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Video Ads Rock Online, Adobe Predicts Cyber Monday Will Pull In $10-12 Billion

Brands got incredibly creative this year with their Black Friday video ads.

AcuityAds, an analytics company that tracks thousands of signals using a reverse-engineered algorithm to track the consumer journey, shows that the most-viewed video ads for Black Friday 2020 didn’t just run on one day. Many ran all month in November.

This year, the most successful brands embraced digital channels and offered free shipping or "click-and-collect" options.

Few consumers raced to stores this year -- turning Black Friday into Cyber Friday, leading right into Cyber Monday today, which Adobe Insights says is one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.

Walmart, for example, began running its Black Friday ad on the Tuesday prior.

Adobe Insights data estimates that this year, Cyber Monday will become the largest online sales day in history, generating between $10.8 billion and $12.7 billion online. Sales will represent 15% and 35% year-on-year growth.   

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In fact, Adobe predicts that the four “golden hours of retail,” between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Pacific, will bring in 29% of the day’s revenue — at least $3.1 billion — as shoppers hit the buy button before deals run out.

During the peak hours between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. pacific, Adobe estimates at least $13 million will be spent per minute. 

The most viewed video ads helping to generate the billions from online transactions mostly originated from brands capitalizing on COVID themes like at-home fitness and gaming, lease-to-own payment models, and once again getting excited about travel. At least in AcuityAds’ world.

AcuityAds tracks data from YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, so the data refers to solely to online views. The earliest released campaign on the Black Friday chart began running on October 19, 2020. The time frame for this data is between October 19 and November 25.

Some of the brands working with AcuityAds include Home Depot, Purple, MassMutual, and Lamark.

One ad from fitness apparel brand Gym Shark ran one three-minute and 26-second spot. It garnered 2.8 million views with an adventure bridging real and virtual worlds.

Here are the highest-performing campaigns this Black Friday:

Aaron’s takes the top spot this year. The lease-to-own retailer is touting Black Friday deals for the entire month of November. To make it even easier on shoppers, delivery is also free.

Gymshark took fourth place on the Black Friday chart is fitness apparel brand Gymshark. This campaign features people who are overcome with “BIG DEAL ENERGY” due to earlier than usual sale prices.

The ad stars mega-YouTuber KSI, who turns into a giant video game character and breaks through people’s living room walls. Gymshark’s Black Friday deals started on November 13th.

Go Ahead Tours rose to No. 9, on the list. Go Ahead Tours encourages people to get outside and book travel plans for 2021 and 2022. Guided tours are on sale with different destinations discounted each week. They followed messages from many other brands that used positivity and uplifting messaging to reach their consumers.

Here are the Top 10 Most Viewed Video Ads pulled and aggregated from YouTube, Facebook and Instagram:

  • Aaron’s                         It’s Black Friday All Month Long!                  8,131,351 views
  • Walmart                        Deals for Days                                           6,762,688 views
  • Bed Bath & Beyond        Black Friday Deals                                      3,327,323 views
  • Gymshark                     Big Deal Energy                                          2,837,481 views
  • Dell                              Back Friday                                                1,003,620 views
  • Macy’s                          Black Friday Starts Now                                 427,465 views
  • Kohl’s                           Too Great to Wait                                          369,466 views
  • Target                           Black Friday Now                                          322,502 views
  • Go Ahead Tours             Black Friday Travel Deals 2020                       315,874 views
  • Nectar Sleep                 Black Friday Mattress Sale                             240,469 views
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