Black Friday and Beyond – Smart Strategies for Peak-Period Performance

By Molly Nydam, Digital Marketing Director

How to plan, cut through, and win during the most competitive times of the year

Every year, Black Friday seems to get bigger. What started as a post-Thanksgiving retail frenzy in the US has become a global online sales event – and Australian shoppers are all in. In fact, for many ecommerce brands here, Black Friday now outpaces Boxing Day in revenue.

But what’s often lost in the hype is this: Black Friday isn’t just a day. It’s a moment in a much longer sales window that kicks off in early November and stretches through Christmas and New Year. It’s also not the only time your business will need to show up, cut through, and convert under pressure.

If you’re in ecommerce (or retail more broadly), the dynamics of Black Friday mirror what happens during every peak sales period of the year – pre-Christmas, post-Christmas, EOFY, even Back to School. Each brings urgency, intent, and competition. Each requires the same thing: smart strategy, standout creative, and flawless execution.

Swann Black Friday Campaign 2024

What’s the Black Friday fuss about?

Black Friday falls on the fourth Friday of November, this year, that’s November 28, 2025. It’s immediately followed by Cyber Monday, and together, they form the highest-intent buying window of the year. In 2024, Australia Post delivered a record-breaking 103 million parcels during November and December – its busiest peak period ever. E-commerce volumes during the Black Friday–Cyber Monday window alone rose 7.8% year-on-year.

What makes this period so powerful?

• Pent-up demand: Shoppers delay purchases in anticipation of big discounts
• High spend readiness: Customers are prepared to convert – often with bigger baskets
• Competitive volatility: Audiences are open to switching brands for better deals or faster delivery
• Media inflation: CPMs and CPCs spike, making mediocre ads a liability

If you treat Black Friday like a last-minute race to discount, you’ll struggle to keep up. But if you approach it as a strategic growth opportunity, it can become a repeatable system, or playbook, for capturing attention, driving acquisition, and building loyalty.

Here are our top tips for making the biggest impact and achieving the greatest ROI during peak shopping periods.

 

1. Start early and build anticipation

Some of the most successful brands we work with don’t just drop a sale on Black Friday. They build a campaign runway 2–4 weeks ahead. They use messaging like “The Sale is Coming” or “Don’t Buy Yet” to build suspense. Some even shut their sites down temporarily to capture sign-ups and prime their audiences for what’s to come.

Early access and pre-sale campaigns aren’t just about building hype hype but thinking strategically:

• Segment your most loyal customers and reward them with early deals
• Use lead generation ads to grow your email list before CPMs skyrocket
• Push ‘add to wishlist’ or ‘save your cart’ actions to prep your product pages for conversion

This same thinking applies to any big sales window: start the story early, so you’re not fighting for scraps of attention once everyone’s already shouting.

 

2. Go beyond blanket discounts

It’s tempting to slash prices. But deep, site-wide discounts aren’t always the best play, especially if you’re trying to maintain margin or brand integrity. 

Instead, think about structured incentives:

• Tiered offers (e.g., 10% off $100, 20% off $200)
• Exclusive bundles or limited-edition products
• Loyalty-only perks, like early access or free shipping
• Gifts with purchase that feel meaningful, not gimmicky

We’ve seen clients achieve strong uplift without devaluing their products – simply by being intentional with what they promote, when, and to whom.

This tiered-value approach is just as effective during other seasonal sales. The right incentive at the right moment will always outperform a blanket discount which can feel like a brand devaluation.

 

3. Focus on lifetime value, not just transaction volume

Yes, you want immediate revenue. But the real prize is customer acquisition. If your campaign brings in high-quality customers who stick around, their lifetime value will far exceed what you make on the initial sale.

So think beyond the cart:

• Capture emails before and after the sale
• Retarget Black Friday buyers with post-sale offers in December and January
• Onboard new customers with thoughtful flows and offers that increase their spend and engagement over time

Treat every peak sale period – not just Black Friday – as an opportunity to bring people into your ecosystem, not just through your checkout.

 

4. Don’t drop the ball on delivery

During high-volume sales periods, operational missteps hurt more. A slow site, glitchy checkout, or vague delivery time can tank your hard-won conversions.

Key things to check:

• Stress-test your site (especially mobile) before launch
• Pre-load your inventory and flag low-stock items clearly
• Promote express options, click-and-collect, or extended returns
• Train your customer service team to respond quickly and clearly

No matter the season, smooth logistics and communication make your marketing feel much smarter and earn you repeat customers.

 

5. Learn fast, and feed your future strategy

One of the biggest missed opportunities we see? Brands not reviewing or repurposing their Black Friday learnings.

Use your campaign data to:

• Identify which audiences converted fastest
• See what messaging or creative drove the most efficient results
• Flag your best-performing channels for future investment
• Uncover patterns in basket size, repeat behaviour, or product affinity

These insights don’t just help you optimise for next year’s Black Friday, they give you a template for EOFY, Christmas, Back to School and beyond.

Case Study: +47% YOY Growth for a B2C Ecommerce Client

In 2024, we worked with a leading ecommerce client to deliver a full-funnel strategy for Black Friday. The campaign included early-access lead gen, tiered discounting, and a meticulously planned media rollout across Meta and Google.

The results?

• +47% revenue growth YOY
• +52% increase in purchases YOY
• 4.47M impressions across paid platforms YOY

These outcomes weren’t a fluke. They were the product of consistent planning, smart creative, and cross-channel coordination – the same approach we apply to every sales campaign, no matter the time of year.

The best sales strategies outlast the sale

Whether you’re selling sandals in summer, tech in December, or lunchboxes in January, peak sales periods share the same core features:

• High intent
• High competition
• High cost to show up

Success comes from clear thinking, bold creativity, and operational excellence – all tied to a long-term view of growth. Black Friday is your reminder that with the right strategy, you can turn moments of pressure into exciting opportunities to win new customers, build lasting loyalty, and grow in ways that last well beyond the sale. The key is to plan early, think strategically, and stay focused on what makes your brand worth choosing – not just on sale days, but every day.