brightonSEO & MeasureFest 2025 - Christian Goodrich - Winning strategies for Black Friday CRO & PPC

In this talk, Christian Goodrich shared tried-and-tested winning strategies for Black Friday 2025, drawn from successful Q4 campaigns the previous year. He explained how to measure and maximise ROI during short, time-sensitive sales periods, even when the full conversion picture was still developing.

Christian also covered setting clear KPIs to manage stakeholder expectations, and highlighted how his team approached CRO across the entire user journey to drive stronger results.

Additionally, he explored how ChatGPT and other AI tools helped save time and improve output, supported by smarter reporting and campaign management. The session offered practical takeaways for any peak or time-sensitive campaign, ready to apply to upcoming Black Friday activity.

Access the free Black Friday Strategy Template from the talk here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17MpMPB6vPIHe9I0_boo2CvLMnjp5RSk2ASAb1VTphdM/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Use this editable template to plan, prioritise, and measure your own Black Friday campaigns. It includes all 16 top tips from the session in a practical checklist format (as well as some bonus tips!), ready to copy and adapt for client or in-house strategies.

Transcript

2. A digital agency For the ambitious
3. Built my first website on Yahoo! Geocities, aged 11. 16+ Years with Head of Search Marketing.
5. Black Friday is now a month-long! Demand builds from early November and lasts the whole month. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
7. 16 Practical Top Tips for @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
9. Increased their November revenue by 154% YoY. Achieved a 228% gross revenue target for November, helping them reach their annual target 3 months early.
10. First up, let’s talk Strategy.
11. “What does success look like?” @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
13. Be visible for the ‘full user journey’ throughout November. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
14. The Build Up The Peak! The Last Call / Cyber Monday
15. Discovery Research Decision Purchase
16. Let’s talk CRO.
18. Get your dev team on board, and your server prepped for peak! @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
22. Even the perfect Black Friday strategy can fall apart if your server buckles, page speed is slow, or devs deploy at the wrong moment. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
25. Use Microsoft Clarity for free, valuable UX insights summarised by AI. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
27. “Aside from price, why should your audience choose you?” @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
28. Sitewide USPs Trust signals
29. Weak landing page imagery? Try a portion of Nano Banana! @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
31. Let’s talk PPC.
32. Confirm budgets in writing and monitor spend pacing. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
34. Setup Secondary and Backup Payment Methods, and ensure there are sufficient funds! @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
36. Feed context into a ChatGPT ‘Project’ to prepare for Black Friday. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
39. Work more efficiently using the Google Ads Editor for bulk changes. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
42. Make full use of Ad Assets! @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
43. ‘Up to’ discount Image assets Reinforce promos in Sitelinks Promos and USPs reinforced in Description Business name + logo assets
44. NOW is the time to get on top of Merchant Center diagnostics! @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
46. Use a Supplemental Feed to enhance your product data. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
47. Optimised titles here
49. Set an absolute minimum tROAS, accounting for conversion lag. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
51. When changing tROAS, adjust in small increments to prevent restarting the ‘Learning’ phase. @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
53. A free gift from this talk! @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
54. Access this spreadsheet here
55. Your wellbeing is essential for your Black Friday success. (and your teams’) @cargoodrich #brightonSEO
57. Thank you! linkedin.com/in/cargoodrich christian@sozodesign.co.uk speakerdeck.com/cargoodrich