Black Friday & Cyber Monday Strategy: Expert Insights from Aaron Young & Cory Lindholm
Jun 04, 2025If you are an e-commerce brand preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the time to act is now.
Aaron Young recently hosted digital advertising expert Cory Lindholm (Ads by Cory) to discuss actionable strategies for a successful Black Friday/Cyber Monday campaign. The discussion covered mistakes to avoid, data-driven insights, campaign structure, and how to scale profitably in Q4.
Why Early Planning for Black Friday and Cyber Monday Is Critical
Cory emphasizes that one of the biggest mistakes brands make is waiting until October or November to plan their Black Friday marketing strategy.
Consequences of Late Planning:
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No Time for Algorithm Learning: Paid platforms like Google Ads and Meta Ads require runway to learn and optimize.
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Unvalidated Creatives: If your creative assets fail to convert and you have not tested alternatives, you miss critical opportunities.
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Inventory & Feed Errors: Product disapprovals and stock issues can disrupt campaigns during peak shopping weeks.
Aaron adds, “Your brand identity doesn’t change during Black Friday. The offer must align with your core values while taking advantage of increased demand.”
Top Mistakes in Black Friday and Cyber Monday Campaigns
Cory outlines the top three pitfalls brands should avoid:
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Delayed Activation: Launching campaigns in Q4 gives smart bidding systems no time to optimize.
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Lack of Creative Testing: Without testing different headlines, ad copy, and visuals earlier, there’s no room to course-correct.
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Ignoring Product Readiness: Waiting to list new products can lead to missed revenue due to platform approval delays or feed mismatches.
Strategic Q4 Advertising Timeline for E-commerce Brands
Aaron and Cory agree that a structured timeline leads to better outcomes. Here’s a breakdown:
May–June: Data and Conversion Tracking Audit
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Ensure all conversions and micro-conversions are tracked accurately
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Review feed health and product categorization
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Fix broken or outdated Google Tag Manager setups
July–August: Offer and Creative Testing
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Run A/B tests on copy, imagery, and promotional strategies
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Test smaller discount offers to gauge audience sensitivity
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Use early insights to refine segments and predict performance
September–October: Budget Scaling and Campaign Setup
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Gradually increase budgets to grow retargeting audiences
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Stress-test seasonality settings and smart bidding adjustments
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Finalize campaign structures and audience segmentation
Which Data Metrics Should You Analyze Before Q4?
Cory uses a data science-driven approach to campaign planning. Here are the key metrics to focus on:
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Margin Buckets: Evaluate how margins shift during sales seasons to optimize budget allocation.
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Lifetime Value (LTV): Prioritize campaigns around products that offer long-term profitability.
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Hero Products: Identify best-selling SKUs and monitor trends using Google Trends and Keyword Planner.
You don’t need custom code to analyze performance. Use built-in tools like:
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Search Impression Share
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Top Impression Share
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Click Share
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Conversion Rate Trends
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Cost per Acquisition (CPA)
Structuring Google Ads Campaigns for Black Friday
A common mistake during BFCM is restructuring too much. Cory advises against this:
Maintain Core Campaign Continuity
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Preserve your high-performing “always-on” campaigns
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Increase budget, but avoid resetting learning phases
Add Layered Promotional Campaigns
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Create short-term campaigns with aggressive bidding strategies
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Test standard Shopping campaigns to supplement Performance Max
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Set up fallback campaigns to catch traffic missed by PMax
Aaron recommends segmenting Performance Max to focus on new customer acquisition while excluding branded search—this keeps core ROAS performance stable.
Avoiding the Performance Max ROAS Plateau
Both Cory and Aaron discuss the common issue where Performance Max campaigns hit a performance ceiling. This plateau makes scaling difficult.
Solutions:
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Use search and shopping campaigns as prompts to keep AI models fresh and adaptive
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Segment PMax campaigns to target new users only
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Analyze if adding manual controls (like bid adjustments) will boost conversions on high-margin products
👉Google Ads Major Updates .... Performance Max
Scaling Budgets Without Hurting ROAS
When asked how to scale from $5,000 to $10,000 daily spend without compromising performance, Cory recommends:
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Modeling Diminishing Returns: Identify when increasing spend flattens conversion growth
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Start Budget Increases Early: Use August–September to scale incrementally
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Monitor Historical Data: Check prior-year performance by campaign, keyword, and product type
Use tools like:
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Google Ads’ built-in Graphs & Reports
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Week-by-week comparisons of CPC, CTR, and ROAS
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Impression share to assess competitive bidding pressure
Three Key Black Friday Strategies Every Brand Should Follow
To wrap up, Cory shares his top three strategies to implement now:
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Audit Your Data Infrastructure (May–June)
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Review tags, feeds, goals, and tracking accuracy
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Run Creative and Offer Testing (July–August)
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Understand how different segments respond to varied messaging
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Scale and Optimize Campaigns (September–October)
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Increase budgets, test seasonality settings, and lock in high-performing structures
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Bonus Strategy:
Start combining GA4 Predictive Audiences with New Customer Bidding in Performance Max to regain visibility lost to iOS privacy changes. This hybrid approach may help uncover new profitable segments.
Final Thoughts
A successful Black Friday marketing strategy doesn’t start in November—it starts today. Whether you are managing an e-commerce store, freelancing for multiple clients, or scaling an agency, laying the groundwork now will set you up for exponential growth in Q4.
Don’t wait. Start building, testing, and refining now—so that by the time Black Friday arrives, you’re ready to scale with confidence.