Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the most competitive days of the year for online advertising. Costs per click and per thousand impressions usually rise as every brand competes for attention. A good Black Friday ads strategy is less about spending more and more about spending at the right time on the right people. Here is how to plan Google and Meta Ads for peak season.
Warm up your audience early
The cheapest Black Friday sales often come from people who already know you. In the weeks before the sale, run awareness and engagement ads, grow your email list with an early-access offer and build retargeting audiences from site visitors, video viewers and social engagers.
Check tracking before anything else
If purchases are not tracked correctly, automated bidding cannot optimise and you cannot judge results. Test Google Ads conversion tracking, the Meta Pixel and Conversions API, and Google Analytics before the sale. Our guide to Google Ads conversion tracking explains the setup.
Google Ads for Black Friday
- Shopping and Performance Max: make sure your product feed is clean, sale prices are showing and best sellers have enough budget. See our Google Shopping feed guide.
- Search: add your brand plus "Black Friday" and "sale" terms, and write ad copy that states the offer clearly.
- Budgets: raise budgets ahead of the peak days so campaigns are not limited when demand is highest.
- Promotions: use promotion and price extensions or assets to show the deal in the ad itself.
Meta Ads for Black Friday
- Retargeting: focus a large share of spend on people who visited, added to cart or engaged recently.
- Creative: put the offer and end date in the first second of videos and on images. See Meta Ads creative that works.
- Launch early: start sale ads a few days before Black Friday so the ad delivery system has time to learn.
- Refresh: prepare several creative versions so you can swap tired ads quickly.
Plan your budget by phase
- Build-up (early to mid November): moderate spend on awareness, list building and retargeting pools.
- Peak (Black Friday to Cyber Monday): highest spend, mostly on warm audiences and proven products.
- Extension (December): holiday gifting and last shipping dates, then gift card and post-holiday offers.
Practical example: shifting budget to warm audiences
Example: a jewellery brand spends most of its October budget on prospecting, building a large retargeting pool of visitors and video viewers. On Black Friday it moves most of its Meta budget to that warm audience with a clear offer, while Google Shopping covers people searching for gifts. This usually returns more per pound or dollar than trying to reach cold audiences at peak prices.
Mistakes to avoid
- Launching brand new campaigns on Black Friday itself with no learning time.
- Sending ads to pages that do not show the offer clearly.
- Forgetting to switch off sale messaging when the offer ends.
- Judging results only on platform numbers without checking actual store sales.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start Black Friday ads?
Start warming up audiences several weeks before, launch sale ads a few days before Black Friday and keep the highest budgets for Black Friday to Cyber Monday.
Why are ads more expensive on Black Friday?
Many more advertisers compete for the same audiences, which usually raises costs per click and per thousand impressions.
Should I spend more on Google or Meta Ads for Black Friday?
It depends on your products and audience. Google captures people actively searching, while Meta is strong for retargeting and impulse purchases. Many stores use both.
How do I measure Black Friday ad results?
Check conversion tracking before the sale, then compare platform results with actual store sales and profit after discounts.
Get help with Black Friday ads
We plan and run Google and Meta Ads for online stores, with clear tracking and honest reporting. See our Google Ads management and Meta Ads management services and book a free consultation.
For what to change once the big weekend is over, see Google and Meta Ads in December.
Need help with Google Ads Management?
Talk to our team about your business. The first consultation is free.
See our Google Ads Management service