The $43.9M Black Friday Cyber Monday Guide
I’ve made $43,930,000 for my clients on BFCM.
This is the exact 7-step system I use to do it.
If you plan to run sales this year…
This guide is for you.
Here’s an overview of what’s to come:
BFCM Timeline
Starting with an overview of the timeline.
It’s important to get this right as an oversight here could seriously impact performance.
Here’s what this looks like with a few additional pointers to keep in mind:
- Weeks 1-2 (November): Can be slower as people are anticipating upcoming sales
- Week 3: Click Frenzy
- Weeks 4-5: Expect reduced activity between Click Frenzy and BFCM sales
- Unless you’re activating early (more on that below)
- 24 hours before BF: VIP sale launch to email database (optional)
- Black Friday (28th November 2025)
- Black Friday Sale weekend
- Saturday 29th November
- Sunday 30th November
- Cyber Monday: 1st December
- Cyber extended sale: 3-6 days
Sale activations will vary from brand to brand, below are two frameworks to consider.
Here’s what a Light Sale activation looks like during this period:
Here’s what a Maximised Sale activation looks like.
Taking full advantage of CF, BF and CM:
There is also an in-between option we’ll share in the next section.
The framework you use really depends on competitor activity within your industry and how you position your brand (sale focused vs premium etc.).
Competitor Activity
The Light Sale activation above is ideally what brands should be considering.
What’s been happening more consistently during the last 3-5 years though:
Brands are activating their BF sale earlier to maximise market share.
If you’ve noticed this trend in your industry, you’d want to consider a new sales strategy, for example:
- 24 hours before sale: VIP sale launch to email database
- Weeks 4-5: Black Friday activation
- Black Friday
- Cyber Monday
In this example, the actual sale would be activated weeks 4-5 (between the 17th and the 30th of November):
If reviewing competitor activity you’d want to increase your sale, you also have the option to leverage the Maximised Sale framework outlined above.
Again what you decide on is dependant on brand positioning and competitor activity.
Sale Activation Guidelines
With all this in mind, for your particular industry:
The best way to determine sale timeline would be to review key competitor activity last year, to know:
- Their sale phases
- When they activated
- What % discount was set
You don’t want to start your sale too soon or late or be too aggressive with your discounting.
Doing so will give you the best visibility as to how to plan your sale (and it’s phases across your categories).
You also want to have your creatives ready, whilst also being fluid enough to activate your sale within 24 hours if required.
Competitor Tracking Template
To assist with the sale activation guidelines:
Here’s a competitor tracking template that’ll assist you with your planning.
Simply:
- Make a copy of it
- Review key competitor activity
- Map it out within the spreadsheet
I’ve included some example sales within the spreadsheet.
However, you can see how having this visibility will elevate your BFCM sale approach.
Budget Pacing Tracking Template
With the sale planning squared away:
It’s now time to plan your budget allocation.
It’s critical you get this right and truly plan your budgets for this sale period.
You want to ensure you’ve planned your spend correctly to maximise returns over BFCM.
I’ve created a budget pacing tracking template to help you with this.
You can access it within the same spreadsheet you made a copy of above (sheet 2 within).
The example above uses a budget of $230,000.
You simply want to go in and apply your budgets to the same/similar ratios.
Pre-Approved Budget Requirements
If you’re looking to take your strategy to the next level:
Have some pre-approved budgets in place.
This will allow you to be more aggressive if performance is quite strong.
For example, if your current budget is $230,000…
You’d also want to have the following budgets pre-approved:
- $250,000
- $275,000
- $300,000
That way, come the sale, if you’re needing more spend, you prevent wasting time on approvals.
Budget Pacing Over The Course Of The Sale
You can see this illustrated in the above example (budget pacing template image).
The key consideration here is knowing pacing and spend levels can vary.
Here’s how the example scenario plays out:
November ($180K)
- Week 1 (2 days): $5K
- Week 2: $15K
- Week 3 (CF): $30K
- Week 4: $15K
- Week 5 (up until Thursday): $15K
- Black Friday: $40K
- Sale Weekend (Saturday and Sunday): $60K
December 1-7 ($50K)
- Cyber Monday: $30K
- Extended Sale (2nd-7th): $20K
With all this mapped out, you can see the importance of having clear budgets and structure in place.
And how having additional pre-approved budgets would assist if you needed to:
- Activate BFCM earlier
- Respond to competitor activity
- Maximise performance throughout the month
Next Steps – How To Apply This System With Expert Support
With everything mapped out, you now have the full framework to plan and execute a successful BFCM sale.
But if you’d like expert eyes on your Google Ads account – to ensure your structure, pacing and budgets are fully optimised before the rush – I can help.
Submit the form below and I’ll personally review your setup, map out your ideal campaign structure and help you plan your BFCM budget for maximum ROI.
I’ve guided $43.9M+ in BFCM sales and can help you do the same.
"*" indicates required fields