Podcast Summary: Marketing Operators

Episode: The Lesser-Known BFCM Insights & Strategies Driving Our Planning Right Now

Hosts: Connor Rolain, Connor MacDonald, Cody Plofker

Date: October 28, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode is a tactical deep-dive into nuanced Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) strategies, lesser-known insights, and current planning approaches from the hosts' real-world experiences operating high-growth eCommerce brands (particularly Ridge Wallet and Hexclad). The conversation combines practical, actionable advice for marketers planning their Q4 campaigns, granular media buying insights, and candid thoughts on product validation and team building for new DTC brands.

Key Discussion Points

1. International vs. US BFCM Spend & Pacing

Timestamps: 08:31–12:15

• US Brands:

  • After a strong Black Friday, it’s crucial to pull back significantly on ad spend Saturday/Sunday, as US demand drops after Friday.
  • Many brands make the mistake of overspending on Saturday, tanking their efficiency and media efficiency ratio (MER).
  • Quote (Connor R.): "It's so easy to not pull back spend enough going into Saturday. Results drop off in the US because people have purchased on Friday or they're waiting until Monday..." (08:41)

• International Markets:

  • In the UK, EU, AU, although BFCM is big, Friday/Monday aren’t holidays. Shoppers are working, so the sales curve differs.
  • Sales are more evenly distributed across Saturday and Sunday, with a smaller drop-off after Friday.
  • Brands shouldn't pull back spend as aggressively internationally as they do in the US.
  • Quote: "In international markets, BFCM is big ...but nobody has off on Friday. They're not celebrating Thanksgiving in Europe... sales are more concentrated on Saturday and Sunday relative to the US." (08:54)
  • Actionable Takeaway: Analyze last year’s sales by market before setting daily budgets. Tailor pacing accordingly.

2. Dynamic Product Feed Messaging & Creative Tactics

Timestamps: 12:33–16:29

• Use tools like Marpipe or Socio to update product feed imagery and messaging in real-time across meta ads (DPAs), mirroring the urgency/offer cadence seen in emails/homepages (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Last Chance, etc.).
• Update catalog creative more frequently: "You should just pull that all the way through to the product catalog level... can have percentage points improvements over what we did last year." (14:00)
• For product categories, tailor call-outs and messaging by offer (e.g., "Rings: 33% off; Wallets: 47% off; Travel: Gift with purchase").
• Action Item: Build a cadence/calendar for feed updates aligned with your sale schedule.

3. Inventory Planning into the Deal

Timestamps: 18:57–21:15

• Brands with shorter supply chains can buy inventory directly into their Black Friday deal window (rather than being caught over- or understocked).
• At Ridge, for the first time, they planned BFCM offers in July/August and bought inventory to match, reducing last-minute constraints and chaos.

4. "Singles Day" International Sale Launch

Timestamps: 20:56–22:09

• Some markets (UK, AU, CA) respond to "Singles Day" (popularized by Alibaba in China as a self-gifting holiday) early in November.
• Ridge experimented with launching Singles Day deals internationally, but found messaging got misaligned across markets.
• For 2025, they’re simplifying: all markets go live with Black Friday messaging at the same time to align demand and minimize confusion.

5. Budget Pacing: Forecasting Revenue & Spend

Timestamps: 26:41–29:17

• Move away from simple month-to-date linear pacing—big revenue spikes are lumpy in BFCM (80%+ can come at the end).

• Set clear, channel- and day-level spend/revenue forecasts and communicate widely in the organization to maintain confidence during "quiet" early November periods.

• Quote (Connor M.): "I recommend every brand has a daily pacer to the channel level. It just creates absolute clarity..." (27:37)

• When Cyber Monday falls later on the calendar, projections and pacing are even trickier.

• Solve this by focusing on the "buying period" over arbitrary month boundaries.

6. Interpreting Attribution & Latency (ROAS Lift)

Timestamps: 36:46–41:28; 47:01–49:26

• The conversion lag during BFCM is real: clicks generated in early November often convert at the sale launch.
• Look at the difference between 1-day/7-day/30-day click attributions (via Northbeam) to estimate "latent demand" and set lower efficiency targets pre-sale.
• Post-Black Friday, the attribution window shortens dramatically (latent value goes away), so adjust spend back down.
• Quote: “Our data is more or less results will improve 40% from one day to 30-day... That basically doubles in late October and early November.” (36:57)
• Nerd Note: Use accrual (not cash) reporting for true media effectiveness: you're trying to optimize for the day the action was taken, not conversion, to pace appropriately.

7. Maximizing Average Order Value with After Sell

Timestamps: 22:09–26:41 (Sponsor, but includes insights)

• Post-purchase upsells via platforms like After Sell can drive up to 16% of buyers to add more, with smart offers and little/no friction.
• Use these tools for pure incremental revenue with no disruption to the main purchase flow.

8. Strategic Considerations for Early vs. Late Sale Launch

Timestamps: 29:21–32:42

• Brands with lower AOV (average order value) (sub-$100, e.g., Ridge) benefit from earlier, longer sales to capture impulse buyers and gift givers.
• High-AOV, consideration-driven brands (e.g., Hexclad, cookware) can run shorter, intense sales, as buyers have researched for months and are simply waiting for the deal to drop.
• Quote (Connor M.): "The lower your first-order AOV is, the longer you should run your sale... For us, 80-85% of people tell us they've known about us for months..." (32:42)

9. Pre-Launch Demand Ramp-up

Timestamps: 31:12–32:42

• Ramp spend before the sale goes live to fill the funnel; expect low efficiency, but it primes buyers for conversion when you go live.
• "Our efficiency is really low on these days... that's by design because we're going to be more efficient in the back end of the month and we need to build the funnel..." (31:55)

10. Product Validation & Lean Launches

Timestamps: 55:58–67:58

• To validate a DTC product idea:
  • Build a minimal, conversion-focused funnel (ads + landing page) and spend money on traffic—collect leads and, ideally, early "orders" (can always refund/discount if you’re not set up to ship).
  • If you can, produce and fulfill a small batch to a few dozen buyers, solicit direct feedback, and iterate the offer/product before scaling.
  • Examples: Kettle & Fire, Native Deodorant both validated in ultra scrappy ways—sometimes via manual or Etsy-style micro-manufacturing.
• Quote (Connor R.): “...the most important thing to validating is like, who are you speaking to, how are you speaking to them, what's the product and what's the offer? ...You could validate that without ever ordering the product.” (56:16)

11. First Three Hires for a Growth Team

Timestamps: 70:14–75:24

• Early go-to-market hires should all be content/creative:
  • Static designer (ads, landing pages, emails)
  • Video editor (ad/video content)
  • Content producer (shooting original photos/video)
• Strategy, media buying, and retention (emails, SMS) can be handled by growth lead early on. Hire specialists later once validated.
• Quote (Connor M.): "All my three hires would be content. Content, content, content... Design the funnel, shoot the assets, execute the edits…" (70:55)
• Retention and analytics can often be DIY by a modern growth lead in early stages.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On BFCM pacing, international vs. US:
  • "Black Friday is Black Friday—like, Saturday is not going to be bigger than Black Friday. The point is, there is a smaller drop-off between Friday and Saturday in international markets." [11:31]
• On Taylor Holiday’s rookie card as a BFCM “lucky charm”:
  • “I’d credit most of Ridge's success over the last couple years to me having a signed Taylor Holiday rookie card on my desk at all times.” [03:43]
• On budgeting and pacing:
  • “Last year the entire industry struggled with pacing because Cyber Monday fell so late... This year projections should be easier because that’s behind us.” [27:48]
• On team building:
  • “Winning in media buying is great content, so you want to prioritize that… Media buying is relatively simple at this point.” [71:40]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------| | BFCM Pacing: US vs. International Markets | 08:31–12:15 | | Dynamic Product Feed Messaging & Tactics (Marpipe/Socio) | 12:33–16:29 | | Inventory Planning into the Deal | 18:57–21:15 | | Launching Singles Day, Calendar Coordination | 20:56–22:09 | | Budget Pacing & Channel-level Forecasting | 26:41–29:17 | | Attribution Nerd-Out (ROAS Lift, Accrual vs. Cash Views) | 36:46–41:28, 47:01–49:26 | | Ramp-up Pre-Sale, Sale Duration by AOV & Category | 29:21–32:42 | | Product Validation, MVP Testing & Lean Fulfillment | 55:58–67:58 | | Building a DTC Marketing Team: First 3 Hires | 70:14–75:24 |

Takeaways & Action Items

• Audit and segment BFCM pacing by market—don’t blindly copy US tactics internationally.
• Leverage dynamic product feed tools to keep Meta DPAs, Google Shopping, etc. updated in real time with offer urgency.
• Build and communicate channel/daily pacing plans to eliminate organizational panic and maximize clarity.
• Analyze attribution “ROAS lift” during BFCM ramp-up: expect and tolerate lower efficiency knowing conversion lag is longer.
• For new DTC product launches, validate with ultra-minimal, creative-first, direct-response funnels—collect real orders/leads before scaling manufacturing or raising capital.
• When building your initial growth team, stack creative/content hire(s) before channel/retention experts; the best performance comes from great content first.

This episode is a must-listen for eCommerce operators staring down BFCM and Q4—or those plotting the scrappiest way to launch and scale the next breakthrough DTC brand.