How to Get the Best Results for Black Friday Sales Using Google Ads

Black Friday Sales are a critical time for retailers, offering one of the best opportunities to maximise revenue before the year ends. In 2024, businesses need to utilise Google Ads effectively to stand out in a crowded market. By optimising ad campaigns and focusing on the right strategies, you can capture the attention of deal-hungry shoppers and increase your Black Friday Sales.

To succeed, you need a clear understanding of how different Google Ads campaign types work. We’ll explore Responsive Search Ads (RSA), Performance Max (PMAX), and Shopping Ads, alongside practical steps for optimising your ads. Follow this guide to make sure your business is ready for the most important shopping event of the year.

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Black Friday Sales Google Ads Strategy Precis

Best Google Ads Campaign Types for Black Friday 2024

  • Responsive Search Ads (RSA)
    • Create multiple headlines and descriptions for real-time optimisation.
    • Test variations like “Up to 50% Off Black Friday Deals.”
    • Pin important keywords like “Black Friday Sale 2024” for consistency.
  • Performance Max (PMAX)
    • Automate ad optimisation across all Google channels from a single campaign.
    • Target high-intent customers and optimise across multiple touchpoints.
  • Shopping Ads
    • Optimise product feeds with updated titles, promotions, and images.
    • Use Google Merchant Center to set up Black Friday-specific promotions.

Optimising Ad Elements for Black Friday Success

  • Headlines & Descriptions
    • Use urgency-focused headlines like “Black Friday Exclusive: Shop Now!”
    • Emphasise benefits in descriptions, e.g., “Free Shipping + Limited-Time Deals.”
  • Site Links & Callouts
    • Direct users to key areas like “Black Friday Electronics Sale” or “Gift Ideas.”
    • Highlight selling points in callouts such as “Free Shipping” and “Limited Time Offers.”
  • Videos & Images
    • Use engaging Black Friday-specific visuals in YouTube and Display ads.
    • Incorporate discounts in visuals, e.g., “30% Off Black Friday Specials.”
  • Call to Action (CTA)
    • Employ strong CTAs like “Shop Now” to prompt immediate action.

How to Optimise for Google’s Algorithm: Increasing Quality Score

  • Relevance: Match keywords with ad copy and landing page content.
  • Ad Copy: Use engaging headlines and descriptions to improve CTR.
  • Landing Page: Optimise for speed and mobile-friendliness; align content with ad keywords.

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Google Ads Campaign Types for Black Friday Sales

How to Use Responsive Search Ads (RSA) for Black Friday Sales

Responsive Search Ads (RSA) are one of the most flexible and powerful ad formats available in Google Ads, especially during Black Friday Sales. RSAs allow you to create multiple headlines and descriptions, which Google then tests and dynamically displays in different combinations to maximise performance. This is crucial during Black Friday, a time when user search behaviour changes rapidly and ads need to adapt to shifting customer preferences. By using RSAs, businesses can serve the most relevant and effective ad variations to customers, increasing the likelihood of clicks and conversions.

RSAs work by allowing advertisers to input up to 15 headlines and four descriptions. Google then uses machine learning to test different combinations of these elements, ultimately displaying the version that is most likely to perform well based on the user’s search query. This adaptability is critical for Black Friday when customers are actively searching for deals, and their intent may vary widely. The ability to quickly adjust your message without having to manually tweak individual ads provides a significant advantage, ensuring that your ads remain relevant across a wide range of searches.

How to Optimise Responsive Search Ads for Black Friday Sales

To make the most of RSAs during Black Friday Sales, it’s essential to follow a strategic approach when creating your ad copy. First and foremost, ensure that you include Black Friday-specific keywords in your headlines. Examples include phrases like “Best Black Friday Deals 2024,” “Up to 50% Off,” or “Black Friday Exclusive Offers.” Including these keywords not only helps attract attention but also ensures that your ad ranks well for relevant search queries. Tailoring your headlines for Black Friday helps customers immediately identify the relevance of your offer during the busiest shopping season of the year.

Another optimisation strategy is to pin key headlines to specific positions within the ad. Pinning ensures that crucial information, such as your top promotion or free shipping offer, always appears in a specific part of the ad. For example, you can pin a headline like “Up to 50% Off” or “Free Shipping on All Orders” to the first headline position, guaranteeing that it is shown to users regardless of the other headline variations being tested. This ensures that the most critical elements of your offer are always visible, even as Google tests different combinations of other headlines and descriptions.

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Black Friday Sales Description Testing for Google Ads

In addition to headline optimisation, it’s vital to focus on description testing. For Black Friday, your descriptions should create urgency and encourage immediate action. Phrases like “Limited Time Only,” “Shop Now,” or “Hurry Before It’s Gone” can trigger a sense of urgency, which is crucial during Black Friday Sales when shoppers know that deals are often fleeting. Be sure to test multiple description variations, each designed to tap into different motivations. For example, some descriptions might focus on savings, while others could highlight limited stock or exclusive offers, allowing Google to determine which messaging resonates best with your audience.

By optimising your headlines, pinning critical information, and testing multiple urgent descriptions, your RSA campaigns will be well-positioned to capture customer attention and drive conversions during Black Friday Sales. This level of adaptability ensures that your ads can perform well in a dynamic and highly competitive shopping environment, maximising both your click-through rates and overall return on investment.

Optimise Performance Max (PMAX) for Black Friday Sales

Step 1: Upload High-Quality Creative Assets

The first step in optimising your PMAX campaigns for Black Friday Sales is to upload high-quality creative assets. These assets include images, videos, and text that are specifically designed for your Black Friday promotions. High-impact visuals are key to capturing attention, especially during a high-traffic event like Black Friday. Consider using images that clearly display your best deals, such as “40% off Black Friday Sale” or “Limited-Time Exclusive Offers.”

In addition to static images, videos can significantly boost engagement, particularly on platforms like YouTube. Short, visually appealing video ads that highlight your Black Friday promotions with clear calls to action, such as “Shop Now” or “Limited Stock Available,” tend to perform well. Make sure your video content is concise and focuses on your top offers, as shoppers during Black Friday often have limited time and are more likely to engage with direct, straightforward messages.

Step 2: Set Clear Conversion Goals

After ensuring that your creative assets are ready, the next step is to set clear conversion goals for your PMAX campaigns. PMAX works by optimising towards your business objectives, so it’s essential to define these goals upfront. For Black Friday Sales, your primary goal may be to maximise direct sales or acquire new customers. Setting specific conversion goals like “Increase Black Friday Sales by 30%” helps Google’s machine learning algorithm optimise your ads for those outcomes.

Moreover, you can set specific target CPA (cost-per-acquisition) or ROAS (return on ad spend) benchmarks to ensure that your budget is spent efficiently. By providing Google with these targets, PMAX can adjust bidding and optimise placements to achieve the highest return possible, making it an ideal tool for maximising profits during the Black Friday shopping rush.

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Step 3: Implement Smart Bidding Strategies

Smart bidding strategies are a critical component of optimising PMAX for Black Friday Sales. Smart bidding uses real-time data and signals such as device, location, time of day, and user behaviour to automatically adjust your bids, ensuring you get the most value from each ad placement. During Black Friday, competition for ad space is intense, so having an automated bidding system that reacts in real-time to changes in demand can give you a significant edge.

For Black Friday, consider using bidding strategies like “Maximise Conversions” or “Target ROAS” depending on your business goals. These strategies allow you to focus either on driving the most sales or getting the highest return on your ad spend. Maximise Conversions is ideal if your priority is to capture as many Black Friday shoppers as possible, while Target ROAS ensures you are optimising for profitability.

Step 4: Refine Audience Targeting with First-Party Data

To enhance your PMAX campaign’s effectiveness during Black Friday Sales, it’s crucial to refine your audience targeting by incorporating first-party data. First-party data can include customer email lists, past purchasers, or site visitors who have shown interest in your products. By feeding this data into your PMAX campaign, Google can better target ads to users who are more likely to convert, such as previous customers or high-intent audiences.

This approach is particularly useful during Black Friday when retargeting can make a big difference in driving repeat sales. For example, you can upload a list of customers who made purchases during last year’s Black Friday Sales and serve them ads for exclusive deals or early access to this year’s offers. The more relevant your audience signals, the more precisely PMAX can tailor your ads to reach the right shoppers.

Step 5: Regularly Monitor and Adjust Campaigns

While PMAX automates much of the ad optimisation process, regularly monitoring your campaign performance during Black Friday Sales is still important. Pay attention to key metrics such as conversion rate, cost-per-click (CPC), and return on ad spend (ROAS). If certain creative assets, audience segments, or placements aren’t performing as expected, be ready to make adjustments on the fly.

For instance, if your CPC is increasing without a corresponding rise in conversions, consider adjusting your bidding strategy or refining your ad copy to better appeal to your audience. Additionally, if some ads are consistently outperforming others, shift more budget toward those high-performing assets. Regular monitoring ensures you’re making the most of the intense competition and high traffic during Black Friday.

Need help with your Google Ads? Book your FREE 1:1 consultation today and get started.

Maximising Black Friday Success with PMAX

Performance Max campaigns offer a comprehensive and highly automated solution for businesses looking to make the most of Black Friday Sales. By leveraging high-quality creative assets, setting clear conversion goals, using smart bidding strategies, and refining audience targeting with first-party data, you can significantly improve your campaign’s performance. Regular monitoring and adjustments will help ensure your campaigns remain competitive and effective, even in the face of increased Black Friday competition. PMAX allows small and medium-sized businesses to compete on a level playing field with larger enterprises, making it a must-have tool for Black Friday success.

How to Use Google Shopping Ads for Black Friday Sales

Why Shopping Ads Are Essential for E-commerce During Black Friday

Google Shopping Ads are one of the most effective ad formats for businesses running Black Friday Sales, particularly for e-commerce. Shopping ads are unique because they display product images, prices, and direct links to your website at the top of Google search results, making them highly visible to customers actively looking for specific products. This high level of visibility, combined with clear pricing and product details, makes it easier for potential buyers to compare options and click through to your site to make a purchase.

For Black Friday, when competition is fierce, Shopping Ads provide a quick and efficient way for customers to discover your best deals. These ads also appear prominently on Google’s Shopping tab, increasing their reach beyond traditional text ads. For e-commerce brands looking to maximise their Black Friday Sales, Shopping Ads offer a visual and data-driven approach that caters to shoppers ready to make quick purchasing decisions based on price and availability.

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Step 1: Ensure Your Product Feed is Accurate and Updated

The foundation of a successful Google Shopping campaign for Black Friday Sales starts with an accurate and up-to-date product feed in Google Merchant Center. A product feed is a detailed list of the items you’re selling, including their titles, descriptions, images, prices, and availability. For Black Friday, this feed needs to reflect any special promotions or discounts you’re offering, as well as up-to-date stock information. An inaccurate or outdated product feed can lead to wasted ad spend if products show incorrect prices or are out of stock.

To ensure your product feed is ready for Black Friday, review it for accuracy before launching your campaigns. Update product titles to include Black Friday-specific keywords, like “Black Friday Deals” or “50% Off,” so that shoppers searching for holiday discounts can easily find your listings. Also, ensure your images are clear and high-quality, as they play a major role in catching a shopper’s attention. Product descriptions should be concise but detailed enough to highlight key features and any special promotions running during Black Friday.

Step 2: Use Custom Labels to Highlight Black Friday Promotions

One powerful way to optimise your Shopping Ads for Black Friday Sales is by using custom labels in Google Merchant Center. Custom labels allow you to organise and categorise your products based on factors such as seasonal promotions, high-demand items, or exclusive Black Friday discounts. By tagging products with custom labels like “Black Friday Deal” or “Holiday Special,” you can more easily manage your ad campaigns and set bid adjustments for specific categories of products.

For example, you might want to increase your bids on products that you’ve tagged with a custom label indicating a significant Black Friday discount, as these are likely to attract more interest. Additionally, using custom labels helps you segment your product listings, allowing for more granular reporting and optimisation. You can track the performance of items marked with Black Friday labels and adjust your bidding strategy in real-time to ensure you’re getting the best return on investment (ROI) from these key products.

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Step 3: Set Up Promotions in Google Merchant Center

In addition to updating your product feed and using custom labels, setting up promotions in Google Merchant Center is a crucial step for maximising your Black Friday Sales. Promotions allow you to showcase special deals directly within your Shopping Ads, such as “20% Off,” “Buy One Get One Free,” or “Free Shipping.” These promotions are displayed as an additional line of text beneath your product listing, making your offers stand out even more to potential shoppers.

To set up promotions, navigate to the promotions tab in Google Merchant Center and create a new promotion for your Black Friday deals. Be sure to include start and end dates so that the promotion is only visible during the sale period. You can also use different promotion types depending on your offers, such as percentage-off discounts, free gifts with purchase, or tiered savings based on cart value. By clearly displaying your Black Friday promotions within Shopping Ads, you increase the likelihood that shoppers will click through to take advantage of the deals.

Step 4: Monitor and Adjust Bids Based on Product Performance

Once your Shopping Ads are live and your product feed, custom labels, and promotions are set, the next step is to monitor performance and adjust your bids accordingly throughout the Black Friday Sales period. Google Shopping campaigns allow you to track important metrics such as clicks, conversions, and cost-per-click (CPC) on a product-by-product basis. This granular data is crucial for understanding which items are driving the most sales and where you may need to adjust your bidding strategy.

During Black Friday, it’s important to be agile. If certain products are performing exceptionally well, consider increasing your bids to maintain their visibility at the top of search results. Conversely, if some products aren’t converting as expected, you may want to lower bids or reallocate budget to better-performing items. Regularly checking your campaign performance throughout the day ensures that you’re making the most of your ad spend during this high-traffic period.

Step 5: Optimise Your Landing Pages for Conversions

The final step to ensuring your Black Friday Sales through Shopping Ads are successful is to optimise your landing pages. When a user clicks on your Shopping Ad, they should be taken directly to a product page that reflects the ad’s offer. For Black Friday, it’s critical that your landing pages are clear, fast-loading, and mobile-optimised, as many shoppers will be using their smartphones to browse deals.

Your landing page should make it easy for the customer to complete their purchase. Display prominent call-to-action buttons like “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart,” and ensure that any Black Friday promotions are clearly highlighted on the page. Additionally, showing stock levels (such as “Only 3 left in stock”) or adding a countdown timer for the end of the sale can create urgency and encourage customers to act quickly. The more seamless and user-friendly your landing page experience, the more likely shoppers are to follow through with their purchase after clicking on your Shopping Ad.

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Maximising Black Friday Sales with Google Shopping Ads

Google Shopping Ads are a powerful tool for businesses looking to boost their Black Friday Sales. By ensuring your product feed is accurate, using custom labels to highlight promotions, setting up Google Merchant Center promotions, adjusting bids based on performance, and optimising your landing pages for conversions, you can maximise your visibility and sales during this competitive shopping season. For e-commerce brands, Shopping Ads offer a direct and visually engaging way to connect with shoppers who are ready to make purchases, making them an essential part of any Black Friday marketing strategy.

Optimising Google Ads for Maximum Impact on Black Friday

Crafting Urgent and Relevant Headlines

During Black Friday Sales, one of the most critical elements of your Google Ads is the headlines. A well-optimised headline grabs attention, communicates urgency, and entices users to click through. To make the most of this, your headlines should be concise yet impactful, highlighting specific Black Friday promotions. For example, headlines like “Black Friday Exclusive: Shop Now!” or “Today Only: 40% Off Sitewide” create a sense of immediacy, which is essential during high-traffic shopping events where customers know that deals are time-sensitive.

Additionally, it’s important to test multiple variations of your headlines to determine which ones resonate best with your audience. Google’s machine learning in Responsive Search Ads (RSA) can help with this by rotating through different headline combinations and finding the best performers. Use numbers and percentages in your headlines wherever possible, such as “Save 30% Today Only,” because concrete figures catch the eye and make the value of the offer immediately clear. The key is to communicate the offer quickly and directly while ensuring that your headline aligns with the customer’s search intent.

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Making Descriptions Focus on Benefits and Offers

The next essential element in your Black Friday Sales ads is the description. While the headline captures the user’s attention, the description provides further details and reinforces the value of clicking through. Descriptions should clearly outline the main benefits, promotions, and any additional incentives like shipping options. For instance, phrases such as “Free Shipping on All Black Friday Orders” or “Black Friday Deals Ending Soon—Act Fast!” provide strong reasons for customers to act immediately.

When crafting descriptions, focus on what makes your Black Friday offer stand out from competitors. You want to emphasise unique selling points such as extended return policies, free gift wrapping, or exclusive online deals. Avoid overly generic descriptions; instead, highlight the most compelling aspects of your Black Friday promotions. Keep the text simple but engaging, ensuring that it reinforces the urgency and attractiveness of your offer without overwhelming the reader with too much information.

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How to Optimise Callouts, Sitelinks, and Extensions for Black Friday Sales

Using Callouts to Reinforce Key Selling Points

Callouts are another critical ad element that can significantly enhance the performance of your Black Friday Sales ads. Callout extensions allow you to add extra snippets of text to your ads, highlighting additional benefits or features such as “Free Returns,” “24/7 Customer Support,” or “Price Match Guarantee.” For Black Friday, callouts provide a way to reinforce the urgency of your offer while adding credibility to your brand. For instance, using callouts like “Limited Stock Available” or “Exclusive Black Friday Discounts” can help further entice potential buyers to click on your ad.

Make sure your callouts are short and to the point. Their purpose is to enhance your existing ad copy, so avoid repeating the same information from your headlines or descriptions. Instead, use callouts to introduce new, high-value information that might persuade a user to click. For example, mentioning flexible payment options such as “Buy Now, Pay Later” can attract customers who are hesitant about making a large purchase all at once. Callouts are especially important for Black Friday Sales when competition is high, and you need to give users as many reasons as possible to choose your brand.

Like what you’re reading? Follow or connect with Crom Salvatera on LinkedIn to get more digital insights.

Utilising Sitelinks to Guide Shoppers to Relevant Pages

Sitelink extensions are another powerful tool for driving Black Friday Sales. These extensions provide additional links within your ad, directing customers to specific pages on your website. For Black Friday, you might include sitelinks for product categories such as “Black Friday Electronics Sale,” “50% Off Clothing,” or “Gift Ideas Under $100.” Sitelinks not only make your ad more informative but also increase its size on the search results page, making it more likely to catch the user’s attention.

Sitelinks should lead users to the most relevant pages based on the promotion in the ad. For example, if your main ad promotes “50% Off All Laptops,” your sitelinks could point to specific brands or types of laptops that are included in the sale. The goal is to give shoppers multiple ways to find exactly what they’re looking for quickly, enhancing their overall experience and increasing the chances of conversion. Ensure that each sitelink leads to a well-optimised landing page that reflects the Black Friday promotion advertised, making the transition from the ad to the website seamless and encouraging further engagement.

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How to Create Effective CTAs and Drive Conversions

Using Strong, Direct Calls to Action (CTAs)

One of the most important elements of any ad during Black Friday Sales is the call to action (CTA). A CTA is what directs the user to take immediate action, so it’s essential to be clear, direct, and compelling. For Black Friday, the only CTA you should consider is “Shop Now” because of the event’s short, urgent nature. CTAs like “Learn More” or “Find Out More” may work during other times of the year, but Black Friday shoppers are ready to buy, and your CTA needs to reflect that intent.

When crafting CTAs for Black Friday, don’t be vague—your goal is to guide users towards a specific, immediate action. A CTA like “Shop Black Friday Deals Today” is straightforward and action-oriented, giving shoppers a clear directive to engage with your site. Additionally, pairing your CTA with a benefit—such as “Shop Now & Get Free Shipping”—can give users that extra incentive to click through and make a purchase.

Testing Multiple CTA Variations

While “Shop Now” is the default CTA for Black Friday Sales, it’s still worth testing different variations to see which ones resonate most with your audience. For instance, you could try “Buy Now Before Deals Expire” or “Get Your Black Friday Deal Today,” each of which adds a slightly different sense of urgency. Testing multiple CTAs can help you identify which one drives the highest conversions, ensuring that your ads are fully optimised.

If you’re using Responsive Search Ads (RSA), Google can help by automatically testing these CTA variations along with different headlines and descriptions. This allows you to focus on what drives action during Black Friday Sales without having to manually A/B test each version. Keep track of performance data, and be prepared to refine your CTAs based on real-time insights. Remember, the goal is to create a clear and compelling path for the user to follow, leading them directly to a purchase.

Driving Black Friday Success with Optimised Ad Elements

To maximise your Black Friday Sales, optimising each element of your Google Ads—headlines, descriptions, callouts, sitelinks, and CTAs—is crucial. By crafting urgent and engaging ad copy, providing relevant sitelinks, and using strong CTAs, you can increase the likelihood of attracting high-intent shoppers and driving conversions. Tailoring these elements to Black Friday’s unique shopping environment will ensure that your ads stand out in a crowded marketplace, capturing the attention of deal-seeking customers and turning clicks into sales.

Need help with your Google Ads? Book your FREE 1:1 consultation today and get started.

What date are Black Friday Sales in Australia?

In 2024, Black Friday sales in Australia will take place on Friday, November 29. The event typically kicks off the holiday shopping season and extends through the weekend, ending with Cyber Monday on December 2.

Does Black Friday Have The Best Sales?

Yes, Black Friday is known for offering the best deals of the year. Many businesses, especially in electronics, fashion, and home goods, offer their deepest discounts during this time. Google Ads can help you capitalise on these high-intent shoppers by running targeted campaigns highlighting your best Black Friday offers.

How Long Do Black Friday Deals Last?

Black Friday sales often extend from Friday through Cyber Monday, but many businesses start their promotions earlier in the week. To maximise your reach, it’s advisable to start your Google Ads campaigns a week or two before Black Friday to build awareness and drive early sales.

Is Waiting For Black Friday Worth It?

From a business perspective, starting your Google Ads campaigns early—usually a week or two before Black Friday—can give you a competitive edge. Early campaigns allow you to build awareness and capture interest before the big day, increasing the likelihood of conversions when the event begins.

About the Author

Crom Salvatera is a leading Digital Marketing Strategist and Google Ads Consultant who specialises in turning Black Friday and Christmas marketing into smooth, profitable campaigns. With years of experience managing high-impact paid media strategies across platforms like Google Ads, Crom consistently delivers results during the most crucial e-commerce periods. Whether for small businesses or large enterprises, Crom’s expertise ensures a seamless and successful marketing campaign. 

Connect with Crom Salvatera on LinkedIn to learn how to maximise your digital marketing efforts during peak shopping seasons.