Black Friday is one of the most loved shopping events of the year. It is perfectly timed for people to purchase discounted Christmas gifts for their loved ones.
If your brand wants to make the most of this peak shopping period, here’s where to begin. These insights come from my experience working with 250+ eCommerce and lead-generation brands that grew sales through targeted Black Friday campaigns.
1. Use Data as Your Superpower
Start by analysing your 2024 sales data. Identify the top-selling products, the best-performing channels, and key conversion metrics, including open rates, click-through rates, and overall conversion rates. This analysis will help you prioritise which product or service categories should anchor your 2025 campaigns.
Apply ABC Product Analysis
- A-grade products: With top revenue drivers, offer modest discounts.
- B-grade products: For steady sellers, consider pairing with bundles or upsells.
- C-grade products: The slow-moving stock can be cleared using deeper discounts to free up cash flow.
Place inventory orders early, set low-stock alerts, and ensure that your offers align with products that are currently in stock. This prevents refunds, bad reviews, and damage to customer trust.
Build Cross-Functional Timelines
AAlign the marketing, merchandising, logistics, and customer service teams on all deadlines, including those for creative assets, ad approvals, inventory receipt, and QA testing. Allow extra time for Meta and Google ad reviews and partner integrations.
2. Technical & Website Readiness
Ensure Mobile Performance and Speed
Over 69% of Black Friday traffic comes from mobile devices. A 3-second delay can cause over 50% of users to abandon your site.
Use Google PageSpeed Insights and the Mobile-Friendly Test to check performance, compress images, enable caching, and test button usability.
Stress-Test Infrastructure
Run load tests to confirm your servers can handle traffic spikes. Use a CDN, remove unused plugins, and keep the site lean. Be sure to back up your entire site and enable security measures such as rate limiting. Even large brands lose hundreds of sales from checkout timeouts, so don’t risk it.
Confirm Indexability & Canonicals
Use Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool to confirm your Black Friday landing page is indexed. Reuse the same /blackfriday URL each year and update the content to retain authority. Request re-indexing after updates.
Secure Checkout & Trust Signals
Install SSL certificates, display trust badges, clearly outline shipping and return policies, and highlight reviews. These improve user confidence and your E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust), which is now an important Google ranking factor.
3. Landing Pages, SEO & AEO
Landing Page Structure
Update all year-specific content with H1s, SEO titles, and descriptions that mention “Black Friday 2025.”
Create a Black Friday hub page (/black-friday) with child pages such as /black-friday-skincare-deals-2025. This helps both users and AI engines understand topical structure.
Optimise for AI Overviews & Featured Snippets
Structure content in Q&A format. Use question-based headings (e.g., “What are the top Black Friday deals on headphones?”). Provide concise answers (40–60 words) before elaborating. Add FAQs marked up with the FAQPage schema and link internally from high-authority pages.
Keyword & Topic Strategy
- Target long-tail and seasonal queries such as “affordable eco-friendly gifts for Black Friday.”
- Use Google Trends to identify rising terms like “holiday gift ideas” or “Cyber Monday discounts.”
- Optimise for conversational queries — AI assistants respond best to natural language.
- Track performance via Search Console to refine strategy.
Structured Data & Schema
- Implement Product and Offer schema (include priceValidUntil and SalePrice).
- Use FAQPage, HowTo, and Speakable schema for voice search.
- Add LocalBusiness schema for local visibility.
AEO & GEO Optimisation
AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) helps your brand appear in AI and voice search results. Provide clear, structured, accurate information and use schema markup.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) focuses on visibility in tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Strengthen off-site signals by earning backlinks, reviews, and media mentions to build entity authority.
4. Marketing Channels & Audience Engagement
Email Marketing
- Plan sequences early: teasers, early access, flash sales, and last-call reminders.
- Segment VIPs vs. first-time buyers; personalise subject lines and offers.
- Optimise deliverability and mobile experience.
- Send thank-you emails 5–7 days after the event.
Social Media & Community Building
- Prioritise engagement over volume: run polls, Q&As, wish lists, UGC challenges.
- Leverage employee-generated content and behind-the-scenes moments.
- Optimise for social SEO: use keywords in captions, hashtags, and text overlays.
- Experiment with new platforms like Threads for authentic engagement.
Paid Advertising
- Use first-party data (CRM, email, SMS) for audience targeting.
- Optimise product feeds for Google Performance Max and Meta Advantage+.
- Refresh creatives regularly and avoid generic “50% off” banners.
- Increase budgets gradually pre-November to avoid auction spikes.
- Allow approval time for ads across Meta, Google, and TikTok.
Referral, Influencer & Affiliate Programs
- Create referral programs with tiered rewards.
- Collaborate with influencers and affiliates using unique codes.
Local & International SEO
- Update your Google Business Profile with holiday hours and local offers.
- Enable local pickup options and real-time inventory.
- Localise for international audiences with currency, language, payment, and cultural nuances.
- Diversify channels: Meta, Google, TikTok, email, and SMS.
5. Offer & Discount Strategy
Craft irresistible offers that don’t erode your brand value. Combine tactics like:
- Lead-in magnet deals: Deep discounts on high-demand products to draw traffic.
- Tiered pricing: Spend $100 ? 15% off; spend $200 ? 25% off.
- Bundles & mystery boxes: Boost perceived value.
- Gifts-with-purchase or charity tie-ins: Drive goodwill.
- Value-add bonuses: Offer samples or free upgrades rather than deep discounts.
Use countdown timers, limited-stock alerts, and early-bird access to drive urgency. Test discount codes to prevent stacking. Add intelligent cross-sell and upsell recommendations at checkout.
6. Logistics, Inventory & Customer Experience
- Monitor stock with auto-reorder alerts; plan around supplier lead times.
- Streamline checkout: enable guest checkout, show trust badges, and ensure mobile speed.
- Provide multiple shipping options and clear deadlines.
- Display transparent return policies to build buyer confidence.
- Scale customer support with chat, social, and email teams ready for peak volume.
7. Analytics, Testing & Continuous Improvement
- Track key metrics: speed, traffic, conversions, AOV, cart abandonment, and AI citations.
- Run A/B tests on CTAs, banners, subject lines, and discount levels.
- Analyse AI crawl data and competitor keywords to refine strategy.
Start campaigns early to allow for meaningful testing, as rushed campaigns lead to weak funnel performance.
8. Post-Event & Retention Strategy
- Use 302 redirects to maintain SEO equity on your Black Friday pages.
- Send thank-you and feedback emails; promote loyalty programs and exclusive post-sale offers.
- Hold a postmortem to review best-performing channels, offers, and keywords.
- Set up retention flows with personalised emails, loyalty incentives, and retargeting ads.
Treat Black Friday as a season, not a single day.
The biggest revenue opportunities come from sustained engagement across November and December.
AI-powered search, mobile commerce, and omnichannel engagement will shape Black Friday 2025 and beyond. By planning early, optimising for SEO and AEO, and focusing on customer experience, your brand can maximise revenue and build lasting relationships.
