Your post-BFCM playbook

Author

Toby Waller
November 28, 2025

Hey friend!

Welcome to this week's edition of the Brick-by-Brick newsletter, where 7-8-figure brands learn how to scale more efficiently with Meta, Google, and YouTube ads.

In today's edition, we dive into the post-BFCM playbook that separates brands maintaining profitability through December from those watching their sales cliff-dive after Cyber Monday.

Most brands assume the drop is inevitable. It's not.

There's a specific framework for maintaining momentum through December without burning your budget on a cooling market.

The brands doing $5M+ months understand that post-BFCM isn't about sustaining Black Friday numbers - it's about strategic positioning while everyone else goes dark.

Here's the exact framework for navigating the next 6 weeks:

The Black Friday Weekend Drop-Off

Expect sales to drop after the weekend compared to Black Friday itself. This is normal.

Your move: Adjust budgets slightly lower and dial back your bids. If you're using Cost Cap, you've got some buffer against volatility, making this a safer bidding strategy during this period.

The Critical Mistake: Scaling on Tuesday

Here's where brands burn money: They look at their Cyber Monday performance and pour more budget into Tuesday.

Don't do this.

Pouring money into a cooling market leads to inefficient spending. Even if you extend your Cyber Monday sale, maintain a steady, calculated approach. This protects your budget and positions you to capitalize as sales naturally fluctuate.

Understanding Cyber Monday Timing

Sales peak during afternoon hours on Cyber Monday when people are browsing at work, with another surge in the evening.

Important: Cyber Monday falls in December this year (like last year, unlike previous years). This impacts your November vs. December forecasting.

Don't Use Monday Data on Wednesday

If you're optimizing Wednesday or Thursday after Cyber Monday, only look at Tuesday onward.

Why? If you use Cyber Monday as your guiding point, you might see an amazing Monday followed by declining performance. Looking at multiple days, including Monday, makes everything look great when it's actually downtrending.

Why Extending Your Sale Doesn't Work

You can extend your Cyber Monday sale for a week ("Cyber Week"), but performance will be lower regardless.

Lower your budgets and manual bids. Even if your front-end data stays the same, your conversion rate will drop, making your ads less effective.

The Solution: Shift to Christmas Messaging

When December starts, consumer mindset shifts.

  • Black Friday: People buying for themselves

  • December: People buying for family and friends

This creates an atmosphere of thoughtful gift-giving. Leverage this by crafting messaging that resonates with the spirit of Christmas.

Don't just say "this is the best product." Emphasize how it could be an amazing gift. People want to be proud when they give a good gift.

The Gift Guide Strategy

Craft gift guide articles showcasing multiple items from your product lineup, suggesting which ones are perfect for different loved ones.

These ads perform well until mid-December or your last shipping day (whichever comes first - usually between the 15th and 20th).

Be Transparent About Shipping Cutoffs

The last thing you want is angry, disappointed customers who didn't receive their gift before Christmas. Make your shipping deadlines crystal clear.

After Shipping Deadlines: Switch to Gift Cards

Once your shopping date passes, leverage gift cards. They're a convenient way to capture sales from people who still haven't sorted their Christmas gifts and don't have many ideas.

Even with gift cards, this will be a slower period.

Q5: The Overlooked Opportunity

The period between Christmas and New Year (called "Q5") is when you should capitalize on low CPMs.

CPMs are extremely low because many brands stop advertising, but people are still in buying mode. Boxing Day is especially strong in the UK and Australia - some brands see Boxing Day sales in line with Cyber Monday.

Don't miss this opportunity.

New Year Messaging

After Boxing Day, transition to New Year sales. Leverage messaging like "New Year, New Me" - especially effective in health and beauty verticals.

The Complete Timeline

  1. Post-Cyber Monday: 
    Performance drops (expected)

  2. Two weeks:
    Holiday gifting messaging

  3. After that:
    Switch to gift cards

  4. Cool-off period pre-Christmas

  5. After Christmas: 
    Go hard again

  6. January:
    Strong potential for beauty/supplement brands with New Year positioning

The difference between brands that limp into January and brands that maintain profitability through Q4 comes down to having a plan before Cyber Monday even hits.

If you're looking to scale heading into 2026 and want a second set of eyes on your strategy, we're opening up a limited number of free audits for 7-8 figure brands.

You can book a call with me below - we'll dig into your account and show you exactly where the opportunities are.

Talk soon,

Toby.