Combining New Technologies in a Well-Known Black Friday Campaign

Combining new Technologies in a well-known Black Friday Campaign

THE CLIENT

Photosynthesis offers photo and video equipment for both amateurs and professionals. The brand is built around the idea of being a place for photography, people, and ideas.

In addition to maintaining extensive stock availability, Photosynthesis is consistently among the first distributors in Bulgaria to offer the latest equipment models in the niche. The company operates two physical locations — in Sofia and Varna — and has established a significant market presence in the digital space in recent years.

THE PROBLEM

The main challenge for the new campaign was the need to build on the strong marketing and business performance achieved in previous years, including improving the results of the 2022 Black Friday campaign.

THE TASK

Our objective was to present the promotional offers for the period in the most engaging way possible, without shifting the focus away from the brand or the products themselves.

THE APPROACH

Since we already had digital assets from previous campaigns, we were able to incorporate a variety of formats across our proven core channels, including:

• Performance Max
• Demand Gen
• YouTube

Alongside these, we also relied on established high-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, Story
• Google Ads: Demand Gen, Performance Max
• Email Marketing: Newsletter campaigns

 

2. Live Phase

During the Live phase, we activated the Black Friday offers with the goal of generating the maximum possible number of sales.

Active formats during this phase:

• Facebook: Banner ads, Carousel ads featuring different discount groups targeted to the most relevant audiences based on interests and previous campaign behavior
• Google Ads: Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen campaigns optimized using accumulated audience and lead data
• Email Marketing: Newsletter campaigns

 

3. Reminder Phase

As the name suggests, the goal of this stage was to remind users that the promotional period was ending and that this was their final opportunity to take advantage of the offers.

Active formats during this phase:

• Google Ads: Performance Max, Demand Gen, Search campaigns excluding users who had already converted
• Email Marketing: Reminder newsletters

WHAT WE ACTUALLY DID – DETAILED APPROACH

Formats, Audiences, and Messaging

We aimed to integrate the newer automated formats as effectively as possible to discover additional audiences outside our clearly defined segments through:

• Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns in Google Ads, both highly automated in terms of creatives and audience targeting
• Automated email flows for users registered during the Teaser phase
• Additional settings such as “Targeting Expansion,” “Seasonality Adjustments,” and “Search Themes” in Google Ads

Due to the specifics of the brand and the large product catalog, we relied heavily on DSA (Dynamic Search Ads) campaigns alongside keyword-based campaigns.

• DSA campaigns played a particularly important role in our strategy, proving highly effective because of the wide product range and dynamic search demand. At the same time, keyword campaigns helped us maintain strong visibility for strategically important searches.
• We analyzed search behavior across different product categories daily, allowing us to optimize budget allocation according to current demand and user interest. This ensured highly efficient budget spending while maximizing product visibility and reach.
• We also monitored key metrics daily, including impression share and lost impression share due to budget limitations. These insights helped us continuously improve campaign efficiency, maximize ROI, and maintain a competitive market presence.

Our key message relied on a play on words designed to provoke interest while maintaining direct and clear communication appropriate for a professional audience.

What does every photo and video professional strive for? Capturing the perfect moment. To achieve that, they must stay focused behind the lens and use the right equipment. That is where they meet Photosynthesis and its promotional offers.

This led us to unify all channels under the key message:

“Don’t Lose Focus of the Offers”

We adapted the message across channels and formats while keeping it relevant throughout the campaign phases. Variations such as “Discounts Are in Focus” helped maintain consistency without becoming repetitive.

THE CHALLENGES

The main challenges during the campaign included:

• Increased advertising noise caused by numerous Black Friday campaigns
• Strong competition from already established brands in the photo and video equipment segment
• Rising cost-per-click levels driven by RTB (real-time bidding) competition and more aggressive advertising activity
• Integrating the core message across channels and formats with varying levels of automation and creative flexibility
• The need for rapid campaign adjustments based on real-time advertising performance metrics

Performance Max:

Facebook banner:

Carousel:

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

The following results are compared to the same period in 2022:

 

• Google ROAS – 5291.96%
• Facebook ROAS – 2179.90%
• Email ROAS – 22712.56%
• Turnover — doubled compared to the same period in 2023