Black Friday is one of the most intense online shopping periods of the year, immediately followed by the Christmas sales peak. Those who cleverly leverage the visitors, data, and customers acquired during Black Friday can not only advertise more affordably in December but also increase their revenue much more steadily.
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#m1-y#In the guide below, we'll walk you through how to convert visitors, data, and customers from Black Friday into December performance.##
How to cleverly utilize the acquired traffic?
Black Friday is one of the most important online sales periods of the year, often bringing record traffic and exceptional interest. During this time, many people browse offers, add products to their carts, or make purchases, often with Christmas already in mind.
#m1-p#Black Friday is often not the final destination, but rather the antechamber to the Christmas shopping rush.##
Businesses that truly succeed are those that don't let go of the visitors acquired during Black Friday, but instead consciously integrate them into their Christmas campaign strategy.
If you manage this traffic well, you can acquire conversions more affordably, achieve a stronger ROAS, and stabilize your revenue throughout the entire holiday season.
In our previous article we wrote about how to maximize your campaigns during Black Friday, and now we'll show you how to cleverly carry over that data into the Christmas season.
Cleverly utilizing acquired traffic isn't just about retargeting the same people; it's primarily about organizing the data collected during Black Friday and consciously integrating it into your Christmas campaigns.
This means creating separate remarketing audiences based on user behavior:
- buyers
- cart abandoners
- product page viewers
- newsletter subscribers
It's worth organizing these audiences into "hot," "warm," or "cold" segments.
The "hot" audience (e.g., buyers or cart abandoners) typically converts at the lowest cost, so it's advisable to allocate a larger portion of the budget here, while a smaller budget is recommended for colder audiences. This way, the advertising budget isn't scattered but directed where it has the highest chance of a quick return.
Furthermore, it's advisable to create completely different messages, creatives, and offers for each segment. For example, a cart abandoner often responds to a final incentive, while a product page viewer can be re-engaged with gift ideas or by highlighting popular products. Black Friday buyers, on the other hand, can easily convert again with a well-structured premium or gift package offer.
Why is Black Friday traffic crucial for Christmas campaigns?
Analyzing the data quickly reveals what users were interested in.
- Which product pages were viewed most often?
- Where did the purchase process break down?
- What products were added to carts?
- Which products were purchased?
It's worth building your Christmas communication on this information, highlighting products that many people viewed but ultimately didn't purchase, or re-engaging those who added items to their cart but didn't complete the order.
During the Christmas season, when advertising costs significantly increase, this data forms the foundation of stable, effective campaigns. At this time, you should focus your spending not on cold audiences, but on users who already know your brand and are more likely to respond to holiday offers.
As Christmas approaches, more and more advertisers ramp up their efforts, resulting in high CPCs and intense competition. In this situation, pre-acquired audiences are invaluable, as they are not only cheaper but also yield much better returns.
This is why remarketing and lookalike audiences built from Black Friday data are so valuable. Instead of trying to acquire new customers from scratch, you can build your campaigns around users who already know you, have encountered your offers, or have even purchased from you. This approach allows you to achieve conversions not only more consistently but also significantly more effectively during the most crucial period of the Christmas season.
How to build effective remarketing audiences?
Remarketing campaigns form the basis of your Christmas PPC strategy.
After Black Friday, it's especially important to consciously build and segment your target audiences. People view a product with completely different intentions, communicate differently when they add something to their cart, and differently again when they finally make a purchase. These audiences should always be treated separately, as they have distinct motivations and customer journeys.
Black Friday Shoppers
Black Friday shoppers were either price-sensitive or in a hurry to buy. For them, as Christmas approaches, a strong message could be a complementary product offer or a "this pairs perfectly with the ideal gift" suggestion.
Cart Abandoners
These are typically the "still thinking" users who got stuck at the final step before making a decision. Fast delivery, stock information, or a small Christmas incentive (e.g., guaranteed delivery by Christmas, free gift wrapping, Christmas coupon code) can easily convert them into buyers.
Product Page Viewers
Product page viewers are users who haven't committed yet but have shown clear interest. This group responds best when remarketing ads include gift ideas or highlight why a particular product is an excellent choice for Christmas.
Newsletter Subscribers
This is a particularly valuable audience, as they have already indicated they want to stay connected with the brand. A personal tone and personalized Christmas offers work best for them.
Why should you treat them separately? Because each segment requires a different message, so it's advisable to address them in different ways to achieve maximum effectiveness.
Remarketing effectiveness also increases in December because people are no longer looking for inspiration, but to make purchases.
#m1-y#At the message level, it's crucial to target each remarketing audience with creative that takes into account their previous interactions.##
The more relevant the message, the higher the probability that the user will become a customer, especially during the short decision-making process characteristic of the holiday season.
#promobox-newsletter-en###
Is it worth creating new campaigns for the Christmas season?
During the Christmas season, more and more advertisers appear, competition for ad placements increases, and prices are higher – this applies to all platforms during this period.
#m1-p#Therefore, instead of creating new campaigns, it's advisable to retain your well-performing Black Friday campaigns and simply modify the offer and creatives.##
The algorithm already knows your audience; it sees who has made purchases, who has interacted, and who has visited your website.
#m1-y#Important! If you launch a new campaign, the learning phase restarts from scratch, which can reduce performance precisely during the most critical period.##
One of the most significant advantages of existing campaigns is that the algorithm has already collected a wealth of data about them. It knows how people reacted, how far they progressed (to what conversion phase, e.g., adding to cart), and what path they took to make a purchase, if applicable.
If you launch a completely new campaign at this time, the system will restart its learning phase, which can take 7–14 days – precisely when traffic is highest and conversion potential is at its peak.
This is why it's better to adapt existing campaigns for the Christmas holidays.
What should you modify?
- update creatives (Christmas focus, gift ideas, shipping information)
- update offers (discounts, last-minute promotions, bundles)
- Restructuring extensions in Google Ads (holiday promotions, fast delivery)
- integrating new remarketing lists (e.g., BF product page viewers, BF buyers)
However, it's advisable to keep the campaign structure unchanged, as a stable learning phase is crucial in December, but the communication should be tailored to the Christmas season.
What offers truly work before Christmas?
During Christmas, customer motivation shifts radically compared to Black Friday. #m1-p#While discounts and price dominate in November, in December, finding solutions and the intent to find gifts become much more important.##
Users don't want to spend hours searching; instead, they want to quickly find a product that makes a suitable gift for someone.
It's worth reflecting this in PPC campaigns using the following tools and messages:
- Christmas Gift Ideas
- Popular Gift Sets
- Limited Holiday Offers
- Fast and Reliable Delivery
- Easy Returns
- Gift Cards
It's worth ensuring that your offers visually convey a Christmas atmosphere, as this will better capture the attention of customers who are actively searching for gifts.
Tip: If you have featured products, bestsellers, or items that are typically suitable as gifts, it's worth creating a separate ad group or item group specifically for them.
In December, customers particularly appreciate simple, easy-to-understand, pre-compiled suggestions, and providing a ready-made solution in one place significantly boosts conversion rates.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, users are much more receptive to personalized, time-sensitive messages. Remarketing campaigns perform exceptionally well during this period, as customers frequently revisit the same products.
Therefore, it's worth targeting your audience with messages focused on this period:
- “Arrives by Christmas!”
- “Still looking for the perfect gift?”
- “Last-minute gift ideas”
- “Revisit your favorites”
If you have a bestseller product, it can yield particularly strong results during the Christmas season, as people are looking for simple solutions that virtually guarantee a successful gift.
It's worth highlighting these separately, whether in remarketing or at a campaign level. The key to remarketing success before Christmas is ensuring the user clearly sees that they can quickly, conveniently, and reliably find a suitable gift with you.
#m1-y#In addition, it is essential that the ad and the landing page now are fully aligned.##
Even a small discrepancy can lead to losing customers, especially as Christmas approaches, when delivery time is a crucial factor.
How to manage your budget during the Christmas season?
The Christmas season is typically even stronger than the Black Friday rush, so the budget must be adjusted accordingly, as this is one of the most competitive periods of the year.
However, it's very easy to make mistakes when managing your budget and bidding strategy.
#m1-y#Too rapid, drastic increases often lead to the system trying to attract traffic that is not relevant at all, thus quickly deteriorating ROI.##
It is also important to prioritize your best-performing campaigns. For example, if your remarketing campaign consistently yields a higher ROAS, it's worth directing the extra budget there instead of investing in cold audiences.
#m1-p#Important! Google Ads is likely to suggest drastic increases at this time, but don't "listen" to it, as your campaign might not be able to immediately and effectively spend a suddenly increased budget.##
In such cases, ROI can deteriorate, and unnecessary expenses may arise. Instead, increase it step-by-step, by 10-20%, and monitor performance simultaneously.
If you are unsure how to optimize your campaigns, we are happy to help – read more about how we can assist you. as a full-service online marketing agency.
At the same time, it's also important that campaigns are not limited by budget. If a campaign consistently reaches its daily limit, it means it could generate more conversions, but there isn't enough budget for it.
#m1-p#The key, therefore, is controlled, gradual increase and continuous monitoring of performance. This prevents unnecessary spending and a drop in ROI.##
Summary of Tips
Black Friday is not actually the end of the year-end shopping season, but rather the beginning of the process that determines the majority of Christmas revenues. The traffic and data acquired during this period represent a huge opportunity if you consciously integrate them into your December campaigns.
#m1-y#User behavior is much more goal-oriented at this time, and those who showed interest during Black Friday often become actual buyers in December.##
The key to success is to segment remarketing audiences and address them with relevant messages, while not replacing well-performing campaigns but rather adapting them for holiday communication.
It's advisable to increase budgets step-by-step so that the algorithm can stably manage the growing volume and avoid going in unnecessary directions.
The main thing is to plan the Christmas period carefully; then it will not only be the busiest but also the most profitable, because your customers will receive exactly the experience they are looking for during the holiday season: fast, simple, and reliable solutions.
#promobox-en#It's not just during the year-end rush that you should boost your campaigns! If you want to advertise effectively all year round, contact us!##
