As the busiest shopping season of the year approaches, brands are gearing up to make the most of the Black Friday–Cyber Monday (BFCM) window and the festive weeks that follow. At Bloom, we’ve compiled a strategic playbook to help marketers cut through the noise — from campaign planning to creative execution across Meta and Google platforms.
1. A Season Built on Momentum: Phasing Your Holiday Campaigns
The key to a strong Q4 isn’t just one weekend — it’s a smart progression of messages and offers.
Here’s how to structure your campaign flight from late October through the New Year:
Warm-Up
Focus on brand awareness, wish-listing, and lead capture. This is when consumers are planning and comparing — perfect for highlighting value propositions.
BFCM Push
Time for aggressive promotion and urgency. Feature bold discounts, bundles, and price-match offers that drive immediate conversions.
Holiday Gifting
Shift messaging to gift guides, last shipping dates, and buy-online/pickup options. Use visuals that evoke gifting and convenience.
Boxing Week
Target inventory clear-out and “last sizes available” messages. Social proof and urgency work well here.
New Year
Transition toward reset themes, subscriptions, and essentials. This is the moment to pivot from discounts to lifestyle and renewal.
2. Creative Best Practices for Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
Go Vertical and Keep It Short
Design for Reels and Stories first (9:16). Meta is gradually migrating all video formats to Reels, so vertical-first production is essential. Keep videos between 6–30 seconds and always include captions for sound-off viewing.
Optimize with Advantage+
Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns and Advantage+ Creative leverage AI to automatically test, learn, and optimize your ads — ensuring your strongest creative combinations win. Feed them clean product data and first-party signals to get the best results.
Holiday Messaging Tips
- Message FIRST – Lead with your offer and deadline in the first 2–3 seconds.
- Add Value – Show before/after moments or user-generated content that illustrates the benefit.
- Don’t forget the CTA – Include clear calls-to-action (“Shop Now,” “Use Code BF30”) and reinforce urgency.
Visual Inspiration
Top-performing examples use high-contrast typography, motion, and clean product shots — combining product-focused assets with message-driven creative.
3. Creative Best Practices for Google Display & DV360
Design for Flexibility
Responsive Display Ads (RDAs) automatically adapt to various placements, so provide multiple aspect ratios (1:1, 1.91:1, 4:5, and 9:16) for full coverage.
Holiday Messaging Essentials
- Start with Urgency – Headlines like “Ends Dec 26” or “Last-minute deal” perform best.
- Use Price Cards – Highlight savings in bold, centred text.
- Test Emotional vs. Transactional Hooks – Mix “Gifts they’ll love” with “Up to 60% Off – Today Only.”
- Show Products in Context – Unboxing or lifestyle shots often outperform packshots.
- Build Strong CTAs – Add “Shop Now” or “Ends Soon” directly into your visuals.
These ads shine when simple, bold, and motion-friendly — animated under 15 seconds and always mobile-optimized.
4. Powering Performance Max (PMAX) for Holiday Success
Google’s Performance Max campaigns thrive on asset diversity.
To feed its AI effectively:
- Include all asset types – Text, video, and static images. Even short Reels-style clips can dramatically improve performance.
- Upload variety – At least 4 images per ratio and up to 5 logos. The algorithm performs better with options.
- Prioritize clarity and aesthetics – Clean, high-res images on neutral backgrounds align well with Google’s auto-cropping and enhancements.
- Use overlays sparingly – Text badges or discount graphics should complement, not clutter.
- Keep consistency – Colour, tone, and style must feel unified across all assets.
5. Technical Specs: Your Cheat Sheet
Here’s a quick reference for key specs:
Meta
- Reels: 9:16, up to 15 minutes, MP4/MOV
- Stories: 9:16, up to 2 minutes (split into 15-sec cards)
- Feed: 4:5 ratio, 1080px minimum
- Carousels: 1:1 or 4:5, 2–10 cards
- Images: 1200×1200 (square), 1200×628 (landscape), 960×1200 (portrait)
- Logos: 1200×1200 (square), 1200×300 (landscape)
- Up to 20 images per aspect ratio and 5 logos per campaign
Each project is reviewed individually to ensure timelines align with your creative volume and campaign goals.
Let’s Do This 💪
The holiday shopping season rewards preparation, testing, and agility.
Whether you’re building full-funnel campaigns or fine-tuning creative for last-minute offers, these best practices will help you stay relevant and drive results across every touchpoint.
Need a partner to bring it all together? Contact us.
grow@makeitbloom.com