these are a great way of enticing users to click on your ads, building a monetisable sense of urgency and panic.

Black Friday is an important day in the PPC calendar, so please take these tips on board and go and dominate this November.

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Max J

Some of the best tips are the simplest, even more so when it comes to piecing together an ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021.

So, with this in mind, please see my suggestions below:

1. Use countdown timers on your website and landing pages to increase anticipation and, most importantly, capitalise on the urgency in which customers make purchases.
2. Utilise promotion extensions wherever and whenever possible.
3. Up– and cross-promote as and when you can, as per the example below:
4. Prepare and build a dedicated Black Friday landing page and keep it for subsequent Black Fridays, making sure it is constantly fresh and updated as this also helps with SEO.

Ultimate Guide to Dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021 – Mark L

Having recently joined PPC Geeks, I was extremely excited to contribute towards my first ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021:

1. Always my number 1 tip: employ PPC Geeks
2. Make sure to perfect your eCommerce strategy in order to guarantee Black Friday success.
3. Clearly define your start/ end dates to your audience to present that emotive sense of urgency.
4. Create your ads at least one week before Black Friday so you don’t have any disapprovals right before you are due to go live.

And that’s it. I hope you have a great Black Friday – and always keep in mind my number 1 top tip: employ PPC Geeks for guaranteed Black Friday PPC success.

Black Friday PPC 2021: What Have We Learned?

Our best insights and suggestions often come from past experiences, whilst having an expert team at our disposal as we do here at PPC Geeks comes in particularly handy.

We’re extremely grateful to our team of experienced specialists who took the time to help put together this ultimate guide to dominating Black Friday PPC in 2021.

That said, one of the main themes that runs through each of their suggestions comes across very clearly indeed: employ PPC Geeks. And we couldn’t agree more – get in touch today and beat the Black Friday rush. There is still time to get your PPC Audit and find out from the PPC Experts how to get better results!