Last-Minute Black Friday and Cyber Monday UGC Tips to Maximize ROI

Black Friday is no longer just a shopping day—it’s a global event that continues to break records and shape consumer behavior. In 2023, Black Friday set new records, with U.S. shoppers spending over $9.5 billion online, underscoring consumer enthusiasm and the power of a good deal. Consumers are stretching their spending beyond a single day, turning BFCM into a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon.

With BFCM around the corner, brands that get their strategy right can capture serious revenue. The good news? It’s not too late to leverage paid advertising for powerful results that keep pace with the season’s demands.

Key Highlights

• UGC ads work best during BFCM, delivering authenticity that drives consumer trust.
• High-impact ad formats, such as retargeting and offer-based content, are essential for maximizing results in a short timeframe.
• Post-BFCM upselling techniques, including retargeting and personalized offers, help sustain engagement and drive continued sales.

The Importance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for Brands

The role of Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) has grown far beyond a single-day sale event. As consumer shopping habits evolve, BFCM is now a week-long opportunity to drive massive e-commerce revenue.

For brands, the chance to participate isn’t just about immediate sales—it’s about capturing and connecting with the year’s largest audience of engaged, purchase-ready consumers.

• Boosting Visibility and Conversions: BFCM is unparalleled for driving visibility and boosting sales. Brands can gain momentum with new audiences, maximizing revenue potential and reaching customers primed to buy.
• Gaining a Competitive Edge: The competition during BFCM is fierce, but with the right paid ad strategy, brands can capture consumer attention. Ads tailored to last-minute shoppers can provide the edge needed to convert casual browsers into buyers.
• Long-Term Engagement with Targeted Campaigns: Even for brands joining the rush late, well-crafted campaigns can resonate with holiday shoppers and lay a foundation for continued engagement, ensuring that BFCM efforts yield returns beyond the season.

One Month Before BFCM

With just weeks to go before BFCM, every marketing dollar needs to count. Rather than broad campaigns, prioritize high-return strategies like retargeting and tightly targeted paid ads on platforms like Google and Meta. Retargeting, in particular, enables you to reconnect with potential customers who already interacted with your brand, giving you a faster path to conversions.

Social media can amplify these efforts, helping create a buzz and keep your brand top-of-mind. Use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to showcase sneak peeks, promote offers, and foster engagement, keeping your brand top-of-mind for shoppers as they plan for Black Friday.

Being Mobile-Ready

With consumer habits increasingly shifting online, brands need to prioritize mobile-ready strategies to capture their audiences. Black Friday, once synonymous with in-store madness, has transformed significantly, with mobile devices driving about 25.3% of online sales. A massive 68% of shoppers globally planned to hunt for deals online in 2023, emphasizing that brands need to meet consumers where they are: on their phones.

Why Advertisers are Boosting UGC Ads for BFCM Campaigns

Surrounded by an intense advertising environment, consumer skepticism is at its peak during this shopping season. Enter UGC ads - a powerful tool to bridge the gap between brand messaging and consumer trust by showcasing genuine, relatable experiences. UGC provides the authenticity consumers seek, displaying real people’s interactions with products and making promotions feel authentic.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday thrive on the principles of scarcity and urgency, and user-generated content is highly effective in amplifying this. UGC naturally creates a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out), urging viewers to take action on limited-time deals and exclusive products before they disappear.

During the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, when every interaction can convert into a sale, UGC should be at the forefront of every brand’s advertising strategy as they bring in more genuine interaction than traditional ads.

Quick Content Creation with UGC Ads

With UGC, brands can bypass the often slow and costly process of creating polished ad content by leveraging real-life testimonials and customer stories. These types of ads have proven to engage viewers more than traditional advertisements, as they come across as more natural and relatable.

With Ramdam’s AI-driven platform, brands can quickly streamline the content and assemble high-quality ads suited to the BFCM period. This not only speeds up the content creation process but also allows for a more authentic connection with audiences eager for relatable holiday shopping experiences.

Rapid Testing and Optimization

Consumer preferences shift rapidly, especially during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and the ability to test and refine ads on the go is critical. With AI-powered tools, brands can experiment with multiple UGC ads, gather real-time data, and identify high-converting creatives rapidly. By amplifying top-performing UGC ads, brands can ensure every ad dollar counts, even under the last-minute pressure of the holiday season.

Customizing Ads with Targeted Creators

Brands can enhance the impact of UGC ads by working with creators whose audiences mirror their own target customers. Platforms like Ramdam, Traackr, Upfluence, and Influencity help brands locate creators that align with their brand and the product. This flexibility to roll out UGC ads with pinpointed precision ensures that each ad resonates with the most relevant audiences.

Boosting Ads Through Whitelisting

Whitelisting options, such as Partnership Ads on Meta or Spark Ads on TikTok, enable brands to leverage the authentic feel of UGC with the added benefits of paid advertising. This setup allows brands to apply tracking and insights, customize CTAs, and strategically place ads to target the ideal audiences more precisely.

For BFCM, when engagement and conversion are paramount, whitelisting empowers brands to amplify UGC ads with a powerful paid boost, increasing reach and engagement without sacrificing the authenticity consumers are drawn to.

PS We have a full guide on how Partnership Ads and Spark Ads work!

Post-BFCM Sales Strategy

After the sales rush, a thoughtful retargeting strategy can turn one-time buyers into long-term customers. To continue the momentum, build a post-BFCM upsell strategy, highlighting additional deals as the holiday season progresses. Use holiday-specific keywords, such as “last-minute gifts,” to attract holiday shoppers and boost visibility.

The goal is to maintain engagement through data-driven strategies that make each touchpoint meaningful, ensuring a steady revenue stream well beyond the BFCM weekend.

Best Practices for Last-Minute BFCM UGC Campaigns

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Late October and November are times to lean into proven methods, not to start experimenting. Stick with what’s already working well, and give top-performing content a seasonal refresh rather than creating new assets from scratch.

This approach lets you focus on optimizing rather than building, making your campaigns agile enough to adapt as BFCM approaches.

Optimize Existing High-Performing Ads

Leverage your top ads by adding a festive spin—overlay text, promotional badges, or brief animations that highlight special offers. Use overlays like “20% off”, “Limited Time Only!” or “Perfect Holiday Gift” to capitalize on seasonal interest.

By maximizing existing high-performing content, you avoid the time and risk associated with creating and testing brand-new ads.

Incorporate Offer-Based Content

Simple, offer-based content is crucial for BFCM, where quick decisions are key. Simple, bold banners with discount callouts or limited-time messages like “Holiday Bundle Savings” or “25% off sitewide” help attract last-minute shoppers who respond to straightforward offers.

Try formats like greenscreen commentary showcasing the pages, products, and discounts, as well as static ads with holiday visuals to create an engaging and festive touch without needing a complete creative overhaul.

Focus on Relatable Gifting Content

UGC with a gifting focus resonates especially well during BFCM. Aim for unboxing videos, genuine reactions, or creators gifting items to loved ones in relatable scenarios.

For example,

“I got my mom the viral skincare set for Christmas” - when you’re selling to older women.

“This is the perfect gift for my dad who has everything” - when you’re selling to dads.

“This bundle is exactly what my 5-year-olds would love” - when you’re selling to new mothers.

This approach taps into the relatable, emotional side of gifting, reinforcing trust and encouraging engagement as consumers search for meaningful gifts.

Ramdam’s AI-Driven Social Media Advertising

Navigating last-minute advertising during Black Friday and Cyber Monday can seem daunting, especially when standing out among countless other campaigns is essential.

For brands racing against time to launch Black Friday creator ad campaigns, Ramdam provides a robust solution to ensure impactful UGC ads reach the right audience. With its AI-powered creator matching and smart sorting, Ramdam allows brands to find creators who meet precise criteria, expediting the process without sacrificing quality.

Its budget optimization tools ensure that every advertising dollar stretches further, while partnership ad code management on platforms like Meta and TikTok keeps ads compliant and ready for boosted reach.

With a single platform to manage every critical step, Ramdam takes the complexity out of last-minute BFCM advertising.

In a nutshell

The holiday shopping season is intense, but with the right tools and tactics, you can turn it into a prime opportunity for your brand.

There’s no better time than Black Friday and Cyber Monday to reach consumers when they’re most engaged, and no better strategy than UGC ads to make an authentic connection with them. Even if you’re in the final stretch, focusing on quick wins—like repurposing high-performing ads and targeting seasonal messages—can help you build an impactful campaign.

Put your audience at the center and focus on reliability and fostering long-term connections.