Time to bulk up four BFCM marketing for maximum gains

"Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."  

These famous words of John Wanamaker, one of the world's original pioneers of advertising, still resonate in today's digital marketing landscape. As marketers start to plan for Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) season, marketers face the same challenge: how to ensure every advertising dollar counts. 

BFCM has become a make-or-break moment for many brands. The importance of this shopping event is clear from the numbers: online sales hit $9.8 billion on Black Friday 2023, up 7.5% from the previous year. Cyber Monday 2023 saw even higher spending at $12.4 billion, a 9.6% increase from 2022. 

These figures underscore why brands can't afford to miss out on BFCM. But success in this competitive landscape depends on more than just showing up - it requires strategic planning, smart marketing, and, crucially, the ability to measure and optimize campaign performance.  

In other words, solving Wanamaker's century-old dilemma. 

Building Interest at the Top of the Funnel 

Approaching BFCM without a solid upper funnel strategy is like trying to build muscle without protein. You might see some short-term gains, but you're setting yourself up for a performance plateau. 

Enter TikTok, the creatine of the social media world. It's not just trendy; it's performance-enhancing. With a projected 20% growth boost for brands in 2023 (only Instagram's gains are more impressive), and over a billion monthly active users, TikTok is like that breakthrough supplement everyone's buzzing about. It's where your content can go viral faster than you can say "intermittent fasting." 

Look at Idahoan Foods. Their instant mashed potato brand decided to pump up their TikTok presence. They flexed their creative muscles with a two-part campaign, blending custom sounds and dance moves into the #mashoutchallenge. The result? Engagement gains that would make any fitness influencer jealous. 

While it’s normal and effective to focus on conversion activities during BFCM, Fospha research suggests that maintaining investment in higher-funnel activities can contribute to better overall ROAS due to lower competition. This balanced approach ensures you're not only capturing immediate demand but also creating it for sustainable growth.

Measuring Success During Peak Seasons is Tough 

As you ramp up your BFCM approach, you're faced with a challenge bigger than any deadlift: how to accurately measure the results of your marketing efforts in this high-intensity period. 

Fospha's Black Friday report stresses that accurate measurement is key to nailing the season and maintaining business success. This matters a lot given the high stakes of BFCM, when brands often see a large chunk of their yearly sales. 

Today’s marketing landscape is very complex. Pinpointing success across multiple channels is like trying to isolate which specific exercise gave you that strength boost. This challenge intensifies during high-demand periods like BFCM, when marketing activities and customer interactions are firing on all cylinders.  

Without full cross-channel data, brands struggle to grasp the true impact of each marketing effort on the final sale. This becomes even more crucial during BFCM when shopper behavior changes faster than your heart rate during sprints. 

So, what's the secret to success? 

Fospha's data shows that high-quality cross-channel and cross-funnel performance data is crucial for success during key events like BFCM. Brands that can effectively gather, combine, and analyze data from all customer journey touchpoints are like those gym-goers who always seem to know exactly which exercise to do and when. 

Conclusion 

Brands can use data and analytics to get a fuller picture of their marketing efforts. This helps them understand how their strategies work and make choices as smart as opting for compound exercises over isolation moves. Success comes from planning, adapting, and focusing on customer value. 

As you prepare for BFCM, remember that winning campaigns involve maintaining spend in higher funnel activities during the period, while also effectively capturing demand during peak times. They also need accurate measurement and improvement.