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

A talk by Christian Goodrich, Head of Search at SOZO.

At brightonSEO and MeasureFest in October 2025, I shared the 13 tips behind the Black Friday and Q4 campaigns I run, drawn from real budgets and results the year before.

The talk covers how to measure and grow return in a short sales window while the full conversion picture is still coming in, how to agree KPIs with stakeholders before anything goes live and how to improve conversion across the whole journey, from first click to checkout.

I also show where ChatGPT and other AI tools save time on ad creative, reporting and campaign management, so more of the time goes on the decisions that move revenue.

I've since updated the planning template from the talk for Black Friday 2026, with SEO and AI search now sitting alongside paid search, CRO and measurement. It's free, and you can get your copy from my website below.

🔗 SOZO, where I'm Head of Search:
https://sozodesign.co.uk/

🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cargoodrich/

🔗 My personal website and industry thoughts, Goodrich.Digital:
https://goodrich.digital/

🔗 Get my free Black Friday 2026 planning template:
https://goodrich.digital/free-black-friday-planning-template/

🔗 Read all 13 tips from the talk, with what's changed since:
https://goodrich.digital/insights/black-friday-cro-ppc-tips-brightonseo/

🔗 Everything I've published on Black Friday 2026, in one place:
https://goodrich.digital/black-friday-seo-ppc/

🔗 My follow-up talk at eCommerce Expo 2026, Black Friday starts in AI search:
https://speakerdeck.com/cargoodrich/ecommerce-expo-2026-black-friday-starts-in-ai-search-how-to-win-visibility-before-peak-demand-hits-christian-goodrich

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