8 Ways to cut through the noise on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The week surrounding American Thanksgiving is arguably the most competitive of the year for advertising and digital marketing. And while retail is often the worst, the competition now spans most industries, including nonprofits with the advent of Giving Tuesday to close out the weekend.
For those willing to put in the effort, there can be plenty of reward – last year, consumers spent $41.1 billion during “Cyber Week” (the five days between American Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday) online in the U.S. alone, up 8.2% year-over-year from 2023, more than doubling the rate of inflation. Many consumers are intentionally budgeting and planning for Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases, and any business not investing in a campaign during this time is likely leaving money on the table.
So, while the competition is stiff and the investment can be major, there are ways to cut through the noise on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and ensure your sales are reaching people with money to spend on the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Keep reading to find our best tips for Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns in 2025.
1. Plan your sales
Famously, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are all about sales. Before you plan anything else, you need to know what you’re offering.
Determine what kind of discounts or deals you can afford to offer, and consider the best way to package them. Depending on your products and price points, a BOGO deal may generate more profit than a 50% off sale by driving higher volume, while feeling like similar value to a customer.
2. Start marketing early
While most sales will only start the week of Black Friday (and for good reason), it does help to get ahead of things, especially with your existing customers and followers.
Email marketing is a good place to start by giving your subscribers a heads-up on what sales and promotions you will be offering, before they get inundated with advertising from every angle across the internet (and in the real world). A simple email – and optionally social post – with the dates and discounts, no more than two weeks before Black Friday, will help prime your existing fans to keep you in mind as they plan their shopping.
3. Create a gift guide
A gift guide can be an effective way of capturing customers who are still in the idea-shopping phase or are open to suggestions. This is best done a little further in advance, and partnered with a slightly longer sale period, but can work with most any timeline if you have the resources.
Select some of your on-sale products that are most commonly bought as gifts (or services, if you’re a salon or similar business with gift-able services), and divide them into a few categories. These can be things like “For Him,” “For Her,” “For Kids,” “Under $100,” etc. Create collections or albums of these on your online store, and promote them with separate posts or ads on social media.
The best part about a gift guide is that you can market it as a little less sales-y. Think of your gift guides as helpful resources for your customers, with a sale attached. For example: “Stylish gift ideas from XYZ Inc – all now 40% off!”
4. Offer gifts with purchase
An easy way to add value for your customers separately from reducing the price is to offer a gift with purchase. Ideally this should be something that either costs you very little to give away, encourages the customer to buy again, or both.
Most commonly this is a modest-value gift card (e.g. a $10 gift card for every $100 spent), but it can also be any kind of small item – something that won’t add much to shipping costs – or even a sample of another product.
5. Offer email-exclusive deals
Your email list is one of your most valuable business assets, and people love exclusive deals and rewards for their loyalty.
Consider saving your best deal, or at least a unique one, for your email subscribers – and make it clear in your email marketing that they are the only ones getting the deal. Include a unique link to an unlisted page on your online store, or a unique coupon code. This is also a good time to get referrals – you could offer an additional discount or small gift card to anyone who gets a friend to subscribe or make a purchase.
6. Offer free (or discounted) shipping
For many online shoppers, the idea of having to pay extra for shipping – and often not knowing what that amount will be until they reach the checkout – is a major disincentive. Especially since the rise of Amazon Prime, shipping is a major area of competition for online retailers.
Offering free shipping can be worth more in the mind of a consumer than the actual cost to the business. If you are able to offer free shipping, discounted or flat-rate shipping, you’ll likely keep shoppers on your online store for longer and get a higher conversion rate, since there’s no surprises when they get to the checkout. Just make sure to promote it as part of your advertising, social media marketing, and on the front page (and every page!) of your website or online store.
7. Partner with an influencer
Influencers are a straightforward way to get your Black Friday or Cyber Monday deal in front of a specific audience, although generally at a cost.
If you have the budget, and an influencer you like to work with (or a really good idea of one you’d like to engage), this can be a great addition to your marketing. But it should be just that – an addition. Influencer marketing works best as a compliment to other digital marketing, so that any new potential customers learning about you from an influencer will see consistent messaging when they find your own social media accounts.
8. Do exactly the opposite of what everyone else is doing
Depending on your brand and customer base, you may find that an “anti-Black Friday / Cyber Monday” campaign message is what resonates best. Brands based around sustainability, ethical manufacturing, and/or high-value-for-high-quality goods can often get away with more modest discounts, or none at all – provided there’s still a timely hook for why customers should buy now.
A message of anti-consumerism can look really great against the backdrop of myriad ads screaming “BUY NOW,” especially if that’s what your audience is already looking for. If that sounds like your brand, consider a modest discount with an explanation of why this is the best purchase they’ll make all year. Or, instead of a discount, pledge a portion of all proceeds during the Black Friday / Cyber Monday period to a relevant charity, leading with the impact their purchase will make.
Let us help you
Could your Black Friday or Cyber Monday campaign use a little help? Not sure where to start?
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