Facebook remains the most popular platform for digital advertising on social media today, but its ad engine has grown more sophisticated over time. It not only has access to billions of people worldwide but also collects information about users, both online and offline, to create better ad targeting options for businesses.
It’s no surprise, then, that Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) present a huge opportunity for businesses to advertise on Facebook each year. Last year, Black Friday alone generated $9.8 billion in online sales, up 7.5% over 2022.
In this article, we’ll outline some benefits for advertising on Facebook during this highly competitive period, including a closer look at some key statistics for how Triple Whale customers used Facebook ads during BFCM 2023. Additionally, we’ll provide some ad examples and strategies for success when advertising on Facebook for BFCM 2024.
The number one reason for advertising on Facebook: it’s where the people are. With more than three billion monthly active users, there’s a very large chance you’ll be able to connect with your target demographic when advertising on such a popular platform. Besides the availability of customers, Facebook also offers unparalleled targeting capabilities, diverse ad formats, and audiences that are motivated to shop for products. Here are some reasons why Facebook ads are particularly effective for BFCM campaigns:
These factors, combined with Facebook’s robust ad placement options and integration with other sales channels, make it one of the best platforms for maximizing BFCM traffic and sales.
In our BFCM 2023 Retrospective Report, we evaluated the ad performance data for over 11,000 shops, comprising over $1 billion in revenue. There are some key statistics from the report that indicate Facebook/Meta remains a hot place to advertise for BFCM:
To prepare for BFCM 2024, we believe it is helpful to dig deeper into the Facebook ads trends, not just overall, but within separate revenue tiers, specifically brands with annual revenue of:
We discovered some interesting trends in how brands used Facebook ads, and below we will break down some difference in ad spend and metrics for each cohort individually.
When a brand has under $1M in annual revenue, it’s likely in the startup phase and learning the best way to advertise online. It’s more likely than not that these brands experienced bouts of overspending or running ads that didn’t convert as they learned the ropes. As a result, brands in the <$1M cohort spent a lot of money trying to acquire new customers.
This is what we found, with 79.20% of all ad spend going to Meta. Since it is typically a dependable platform for acquiring customers, it’s not surprising that smaller brands invest most of their ad spend here, since their ad budgets likely constrain diversification to other ad platforms.
CPM
With CPM down -6.17% in 2023 compared to 2022 on Meta, it was cheaper to capture high-intent buyers in search for this cohort.
CTR
Click-through rate (CTR) remained relatively steady for Meta at 1.65% at this cohort, which is higher than the overall aggregate. This indicates Meta is a steady place for newer brands to advertise.
CVR
Meta maintained a consistent quality of traffic for conversions, possibly due to ecommerce experiences on Facebook and Instagram. Conversion Rate (CVR) for Meta in the <$1M cohort was 3.08% in 2023, a +14.29% increase over BFCM 2022.
CPA
The cost per acquisition (CPA) dropped (-18.19%) for the <$1M cohort at $22.73, and Meta and TikTok were the only ad platforms that saw a drop in CPA year over year.
CV
Meta was responsible for the lion’s share of sales driven through paid channels in this cohort at 72.79%, a +10.63% increase over 2022.
AOV
There was a slight drop in average order value (AOV) of -11.17% in 2023 compared to 2022, which might indicate a change in advertising efficiency and or bundling efforts for brands in this cohort. Meta also had the second lowest AOV for this cohort, with other platforms driving higher AOV overall.
Meta remains the platform of choice for brands doing $1-5M in annual revenue, with 73.60% of all ad spend for BFCM 2023 tied up on the platform (a +7.10% increase over last year). Overall, however, there tends to be a higher diversification in other platforms compared to the <$1M cohort, with higher spend on Google Ads and TikTok.
CPM
Meta’s CPM was $14.88 in 2023, only a slight increase (+1.14%) over 2022, and less than the overall CPM for the aggregate ($16.12). This might indicate efficient spending on Facebook for this cohort.
CTR
Meta’s CTR remained stable at 1.65%, which is higher than the total aggregate at 1.56%.
CVR
The conversion rate for Meta dropped slightly (-2.10%) compared to last year, but many other platforms experienced a much larger decrease. Only TikTok increased for this cohort with a +17.85% increase over 2022. Meta remains a stable place to obtain conversions overall.
CPA
Meta’s CPA remained flat year over year and 18% below the aggregate, which indicates this cohort has a high efficiency in customer acquisition and that these brands have optimized their campaigns well on Facebook and Instagram.
CV
Meta’s conversion value was 64.80% for brands in the $1-5M cohort, which is the largest share of all ad platforms by a long shot. This aligns with the substantial ad budget allocation for this cohort.
AOV
AOV increased above all ad channels, with Meta’s AOV ($89.87) increasing by +9.54% year over year. This suggests an effective strategy of driving higher-value purchases through targeted advertising.
As brands grow, they spend more on advertising and consequently pull more revenue. In the $5-10M revenue tier, paid channel spending rose by 29.5% overall for BFCM 2023. Brands in this cohort also rely heavily on both Meta and Google, with both channels together driving 80% of revenue. 70.79% of all ad spend in this cohort was earmarked for Meta.
CPM
The CPM for the $5-10M cohort was $16.46 for Meta ads, which is very similar to the overall cohort ($16.12). However, this revenue tier experienced the most significant increase of CPM among all groups, which indicates more competitive ad spaces and the need for refined targeting strategies.
CTR
Meta’s CTR remained stable for this cohort as well at 1.47%, only a -2.71% decrease from BFCM 2022. The decrease could indicate a need for more compelling content or targeting refinement on this platform to compete with increase in CTR on other platforms like TikTok, Google Ads, and Snapchat.
CVR
Meta’s conversion rate dropped slightly (-4.85%) year over year, which is relatively stable at 3.67%. It’s lower than a platform like Google Ads, however, which may indicate a shift in market awareness over the $5M mark, with customer actively searching for these known brands during BFCM sales.
CPA
Meta’s CPA rose by +6.65% year over year, more than twice the decrease (-3.24%) of all shops together. When combined with the -4.85% decrease in conversions, this suggest that Meta campaigns need to be optimized to improve marketing efficiency for this cohort.
CV
The share of conversion value for Meta was 59.73%, a +9.95% increase compared to BFCM 2022. Despite shifts in budget allocation to other ad platforms, it appears that Meta still plays a vital role in driving high-value conversions.
AOV
AOV increased for all ad channels except Snapchat and TikTok in this cohort, with Meta’s AOV of $97.16 representing a +7.78% increase compared to BFCM 2022.
Similar to most brands in the overall cohort, the majority of ad spend in the $10-50M cohort favors Meta and Google Ads. In contrast, however, platforms like TikTok start to take up a larger portion of ad spend as the brands grow. It indicates that as brands have additional revenue, they’re able to diversify their marketing efforts more than they may have been able to previously.
CPM
Meta experienced the biggest increase in CPM among all cohorts (+4.6%) for the $10-50M cohort, which is contrary to the -1.83% decrease for the aggregate of all cohorts. It’s possible this is due to a higher focus on retargeting campaigns that typically have a higher CPM.
CTR
Meta’s CTR remained stable for this cohort as well at 1.51%, a slight increase of +4.65% compared to BFCM 2022.
CVR
Meta’s conversion rate dropped slightly (-2.88%) year over year, which is relatively stable at 4.71%. Similar to the $5-10M cohort, Google ads had the largest conversion rate, which could still mean that larger and more recognizable brands are converting on non-brand searches due to increased brand recognition.
CPA
For the $10-50M cohort, Meta’s CPA ($27.54) increased slightly (+2.92%) for BFCM 2023 compared to 2022.
CV
Meta grew 19.11% year over year in conversion value, indicating its continued importance in driving high-value conversions.
AOV
AOV decreased for most ad channels in this cohort (Pinterest, Snapchat, and TikTok), marginally increased for Google Ads (+0.77%), and increased by +4.93% for Meta, which indicates these channels are perceived as being for more deliberate purchase decisions that have higher costs.
Enterprise-level brands doing over $50M in revenue appear to have the resources necessary to diversify their ad spend, with a -5.66% decrease in ad spend on Meta year over year, a drop to 61.70%. Expansion and diversification of digital marketing strategies is possible with larger ad budgets and brand recognition, allowing these brands to capitalize on newer channels like Snapchat and TikTok.
CPM
There was a slight increase (+3.44%) for Meta’s CPM for brands doing over $50M in revenue. Interestingly, many other platforms had lower CPMs for this cohort, which indicates a strategic shift in ad spend distribution to other platforms that might foster cost-effective reach and engagement.
CTR
Meta’s CTR remains strong at the $50M+ cohort at 1.35%, a +12.09% increase over BFCM 2022. It’s likely that brand recognition for businesses at this revenue tier plays a strong role, with customers being less likely to shop around and more likely to engage with brands they’re already familiar with.
CVR
High-revenue brands are effectively leveraging most platforms for conversion, and Meta remains a stable converting platform at this revenue tier at 6.43% (a +2.07% increase over 2022).
CPA
The brands in the $50M+ cohort appear to have an easier time acquiring customers on Meta, with a CPA of $26.82 (a drop of -9.59% compared to BFCM 2022).
CV
There was a slight increase (+2.89%) in conversion value for Meta in this cohort, reinforcing its role as a consistent revenue driver despite shifts in budget allocation to other platforms.
AOV
This cohort experienced higher AOV values across the board for most platforms (except for Pinterest with a drop of -5.34%). It’s likely that these well-established brands are efficient with driving AOV up, and Meta’s AOV was $125.46, a 12.53% increase year over year.
Even before pumpkin pie was served last Thanksgiving, these five Triple Whale customers were running some quality ads. Here, we’ll outline some strategies that worked for these brands and how you can emulate these examples for your own ads for BFCM 2024.
Sometimes, it’s best to keep it simple! Here’s what we liked most about each:
Always funny, always on point - that’s True Classic. What we like most:
Hey, everyone can use a leather bag or a wallet. What we like about this one:
Doe Lashes knows their target demographic, and they love explainer videos from TikTok.
This ad features a cat, so it’s already #1 in my books.
Facebook continues to be a dominant platform for BFCM advertising, offering unparalleled targeting capabilities, diverse ad formats, and engaged audiences. With advanced targeting and retargeting options, dynamic ad formats, and robust data-driven insights, Facebook is an indispensable tool for brands aiming to maximize their reach and conversions during this peak shopping period.
Brands should take note of the ad performance trends outlined in this article to benchmark their BFCM 2023 data and prepare for 2024, in addition to employing some of the successful ad format strategies that have been successful for brands in 2024.
Want to learn more about crushing BFCM 2024? Check out our BFCM Resource Hub to set yourself up for success!
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© Triple Whale Inc. 266 N 5th Street, Columbus OH 43215
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