The marketing lead-up to Black Friday seems to get earlier and earlier every year. Between the widening shopping window and the increased importance of Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday, marketers may struggle with how to best cut through the noise. Last November, 63% of advertisers refreshed their creative during at least three weeks of the month, according to recent AppLovin data.
“Black Friday is no longer a single-day shopping event, and our data reinforces just how important the lead-up has become,” said Sam Appelbaum, senior director of consumer at AppLovin, in an email to Marketing Dive.
“BFCM 2026 Part 3: Four creative decisions that drive results,” draws on checkout and revenue data from e-commerce advertisers and AppLovin campaign data for the 2025 holiday marketing window around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Creative was defined as a set of assets delivered in an ad. AppLovin previously released research on when to start creative and determine success and customer acquisition tied to Black Friday.
Ads, ads baby
Advertisers that released new creative almost every week in November of 2025 reaped the rewards. Return on advertising spend seven days after the first interaction with the ad was 23% higher compared to those who refreshed creative once or twice, per the report. The ROAS when consumers interacted with the creative for the first time increased 20% for assets uploaded in November compared to those over 60 days old. After seven days, the ROAS was 15% higher than for the older creative.
Newer creative was also more efficient, with the cost per purchase 19% lower than baseline at the first interaction and 13% lower at day seven.
“Waiting until Black Friday to ramp up campaigns risks missing valuable demand. Launching campaigns earlier provides more time to learn, optimize and scale efforts ahead of peak purchase intent,” said Appelbaum.
However, getting an early start doesn’t mean keeping messaging the same throughout, according to Appelbaum. Instead, marketers should think about how to build early interest then release promotions as Black Friday nears.
“The goal isn't to be the first brand to announce a sale. It's to create a connected shopping journey that builds interest and converts that demand when shoppers are ready to buy,” he said.
Over half, 58.2%, of creative content comprised evergreen product messaging. However, this content made up just 37.8% of delivered spend, according to the report. Promotional messaging surrounding Black Friday or Cyber Monday accounted for 64.2% of day seven attributed revenue. The day seven ROAS for deal-centric marketing was slightly higher than for product messaging. The numbers suggest that finding a balance between promotional and product advertising may be beneficial for advertisers, per the report.
Short and sweet
Shorter ads performed the best in terms of first interaction ROAS, with Black Friday or Cyber Monday ads delivering an 83% lift compared to the June through September nonpromotion baseline. For videos between 16 and 29 seconds long, the lift fell to 39% and to 24% for ads 30 seconds or longer.
Brands should test different video lengths in order to figure out what works best, according to Appelbaum. Shorter videos can help break through the crowded holiday marketing environment by creating urgency or pushing a promotion. Longer-form videos can help with product education.
What comes after the video can be just as important, per the report. Interactive HTML endcards delivered a first-interaction ROAS lift of 35% compared to the June-September nonpromotional baseline when looking at a mix of new and returning customers. When looking at the same group and timeframe, the ROAS of static-image endcards fell 11%.
The day seven ROAS lift for interactive endcards was 40%, while for static-image, ROAS fell 5%.
When looking at new customers alone, the first interaction and day seven lift in ROAS for interactive endcards were both 48%. Static images also delivered positive lifts in ROAS at both first contact and day seven. At initial connection, it was 6% and for day seven it was 14%
“The biggest takeaway for marketers is that Black Friday/Cyber Monday success isn't just about offering the deepest discounts or spending more during the holiday weekend,” said Appelbaum. “Our data underscores the importance of preparing early, adapting creative and messaging as shopping behavior evolves, and testing different approaches throughout the season,” Appelbaum said.
