Episode 255: Inside Smart Marketer’s Black Friday Strategy - Wins, Curveballs and Campaign Secrets
Release Date: 12/23/2025
Episode 280: AI Creative Strategy: How to Analyze Ads, Find What’s Working, and Build Smarter Creative Systems with Ben Bennett
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info_outlineEpisode 255: Inside Smart Marketer’s Black Friday Strategy - Wins, Curveballs and Campaign Secrets
Episode Description
Black Friday may be over, but the insights are just getting started. In this behind-the-scenes breakdown, Smart Marketer’s Director of Advertising, Denis Paskalev, joins Content Coordinator Zach Dampier to reveal what actually moved the needle during Cyber Week 2025.
From Meta’s surprise budget update to a Shopify outage on Cyber Monday, Denis shares exactly how the team prepped, pivoted, and profited; and what you can still apply to your end-of-year campaigns. They also dive into evergreen creative, first-click attribution, and how a smart lead gen strategy made all the difference.
“The results that we're going to see during Black Friday Cyber Monday are always going to be highly impacted by what you have been doing throughout the rest of the year.” – Denis Paskalev
You Will Learn
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How to use evergreen creative for seasonal promotions
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What changed with Meta’s budget controls (and how to adapt)
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The role of lead gen campaigns in doubling client revenue
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How to structure your ads using first-click attribution
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Smart ways to combine email and retargeting for higher conversions
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Why you should start your BFCM promotions early (and beat the CPM spike)
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How community support helped the team move faster and stay informed
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What to do if your BFCM didn’t perform, and how to make your holiday sale count
Links & Resources
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Mentor Table Mastermind: Mentor Table
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Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com
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Instagram: @smartmarketerig
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Omnisend Email & SMS Platform: smartmarketer.com/omnisend
Use code SMART for 50% off your first 3 months
Timestamps
00:00 – Intro - What Happened Behind the Scenes This BFCM
01:16 – Ezra’s Favorite Email Tool (And an Exclusive Offer)
02:19 – Meta’s Budget Update - Daily Spend is Now +75%
04:03 – Shopify Outage on Cyber Monday (and What They Did)
05:22 – Why Evergreen Ads Still Win
06:42 – The Power of Starting Promotions Early
07:49 – Younger Shoppers Drove Most of the Sales
08:51 – Client Wins - 20–30% YoY Revenue Growth
10:00 – Lead Gen Campaigns that Actually Worked
11:28 – Repurposing Creative From Previous Years
12:29 – Using Meta’s Dynamic (Flexible) Creative Format
13:44 – Full-Funnel Thinking and Attribution with Triple Whale
15:14 – How to Adjust Copy for End-of-Year Promotions
17:06 – Where AI Helped (and Where It Didn’t)
18:46 – Buy Now, Pay Later’s Role in 2025
20:02 – Make It Scarce, Make It Smart - Crafting Better Messaging
21:57 – How Ads Supported Flooded Email Inboxes
23:56 – The Rise of Mobile and Why Desktop Still Matters
25:07 – Staying Agile Thanks to Community Slack Threads
27:23 – Final Thoughts - What to Do If BFCM Underperformed
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