How to Run Online Ads for Black Friday (Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money!)
Black Friday is almost upon us, a date that either sparks ultimate excitement or absolute fear in to small business owners and ad professionals alike. It’s no secret that Black Friday can be a golden opportunity to drive sales and attract new customers. But if you’re new to running ads, or have never tried them before you might feel like you’re about to step into a bit of a whirlwind.
Whether you’re using Google Ads, Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram), or even Pinterest Ads, I’ve got some tips to make it a little less scary. Let’s get into it!
1. Start Preparing Early: Data is Your Best Friend
If you’re thinking about launching ads for the first time this Black Friday, I’ve got some tough love for you…don’t wait until the last minute. Platforms like Google and Meta work best when they have plenty of data to work with—data about your audience, your products, and how people respond to your ads. Without that, it’s a bit like trying to bake a cake without knowing the recipe. So going in blind on the most competitive day of the year (and let’s be frank, the most expensive) is not a good idea. Trust me.
Here’s why this matters. Online ad platforms use algorithms to show your ads to the right people, and they get better over time as they collect data. If you’re just starting out, the platforms will need time to learn who your audience is and what works for them. Ideally, you should start running some “warm-up” campaigns a few weeks or even months before Black Friday. These don’t have to be big or expensive—just enough to give the platform some insights into your audience and build a foundation.
Tip: We’ve still got over a week to go so if you haven’t started yet, focus on building an audience with a small budget now. Try running low cost engagement campaigns on Meta or traffic campaigns on Google to drive people to your website. Even a little bit of data can help.
2. Create a Compelling Offer (That Doesn’t Break the Bank)
Let’s talk about your Black Friday offer. Yes, customers love a good discount, but as a small business owner, you need to balance giving value with protecting your profit margins. You don’t want to end up losing money just to make sales.
If you can afford to offer a discount, make it something that feels exciting but still works for your bottom line. A blanket 30% discount might be enough to grab attention, but does that work with your profit margins?
And if you can’t afford discounts, there's other ways to give your customers added value.
A free gift with purchase
Free shipping for orders over a certain amount
A “bundle deal” where customers save by buying multiple items together
Exclusive access to something new
Whatever your offer is, make sure it’s clear and appealing. Customers will sniff out a half-hearted discount, so put your best foot forward! And if you’ve decided to not do anything for Black Friday - tell your audience. People shop with small businesses because they like that they’re personable. So be honest with them. Remember that you don’t have to try and keep up with massive international retailers for the sake of it, and your customers are choosing you over these big brands for a reason.
3. Know Your Numbers: CPA and ROAS
Before you launch any ads, you need to have a clear idea of your target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) or target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). These numbers are like your compass—they tell you if your ads are on track to make you money or if you’re spending more than you’re getting back.
CPA: This is how much it costs to get a customer. For example, if your product sells for £50 and you’re aiming for a 50% profit margin, your CPA target should be no higher than £25.
ROAS: This is the return you’re getting for every £1 you spend on ads. A ROAS of 4x means you’re making £4 in revenue for every £1 spent.
Knowing these numbers before you start will help you make decisions about how much to spend, which campaigns are working, and when to pull back or push harder.
Tip: Don’t panic if your CPA is a bit higher at the start of your campaigns. Platforms often take a week to optimise, so give them some time to settle before making drastic changes.
4. Don’t Always Listen to the Platforms
One thing you’ll notice when running ads is that platforms like to give you a lot of “advice.” You’ll get pop-ups, you’ll get emails, you’ll get phone calls all with advice like “increase your budget for better results” or “reduce your target ROAS to get more sales”.
Here’s the truth: these recommendations aren’t always in your best interest. Platforms make money when you spend money, so their advice is often geared towards getting you to spend more. While raising your budget or lowering your targets can work in some cases, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.
What to do instead - keep a close eye on your performance metrics, like CPA and ROAS, and use those to guide your decisions.
If a campaign’s working well and staying profitable, then it might make sense to scale up your budget. But do it gradually—don’t double your spend overnight, as this can throw off the algorithm. Instead increase budgets by 10% daily to not go back into “learning”.
Stay cautious about lowering your ROAS targets. This could mean sacrificing profitability just to get more sales, which isn’t a smart move for most small businesses. Remember that you’re in charge of what you do with your accounts, no matter what an “expert” is telling you. Their recommendations are suggestions, not rules.
5. Don’t Forget About Remarketing
Black Friday is a great time to be getting the most out of your remarketing audience. These are ads that target people who’ve already visited your website or interacted with your brand in some way so you can skip the brand awareness and explaining who you are, and go straight in with a great offer! Keep in mind that a lot of people (I’m definitely guilty of this) already know what they’re buying on Black Friday, we’re just saving up the purchase to see if there is a good discount. So people who’ve been engaging with you recently might be doing just that and are already ready to buy.
So make sure you’ve got your audiences in place for cart abandoners, past customers and site visitors who didn’t purchase. But keep in mind that for legal reasons your audiences need to be over a certain size to run remarketing ads. And on Google Ads you also need to have consent mode v2 in place to be allowed to target these audiences specifically.
6. Keep Your Ad Copy and Creatives Simple
During Black Friday, people are bombarded with ads, so clarity is key. Make sure your ad copy gets straight to the point—highlight the offer, include a clear call to action (e.g. “Shop Now”), and use attention-grabbing visuals. Don’t overcomplicate it with too much text or fancy jargon.
Some quick tips for ad creatives:
Use bold, high-contrast colours to stand out.
Include the discount or offer in the image or headline.
Keep the messaging consistent across all platforms.
To recap:
Running online ads during Black Friday doesn’t have to be scary, even if you’re just starting out. With a bit of prep, and concentrating on your goals and required numbers, you can make the most of this mad shopping season without blowing your budget.
Remember -
Start early and build up platform data if you can.
Perfect an appealing offer that works for your margins (or find other ways to add value instead of discount).
Know your CPA or ROAS targets before launching campaigns.
Take platform recommendations with a pinch of salt—trust your data.
Leverage your remarketing audiences to boost conversions.
Keep your ad copy and visuals simple.
Finally, remember that Black Friday is just one weekend in the year! You’re smashing running your business the other 51 weeks of the years, and that’s more important than concentrating on just one day. You’ve got this, I promise 💪🏻
Got any questions or need help with your ads? I’ve got loads of freebies to make running ads easier, and I’m now offering a free Q&A call to one person every month, just request your time here.
