Revenue Boosted – Black Friday Ecommerce PPC Case Study

Our solution

After analyzing the previous year’s performance to predict the peak of sales, we implemented a multi-channel strategy on Google and Microsoft Ads that included tens of thousands of ads published at specific times and days. We designed an automated system to manage and switch promotions on and off.

Our strategic approach to the promotions included 6 steps:

1. Account enhancements: some preparation activity started back in May when the event was relatively far back in time. We restructured the account with a more powerful and granular structure, going from 50 to over 250 active campaigns; we built relevant audience lists to start collecting user data for each step of the funnel (past purchasers, cart abandoners, deals visitors, specific brands visitors, etc); we reviewed the shopping strategy, the main revenue-generating channel, to maximize traffic and revenue volumes for high performing brands. 
2. Historical data analysis: luckily for us, it was the 3rd year running Black Friday promotions, which unlocked a huge amount of user search query and performance data to be used to fuel our strategy. Having a clear understanding of how spend and revenue accounted for each day of the month, allowed us to minutely allocate each advertising dollar at the right time in the right place, in order to maximize returns. 
3. Scheduling: with such a crowded marketing calendar, planning was essential. We teamed with our client’s marketing team to get as many details on the promotions as possible 1 month in advance and schedule all activities before the peak. 
4. Take action: first, we built out holiday-specific campaigns covering trademark + black friday, brand + black friday, product category + black friday and deals/gifts oriented keywords in order to maximize traffic for high intent queries. Second, we created and scheduled 11 different ad templates and thousands of ad copies with relevant sale messaging, to be turned on and off at specific days and times so to reflect active promotions. Third, with sitelink and promotion extensions, we showcased to all users each of the different freebies going live every day as well as daily doorbusters, by automating the process. Finally, we imported and synced everything into Microsoft Ads to give even more exposure. 
5. Automate as much as possible: by leveraging start and end dates, automated rules and shopping sales features, we reduced the amount of manual work dramatically, prevented last-minute errors and ensured the right messaging was going live at the right time. 
6. Enjoy the show: on the actual Black Friday day, we continued monitoring and refining the strategy in real-time. In particular, we ensured every promotion was turning on and off as per the plan; we checked website information and links in case anything broke last minute; we oversee the product feed health and inventory levels to avoid stock shortage; we raised bids and budgets to capitalize strong performing areas; finally, we checked client emails for last-minute changes of plan.