Combining New Technologies in a Well-Known Black Friday Campaign

Combining new Technologies in a well-known Black Friday Campaign

About the Client in Brief

Photosynthesis offers photo and video equipment for amateurs and professionals, with the unifying idea behind the brand being that it is a place for photography, people, and ideas.

In addition to maintaining a large stock availability, Photosynthesis is always among the first distributors to offer the latest models of equipment in the niche for Bulgaria. They have 2 physical locations (in Sofia and Varna), and in recent years have a significant market share in the digital space.

The Problem

The main challenge for the new campaign was the need to build upon the already good marketing and business metrics from past campaigns, including improving the results of the Black Friday campaign in 2022.

The task

The task for the team was to present the promotional offers for the period in the most interesting way possible, without shifting the focus away from the brand or products.

The Approach

Since we had digital assets available from previous campaigns, we were able to include different formats in our main proven channels, which include:

• Performance Max
• Demand Generation
• YouTube

In combination with them, we also used established and well-performing channels such as:

• Google Search
• Google Display
• Email Marketing

We divided the campaign into several phases.

1. Teaser Phase

We created a separate landing page through which we aimed to collect leads to be used in the next (Live) phase. This approach allowed us to add value to the experience of registered users by giving them the advantage of unlocking the offers before everyone else.

Active formats during this phase were:

• Facebook: video, banner and story
• Google Ads: Demand Generation and Performance Max
• Newsletter

2. Live Phase

We activated Black Friday discounts in order to generate as many sales as possible.

Active formats in the Live phase:

• Facebook: banner and carousel, which includes groups with different discounts, targeted at the most relevant audience based on interests and behavior from previous campaigns
• Google Ads: Search, Performance Max and Demand Gen – refining audiences based on previous accumulated data and from leads
• Newsletter

3. Reminder Phase

As the name suggests, the main goal in this stage was to remind users of the end of the promotional period and the last chance to take advantage of them.

Active formats in the final phase:

• Google Ads: Performance Max, Demand Gen and Search – excluding users who have already purchased
• Newsletter

What we actually did – the approach in detail

Formats, Audiences and Messages

We tried to implement the new, automated formats as effectively as possible in this campaign, so that we could find additional users, outside of our clear audience, through:

• Performance Max and Demand Gen in Google, which are highly automated channels both in terms of creatives and audiences.
• Email automated paths for users who are registered from the Teaser phase.
• Additional smaller settings such as “Targeting expansion” and “Seasonality adjustments”, “Search themes” and others in Google Ads.

Due to the specifics of the brand and the large volume of products, we used DSA (Dynamic Search Ads) campaigns, as well as keyword campaigns.

• Within our marketing strategy, DSA campaigns played a particularly important role, proving to be extremely effective due to the specifics of the brand and the wide range of products. In addition to DSA, we actively used campaigns based on keywords.
• We analyzed the dynamics of searches in different categories on a daily basis, which allowed us to optimize the budget according to current user interests and searches. This approach ensured that our advertising budget was spent in the most efficient way, while increasing the reach and visibility of our products.
• Also, on a daily basis, we monitored key metrics such as impressions share, as well as lost impr. share by budget. This gave us important information about where and how we can improve our strategies to maximize ROI and maintain a competitive presence in the market.

As for our key message, we used a play on words to provoke interest, but we preferred direct and clear communication over bold creative to speak in the professional language of our audience. What is the thing that every photo and video professional aims for? To capture the perfect moment in their shots. Which they can achieve when they put them in focus behind the lens and use the right technique. And that’s where they meet Photosynthesis and their promotional offers.

Therefore, we united all channels around our key message “Don’t lose focus of the offers”. We adapted it in the different advertising channels and according to the formats we used. And based on the phases of the campaign, the message changed so that it remained relevant without being monotonous and maintained the main creative platform (example: “Discounts are in focus”).

The Challenges

The main challenges facing the brand during this period include:

• Increased levels of advertising noise from various brands with “Black Friday” type campaigns
• Already well-established brands in the “photo and video equipment” segment
• Trend towards increased prices per click, due to RTB (real time bidding) pricing and more aggressive advertising
• Integrating the message into channels and formats with different levels of automation and design capability
• The need for rapid changes in campaigns based on advertising metrics

Performance Max:

Facebook banner:

Carousel:

What We Achieved

We are putting metrics, comparing with 2022.

• Google ROAS – 5291.96%
• Facebook ROAS – 2179.90%
• Email ROAS – 22712.56%
• Turnover – we achieved twice as high turnover compared to the same period in 2023.