Are your BFCM Ads set up to drive long-term LTV?

In 2023, online consumers spent $38 billion between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday and this year looks to be even bigger. Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) represent one of the busiest times for ecommerce brands, with massive surges in sales, but also significant marketing costs. 

As brands aim to maximize their return on investment (ROI) from BFCM campaigns, it’s crucial to understand how to track the effectiveness of ads during the sales period. Equally important is how to drive long-term customer value (LTV) from both new and returning customers once the shopping frenzy is over.

We asked Founder and CEO of BSR Digital and Host of The DTC Insider Podcast, Brian Roisentul to share his thoughts on essential strategies ecommerce brands can use to monitor the impact of their BFCM ads and offer practical steps to turn BFCM shoppers into loyal, high-LTV customers. In Brian’s words;

“The classic BFCM playbook is dead. It leads brands to offering unprofitable deals, prioritizing new customers over the existing ones and acquiring customers who only purchase once and never return. 

In 2024, that won’t take brands anywhere. Those who want to succeed need to focus on offering profitable deals, standing out from the competition and having a long-term plan for this cohort.”

1. Setting Clear Campaign KPIs and Metrics

Before diving into tracking ads, it’s essential to define the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Without clear metrics, it’s hard to measure success. Some important KPIs to focus on include:

– Sales Revenue: Track the direct revenue generated by BFCM campaigns. 

– Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much is being spent to acquire each customer during BFCM campaigns.

– Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.

– Conversion Rate: The percentage of website visitors who make a purchase.

– Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): The cost to acquire a single customer, including both paid ads and any promotional offers.

– Average Order Value (AOV): The average amount spent per order during BFCM.

By identifying which metrics matter most to your business, you can adjust your ad strategies accordingly and track the performance of each ad channel (e.g., social media, paid search, email marketing).

2. Leverage UTM Parameters and Tracking Links

To monitor the effectiveness of BFCM ads across multiple channels, it’s critical to use UTM parameters and tracking links. These allow you to trace the origin of each visitor—whether they clicked on a Meta ad, saw a Google search ad, or interacted with an email campaign. 

Here’s how to use them effectively:

– UTM Parameters: Attach UTM codes to all your ads and links to track their performance. Use tools like Google Analytics to measure traffic, conversions, and engagement from different sources.

– Custom Landing Pages: Create landing pages tailored to specific campaigns. This helps track traffic and conversions directly from a BFCM ad.

–Cross-Device Tracking: Since customers often browse on one device and purchase on another, ensure your tracking is integrated across devices to capture all interactions.

3. BFCM-Specific Marketing Mix

“Recently, a well-known 8-figure supplement brand shared its BFCM strategy with me

Their approach includes these channels:

➝ Meta (50% of budget)

➝ TikTok (25% of budget)

➝ Google (15% of budget)

➝ Influencer/Affiliate (10% of budget)

On Meta, they’re now focused on creative testing through small-scale tests.

Using this time to build remarketing audiences, as every visitor now is a potential BFCM buyer later.

On TikTok, they say for them it’s more of a discovery platform, so the goal is to entertain the audience through:

➝ Behind-the-scenes product launches

➝ Ingredient education (with a twist)

➝ Customer transformation stories

➝ Trend participation (when it makes sense)

On Google, they mainly talk about protecting your brand terms. Not sure if they run non-brand campaigns (but I’d definitely do it).

On the Influencer/Affiliate front, they’ve found a big differentiator: Facebook Live.

They claim it has become their highest-converting influencer activity, because of Faceook’s built-in notification system.

When an influencer goes live, their entire following gets an alert. 🔔

Here’s their Facebook Live strategy:

➝ Schedule multiple influencers throughout the month

➝ Mix product education with exclusive offers

➝ Enable live shopping features

➝ Create urgency with limited-time bundles

➝ Drive real-time engagement through Q&As

Does the influencer size matter to them? No.

They chose to partner up with many micro-influencers who actually use their products, instead of fewer & bigger ones.

Another overlooked opportunity is community activation, if you have one.”

4. Monitor Post-Purchase Behavior

Tracking post-purchase behavior is just as important as tracking initial clicks. This helps you evaluate the true effectiveness of your ads in converting one-time buyers into repeat customers. Key post-purchase metrics include:

– Repeat Purchase Rate: How many first-time BFCM customers return to make another purchase.

– Customer Retention Rate: The percentage of customers who continue to engage with your brand over time.

– Lifetime Value (LTV): The total revenue a customer is expected to generate during their relationship with your brand.

– Time between purchases: The average time between 2 orders.
Tools like Lifetimely, that have LTV, customer behavior and attribution reporting can help you track and measure this data.

“Once these metrics are measured, it’s time to take action. This means:

• Reducing the time between purchases
• Getting more purchases
• Decreasing subscription churn (if applicable)

Here’s an example:

Earlier this year, a yoga apparel brand we helped at BSR Digital had a low AOV (Average Order Value) and LTV.

After analyzing multiple reports on Lifetimely, we identified that 40% of first-time customers were buying pants, and a month later, almost 90% of them came back to buy another one.

So, we decided to create a bundle with 2 of the top-performing pants, and it was a success, helping them increase AOV by over 30%.

The data on Lifetimely can be used to adjust the messaging and timing of your post-purchase and winback email flows, among others.

After all, it’s said that your next new customers could be your existing ones. But it’s up to you to make that happen.”

5. Use Attribution Models to Identify Best-Performing Channels

Understanding which channels drive the most revenue, conversions, or customer engagement during BFCM is crucial for optimizing future marketing efforts. Attribution modeling helps determine the impact of each marketing touchpoint in the customer journey.

– First-Touch Attribution: Gives full credit to the first interaction (e.g., an ad click).

– Last-Touch Attribution: Attributes the conversion to the last action (e.g., the final click that leads to a purchase).

– Multi-Touch Attribution: Assigns credit across all touchpoints in the customer journey, offering a more holistic view.

Understanding which channels contribute to conversions, and at what stage of the customer journey, helps brands allocate their budgets more effectively in the future.

6. Retargeting Campaigns to Reinforce Brand Loyalty Post-BFCM

After BFCM, your customer base has likely expanded, but you still need to nurture these new buyers. Retargeting campaigns are a powerful tool to drive both repeat purchases and brand loyalty. Here’s how:

– Segment Your Audience: Create separate retargeting campaigns for people who purchased during BFCM versus those who visited but didn’t purchase.

– Email Retargeting: Use abandoned cart emails, product recommendations, and special post-BFCM discounts to entice customers to return.

– Social Media Ads: Retarget your BFCM shoppers with ads offering exclusive discounts or VIP access to future sales.

– Personalized Offers: Leverage data from previous purchases to send personalized product recommendations or discounts based on customers’ shopping behaviors.

– Make them a part of your brand: if you have a community (ie. Facebook group, Skool, Slack), invite them to join the conversation.

– Survey them: to understand more about them, what they were looking for (in case they didn’t buy), the reasons behind their purchase, how long they know your brand before buying, buying for themselves or someone else, and many other questions that could be relevant for your company.

– Create raving fans: if you don’t want to be only a “BFCM purchase” for them, tell them more about your company, the founder, the mission, and different use case scenarios of your products.

7. Post-BFCM Email Marketing Campaigns to Engage and Retain Customers

Post-purchase email campaigns are a vital part of extending the life cycle of BFCM customers. These campaigns should focus on creating a personalized experience that moves customers further down the retention funnel.

– Thank You Emails: Express gratitude for their purchase and offer incentives for future purchases.

– Loyalty Programs: Promote your loyalty programs, where customers can earn points or rewards for repeat purchases.

– Exclusive Content: Offer exclusive access to new products, content, or sales events to keep customers engaged.

Additionally, using segmentation and personalization in these email campaigns can lead to higher open and conversion rates, ultimately boosting LTV.

8. Drive LTV from New and Returning Customers

Once BFCM is over, the real work begins. eCommerce brands should focus on strategies to drive LTV from new and returning customers. Here’s how:

– New Customers:

Onboarding Flow: Create a seamless onboarding experience with welcome emails, tutorials, and product guides to help new customers understand the value of your brand.
Loyalty Rewards: Introduce loyalty programs that reward customers for repeat purchases and referrals.

– Returning Customers:

Exclusive Offers: Offer early access to new products, member-only discounts, or VIP sales events to keep returning customers engaged.
Subscription Models: Consider introducing subscription boxes or automated reorders to lock in recurring revenue from returning customers.
Customer Feedback Loops: Ask for feedback and use it to improve your products and services, showing customers that their opinions are valued.

By focusing on creating long-term relationships with both new and returning customers, you can increase the average LTV across your entire customer base.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are crucial sales events for eCommerce brands, but tracking the impact and effectiveness of your ads, as well as building long-term relationships with customers, is just as important. By using the right tools to measure performance, leveraging post-purchase engagement strategies, and nurturing new and returning customers, you can turn one-time BFCM shoppers into loyal, high-value customers who continue to drive revenue long after the sales period is over.

By carefully measuring and optimizing your ad performance, you can ensure that your BFCM efforts pay off both in the short term and in long-term customer loyalty.