Now that BFCM is behind us, let’s zoom out on what we observed across our client portfolio, within the broader digital advertising ecosystem, and in the macroeconomic environment. The goal here is to provide a high-level view of the trends that defined Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2025. Hopefully, this helps contextualize feedback across the industry, identify patterns heading into 2026, and reinforce where strategic decisions paid off. Let’s dive in!
Client Results
Across our portfolio, we delivered $85.9M in revenue to our clients between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, affectionately known as the Turkey 5. We increased investment across every major platform and still achieved a 14% improvement in ROAS across managed channels, which is exceptional in such a highly competitive auction environment.
Our most significant gains came from Meta and Google, where early setup and disciplined in-week execution clearly paid off:
- Meta saw the most significant year-over-year increase in investment, with spend up 54%, driving a 50% increase in revenue. This growth was fueled by creative testing, audience strategy, and disciplined execution across our paid social efforts.
- Google Ads delivered 40% higher spend year over year, resulting in an impressive 69% increase in revenue, marking more efficient, scalable growth than we saw last year.
On the revenue side, Cyber Monday was our strongest day overall. However, it delivered the lowest YoY growth rate, signalling heavier competition and earlier shifts in consumer buying patterns.
Cost-per-click (CPCs) were up minimally over the BFCM weekend. Collectively, we saw CPCs up 6%, with the most significant increase on Cyber Monday (up 11% year over year). Even though CPCs were up the most year over year on Cyber Monday, we actually saw the most expensive CPCs on Thanksgiving. This could indicate a shift in when advertisers place the most emphasis on their advertising, with greater focus on the period leading up to the BFCM weekend.
From a platform perspective, the most significant increases were on the Google front. Despite CPCs on Google increasing by 13%, we were able to drive substantial revenue growth at a 21% higher efficiency, highlighting the impact of proactive planning, smart bidding, and strategic pay-per-click management in a highly competitive auction environment.
There are also some interesting insights from our partners:
Macro Economic Trends
From a broader economic perspective, this year’s Turkey 5 was shaped by steady consumer demand, selective spending behavior, and heightened price sensitivity. While overall shopping intent remained strong, consumers were far more deliberate about where and when they spent compared to previous years.
Adobe also released its research on how the weekend went:
- According to Adobe, Cyber Week generated $44.2 billion in online sales overall (up 7.7% YoY), bolstered by record online spending on Black Friday ($11.8 billion, up 9.1% YoY). This is now the second holiday season in a row where Black Friday growth outpaced Cyber Monday, as shoppers embraced early, competitive deals.
- Usage of the flexible payment method hit an all-time high on Cyber Monday, driving $1.03 billion in online spend (up 4.2% YoY).
- On Cyber Monday, AI traffic to U.S. retail sites increased by 670%. So far this season (Nov. 1 to Dec. 1), AI traffic is up 760%.
Overall, economic sentiment wasn’t necessarily “down,” but it was cautious – favoring brands that were prepared, clear in their value props, and aggressive when it mattered. This aligns closely with the performance patterns we saw across our personal portfolio.
Key Takeaways
The objective of this is to give businesses a broader context for what shaped performance during Cyber Week.
Businesses that grew year over year reinforced success by connecting performance to macro trends that positioned their brand to capitalize on momentum. We also want to make sure we identify how to sustain the momentum built that year by providing recommendations on what to “continue doing” and “scale next.”
For businesses that grew but became less efficient, acknowledge the growth while clarifying how performance is being stabilized. Lead with what worked, including YoY revenue gains, volume growth, and successful scaling. Then explain efficiency declines, such as higher CPCs or increased top-of-funnel spend. Use tools like Google Trends to add demand context and inform next steps.
Businesses without year-over-year growth should focus on clarity and corrective action. Start with a transparent overview of what happened, using macro data to provide context without sounding defensive. Highlight areas of strength, such as top-performing creative or efficient audiences, before addressing what didn’t work. Close with a forward-looking plan that clearly outlines actionable, controllable steps to improve performance.
Conclusion
BFCM 2025 reinforced a clear theme across digital commerce: performance favored brands that were prepared early, aligned with shifting consumer behavior, and were willing to invest with discipline. Despite increased competition and rising costs, strong execution, clear value propositions, and strategic flexibility enabled meaningful growth.
As we look ahead to 2026, the opportunity lies in applying these tactics learned with intention. That means scaling what worked, addressing inefficiencies with clarity and data, and staying grounded in what is controllable as market dynamics continue to evolve. By pairing macro-level insight with account-level execution, we can turn BFCM learnings into sustained momentum throughout the year ahead.
