Despite its moniker, Cyber Monday may not be the best day to do targeted online marketing, according to global programmatic trading desk The Exchange Lab.
New data from the 2014 American Thanksgiving weekend show that online ads displayed on Black Friday performed substantially better, and cost quite a bit less, than ads on Cyber Monday.
The Exchange Lab looked at 85 million impressions per day over the course of the week and found conversions on Black Friday were up 60% versus the previous Friday, while Cyber Monday conversions were only up 20% versus the previous Monday.
High advertiser demand for online Cyber Monday ads drove CPMs up 25% over the previous Monday and 31% over the seven-day moving average – while Black Friday CPMs were actually down 18 cents on the previous Friday.
The Exchange Lab CEO James Aitken said in a statement that while both Friday and Monday were exceptionally busy, “it is clear to see that Black Friday offered the most attainable opportunities for advertisers looking to reach audiences at the best price, while the increase in CPM indicates how competitive ad space was on Cyber Monday.”
It seems that in the rush to drive online sales on Cyber Monday, advertisers created a glut of demand that made it tough and expensive to reach consumers. Although Monday saw a surge in inventory volume thanks to increased traffic from deal shoppers, advertisers competing for space overwhelmed the new supply and ended up paying more for less volume.
But according to the data, Black Friday saw nearly as much new traffic as Cyber Monday. On Friday, The Exchange Lab’s platform saw a peak of 85 million impressions globally, while Monday saw an only slightly larger peak of 90 million. That’s not that surprising, since multiple studies this year found consumers are just as likely to research deals online on Black Friday as they are on Cyber Monday – generating just as many impressions for advertisers to buy.
Although both Monday and Friday saw increased supply, advertisers weren’t nearly as bullish on Friday – meaning supply increases more than offset demand, market prices dropped, and a few smart marketers got to take advantage of a big opportunity to reach deal shoppers.
