DTC Podcast Ep 563: 3 Moves to Win Black Friday While It’s Happening (Pilothouse Playbook)

Date: November 28, 2025
Host: Eric (B), with Jocelyn (A)
Main Theme:
Actionable day-of Black Friday strategies for DTC brands, with a focus on maximizing acquisition, creative and website tactics, and making sense of wobbly platform data in the moment.

Quick Overview

This episode delivers real-time, tactical advice for ecommerce brands and marketers during the critical hours of Black Friday and Cyber Weekend. Eric and Jocelyn from Pilothouse dive deep into live campaign management, conversion-rate optimizations, creative pivots, smart budget allocation, and interpreting marketing data when platforms are lagging or unreliable. Candid success stories, actionable website tips, and an emphasis on customer acquisition and audience segmentation make this an essential playbook for DTC operators.

Key Insights & Discussion Points

1. Day-Of Ad Strategies: Handle Surging CPMs & Creative Pivots

• Surging Ad Costs

  • CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) and CPCs (cost per click) typically double on Black Friday (01:26).
  • Scrappy, organic-style creatives often outperform high-polish Black Friday ads in the moment.
  • "All of them were scrappy. You know, the box shot, the mass product shots or even like the organic stuff." – Jocelyn (01:45)

• Creative Hack (Rapid Wins)

  • If CPMs/CACs suddenly jump, swiftly iterate using simple Canva edits: take a top-performing organic product image, add a Black Friday border, and re-upload as a new ad.
  • Meta's learning phase is fast – sales can come in "within hours" (02:38).

• Let Evergreen Win

  • Don’t assume Black Friday-labeled ads will automatically win. "If they cost more and they're not converting as high as your evergreen, let the evergreen shine." (02:59)
  • Use legacy creatives that have "learned" all year rather than only new, holiday-themed ones.

Timestamped Segment:

• [01:11–03:30] — High CPMs, creative pivots, letting algorithmic data guide (and when to override it), scrappy ad success.

2. Budget & Funnel Focus: Prioritizing Acquisition When It Matters Most

• Shift to Top-of-Funnel

  • Pilothouse pushes ~75% of budgets to acquisition, especially via PPC, during BFCM, letting retention strategies (email, retention platforms) pull in existing customers.
  • "Why pay to get someone into the door and convert when you already know that they're going to convert?" – Jocelyn (03:50)
  • Double down on new customer acquisition while the market is hot, and retarget those cohorts in Q1/Q2.

• Customer Journey Peaks

  • Three recurring peaks:

    1. Initial sale/email blast (often Tuesday before BF)
    2. Black Friday itself and the weekend
    3. Cyber Monday

  • The trendline usually follows prior years; watch your own year-over-year Shopify data for “repeatable peaks” (05:00–06:21).

Timestamped Segment:

• [03:30–06:34] — Budget strategy, leveraging peaks, acquisition vs. retention, Q4 purchase behavior insights.

3. CRO On-the-Fly: Website Optimizations You Can Make Today

• Banner & Offer Clarity

  • Static, in-your-face banners for Black Friday offers; avoid rotating banners, minimize cognitive load.
  • Simplify offers: if you have thresholds (e.g., spend $100, get 20% off), roll them up into a single clear headline like “Up to 40% off” (06:39).

• Homepage, Button Placement

  • Make headers/hero sections static and offer-focused.

  • Move key CTA buttons “above the fold” on desktop. Simple layout changes can boost conversion same-day.

  • Click through your own checkout, checking for friction; align cart upsells with offer thresholds.

  • "Just alleviating any kind of road bumps that could happen go a long way, take the speed." – Jocelyn (08:12)

Timestamped Segment:

• [06:34–08:23] — Live CRO tactics, UX “bumps off the runway,” conversion-boosting micro-optimizations.

4. Case Study: 100% Year-Over-Year Growth Through Holistic Approach

• Breaking Goals with Multi-Platform Execution

  • Example of a client expecting only 20% growth (not peak season), but hit 100% YoY thanks to combining Meta, CRO, Email, and Rebuy app for personalized upsells & AI-powered site widgets.

• "If you play them well together, you can be really efficient. And that's what we did." – Jocelyn (09:11)

• Rebuy implementation resulted in a 20% immediate topline lift, aiding the much larger YoY performance.

Timestamped Segment:

• [08:23–10:28] — Client story, cross-platform strategy, why website optimization plus full-funnel marketing trumps single-channel focus.

5. Platform Chaos: Spend Limits & Attribution Mayhem

• Random Meta Spend Limits

  • Acknowledge “cruel fate” of Meta setting ad spend limits this week for U.S. brands. (11:08)

• Paid Media Data Lag

  • Significant attribution delay across Meta and Google is normal due to high volume and server load.
  • Don’t knee-jerk cut (or boost) spend based on bad/incomplete real-time data.
  • "Make sure you look at it across the board and make like a sound decision when you are optimizing hourly and that day of." – Jocelyn (12:36)

• Check Multiple Data Points

  • When in doubt, review platform analytics, third-party attribution tools like Triple Whale/Northbeam, and Shopify—use all in concert before making optimization decisions.

Timestamped Segment:

• [10:28–12:47] — Platform frustrations, day-of data triage, practical advice for real-time decision making.

6. App Stack: Rebuy and Other Essential Tools

• Rebuy (App Spotlight)
  • Offers smart product recommendations, customizable widgets, upsell flows, and visitor-specific merchandising.
  • "Every single time that we implement Rebuy we see like a good chunk of top line revenue bump." – Jocelyn (14:38)
  • Split-test features, checkout flow widgets, and trust signals—works for brands with both large and small SKU counts.

Timestamped Segment:

• [12:47–14:51] — What Rebuy does for DTC brands, how it drives extra revenue, use cases shared.

7. Deep Audience Segmentation: Guiding, Not Following the Algorithm

• Taking Back Control from the Algorithm

  • Don’t blindly follow platform data; dig into customer personas, segment by emotional drivers, and push creative/testing directions intentionally.
  • Example: For a jewelry brand, identify a capped demo, decode emotional motivators, and tailor messaging to break out.
  • Health/wellness example: Uncovering shifting behaviors before algorithms catch up can yield efficiency and new audiences (e.g., “under-millennials” favoring wellness over nightlife).

• "There’s certain shifts happening that the algorithm hasn’t caught up to yet." – Jocelyn (17:12)

• Sophisticated segmentation yields healthier platform metrics and ROAS, lower cost increases—even when CPCs/CPMs climb.

Timestamped Segment:

• [14:51–18:45] — Deep angle testing, persona-driven marketing, finding and capitalizing on new buying behaviors.

Notable Quotes

• "Don't freak out when you see something on one platform. Make sure you look at it across the board and make a sound decision." – Jocelyn (12:36)
• "If you do add this, you do get for the free shipping, you get the offer and whatnot. Just alleviating any kind of road bumps that could happen go a long way, take the speed." – Jocelyn (08:12)
• "Let the evergreen shine. Like usually it makes sense because they're legacy they will, they've had learnings all year." – Jocelyn (02:59)
• "Every single time that we implement Rebuy we see like a good chunk of top line revenue bump." – Jocelyn (14:38)
• "There’s certain shifts happening that the algorithm hasn’t caught up to yet." – Jocelyn (17:12)

Memorable Moments

• The stocking stuffer nostalgia: "As a kid we'd get those Lifesaver packs...they need to come back with that because that was like my childhood and I love them." – Jocelyn (19:08)
• Eric’s closing reminder: “If you haven’t checked out Pilothouse, go check out Pilothouse Co. Check out the case studies… Great opportunity to check out our work.” (19:26)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:11–03:30]: Paid social pivots, creative quick wins for Black Friday, letting evergreen ads shine
• [03:30–06:34]: Funnel priorities, acquisition focus, Q4 purchase behavior, three-peak sales pattern
• [06:34–08:23]: Instant website & UX optimizations for higher conversions
• [08:23–10:28]: 100% YoY growth case study through multi-platform and CRO
• [10:28–12:47]: Coping with ad spend limits and attribution lag
• [12:47–14:51]: Rebuy explained; impact and actionable usage tips
• [14:51–18:45]: Deep audience/angle testing, persona-targeted creative strategy

Tone & Takeaways

• Pragmatic, energetic, and honest. Eric and Jocelyn pull no punches and give immediately actionable advice, always focused on what will drive results “on the day.”
• Direct, no-fluff, “all killer, no filler”—perfect for marketers in the trenches.

If you only do three things this Black Friday…

1. Don’t panic about sky-high CPMs—pivot to scrappy creative, double down on evergreens, and control the algorithm, don’t let it control you.
2. Optimize your site’s banners, offers, and checkout flows right now for instant CRO wins.
3. Rely on multiple data touchpoints for performance decisions—don’t let lagging platform data sink a great campaign.

For more tactical DTC insights, subscribe to the DTC newsletter or explore Pilothouse’s case studies.