7 Media Buying Mistakes to Avoid for a Successful Black Friday eCommerce Campaign

Black Friday is a golden opportunity for eCommerce in Egypt to maximize sales and attract new customers using the power of media buying.

With the surge in consumer demand, having the right paid ads running at the right time can make all the difference between a successful media buying campaign and one that wastes precious ad spend.

But while it seems like a straightforward process, media buying—especially for Black Friday—requires careful planning, testing, and execution to avoid common pitfalls that can derail your ecommerce media buying campaign.

To help you get the most out of your Black Friday efforts, let’s dive into the common mistakes that eCommerce brands in Egypt often make with their media buying strategies and, more importantly, how you can avoid them.

One of the biggest mistakes ecommerce businesses in Egypt make is waiting until Black Friday to launch their paid ads without having tested them beforehand.

This is like stepping into the ring without ever having practiced—you're going in blind, and the stakes are too high to wing it.

Black Friday is a highly competitive period with a massive influx of ads, and launching without testing leaves you at a huge disadvantage.

The reality is that without testing your paid ads beforehand, you’re essentially gambling.

You have no idea which creatives will perform best, what copy will resonate, or which audiences are most likely to convert.

And by the time you realize something isn’t working, it may be too late to adjust your strategy and recover.

Testing early allows you to gather data on what’s working and what isn’t, so when Black Friday comes around, you’re ready to roll with the best possible paid ads.

How to Fix:

Start your campaign testing in early November. A/B test different ad creatives, headlines, copy, and target audiences.

Use this data to fine-tune your Black Friday paid ads before the big day, ensuring that your campaign is optimized and ready to perform at its best.

By testing early, you’ll know exactly what works and be able to maximize your return on investment (ROI).

Another common misstep in media buying strategies for Black Friday is ignoring paid ad frequency, which refers to how often your ads are shown to the same user.

During Black Friday, it's easy to get carried away with pushing your paid ads aggressively, but high ad frequency can quickly backfire.

If people see your ad too many times, they’ll start to tune it out—or worse, get annoyed.

This is especially important during Black Friday when the volume of ads is already overwhelming.

With so many ecommerce businesses in Egypt competing for attention, bombarding users with the same ad repeatedly can lead to ad fatigue.

When people get tired of seeing your ad, they’re less likely to engage with it, which drives down your click-through rates and increases your cost-per-click.

How to Fix:

Keep a close eye on your paid ad frequency.

Ideally, you want your ad frequency to be in the sweet spot of 3 to 5 times per user.

If your ads are being shown too frequently, adjust your strategy by refreshing your creatives or using frequency capping to limit how often your ads appear.

This ensures that your audience stays engaged without feeling overwhelmed.

Your audience on Facebook isn’t the same as your audience on Instagram, and yet many brands make the mistake of using the same ad creatives across all platforms.

While this may seem efficient, it limits your media buying campaign’s potential by not taking into account the nuances of each platform.

Different platforms require different approaches.

Instagram users, for example, tend to engage more with visually driven content like videos or Instagram Stories, while Facebook users might prefer carousel ads or product-specific creatives.

If you’re using a one-size-fits-all approach, you’re missing out on opportunities to tailor your message to different audiences.

How to Fix:

Create platform-specific paid ad creatives.

For Instagram, focus on visually appealing videos or interactive Stories.

For Facebook, consider using carousel ads that allow you to showcase multiple products in one ad.

By diversifying your ad creatives, you keep your media buying ads fresh, engage more users, and increase the likelihood of conversion.

One of the biggest opportunities in eCommerce media buying is retargeting users who have added items to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase.

Yet, many businesses fail to set up proper retargeting campaigns, especially during Black Friday, when consumers are constantly browsing, comparing prices, and adding items to their carts.

Cart abandonment is a huge issue for eCommerce in Egypt, with an average abandonment rate of around 70%.

But Black Friday is a different beast altogether—customers are more price-sensitive and eager to find the best deals.

This is where retargeting can help you recover those lost sales.

By showing users dynamic product ads (ads that show the specific items they added to their cart), you can remind them of the products they were interested in and nudge them to complete their purchase.

How to Fix:

Set up dynamic retargeting ads that automatically show users the exact products they left behind in their cart.

Platforms like Facebook and Google make it easy to create these ads, which can significantly boost your conversion rates by reminding potential buyers to complete their transaction.

While it might seem logical to cast a wide net during Black Friday, overspending on broad audiences can lead to poor results and high costs.

The broader your audience, the less targeted your ads will be, which means you’re spending money on users who may have no interest in your products.

With Black Friday, the goal isn’t just to get as many eyeballs as possible—it’s to get the right eyeballs.

Targeting too broad an audience dilutes your campaign's effectiveness and increases your cost-per-acquisition, leaving you with a higher ad spend and fewer conversions.

How to Fix:

Narrow your audience by focusing on specific segments, such as people who have interacted with your brand in the past, repeat customers, or users who have engaged with your social media.

Use tools like lookalike audiences to target people who are similar to your best customers.

By focusing on a more targeted audience, you’ll see better engagement and higher conversion rates without wasting your ad spend.

Many ecommerce businesses in Egypt overlook how ad bidding changes during Black Friday.

With more advertisers competing for the same audience, the cost of running ads goes up, especially during peak times like Black Friday evening.

If you aren’t adjusting your bidding strategy to account for this, you could miss out on valuable impressions during critical shopping hours.

Paid ad prices fluctuate throughout the day and across different days of the week, so it’s important to adjust your bidding to stay competitive without overspending.

How to Fix:

Use automated bidding strategies to increase your bids during high-traffic times.

For example, increase your bids on Friday evening and Saturday morning when shoppers are most active, and reduce your bids during off-peak hours.

This ensures your ads appear when they’re most likely to convert, without overspending.

Black Friday doesn’t end on Friday.

Many shoppers wait until the last minute to make their purchasing decisions, often during the weekend or Cyber Monday.

Unfortunately, many businesses blow their entire paid ad budget on Black Friday itself, missing out on this crucial window.

There’s a whole segment of buyers who browse early but purchase late.

These are the shoppers you don’t want to ignore.

How to Fix:

Reserve part of your paid ad budget for the weekend after Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Keep your paid ads running to capture these late shoppers, and consider offering exclusive deals or free shipping to nudge them toward making a purchase.

Black Friday is a critical moment for eCommerce in Egypt, but without a well-planned media buying strategy, you could end up wasting ad spend and missing out on potential sales.

By testing early, managing your ad frequency, tailoring your creatives, and targeting the right audience, you can avoid the common mistakes that hold back many Black Friday campaigns.

Ready to supercharge your media buying strategy?

Take these tips and make sure your Black Friday campaign is set up for success, so you can maximize your ROI and make this holiday season your most profitable yet!

Looking for a professional media buying agency in Egypt? Contact us now!