Black Friday advertising lessons: 5 holiday moves brands must make now

Show summary Hide summary

• Holiday ad budgets climb — TV gets the biggest lift
• TV’s job has changed: from awareness to driving online purchases
• Why October is gaining ground as the new BFCM kickoff
• AI tools move from experiment to holiday production toolkit
• Measurement rules spending: every holiday dollar must prove its worth
  • Primary measurement approaches in use
• Creative and cadence: test early, iterate quickly
• How marketers are balancing reach and return this season

Brands are shifting their holiday playbooks earlier and sharpening how they measure results. With Black Friday stretched from a single day into a weeks-long battleground, advertisers are racing to secure inventory, test creative, and prove that each media dollar drives measurable sales. A recent Tatari survey of retail and DTC advertisers reveals how marketers plan to spend, when they’ll launch campaigns, and how TV is being recast as a direct-response channel.

Holiday ad budgets climb — TV gets the biggest lift

Spending for the season is rising again, and television is a major beneficiary. A growing share of advertisers say they’ll allocate more to TV for Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year.

• More brands are increasing TV spend, signaling confidence in broadcast and connected-TV to reach shoppers at scale.
• Fewer advertisers plan cuts, so competition for ad slots tightens as costs climb.
• Many companies that already buy TV are committing larger increases, not just new entrants.

The net effect: greater demand for premium holiday inventory and a premium on timing. Marketers who move sooner can secure placements and avoid the late-season price surge.

TV’s job has changed: from awareness to driving online purchases

Traditional Black Friday images of in-store lines are fading in planning conversations. Advertisers are prioritizing digital conversion over physical foot traffic.

• Most brands are funneling traffic to their DTC websites rather than to brick-and-mortar stores.
• Very few prioritize Amazon or in-store events as their primary holiday channel.
• TV is increasingly optimized to send viewers straight to checkout pages.

This reframes TV as a performance medium. Creative, placement, and measurement are now built around encouraging immediate online action rather than only boosting brand recall.

Why October is gaining ground as the new BFCM kickoff

The calendar for holiday campaigns keeps expanding earlier into the fall. Advertisers are launching promotions well before Thanksgiving to reach deal-hunting consumers and lock in inventory.

• Many brands plan to roll out holiday messaging in early November or even October.
• Only a minority are waiting until Thanksgiving week to start TV campaigns.
• Earlier launches help avoid peak competition and sometimes deliver lower CPMs.

Retail trends show shoppers begin searching for holiday bargains in the fall. By moving earlier, marketers can ride that search behavior and build momentum ahead of the crowded final weeks.

AI tools move from experiment to holiday production toolkit

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a buzzword at marketing meetings. A large portion of advertisers now use AI to streamline creative and media tasks for holiday TV.

• Common AI uses include creative ideation, ad personalization, and campaign optimization.
• Some teams rely on AI for audience targeting and rapid A/B testing at scale.
• Others use AI to automate repetitive workflow tasks so strategists can focus on bigger decisions.

Adoption is accelerating. A further share of advertisers plan to add AI soon, leaving a minority not using these tools at all. The conversation is shifting from if to how AI produces the best results.

Measurement rules spending: every holiday dollar must prove its worth

Marketers are applying rigorous measurement to holiday TV to ensure outcomes match investment. Measurement frameworks now play a central role in budget decisions.

Primary measurement approaches in use

• Pixel-based attribution: Used to trace digital conversions back to TV exposures.
• Incrementality testing: Experiments designed to show the lift TV generates versus a control.
• Media mix modeling: Econometric analysis to estimate TV’s contribution within a broader channel mix.

Many brands combine two or all three methods to validate impact from multiple angles. Only a small fraction report having no formal way to measure BFCM TV effectiveness.

Measurement changes how budgets are allocated. For most advertisers, maximizing performance is the top priority when delivering holiday TV campaigns. That means spend decisions are tied to outcomes, not simply clearing budget before year-end.

Creative and cadence: test early, iterate quickly

With the season stretching out, advertisers are rethinking creative strategies and campaign pacing. Early tests help identify winning messages before competition peaks.

• Start with shorter bursts to validate offers and creative concepts.
• Use data from early flights to refine targeting and creative for wider buys.
• Keep cadence flexible so budgets can be shifted to the best-performing tactics.

Speed and agility matter. Brands that test sooner can iterate faster and capture more efficient placements as the holiday rush intensifies.

How marketers are balancing reach and return this season

Advertisers face a trade-off between broad reach and measurable return. The survey shows most are choosing strategies that emphasize accountable performance over sheer presence.

• Performance metrics guide buy decisions, not just impression counts.
• Omnichannel plans still exist, but digital-first approaches dominate.
• Successful teams blend brand-building creative with clear calls to action.

The result is a holiday media mix that seeks both scale and conversion, with TV optimized to drive online transactions rather than only lift brand sentiment.