Black Friday is undoubtedly the event that no eCommerce seller should miss. By having a good advertising strategy, merchants can significantly increase their revenue and create a good impression on future customers. Thus, analyzing successful Black Friday ads examples to see why they are effective is a crucial step in drafting your holiday marketing plan.
Look no further, as LitExtension will guide you through some of the best Black Friday ads examples and why they work. Here are the key points in this article to take note of:
- Effective Black Friday ads examples
- Tips to create a successful Black Friday ad campaign
- Frequently asked questions about Black Friday ads
Let’s check them out!
Black Friday Ads Examples To Create A Successful Campaign
In order to draw customers’ attention to your brand and not your competitors, you need an engaging advertising plan. For your campaign to succeed, it’s important that sales banners and ads copies are optimized according to your target audience.
Let’s take a look at these latest Black Friday ads examples and take inspiration for your campaign this year:
1. Walmart – Have clear promotion messages
What customers care most about while shopping on Black Friday are the crazy deals. At the same time, their attention span only lasts a few seconds on your ads. So when you run a price promo on your eCommerce store, the message should be conveyed loud and clear.
Walmart has a renowned reputation for having effective Black Friday ads examples. Being a retail giant, there are various products and different discounts that they need to highlight. Therefore, Walmart’s Black Friday ads had to immediately create awareness and be as concise as possible.
Take a look at this 2021 Black Friday ads by Walmart:
The banner provides sufficient information about the time of promotion as well as any terms and conditions. All images of the brands or products on sales are displayed in a straightforward manner. Most importantly, all the special prices are emphasized so that they would create a striking impression.
Why Walmart’s Black Friday ads work
Even though Walmart’s main sales channel is brick-and-mortar stores, online advertising still plays a crucial role in their Black Friday sale campaigns.
Walmart kicked off their “Black Friday Deals for Days” in 2020, allowing shoppers to check out the best deals online and pick the items up at stores later on. They also gave out special prices for specific categories on different sales days. This created an incentive for customers to check back regularly in order to find the best deal.
While the design may look less exciting than other Black Friday sale ads you might see out there, Walmart definitely made the best use of the strength in simplicity. This clear visual language suited Walmart as the retailer has always been about giving the best bargains. Thus, a fancy and more complicated Black Friday ads would probably not work as effectively.
Key takeaway:
Black Friday deals ads should be clear, concise and with an easy-to-understand message. The special deals should be highlighted on the banner in order to quickly capture customer’s attention.
2. IKEA – Target the right audience with the right products
Understanding the people who buy your products is crucial in determining the success of your Black Friday advertisement. Surely, no matter how great of a bargain your discount is, there’s no meaning to it if you can’t get the right products across your customers.
For IKEA, the furniture retailer focuses on giving discounts on items that are in high demand during the holiday season. This way, people who are looking for the exact items to decorate their home will have even higher intention to check out their cart.
For instance, shoppers tend to be looking for specific seasonal items such as ornaments, rugs and home decors to cozy up their living space for the holidays. Moreover, leisure furniture to help people unwind during the winter break such as beddings and armchairs are also popular searches.
Knowing this shopping pattern of home-decor lovers, IKEA decided to give these items better deals in their Black Friday sale.
Why IKEA’s Black Friday ad work
Furniture is usually not a category with the highest buying intent during the holiday. Even with discounts, people are less likely to buy multiple items or make regular returns to the store.
IKEA didn’t promote daily deals or flash sales. Instead, they gave customers a longer discount period and focused mostly on items with top popularity in the season.
✧ If flash sales are also not the right promotion strategy for your store, take a look at this list of best promotion examples to help you plan Black Friday sales.
IKEA also noted on the ads that they would be giving these wonderful discounts exclusively for the IKEA family members. This is a loyalty program that is completely free to sign up using your email address. Thus, IKEA can gain new, prospective leads, while buyers get a good discount on their desired items. A win-win situation for sure!
✧ Other year-end marketing tactics you may want to try: Black Friday marketing – Best tips and tricks
Key takeaway:
Your Black Friday ads should match with customers’ buying intention to deliver the best result. This means you need to understand which product of yours they’re more likely to wait until Black Friday to buy. Conducting research on shopping behavior during the holiday season will help you create the best promotion tactic.
3. Kiehl’s – Design a banner that stands out
Even though how sales information is displayed and the targeted intent of your ads are both important, we can’t overlook the value of visual effect. When you catch a glimpse of a banner with a striking design, you’d definitely stop and take a closer look.
And that’s what all merchants want customers to do – to stop scrolling further and click on their ads.
Another notable ad copy that’s among the best Black Friday ads examples is taken from Kiehl’s. The unique design and choice of vibrant colors help the ad stand out and impress customers with just one glance. All information of various attractive deals are presented clearly on the banner as well.
Why Kiehl’s Black Friday ad work
Kiehl’s targeted the love for attractive designs and delivered a campaign that could capture buyers’ attention right the moment the ad appeared on their feed.
They used a dynamic color combination that is visually engaging and reminds viewers of the holiday theme. At the same time, Kiehl’s is a beauty brand. By creating a stunning campaign to promote their Black Friday sale, the company is staying true to their brand identity.
They even brought the holiday designs into their product packaging, tying the ad campaign together with their real products. This sense of ‘you get what you see’ will build trust and create even more excitement for their beauty-loving customers.
Key takeaway:
Black Friday sales ads with striking designs can quickly grab your customers’ attention and intrigue their curiosity. Make sure that the design stays relevant to the holiday spirit, embrace brand identity and showcase your Black Friday deals in an easy-to-see way.
4. Dollar Shave Club – Unique advertising content
An eye-catching design is not the only thing that can immediately grab the attention of your customers. Sometimes, you just need to have an ad copy special enough that any viewer would have to pause and see.
Next on our list of Black Friday ads examples is Dollar Shave Club, who took their holiday ads to another level using witty humor.
The company took advantage of the audience’s curiosity and love for a good laugh to advertise their gift box. Not only were their items perfect as holiday gifts for family and friends, they also embraced the message that almost anyone can use these products – but in a fun, unique manner. Even without showcasing crazy deals, Dollar Shave Club ads are undoubtedly appealing to the audience’s eyes.
Why Dollar Shave Club’s Black Friday ads work
Dollar Shave Club utilized that sweet spot of making fun of themselves without hurting the brand. By adding a touch of humor, the company created a Black Friday advertising campaign that stays longer in people’s minds. They are easily a fearsome contestant in the list of most memorable Black Friday Facebook ads examples.
This is not the first time Dollar Shave Club has applied emotional marketing. In fact, the company became well-known for branding themselves using hilarious, off-beat content. Their holiday ad is not an exception, and the consistency in their brand language is what customers really enjoy.
Even if shaving kits might not be the first thing customers would think of, the ads certainly had a positive impact on them. The moment these people want to search for a holiday gift, they are more likely to make connections to Dollar Shave Club’s gift suggestion.
Key takeaway:
Black Friday ads with one-of-a-kind content can leave a long lasting impression on the audience, and encourage them to learn more about your business. This also helps raise your brand awareness during the holiday season, as your banner will stand out from tons of other Black Friday ads from competitors.
5. Old Navy – Combine with Cyber Monday sale
Even though Cyber Monday is better known as the day to get discounts on electronics, eCommerce stores that don’t fall under this category can still enjoy surges in sales. By prolonging your campaign from Friday to Monday and calling it ‘Cyber Weekend’, you can have customers coming back to your store even when Black Friday has passed.
The final case study in our list of Black Friday ads examples is Old Navy – a popular clothing brand. They surely had an attractive Black Friday banner, showcasing the massive price reduce on all store items. It’s hard for customers to resist clicking on this ad.
However, once Black Friday had passed, Old Navy continued to offer their Cyber Weekend promotion. They maintained the same discount rate and even added hundreds of new products to the list.
Why Old Navy’s Black Friday ads work
With this advertising tactic, Old Navy succeeded in taking advantage of the Black Friday – Cyber Monday shopping craze.
Most customers assume that the best deals will happen only on Black Friday. But instead, Old Navy has done thorough preparation in order to give customers more than they expected.
The fashion brand kept on providing new sales items across the same weekend. This extended sale period attracted not only new customers, but also people who have already purchased on Black Friday.
Key takeaway:
Black Friday ads that show an extended sale period until Cyber Monday can let you enjoy a large increase in sales across multiple days. Make sure to implement the right pricing strategy, so that your business is not hurt by steep price discounts.
Black Friday Ad Campaign Optimization Tips
Now that you’ve taken a look at our awesome Black Friday ads examples, here are even more tips to help you rock the holiday sales using advertisement:
Start planning your campaign early
Planning ahead and making adjustments beforehand will help save your time, effort, and money. The reason for this is that ads expenses can get extremely expensive during the holiday season.
Starting your Black Friday ad campaign a few days earlier than average will let you take advantage of the lower competition, and impress your audience when no other business has started promoting. One of our best Black Friday sales tips is to include phrases such as “coming soon” or “stay tuned” on your ads to build excitement and interest.
By having a head start, you’ll also have more time to research on customers’ preference, which we’ll later talk about.
✧ A detailed Black Friday checklist to help you get ready: How eCommerce store owners can prepare for Black Friday.
Research your target audience
From the Black Friday ads examples above, you can see that the end-of-year sale is a more than wonderful occasion to take a closer look at who is buying from you.
Before you start drafting your Black Friday plan, gather past data of your store’s visitors. What is their age or gender? Did they make a wishlist on your site? What kind of products do they usually search for in your store? This information will help you create the right customer personas and target your ad campaign at the right buyer segment.
At the same time, you may want to conduct a few tests to see which Black Friday message / image will resonate better with your audience. Once you’ve figured out what your customers like and dislike, your ads performance will change for the better.
Run your ad on the right platform
The strategy for your Black Friday ad can differ from one platform to another. Consider what kind of effect you want your ads to have on customers:
- If you plan to have visually engaging ads, you may want to leverage your social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook.
- If you want customers to learn more about the sale using both text and images, your blog and Black Friday marketing emails will be the best platforms to advertise on.
Email marketing can be an extremely efficient advertising tool during the holidays. Take a look at our resource on how you can utilize Black Friday emails and boost your sales:
Remarketing for abandoned cart
Each year, shopping cart abandonment can cause eCommerce brands to lose a staggering $18 billion in sales revenue. Sometimes, people would check out your website, add a few items that they ‘kind of’ like to your cart, but never make it to purchase.
With Black Friday being the most profitable eCommerce event of the year, you may want to have as many of your visitors to complete checkout as possible. Thus, it’s best to look into what causes them to leave their shopping journey midway, and create an advertising campaign accordingly.
One of the best ways to reduce cart abandonment rate on Black Friday is by using remarketing ads. These will act as a reminder for customers to complete their transactions in case they’ve forgotten about their cart while browsing. Moreover, you can ease their pain point by offering special discounts if their main concern is about the price or shipping fee.
FAQs: Best Black Friday Ads Examples
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Final Thoughts
For online shoppers, the holiday sale is the chance for them to get their desired items at a never-before-seen price. Thus, Black Friday is the perfect opportunity for merchants to make use of this potential traffic and attract them to your store. With an effective ad campaign, you can build better brand awareness and boost your revenue significantly.
With the examples of Black Friday ads that we have given above, we hope that you’re now more confident than ever to start your own ad campaign for the upcoming sale season. Join our dynamic eCommerce community and start preparing your Black Friday campaign together with thousands of other store owners today!