Black Friday / Cyber Monday 2024: As Seen From a Marketer’s Perspective

Now that we’re on the other side of Cyber Five, it’s time for the big reveal. Is Black Friday /  Cyber Monday still a priority in your Q4 planning? How did this translate in your ad creative and messaging? Read on to see how you and your peers weighed in. (We even have some thought-starters for white elephant gifts that you most certainly will be fighting over.)  

It’s Not Just Shoppers Who Want To Save These Holidays.

Q4 continues to be a mainstay for shoppers, but as the holiday season gets stretched beyond Cyber Week (also known as the “holiday hammock” or “Christmas Creep”), advertisers too are feeling the pinch. We wanted to gauge how marketers were prioritizing Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) in their holiday planning, and respondents sat in one of two camps: BFCM continued to be a big priority but they still wanted to set aside budget for the rest of the quarter, while the other group of voters spent less on it this year and focused more on the surrounding dates. 

What was common to both of these groups is a hyper-awareness of a more extended holiday season, and a commitment to making their budgets last across the entire period. This is why we recommend an “always on” strategy with Connected TV — it’s an efficient way to spend your budget that keeps your brand fresh year-round, so that when Q4 rolls around, you’re top of mind.  

BFCM: The CTA Marketers Want Most of All

Marketers made their budget stretch beyond Cyber Week, but when it comes to messaging, they certainly didn’t discount the value and power of four simple words: Black Friday / Cyber Monday. Looks like these make for a compelling call-to-action; 43% of respondents utilized BFCM-only deals limited to these shopping days. Coming in second, with 24% of the vote, was a mix of in-store and online messaging, with “Treat yourself” messaging in third with 14%. The question, now that we’re post-Cyber Monday, is: which messaging generated the best performance? We hope you’ve been A/B testing these creative and messaging variations over the holidays and let the data speak for itself. If not, it’s not too late to start — the December home stretch is still ahead of us.

Your Holiday Wishlist? Experiences > Things

In this month’s poll, we compiled a list of the most sought-after holiday gifts, from good ol’ staples like gift cards and tech gadgets to more intangible gifts that couldn’t be wrapped neatly in a bow. Turns out, experiences matter far more than material goods these holidays — at least among us marketers — with travel and event tickets both equally topping your wishlists. Surprisingly, more respondents valued these more than greenbacks, which ranked equally alongside books, beauty products, apparel, and health- and fitness-related items. 

This year’s Black Friday / Cyber Monday tells us two things: that Cyber Week continues to be important to many marketers, but that advertisers should be prepared for an extended promotional season on either side of these dates. Performance marketing channels like Connected TV are equipped for all seasons, whether it’s this pivotal quarter or any other time of year.