Ads in E-Commerce: How to Boost Sales during Black Friday

31/10/2024

Black Friday has become a must-attend event for e-tailers. It represents a unique opportunity to boost sales and revenues. However, in an increasingly competitive online environment, it can be difficult for e-tailers to stand out from the crowd.

Whether you have an e-commerce site or sell through a marketplace, find out how simple and effective Ads formats can help you capture your customers' attention and maximize your sales during this key period.

The importance of being visible during Black Friday

In 2023, 72% of consumers chose to shop online for Black Friday (Salesforce, 2024). As the number of e-buyers continues to grow, there's no shortage of choice when it comes to e-commerce sites and marketplaces to turn to. The Fevad lists 152,000 active e-commerce sites in France, and the number is growing by around 10% every year.

Online visibility is therefore a crucial factor in standing out from the crowd and boosting sales. Implementing innovative advertising strategies is an excellent way of achieving this.

Three types of Ads to boost sales during Black Friday

Discover below three types of advertising you can use to capture the attention of your potential customers and convert them.

Countdown banners: create urgency

There's nothing like a countdown to trigger action! By displaying the time remaining for your coupons and promotions, countdown banners create a sense of urgency that drives users to make quick decisions. These banners are particularly effective because they exploit a powerful psychological lever: the fear of missing an opportunity.

To maximize their impact, it's essential to opt for an attractive design and a clear message. Use bright colors and powerful phrases such as "Last chance!" or "Don't miss out!

banner with reduction coupons

Don't hesitate to use the countdown format on your various communication channels: banners on your e-commerce or e-shop site, social networks, e-mails..

And make sure your banners are optimized for mobile devices. Indeed, 62% of French e-buyers make their purchases via their smartphones (source: Fevad).

Behind-the-Scenes format: Connecting with your audience

The Behind-the-Scenes format gives an authentic insight into your business, building trust and engagement. Share content showing the preparations for your Black Friday, for example. Think in particular about using short videos or stories on your social networks, to maximize the impact of this ad format.

The objective? Make a lasting impression by revealing the behind-the-scenes aspects of your business and demonstrating your know-how. Don't hesitate to adopt a personal tone and add a touch of humor to make your videos captivating!

This "inside" content humanizes your brand and creates an emotional connection with your audience. A good thing for both your brand image and your conversions. A Social Media Today study showed that this type of publication generates a 50% higher rate of engagement than traditional content.

Retargeting: boost your conversions

Retargeting involves targeting prospects who have already interacted with your store. Whether they've already added your products to their shopping cart or simply visited your e-commerce site, you can recontact them with personalized advertising and targeted offers. According to Google, it takes an average of 8 contact points to generate a conversion. A targeted, personalized follow-up is therefore essential to maximize your chances of converting these customers.

Using browsing data and purchase behavior data, you can deliver personalized ads to remind these visitors of the products they have viewed or added to their shopping cart.

At Rakuten, for example, our teams draw on their technical expertise to deliver retargeting actions that are as targeted and effective as possible. Our customers receive personalized reminder e-mails and push notifications when they have not finalized an order.

sms push notification

This strategy is particularly effective for customers who have abandoned their shopping carts. It keeps them interested, encourages them to return to your e-commerce site or e-shop and finalize their purchase.

Use eye-catching visuals and simple messages along the way. And don't forget to distribute these reminder ads across several channels: display, social networks, personalized e-mailing..

And on Rakuten? Our Ads to put your products in first position

Over 200 million products are sold on Rakuten by our 12,000 professional and numerous private sellers. So it can be hard to stand out from the crowd.

It was with this in mind that we developed our marketplace-integrated advertising solution, Rakuten Ads. This service enables your items to be positioned on certain keywords and thus to move up on search pages and product sheets.

Rakuten Ads are based on a cost-per-click system, meaning you only pay when a customer clicks on your ad. You can monitor the performance of your campaigns directly from your dashboard: impressions, clicks, conversions... all the indicators you need to adjust your strategy.