Podcast Summary: Win With Paid Ads

Episode #94: The Turkey Five: Paid Ad Tips for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

Host: Ashley Brock
Date: November 13, 2025

Overview

This episode of Win With Paid Ads is a strategic crash course on how to maximize your paid ad performance during the critical “Turkey Five”—the intense sales window spanning Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. Host Ashley Brock synthesizes practical advice and tested strategies for both product-based and service-based businesses, emphasizing clarity in messaging and the need to capitalize on buyer psychology, urgency, and digital trends. Whether you’re selling in-store or exclusively online, Ashley provides actionable insights to help you crush your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales goals.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding the Turkey Five and Its Business Nuances

• The "Turkey Five" refers to Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.
• Strategies will differ based on your business model (product vs. service; online, offline, or hybrid).
• Timing is in your favor: many consumers wait until the last minute to purchase, so your campaigns can be effective right up to the end.
• Quote:

  “It's really Turkey 5, I think, is Thursday, because a lot of people, they actually start their Black Friday sale on Thanksgiving.” (07:40)

2. Psychology of Why People Buy on Black Friday/Cyber Monday

• Two major drivers: dopamine (thrill of the deal) and decision fatigue (desire for quick, easy choices).
• Black Friday “hijacks the dopamine loop”—shoppers chase the excitement of scoring a deal.
• Keep deals clear, simple, and frictionless. Don't complicate your offers—clarity converts.
• Quote:

  “Harvard Business Review actually found that emotion drives up to 95% of the purchase decision.” (08:50)
  “Clarity will bring prosperity this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.” (10:45)

3. Loss Aversion and Incentives

• People are strongly motivated to avoid missing out (“FOMO”), often more than by potential gains.
• Use loss aversion in your messaging: highlight what shoppers will lose if they miss your deal.
• Incentives like coupons, BOGO (buy one, get one), and value-adds are powerful, especially for retail.
• Quote:

  “Loss aversion is twice as powerful as the desire to gain something.” (11:30)

4. Timing & Teasing Your Sale

• Plant seeds before Black Friday—tease your offers 1–2 weeks out.
• Expect a dip in sales right before BFCM: “People are saving to buy during the sale.”
• Peak buying: Black Friday is typically stronger for in-store sales; Cyber Monday for online.
• Quote:

  “Typically, not always, but typically the Cyber Monday pool is even higher than Black Friday because it's like all those people that have waited all weekend like ‘crap, I really need to do this.’” (14:20)

5. Audience Targeting & Campaign Structure

• Advanced Tip: Use last year's Black Friday/Cyber Monday purchaser data to create lookalike audiences.
• Prepare audiences in advance; reduce ad spend right before the window, then ramp up aggressively.
• Consistent ad creatives Friday–Sunday, but swap to “Cyber Monday” specific messaging and creative on Monday.
• Monitor campaigns throughout the day; adjust spend accordingly if performance is strong.
• Quote:

  “If your performance is going well, don't stop a thing that's good, right? Like give it more room to spend... You're never going to get that profit unless you get outside of your dang comfort zone.” (23:05 – 25:00)

6. Funnel Optimization & Email/SMS Integration

• Your site and sales funnel must be frictionless, especially on mobile (70%+ of traffic is mobile).
• Use paid ads to grow your list before the sale.
• Email and SMS: Both drive about a third of all sales during BFCM.
• Send daily emails and timely texts; be the “squeaky wheel” during this period (“let them know you exist").
• Quote:

  “Be sure your site is loading quickly on mobile... There are so many free tools that can test your speed. Make sure your images for Black Friday and Cyber Monday are sized right so they don’t take too long to load.” (33:30)

7. Retargeting and Budget Management Strategies

• If you’re not running a sale, dial back ad budgets during BFCM instead of pausing entirely—competition and noise are high.
• If performance is strong, don’t cap your budget. Consider scaling rapidly to capitalize on in-the-moment demand.
• Be ready to adjust budgets in real-time (“up your Meta budget as you see strong results”).
• Memorable Moment:

  “I just want to give you like this thought that you might look back and regret not spending more on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.” (37:35)

8. Urgency, Scarcity, and Ethical Transparency

• Always use real urgency and scarcity (“days left,” “hours left,” “spots remaining”).
• Never mislead customers about availability.
• Consistency and transparency build trust and boost performance.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ashley Brock (on performance and mindset):

  “I've said this a million times, but someone will be like, ‘Ashley, I spent $2,000 and got 8,000. I only made $6,000.’ I'm like, yeah, and you can also spend 20,000 and get 80,000. That's also a 4 to 1 and you just made 60,000 in profit.” (24:30)

• Ashley Brock (on the risk of capping budgets):

  “If it's doing really well, take your meta budget and say you're spending, you know, $2,000 a day, make it 50. And it might not actually spend 50 the whole day, but it'll ramp it up...” (38:12)

• Ashley Brock (on urgency and honesty):

  “Communicate the real urgency. Do not lie and say 10 spots to go and there’s really 9,000.” (31:45)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Turkey 5 & business types: 00:34 – 05:40
• Psychology: dopamine, decision fatigue: 08:30 – 10:45
• Loss aversion & incentives: 11:30 – 13:00
• Timing and sales dips/peaks: 13:10 – 14:55
• Targeting + Lookalikes: 17:45 – 18:58
• Creative and Campaign Structure: 19:00 – 22:15
• Budget & Scaling Mindset: 23:00 – 25:00, 36:45 – 38:20
• Funnel, Email, SMS: 25:30 – 30:35
• Urgency and Scarcity: 31:35 – 32:20
• Mobile Optimization: 33:10 – 33:50

Final Rapid-Fire Tips

• Tease your sale 1–2 weeks early.
• Be absolutely clear in your ad messaging.
• Change creative for Cyber Monday.
• Monitor and be ready to scale ad spend during the peak window.
• Leverage email/SMS; daily communication is key.
• Optimize your mobile site and funnel for speed and clarity.
• Use lookalike targeting from last year’s best customers.
• Real urgency and scarcity convert, but always be honest.
• When in buying momentum, uncap that ad budget!

Listen to the next episode for Ashley’s behind-the-scenes experience at Alex Hormozi's VIP Day!