Why Publisher’s Should be Excited for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Today’s Guest Post is From Snack Media
Black Friday in its modern interpretation began in the 1930s in the US to mark the start of thepre-Christmas sales. It has now become a tradition that falls every year on the Friday afterThanksgiving (or the last Friday of November for those outside the US). Cyber Monday cameabout in 2005 after the National Retail Federation noticed a recurring spike in online revenue and traffic on the Monday following Thanksgiving.
This year Black Friday and Cyber Monday fall on the 27th and 30th of November respectivelyand this research piece will highlight why all publishers should be underlining those dates intheir diaries right now
See Also: What Are Advertisers Looking for In Q4 (Post by Snack Media)
Why is it Different this Year?
2020 has been a difficult year for the majority of industries – and the advertising industry is no different. With national lockdowns and additional social distancing measures in place, almost all shopping is expected to be conducted online this year. According to Finder.com (2020) last year 56% of people shopped online over Black Friday and this year according to their survey results only 6% of people were planning on shopping in store.
With reduced numbers of people outdoors and transport discouraged, advertising across traditional media platforms has effectively been taken off the table this year in the run up to the upcoming commercial holidays. This means that the vast majority of Black Friday & Cyber Monday campaigns and advertisements will be featured online which is a silver lining for what has undoubtedly beena tough year for publishers (We Forum, 2020).
Black Friday and Cyber Monday in Statistics
In 2019 it was reported that there was a 663% increase in sales on Black Friday 2018 compared to any other ordinary day (DQ&A.com). Criteo stated that in 2019 online retail sales in the US spiked by a further 334% on Black Friday and 330% on Cyber Monday. Last year in the US alone on Cyber Monday another ecommerce record was broken with $9.4 billion being taken in online sales (Adobe, 2019).
To put that into perspective, Americans were spending $12 million per minute (TechCrunch, 2019). The Drum (2020) reported that “Amazon Prime Day sales were up a staggering 45% on last year” which shows the impact COVID-19 is having on the upcoming period of sales.
The article went on to suggest that The Drum was anticipating Black Friday and Cyber Monday to be no different this year despite the implications of COVID-19 on the market.
Why Publisher’s Should be Excited for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
At Snack Media our statistics show that there was a 30.81% increase in standard display (SD) advertising revenue from October 18 to November 18 and an 11.26% increase across thosesame months in 2019. These statistics highlight the effect that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have had on ad revenue in the month of November in previous years. When specifically comparing Black Friday and Cyber Monday we saw a 68.87% and 50.13% increase in SD ad revenue from 2018 to 2019, respectively.
This statistic is useful when demonstrating the growth of these two commercial holidays as advertising budgets continue to grow year on year. Finally, and perhaps most interesting, when comparing Black Friday in 2019 with the day before, we saw both a 15.58% increase in SD ad revenue and a 16.67% increase in CPM.
Cyber Monday in 2019 also showed similar results with a 15.13% increase in SD ad revenue and a 14% increase in CPMs incomparison to the day before. These figures show that the on-the-day-advertising is usually at its peak but it’s important to be aware that many companies are starting their sales earlier and earlier each year to allow for maximum spending.
How Snack Media can help you get Ready for Black Friday & Cyber Monday
With all these statistics to hand one can only deduce that as a publisher you should be making sure that your site is in prime condition before the 27th and 30th of November, so as to attract as many advertisers as possible and maximise the ad revenue on your site
1. Optimal Ad Viewability
Given the implication on ROI from the above statistics, advertisers are only prepared to place ads in viewable positions to guarantee higher Click Through Rates and Sales Conversions. Ads in viewable places therefore correspond to higherCPMs
Our Account management system at Snack Media ensures that you have a dedicated member of the team consistently reviewing your ad viewability, ensuring it’s kept at optimal level at all times. Does your ad partner do that?
2. Good Site Speed & Responsiveness
We have an in-house Tech and Ad Ops team that are well versed in the importance ofhaving a responsive website in accordance with Google’s Core Web Vitals criteria and as such have developed multiple techniques to ensure you get your site running as quickly as possible. And, if these do not have the desired effect then we can offer our competitively priced hosting solution to assist in this area.
3. Implementation of Bespoke & High-Performance Ads
We have a range of bespoke ad units that are performing exceptionally well and seeing higher CPMs than most standard display units. During Q4, they are set to deliver great results across Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Given the majority of advertisers prefer video ads because they can display more information in asmall space, we would particularly recommend our video ad units, some of which come with built-in content specific to your website.
4. Improve Look & Feel Of Site
Our tech team has plenty of experience developing websites and working on the aesthetics to make sure they are appealing to both users and advertisers. Generally, sites that look better will see more engagement from advertisers. We have a variety of options to offer publishers which include Fan Engagement Tools, Site Templates and even Logo Design!
5. Ensure High Quality Content
We now have a strategy in place that allows us to arrange for certain websites to take onone of our experienced writers to help improve the quality and quantity of content your site is producing on a daily basis. Upweighting content around Black Friday and Cyber Monday is just what the advertising doctor ordered so please get in contact today if you could use an extra writer on your team!
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