Last week I sat down with three media buyers who've generated over $250M in verified sales collectively across Meta, Google, and TikTok ads.
We recorded 55 minutes breaking down what they're running for BFCM this year.
How they're planning creatives, scaling budgets, structuring accounts, managing offers... and what they're doing after BFCM weekend (this part might be more important than the sale itself).
We just made it live. Here’s the full video:
Here’s some of the insights I took away from the call:
Rebrand your winners, don't start fresh - Take your top-performing ads from the past 90 days and add BFCM branding (borders, text overlays, sale messaging); faster, cheaper, already proven to convert
Treat each hook as a mini-ad (post-Andromeda) - After Meta's Andromeda update, slight variations don't work anymore; make each hook genuinely unique with different talking points, voiceovers, and visuals in the first 3 seconds so Meta tests them equally
Shorter ads closer to BFCM - Two weeks out use 60-90 second ads that educate; 3-5 days before use 15-second clips and GIFs since audiences are already in buying mode and just need deal confirmation
Start ramping Thursday, not Friday - Most brands wait until Friday to ramp budgets; start Wednesday night or Thursday morning to capture early shoppers before CPMs spike
Revenue ≠ profit - The biggest BFCM mistake is chasing top-line revenue without tracking profitability; when CPMs are up 40-60% and you're discounting 30-40%, margins evaporate fast and many brands break even or lose money
Lead capture economics change during BFCM - Opt-in rates jump from 15% to 25% as people actively seek deals, but these leads won't convert immediately and need aggressive email nurturing; the payback happens in email, not ads
Define your BFCM goal (retention vs acquisition) - Rewarding existing customers means lower CPA targets; new customer acquisition means higher CPAs but factor in LTV over 3-6 months; most brands try both without adjusting targets, which is a disaster
Expect CPMs 40-60% higher than normal - If your normal CPM is $10, expect $14-16 during peak hours; adjust targets upfront or you'll panic and pause campaigns; if you normally need 4x ROAS, accept 2.5-3x during BFCM
Use Google seasonality adjustments - Apply positive adjustment (+10-20%) Wednesday-Monday to signal higher conversions, then apply negative adjustment (-20-30%) starting Tuesday; your best defense against post-sale bleeding
Google Shopping sale price badge - Update prices in your feed ($100 → $80) and Google automatically displays a "SALE" badge; push feed updates 24-48 hours before for dramatically increased CTR; highest-impact, lowest-effort BFCM tactic
Don't create new BFCM search ads (bypass review) - They require re-approval and lose all performance history; instead, add campaign-level headlines that overlay onto existing ads without triggering review using Google Ads Editor; done in 30 minutes
Launch and schedule ads 72+ hours early - BFCM creates approval bottlenecks; schedule all ads at least 72 hours before go-live so they get approved during slower periods, then activate automatically; don't get stuck in review Friday morning
Broad targeting + minimal exclusions for BFCM - Let your BFCM creative handle the full funnel; when everyone is deal-hunting, narrow targeting limits your reach; this is the highest-intent weekend of the year
Separate BFCM campaigns to protect evergreen performance - Don't dump BFCM creative into your evergreen campaigns; your evergreen campaigns have months of optimization and disrupting them tanks performance; scale both, don't replace
Customer support loses sales - Unanswered questions equal lost sales from people already at checkout; deploy AI chatbots to handle 90% of questions instantly or staff up for sub-5-minute response times
The Tuesday overspend trap (more important than BFCM itself) - Post-BFCM overspend can erase your entire weekend profit; platforms see strong Friday-Sunday data and aggressively spend Tuesday-Thursday chasing performance that's already ended; schedule pauses for Monday 11:59pm
Retention is part of the BFCM plan - For most brands, BFCM acquisition happens at breakeven; the real profit comes from retention in weeks 2-8; build it into your plan upfront with welcome flows, post-purchase sequences, and SMS campaigns
The 2-3 week gifting window of opportunity - The week after BFCM isn't dead, it's gifting season for 2-3 weeks until Christmas cutoffs; shift messaging from "deals for you" to "perfect gifts"
Google budget caps create post-BFCM bleed - When you overperform Friday-Sunday, Google calculates massive budget flexibility and aggressively spends the following week even as performance craters; reduce budget caps Monday night and don't rely on Google to "figure it out"
Cut spend Wednesday-Thursday or bleed margin - Most brands see demand fall off a cliff Wednesday-Thursday while algorithms still spend aggressively; pull back 70-80% Wednesday or pause entirely; budget discipline here determines if you were actually profitable