PlayAbly Podcast Episode 11: Black Friday Strategy Part 3

In the latest episode of the Playably Podcast, Kajal and Gabi dive into a key Black Friday Cyber Monday strategy: maximizing engagement with playable ads. With BFCM season fast approaching, brands are vying for shoppers’ attention in a shorter-than-usual holiday window. Gabi explains why ecommerce gamification is critical for driving meaningful connections with customers this season. Learn how gamification in ecommerce through interactive ads can elevate user engagement, increase conversions, and create memorable brand experiences. From Friends trivia games to advent calendars, this episode is packed with actionable insights to make your brand stand out this Black Friday season!

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Transcript

PlayAbly Podcast 11: Black Friday Strategy Part 3

Kajal: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the PlayAbly podcast. This is episode three of our Black Friday Cyber Monday series. And today we're meeting with Gabby. 

Gabi: . Hey, Kajal. Thanks for having me back. I can't even believe it's already November. 

Kajal: That's obviously got us thinking about Black Friday.

Black Friday is the biggest time of the year for most e commerce companies. We've seen this time and time again. Some companies do, 70%, 80% of their sales during this time. There's discounts everywhere. There's new product. There's limited time offers. People need to buy people presents.

It is just a big expected shopping time. 

Gabi: Yeah, for sure. It is definitely the busiest season of the year, for 95 percent of our brands. But this year is different, right? Yes, it is different. mostly because black Friday cyber Monday falls on the last days of [00:01:00] November.

black Friday is going to be on November 29th, which pushes cyber Monday to December, which doesn't usually happen. so think about all of the brands that are planning for November. they're actually waiting all November to start seeing the increase in sales.

So it's definitely throwing off forecasting and planning. It's not something that Brent should rely on this year. There's other initiatives they can do though, to help balance the traffic they're not going to be getting mid. November, one thing I don't want to forget not only, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday later in November, but that also shortens the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which we call the gifting period. So you're losing a week in December. that's usually a very busy week where people [00:02:00] Immediately after Thanksgiving, and Black Friday, start shopping for gifts. So that's also something you need to consider this year.

Kajal: And I think that's a really big deal because a lot of people Don't shop early or they put it off. You need to incentivize them to shop early. There's going to be so much competition in that space, but also e commerce. shipping times, you have to include, making sure that you order early enough to ship.

So I know you've been working on this with a lot of our brands. What is the strategy for this year? what could brands be doing to have a successful black Friday, cyber Monday? 

Gabi: So I think the number one thing to remember is don't wait until the last minute

okay. But the big thing we're focusing on this year is user engagement. it's a very competitive time. People are shopping, but not only are more people [00:03:00] shopping, every brand has promotions. So it's very hard to compete. if you're not doing something to stand out, or taking an innovative approach, It's going to be hard to beat the competition this year.

What we are doing, it's two things. I know you guys already talked about the advent calendar on a previous podcast, but along with that, we're also using playable ads instead of just the usual static or video ads to focus on increasing, user engagement. And brand recognition from that either new market or returning users.

before we get too deep into playable ads, what is a playable ad? a playable ad is an actual ad. Let's think about the usual static or video ad that you see on Meta, Instagram, Google platforms, but instead of being an image or a [00:04:00] video, it's an actual game that lets users interact with you It sometimes, depending on the brand, lets you try the product before you even click on the ad that's going to take you to the landing page.

So it gives them a little, sneak peek of what your brand is or what the product they're buying is. How is that going to help them or how are they going to benefit from the product? And because of that, It increases user engagement. So not only you're seeing click through rate increase from your paid media platforms because users are engaging more if you add more in a playful way instead of just clicking to buy, they're actually enjoying a game and playing.

but once they land on that landing page that also has the game, we are seeing not only session duration increase, but also a conversion rate increase. And [00:05:00] the email sign up, right? And that's very important for Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. So the playable ads, are not something we're starting specifically for Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.

it's something that we are starting to implement for most of our brands next week. So the second week of November, This way, we have a big enough and engaged, audience, by the time the black Friday and cyber Monday sales start. we can then send them promotional emails, or create retargeting campaigns based on their previous engagement with that playable ad.

Kajal: how does. The playable ad increase engagement. Yes, they click on the ad and go to the page, but what is it about The playable ad that makes it work that makes it stand out. 

Gabi: It's an interactive experience. Think about your shopping experiences. let's say you're browsing through Instagram, TikTok, whatever platform you use the most.

Thousands of ads [00:06:00] that are just pictures or videos. most of the time you just keep scrolling. a playable ad. is much more interactive. it's inviting you to do something more than just. shopping, you're actually getting to try or have an experience with the brand before you even click or are taken to the brand's website.

So you're actually playing a game. It's a fun experience. It creates a deeper connection with that brand because of that fun experience and that memorable experience, what we usually see is increased engagement because you're top of mind for that.

Consumer versus 100 other competitors they might also be considering, when shopping for specific products. 

Kajal: And I can see this working really well, especially for brands that have that educational edge. they have a complicated product or special ingredients that they really need to teach people about or at [00:07:00] least get it in front of the users.

so I know that we've done some games. 

Gabi: We have a very fine game. It's a friends trivia game for Central Park, which sells the friends branded coffee.

we're asking people questions about different seasons of friends. if they get it right, they get a certain percentage off. So let's say it's five questions if they get two out of the five correct, they're not getting anything off.

Three out of five correct, they get 10 percent off, four out of five, 15 percent off. Five questions out of five, they get 20 percent off and a free bag of coffee. so that's how we're educating people towards a brand, and creating that fun experience that keeps your brand top of mind.

Kajal: Yeah, it's challenging as well, getting five out of five. I think everybody would try and try again. so they got the five out of [00:08:00] five, which, means they're spending even longer on your site, if they're allowed to replay the game. I could see that, people would want to share that as well and say, Hey, I got five out of five on this, thing, people love sharing their knowledge on social media.

So I think it could also bring in more traffic that way, not even from your ad. But let's talk about the performance of the playable ads. How does it compare to static ads? What have we seen? 

Gabi: we have seen, a 15 percent increase in click through rate, for live playable ads. once on the page, we see a 10 to 20 percent increase in session duration, meaning people are more engaged the Highest conversion rate we've seen is 25 percent meaning people who play the game. Converting more. An interesting thing we're seeing. is that not only are people converting more, but their average order value. is also higher. We see an average order value increase of 10 to [00:09:00] 12%. 

Kajal: I'd imagine since we have more people converting and giving their email or contact information so that we could do that segmentation and remarketing it would also lead to a longer LTV. 

Gabi: Very good point. So not only are we creating a segment within their email platform.

We're creating sub segments. Based on The questions they're answering. an example of a sub segment, for email is persona based games where the questions lead them to a different landing page, that speaks to their motives, and behavior.

based on their questions, we're able to create sub segments within their email platform. And create very targeted emails for that kind of persona. 

Kajal: . What are some other examples of games that we've made that you just, what are your favorites?

Gabi: I think my personal favorite is the Plinko game. [00:10:00] I used to love playing that growing up. the Plinko game, is also very easy for people to understand. it can be used for a variety of different, cases such as product discovery or just, user engagement. You can also have different incentives with the Plinko game.

if the customer keeps playing, you can give them more and more discounts if they engage more with your brand. my Current personal favorite. is also the advent calendar. We created a really nice Mont Blanc advent calendar. within that we have different games every day.

So we have quizzes. We also have the Planko game. there's a memory game within that advent calendar. I think my preference would be, it depends on what you're using it for. for fashion brands, for example, if you're launching collections every [00:11:00] season, I would say a memory game would be a nice product discovery game because you're showing new products.

as they're playing the games. 

Kajal: What can brands do to get started if they're interested in playable ads this Black Friday season?

Gabi: contact us. we have a very busy November. We have ten brands that are going live next week with playable ads.

as soon as we get you in, we can usually get you a playable ad within four to five days. you still have time to get out there and have those playable ads set up and going by mid November. 

Kajal: You heard her, folks. If you are lacking on your Black Friday plans or you're looking for a way to stand out, drive more traffic, increase your conversions, give us a call.

Thanks, Gaby, for joining us and for sharing your knowledge about playable ads. this is a really exciting idea

Gabi: Awesome. Thank you, Kajo. I'm excited to be [00:12:00] here again and good luck, everyone, during this Black Friday Cyber Monday.