Five Paid Media Tips for Retailers & DTC Brands to Get More From Black Friday 2026

Arguably the most anticipated shopping event of the year, Black Friday offers retailers and DTC brands an opportunity to acquire and retain consumers. Online shopping is constantly evolving and growing in popularity, so competition between brands is intense. 

In this guide, Fusion Unlimited’s Paid Media Director, Richard Jackson, explains how you can improve your paid media and advertising strategy ahead of Black Friday 2026, including how to think strategically about advertising costs, why campaigns should be personalised for different audiences, and how to use data analysis to steer your paid media campaigns.

Why plan your paid media strategy ahead of Black Friday?

I've managed clients who capitalise on Black Friday via well-planned campaigns specific to this period, outside of their normal BAU.

I've also worked with clients who protected media spend through this period to focus on the overall yearly objective, which might not be sales-focused.

And I've worked with clients who are late to the party and missed opportunities because of rushed delivery and no strategic planning.

The right approach depends on your business. Before deciding what to spend or which channels to use, be clear on what you want Black Friday to achieve.

Define what success looks like before you launch

Your campaign objectives should support your wider business goals. Depending on your priorities, you might measure:

• Sales volume and revenue.

• Return on ad spend (ROAS): the revenue generated for each pound spent on advertising.

• Profitability after advertising costs and discounts.

• New customers acquired and customer acquisition cost.

• Stock sell-through, if clearing particular products is a priority.

Choose the measures that matter most to your business and check that your tracking captures them correctly. These objectives should guide your offer, messaging and budget throughout the campaign.

1. Plan ahead and launch campaigns before Black Friday

The most effective Black Friday campaigns aren’t built at the last minute. Start planning weeks in advance, so you have time to prepare your offer, test creative and check the customer journey.

Awareness or early-access messaging could go live up to four weeks before Black Friday, helping you understand which messages resonate before your main promotion launches. This doesn’t mean your discounts need to start that early.

Before launching, work through these four areas:

Your offer: Review previous Black Friday results and relevant competitor promotions. Choose an offer that appeals to your customers and makes commercial sense after discounts and advertising costs.

The customer journey: Decide where your ads will send shoppers, whether that’s a dedicated Black Friday page or an existing product or category page. Make sure the offer matches the ad, delivery and returns information is easy to find, and the route to purchase is straightforward.

Your channels: Use previous campaign results to identify where you can reach relevant customers and generate sales. Give each channel a clear role in your campaign.

Your messaging: Prepare creative and copy around the audience, offer and channel. Test different approaches early so you can carry the strongest messages into the main sale.

Learn about our paid search services

2. Personalise campaigns for different audiences

New and existing customers may need different reasons to buy. New customers need to understand your products, their benefits and why they should choose your brand. Returning customers already know you, so your messaging can focus on their next purchase.

You can adapt the same offer for both audiences. For example, a skincare brand offering 20% off could encourage new customers to discover its bestselling routine, while reminding returning customers to replenish their favourite products.

Where you genuinely offer early access or loyalty rewards, make those benefits clear. Keep exclusivity claims for offers that are actually exclusive.

Tailoring your messaging gives each audience a more relevant reason to act during a busy shopping period.

3. Be strategic with your ad spending

Black Friday can put pressure on advertising budgets as brands compete for attention. 

1. Start by deciding where additional spend is most likely to support your objectives.

2. Prioritise products and categories using their profit margins, stock availability and previous campaign performance. A heavily discounted bestseller may generate revenue, but you need to understand how much margin remains after advertising costs.

3. Set an acceptable acquisition cost or return for your campaign, taking the promotion into account. Where possible, keep some budget available to support campaigns that perform well.

4. During the sale, monitor spend alongside sales and profitability. Before changing budgets, allow for the time between an ad interaction and a purchase so you aren’t reacting to an incomplete picture.

Google’s retail holiday guidance provides further advice on promotions, campaign budgets and bidding targets.

4. View Black Friday as a customer acquisition opportunity

Look beyond Black Friday as a single sales event; don't measure success purely on revenue or ROAS during this peak period. See it as an opportunity for customer retention and longevity.

In many cases, a customer acquired during Black Friday could generate more value in the 12-month period that follows through repeat purchase or brand loyalty. Acquisition cost, first-order margin, and repeat purchase are the first measures to review after your event ends.

5. Use your data to align your consumers with targeted media channels

Focus your efforts where they'll get the most reach and strongest engagement; the last thing you need is wasted ad spend on a channel your customers aren’t present.

Take a deep dive into your 1st- and 3rd-party data to ensure your chosen channels are where your target audience is most engaged with your brand/market. From there, you can build compelling creative assets and a clear offer; however, be prepared to react quickly as performance changes throughout the Black Friday period.

Consumers need repeated targeting before converting; conversions rarely happen after a single interaction. They may see a social media advert, visit your website, receive an email or see an influencer campaign before completing a purchase, which means your strategy needs to involve both organic and paid channels.

Hiring a performance marketing agency specialised in paid media can bolster your Black Friday efforts through a powerful combination of strategic copy, targeted media channels, and data analysis, driving consumer acquisition and retention that extends beyond November.

Plan your Black Friday strategy with Fusion

A strong Black Friday campaign starts with a clear objective, an appealing offer and a customer journey that makes purchasing easy. Preparing early gives you time to test your approach and make informed decisions about where to spend.

At Fusion, we help you connect your paid media activity with your business goals, set clear budgets and monitor performance throughout the campaign.

Talk to our team about your Black Friday strategy

About Richard Jackson, Paid Media Director

Richard has over a decade of experience planning and managing paid media campaigns. He helps clients decide where Black Friday fits within their wider marketing strategy, from dedicated sales campaigns to protecting budgets for longer-term business priorities.