22 Black Friday Marketing Strategies to Maximize Your Profits

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, marks the official start of the holiday shopping season. After years of conditioning, consumers are now accustomed to treating Black Friday as the start of an entire season of promotions, discounts, and shopping adventures. Brands now treat Black Friday as an acquisition window, rather than a specific day, leading to promotions that run from early November to mid-December. Additionally, comparisons are now made everywhere. Rather than waiting in line to be the first person to get that flat screen TV at Best Buy, savvy shoppers are browsing for deals on Amazon, Google Shopping, TikTok, and even AI Assistants. 

Today, Black Friday (BF) and Cyber Monday (CM) present opportunities for e-commerce brands to increase sales and attract global customers. 

For online retailers, this season means prioritizing high-impact Black Friday marketing strategies, with discounted prices and exclusive deals that consumers can’t resist. There’s also the added pressure to balance margins with discounts, especially as global competition rises. Brands need to approach promotions with delicate care so as not to lose their lunch on first-order sales. 

For shoppers, the anticipation builds each year as they save in hopes of snagging the best Black Friday deals and scoring big on their favorite brands.

1. Set clear goals and objectives for your Black Friday marketing strategy

Before launching any Black Friday campaign, take time to define your goals. Holiday campaigns are unique, and profitability thresholds are often tighter during this high-spend season. 

Here’s how to set clear and actionable objectives:

• Understand your profitability thresholds: Identify your breakeven ROAS (return on ad spend) and decide if you’re willing to trade off on profitability in favor of volume. For example, if your usual ROAS is 2:1, you might consider a lower ROAS if it means attracting more first-time customers or moving inventory quickly.
• Set realistic, data-backed targets: Review last year’s data on metrics like revenue, ad spend, and customer acquisition costs. If you aim to increase sales volume by 30%, calculate what that means for your budget and how much you’re willing to discount.
• Be prepared to adjust: Set up real-time tracking to monitor performance, especially if you’re working with ad platforms. If you’re underperforming in sales volume, consider raising bid caps or increasing budgets on high-ROI platforms to capture last-minute conversions.
• Cashflow reality: Factor in post-promotion returns and exchanges. Between heavy discounting and returns, brands must ensure they have a steady cash flow to maintain operations if returns surge after the holiday season. 

6. Create gift guides

Black Friday is prime time for targeted promotions, and gift guides put your products in front of the right audiences.

For example, e-commerce store FlexiSpot curated a gift guide filled with its products. It also included text about its Black Friday sales, featuring a timer and a free shipping offer.

13. Run a social media contest or giveaway

People love free stuff. Giveaways are a great way to attract potential customers and spark excitement during Black Friday. In my experience, the LTV from contest seekers is relatively low compared to other shopping cohorts, but it's an opportunity to go viral with zany contests.

For example, ILIA Beauty partnered with Apparis for a giveaway contest to grow their social following.

15. Send exclusive Black Friday deals to your email list

Less is more? No, that simply does not exist with Black Friday. To stand out in the flood of Black Friday emails, make your messages impossible to miss:

• Increase email frequency: Keep your audience engaged by sending regular updates and reminders throughout Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Your goal is to stay top-of-mind even as inboxes fill up.
• Automate follow-ups: Utilize email automation to retarget unopened emails with new subject lines and sender names, or highlight key offers to recapture attention.
• Offer special discounts: These should be exclusive to email subscribers, providing a reason for them to stay tuned and engaged with each message.
• Rigorous split-testing: Deploy various subject line & from name tests across the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period. Don’t become a monotonous sender; instead, introduce a little variety to spruce up your emails and learn what works to drive conversions. 

21. Extend your Black Friday deals and offers

If your promotions convert and demand stays strong, you can extend them for a few more days or weeks. You'll see many brands employ this tactic with both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so there's no harm in jumping into the fray and allowing your audience to take advantage of a deal they may have otherwise missed. In fact, extended holiday pricing is now a standard expectation, so be creative with your messaging and don’t worry about sales running too long.

For example, in 2023, Therapie Clinic extended its Black Friday sale to encourage potential customers to take advantage of the promos.

Every tactic in this guide is grounded in approaches I’ve tested, but data remains the ultimate decision-maker. Before finalizing your Black Friday/Cyber Monday strategies, use data to guide your choices and fine-tune your campaign. Analyze past performance, monitor your competitors, and don’t hesitate to experiment with creative ideas. In 2025, effective marketing means more than a good ROAS or hitting your KPIs. It now also means knowing how your brand appears in Google, social feeds, and now in AI answers. Black Friday isn’t just about who can shout the loudest. It’s who gets named as ‘the best deal’ when a customer literally asks, ‘What should I buy?’

Now, go forth and embrace the madness that comes with Black Friday and Cyber Monday!