Episode 21 How to craft compelling ads for Black Friday with ads strategist Crystal Johnson

Black Friday is a huge opportunity for course creators to boost revenue. But   running successful campaigns isn’t as easy as just hitting ‘publish.’ Today we’re talking about your Black Friday ads strategy, so whether you’re just starting or looking to level up, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

In this week’s episode of Master the Inbox, I sat down with ads strategist Crystal Johnson to find out what are some best practices for running Meta ads for your Black Friday promotion.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Black Friday Ad Strategies

00:44 Meet the Expert: Crystal Johnson

01:32 Common Mistakes in Black Friday Ads

01:59 Building Your Audience Ahead of Time

03:54 Choosing the Right Platforms for Ads

04:57 Budgeting for Black Friday Ads

07:24 Retargeting Strategies for Black Friday

08:46 Creative Elements for Effective Ads

10:59 Direct vs. Indirect Messaging in Ads

12:51 Timing and Duration of Black Friday Promotions

16:08 Ad Copy for Black Friday

16:17 Insights from Previous Campaigns

17:23 Email Engagement Strategies

19:04 Challenges of Black Friday for Ad Strategists

20:21 Optimizing Ad Campaigns

22:32 Countdown Timers and Post-Black Friday Strategies

25:21 Boosting Posts vs. Running Ads

30:17 Final Tips and Advice

Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect from this episode

In this episode, Monica Badiu and Crystal Johnson discuss effective strategies for running Black Friday ads, emphasizing the importance of planning ahead, retargeting, and understanding audience behavior. They cover common mistakes, budgeting, the significance of choosing the right platforms, and the differences between direct and indirect messaging in ads. The conversation also highlights the challenges of managing ad campaigns during the busy holiday season and offers insights into optimizing ad performance and content creation.

Takeaways

1. Black Friday is a prime opportunity for course creators to boost revenue.
2. Planning for Black Friday ads should start well in advance.
3. Building an audience and email list is crucial before the sale.
4. Retargeting is key during Black Friday; focus on warm leads.
5. Video ads are effective for building trust and engagement.
6. Teaser ads should be used as Black Friday approaches.
7. Extending the sale beyond just Black Friday can be beneficial.
8. Boosting posts is not as effective as running ads through the ads manager.
9. Testing different ad variations can lead to better results.
10. Understanding your audience’s behavior is essential for successful campaigns.

1. Start early

Crystal emphasizes the importance of starting Black Friday ad campaigns early, ideally in October. This allows time to build up your audience with engaging content, like video ads, before the sale.

2. Focus on retargeting

Black Friday is all about retargeting warm audiences, like past customers, email subscribers, or social media engagers. Cold audiences are less likely to convert at this time.

3. Use video ads for engagement

Crystal suggests using video ads early on to build trust and familiarity. Video ads help segment the audience based on engagement levels (e.g., how much of the video they watched), making retargeting more precise.

4. Tailor your creative

Test various ad formats—carousels, GIFs, videos—and monitor performance to see which creatives resonate best with your audience. Retargeting with testimonials can help convert on-the-fence prospects.

5. Direct Messaging Close to Black Friday

While early ads should be value-driven, closer to Black Friday, shift to direct, teaser-style messaging to build excitement and anticipation for your offers.

6. Extend Your Sales Period

Crystal advises extending Black Friday beyond just one day to combat ad saturation and high competition. Consider running your sale from Black Friday through Cyber Monday for better results.

7. Importance of Email Lists

A well-segmented email list is crucial for success. Ads should focus on retargeting those already on your list or who have engaged with your brand, rather than cold audiences.

8. Test Multiple Ads

It’s important to run variations of your ads (different images, copies, formats) and test what works best before scaling up.

9. Don’t Just Boost Posts

Boosting posts is limited and less effective than creating detailed ad campaigns with multiple creatives and copy variations in Facebook Business Manager.

10. Monitor and Optimize in Real-Time

While it’s important to let ads run to collect data, Crystal suggests closely monitoring performance and making small optimizations to maximize results during the short Black Friday window.

Meet my guest, Crystal Johnson

Crystal is a toddler boy mom, a FB/IG (Meta) Ads Strategist, and a certified Life and Success Coach. She is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs, especially female coaches and course creators, find the right ad strategy for their business and scale using the  power of FB and IG ads. Connect with Nikki: Instagram LinkedIn Website Get the freebie: Are You Ready for Ads in Your Business? Find out here

Quotes

“Using video ads early builds trust, so by Black Friday, they’re familiar with your brand”

– Crystal Johnson

“Ad costs are higher on Black Friday, so make sure your warm audiences are already engaged before the sale hits”

– Crystal Johnson

Ready to Plan Your Black Friday Campaign?

If you want to run a successful Black Friday campaign but need some guidance, I’ve got something special for you. There is a Black Friday resources vault right here.

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Hi. And welcome. My name is Monica Badiu. I am a marketing consultant turned conversion copywriter and coach. I help online course creators and info product businesses sell more through persuasive, non-spammy, no fluff copywriting.

I teach about copywriting, digital marketing, and conversion strategies tested in my businesses and with my clients. 

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Listen to Master The Inbox

This is the podcast for course creators, coaches and consultants who want to know how to use email marketing to nurture and convert their audience in a non-spammy, non-bullshit BUT data driven approach. See all episodes right here.

Other links:

• Free Email Revenue Assessment: https://www.monicabadiu.com/email-revenue-self-assessment/
• Learn more about email marketing on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mastertheinbox
• Follow Master The Inbox on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastertheinbox_
• Learn more about running successful email promos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmXZEZDMnLQf1GnQeRfO5nUjNtZwEzoi0
• Visit Monica’s website: https://www.monicabadiu.com
• Follow Monica on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicabadiu/

Want to learn email copywriting?

Start by analyzing what others are doing. My Email Teardown series showcases some of the best (and sometimes worst) examples of sales emails that have hit my inbox. Here’s the link to the playlist. I publish new email reviews every week.