Deal-hunters everywhere are stretching out their shopping hands because Black Friday is only a few short weeks away.
Given Black Friday’s prestigious ranking as the world’s number one shopping day, it should come as no surprise that the digital space gets more crowded than the mall, and standing out can be a challenge.
This year, though, the brands and gifts catching the eyes of potential customers got the Taboola treatment. We analyzed data from over 400,000 articles read by over 460 million readers across the globe. Each of these articles included the phrase ‘Black Friday,’ and were analyzed to find the top gifts and brands in each country.
We also took a look at our trends site for creative inspiration, boiled it down to the most important takeaways, and packaged it together all in one place. Essentially, it’s our Black Friday gift to you.
Jump into our shopping cart and come along for the ride to learn the ‘who’s who’ and the ‘what’s what’ of Black Friday this year.
Top Gifts by Country
Technology items like laptops, smartphones, computers and more were by far the gift items that drove the most interest in every country across the globe.
These are the gift categories we unwrapped:
- Cars
- Books
- Games
- Greeting Cards
- Art Supplies
- Toys
- Building
- Blocks
- Dolls
- Dress Up
- Play vehicles
- Novelty toys
- Educational toys
- Playsets
- House Plants
- Garden & Outdoor
- Recycled
- Home-made
- Hand-made
- Fashion
- Clothing
- Accessories
- Purses
- Jewelry
- Shoes
- Food
- Gift Baskets
- Liquor
- Spirits
- Wine
- Beer
- Gourmet
- Home Goods
- Home Decor
- Furniture
- Kitchen & Dining
- Bed & Bath
- Storage & Organization
- Lighting
- Fine Art
- Pet Supplies
- Pet Toys
- Appliances
- Mattresses
- Music
- Subscriptions
- Instruments
- Tech
- Laptop
- Computer
- Smartphone
- Tablet
- Headphone
- Stocks
- Bonds
- Money
- Cash
- Gift Cards
- Athletic Wear
- Vitamins
- Smart watch
- Fitness tracker
- Health Supplements
- Gym Memberships
- Home Gym Equipment
- Plane tickets
- Spa Packages
- Vacations
- Beauty
- Make-up
- Cosmetics
- Skincare
With technology left out for its unfair advantage as the reigning Black Friday champ, we took a look at the interests that follow close behind.
Games, home, and music all emerged as global favorites. Auto, bed, food, and lighting had their niches, but still garnered enough attention to make the short list.
Top Gifts by Gender
The only time technology takes a break as the Black Friday winner? Among women. Understanding which type of gifts each gender is gravitating towards can help inform decisions around content and targeting. After all, why not go for the audience that actively seeks you out?
Brands Garnering Attention Across the Globe
Understanding the types of brands generating Black Friday buzz (Amazon and beyond) can help get the proverbial campaign-planning wheels turning.
The top brands generating this buzz is different across the globe. We took a look at 10 well-known retailers and e-commerce giants in each country marked on the map to discover where consumers are searching for deals.
What brand is dominating in the area that you target? What can you stand to learn from these leading brands? It takes a great deal of planning in advance to be set up for the success seen by these brands. Consumers are eager to plan the deals they’ll shop for on the big day, and sharing that information early can help set you up for success. See how Lojas Americanas and Target are already getting after Black Friday opportunities with landing pages to direct eager consumers to.
Building Your Best Black Friday Campaign
Now that we’ve run you through the data on a broad scale, it’s time to zoom in on exactly how to reach consumers. How will we do it? With more data, of course. We were able to hypothesize what will make creatives and headlines successful this Black Friday.
Headlines That Work
Understanding which words hold the most opportunity for headlines, and how to best use them, can make a world of difference in CTRs on a crowded internet day like Black Friday.
We pulled the words and phrases to use, the words and phrases to avoid, and a few examples of how they can come to life across verticals.
For example, the word “she” and the phrase “The most beautiful” are both trending, making for the data-backed headline “The Most Beautiful Winter Sweaters She Won’t Already Have.” Having a handle on the words and phrases that are proven performers can help inform content strategy.
On the flip side, understanding the words and phrases that might do you a disservice this Black Friday can prevent your campaign from feeling like a waste of ad dollars.
Based on our data, these headlines won’t work:
- The Free App to Find Cheap Luxury Bags
- People Born Before 2000 are Searching for These Tablets
- If You Like Free Gifts, You’ll Love These Deals
Leverage Video
Video can be an excellent way to showcase your product or service and capture some Black Friday attention. With this next set of video-specific trends, you can get a clearer sense of what might work best for you.
There’s a lot in here, so let’s unpack it.
While we found that not including a person in video increases completion rates by 77%, sometimes that’s not exactly an option. The good news is––when people are present, showing them engaging in certain activities has its own completion rate clout. Climbing, driving, dancing, singing, conversing, and sitting are all actions that positively impact completions.
This Old Navy Black Friday commercial doesn’t just include Stranger Things fan favorite Gaten Matarazzo, but it also has him singing for an engaging user experience that makes it hard to click away without finishing.
This Black Friday commercial from Best Buy features employees conversing about what Black Friday is like from their perspective for an experience that’s not only engaging, but relatable, too.
Aside from the impact people have, we also found that not including food (if not absolutely necessary) increases completions by 227%. Leaving text out of it, and trying black & white both also lift completion rates.
Images That Perform
Like their video counterparts, images are another visual element that can have a big impact on your Black Friday campaign. Here, we’re taking a look at the visual cues that garner the greatest amount of clicks.
Anyone who’s been on the internet on Black Friday knows that it’s a sea of images, most of which are similar. This means that standing out is key. By excluding people, text, color, and opting for photos instead of illustrations, you have a chance to cut through the noise and increase clicks.
Here are some examples that might work for a fashion brand:
Here are some examples that might work for a technology brand:
Happy Planning, Marketers
When the clock strikes 12 on another Black Friday, you’ll be ready to welcome shoppers with open arms and fantastic ads. This major shopping holiday is too important for guesswork, so stick with us and our in-depth trend analysis to stay at the top of your game. The countdown begins!