The holiday shopping season isn’t just a B2C phenomenon, it’s a masterclass in marketing strategy. And according to our recent survey of more than 500 marketers, what works for consumers often works for business buyers, too.
The data reveals clear patterns in what drives fourth-quarter performance across industries:
Taken together, these findings show that successful holiday marketing is built on early engagement, seamless connectivity, and data-driven precision. But the best inspiration often comes from the brands already doing it right in the wild.
Below, we highlight standout Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) campaigns from leading brands, and the actionable lessons every marketer can take into their own Q4 playbook.
Target’s 2023 “Black Friday Now” campaign offered rolling weekly deals starting in early November. The result: a steady build-up of consumer engagement, which minimized reliance on a single weekend and spread revenue across the month.
Key Learning: Starting early ensures your brand is in consideration before inboxes and feeds become oversaturated.
Best Buy orchestrates consistent omnichannel promotions across app, email, website, and stores, often integrating buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) incentives. This seamlessness boosts both online and offline conversions.
Key Learning: Omnichannel engagement ensures consumers encounter your brand everywhere they turn during BFCM, building both trust and urgency.
Sephora uses its Beauty Insider loyalty data to provide personalized BFCM offers. Members see different discounts depending on their loyalty tier, which deepens engagement and boosts both short-term sales and long-term retention.
Key Learning: Personalization makes consumers feel valued, while exclusivity gives them a reason to buy now rather than later.
22 Days Nutrition used gamified discount codes during BFCM, creating a treasure-hunt experience. The interactive campaign drove higher engagement rates than static promotions.
Key Learning: Storytelling adds a layer of differentiation, allowing your brand to capture hearts as well as wallets.
Amazon’s Lightning Deals exemplify this tactic. By rotating limited-time offers every few hours, Amazon creates urgency and keeps shoppers returning repeatedly throughout the day.
Key Learning: Scarcity and urgency fuel the “fear of missing out,” a psychological trigger central to BFCM success.
Case Study: Nike leverages its Nike Membership program to gather insights on shopper preferences. During BFCM, members receive hyper-personalized offers based on browsing and purchase data, significantly increasing conversions.
Key Learning: Data-driven insights are the foundation of precision marketing, ensuring that every BFCM dollar spent delivers maximum ROI.
TikTok reported that 1 in 3 users made a purchase directly from the app during BFCM 2023, underscoring the growing role of entertainment-driven commerce.
Key Learning: Mobile and social commerce aren’t optional. It’s table stakes for reaching the modern holiday shopper.
Walmart’s “Shop Early” mobile push notifications in 2023 led to double-digit lift in app engagement, demonstrating the power of real-time, mobile-first outreach during high-traffic periods.
Key Learning: Mobile is not a secondary channel, it is the primary channel. Brands that prioritize mobile design and frictionless checkout capture the lion’s share of BFCM revenue.
Glossier’s BFCM campaigns often highlight real customer selfies and testimonials, creating a community-driven shopping experience that resonates with their audience.
Key Learning: In a season filled with noise, trust and authenticity cut through. Social proof transforms skepticism into confidence.
Sephora’s Beauty Insider program extends the holiday shopping experience by offering points multipliers and exclusive rewards, turning BFCM buyers into long-term brand advocates.
Key Learning: The true ROI of BFCM lies not only in sales volume but in cultivating repeat, loyal customers who return throughout the year.
Best Buy analyzed multi-year BFCM performance to shift budget toward higher-performing digital channels, resulting in a 15% YOY improvement in return on ad spend.
Key Learning: The holiday season is a learning lab. Advertisers who analyze and apply insights gain a lasting competitive edge.
The takeaway from this year’s survey, and from the best brands in the market, is clear: success during Black Friday and Cyber Monday isn’t about chasing a weekend spike. It’s about building data-driven, customer-first momentum that carries into the new year.
Marketers who start early, connect across channels, and personalize every interaction consistently outperform their peers. The numbers back it up: those who activated campaigns before mid-November saw 2x stronger engagement, and those with a unified omnichannel approach reported a 19% lift in conversions. Meanwhile, brands investing in first-party data and mobile-first design continue to capture the lion’s share of Q4 revenue.
Whether you’re driving consumer sales or engaging B2B buyers, the same principles apply:
The holiday season may end in December, but for agile marketers, the insights don’t. Treat every campaign as a learning lab, refine your audience strategy, and carry those lessons into 2025. Because the best Q4 marketers aren’t just reacting to trends, they’re shaping them.
Download our Holiday Marketing Guide to learn how to turn data into Q4 growth.
As Content Marketing Manager, Natasia is responsible for helping strategize, produce and execute Data Axle's content. With a passion for writing and an enthusiasm for data management and technology, Natasia creates content that is designed to deliver nuggets of wisdom to help brands and individuals elevate their data governance policies. A native New Yorker, when Natasia is not at work she can be found enjoying New York’s food scene, at one of NYC’s many museums, or at one of the city’s many parks with her two teacup yorkies.