Black Friday is a massive opportunity for brands, allowing them to drive sales volume unseen at any other time of year. The shopping holiday can also be a minefield of common marketing mistakes that can result in huge losses in potential profit. Whether brands wait until it’s too late to start their Black Friday campaigns, use ineffective creatives, or make many other potential mistakes, brands’ best bet is to know and plan for these pitfalls ahead of Q4.

That’s where GeistM comes in, using a data-first approach to help brands avoid costly errors during the Black Friday frenzy while making smarter, more profitable decisions. 

Here are the most common pitfalls that companies run across and how you can solve them

Pitfall 1: Waiting Too Late to Start Your Black Friday Campaigns

What goes wrong: Many brands start their Black Friday campaigns as late as November, forgoing the chance to warm up audiences and prime them for conversion. Starting late can often result in overspending on last-minute purchases as well as poor funnel performance.

GeistM’s fix: Begin campaigns as early as September and, at a minimum, by October. This pre-Black Friday period is a great opportunity to use content-driven strategies that can educate, engage, and energize audiences before the peak season. Starting early also gives brands time to build awareness, test creatives, and nurture potential customers, setting themselves up for stronger conversions when peak shopping season arrives.

Pitfall 2: Targeting Too Broadly and Ignoring Audience Segmentation

What goes wrong: Targeting is key during Q4, as brands want to ensure their ad spend isn’t wasted on low-intent or irrelevant audiences. Unfortunately, many brands overlook this pitfall and allocate significant amounts of spend to unqualified users. Poor targeting not only drains budgets but also leads to missed opportunities with high-value customers who are ready to convert. 

GeistM’s fix: Our team builds detailed, data-backed personas and continuously refines targeting for precision. This ensures that ad spend is directed towards the highest-intent audiences, maximizing ROI and minimizing wasted budget. 

Pitfall 3: Using Generic, Discount-Heavy Creative That Fails to Engage

What goes wrong: There are plenty of brands that consider a generic creative with “50% off” messaging to be sufficient for their Black Friday campaigns. A creative of this quality will not be effective in the long run, as it will likely face creative fatigue in a short time, as well as overall low engagement. 

GeistM’s fix: We develop person-driven, emotionally resonant creatives focused on value and urgency. By tailoring messaging to specific audiences and refreshing creatives regularly, we keep engagement high and prevent fatigue throughout the season.

Pitfall 4: Skipping Content Marketing to Warm Up Audiences

What goes wrong: Another common mistake brands make is missing the chance to build trust and nurture prospects before hitting them with an offer during November. Without pre-Black Friday content, brands risk appearing pushy or purely sales-focused, failing to engage potential customers and missing the opportunity for prime audiences for conversion. 

GeistM’s fix: We leverage editorial content, such as gift guides and product reviews, in mid-funnel campaigns. A benefit GeistM possesses is that its owned-and-operated publishers offer a third-party perspective, helping build trust and authenticity for consumers.

Pitfall 5: Network diversification 

What goes wrong: There are brands that exclusively run Black Friday campaigns on Meta, relying solely on one platform to reach their audience. This narrow approach causes them to miss out on a multitude of users active on other networks, such as Taboola, Google, or TikTok, limiting their reach and potentially leaving significant revenue on the table. Diversifying ad channels not only expands audience exposure but also provides more opportunities to test messaging, optimize performance, and maximize ROI during the high-stakes holiday season.

GeistM’s fix: We are experts in several networks, ensuring brands can access users across a far broader part of the Internet than just Meta’s limited scope. Our multi-network approach helps brands optimize performance, reduce their reliance on a single channel, and capture more revenue during critical campaigns, such as Black Friday.

Pitfall 6: Optimizations

What goes wrong: A surprise to many marketers is that some brands launch their Black Friday campaigns and make no edits throughout the holiday shopping season. Without ongoing optimizations, campaigns can underperform due to shifting audience behavior, fluctuating competition, or creative fatigue. 

GeistM’s fix: We understand that making optimizations and testing different ideas at every level of a campaign is pivotal to ensuring maximum efficiency during Q4. In fact, we do not stop testing; instead, we continue to find new opportunities for efficiency and scale.

Pitfall 7: Neglecting Deep Post-Campaign Analysis to Inform Future Strategies

What goes wrong: A major mistake that can be made is neglecting to perform deep post-campaign analysis to inform future Q4 strategies. Without reviewing key data, brands miss critical insights that could improve targeting, messaging, and overall campaign ROI in subsequent years. 

GeistM fix: Fortunately, we always perform comprehensive post-mortem analyses to drive more efficient and profitable campaigns in future Q4 periods and ensure we apply the learnings to the next year. 

Conclusion

Success during the Black Friday period requires data-driven budget management, audience focus, creative relevance, content marketing, real-time optimizations, segmentation, and post-campaign insights. 

GeistM does not miss any of these pivotal aspects and focuses on opportunities for sustained growth. Considering the importance of the Black Friday period for a major portion of brands’ yearly sales, working with a partner who understands the intricacies of digital marketing is of paramount importance. 

Contact GeistM to prepare your next Black Friday campaign with precision and confidence.

Customer acquisition is critical for any business, but rising marketing costs can make it challenging to grow sustainably. The good news? There are actionable ways to lower customer acquisition cost (CAC) while maintaining the quality of your new customers.

In this article, we’ll explore the top five customer acquisition strategies that help brands reduce CAC, improve marketing ROI, and drive long-term growth.

1. Refine Your Targeting

The first step in any effective marketing plan is ensuring your ads reach the right audience at the right stage in the funnel. Narrowing your audience to those most likely to convert can significantly reduce CAC in the short term, but this is not a recommended long-term strategy.

You can lower CAC without losing quality by leveraging:

• Broader Interest-Based Targeting on social platforms to get users into the funnel.
• LAL (Lookalike) and Behavioral-Based Targeting for more precise messaging.
• Retargeting strategies to re-engage users who have shown interest but didn’t convert.

By improving targeting, brands can optimize marketing spend and ensure every dollar contributes to high-quality conversions.

2. Leverage Cost-Effective Customer Acquisition Channels

Not all marketing channels are created equal when it comes to cost-effective customer acquisition. Channels like organic social media, referral programs, and content marketing can bring in high-quality leads at a fraction of paid ad costs.

CAC optimization tips for brands:

• Here at GeistM, we utilize content marketing to prioritize digital channels that historically show lower CAC.
• Experimenting with new channels, like TikTok or Reddit, for niche engagement.
• Measuring ROI per channel to allocate budget efficiently.

Focusing on cost-effective channels enables brands to enhance marketing ROI without compromising lead quality.

3. Optimize Your Conversion Funnel

A leaky funnel can inflate CAC, as you spend more to replace users who drop off. Streamlining your conversion path is key to improving customer acquisition efficiency.

Tips include:

• Simplifying forms and checkout processes.
• Using A/B testing to identify friction points. A/B testing is your friend and will show you exactly where in the funnel you need to focus most.
• Implementing clear calls-to-action and persuasive copy that align with user intent.

Optimizing the funnel reduces wasted spend and ensures that the leads you generate are high-quality, helping lower CAC in digital marketing campaigns.

4. Enhance Customer Retention and Lifetime Value

High churn can make CAC reductions short-lived. Investing in retention strategies ensures customers stay longer, which helps increase customer lifetime value (CLV) and effectively spreads the acquisition cost over a longer revenue period.

Strategies to consider:

• Personalizing post-purchase experiences to enhance customer retention.
• Creating loyalty programs or subscription models. You never want to be too promo-heavy, as this will only win in the short term and lead to a high churn rate.
• Engaging customers with email and SMS campaigns to encourage repeat purchases.

By focusing on retention, brands can improve customer acquisition efficiency and turn existing customers into advocates, lowering the need for costly new customer acquisition.

5. Leverage Data and Analytics for Continuous Improvement

Finally, innovative brands continuously analyze performance to find ways to reduce CAC without compromising quality. Data-driven insights allow you to allocate resources wisely and make adjustments in real-time.

CAC optimization tips for brands in this area include:

• Tracking CAC across channels and campaigns. Partnering with tried and true third-party attribution companies (TripleWhale, Measured, Klar, Northbeam) is highly recommended to improve your media channel distribution.
• Using predictive analytics to forecast high-value leads.
• Regularly reviewing metrics like conversion rate, CLV, and ROI.

By relying on data, marketers can optimize marketing spend, implement strategies to reduce CAC, and improve marketing ROI.

How GeistM Can Help

Lowering CAC doesn’t mean sacrificing customer quality. By refining targeting, diversifying channels, optimizing conversion funnels, enhancing retention, and leveraging data, brands can reduce acquisition costs while driving sustainable growth.

That’s where GeistM comes in. Our expert team applies advanced funnel architecture, scientific creative testing, and precise audience development to maximize the effectiveness of every dollar. With robust attribution modeling and continuous optimization, we identify and eliminate inefficiencies that inflate CAC, unlocking higher ROI and more substantial lifetime value from every customer.

Partnering with GeistM means building a scalable acquisition strategy rooted in measurable results, not vanity metrics so that you can grow faster, smarter, and more efficiently. 

Contact GeistM today to unlock sustainable growth.

Written by: Marc DeMattie

The surge of Generative AI mirrors past shifts, such as the automation of customer service (i.e. AI chatbots) or the rise of programmatic ad buying. These technological developments changed the game but didn’t erase the need for human insight. 

Blogs, emails, ad copy, product descriptions — you name it, conversational AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, can generate them in seconds. It’s fast. It’s scalable. And most of the time, it works pretty well. But it still needs a human to edit and fact-check the content.

But there’s a fundamental truth every savvy marketer understands: it’s not just words that make people care. It’s stories. And this is exactly where AI hits its limit. Sure, AI can create content that looks and sounds impressive on the surface, but does it truly grasp the human emotions behind those words? Does it understand what moves us, inspires us, or connects us? 

As powerful as AI has become, it’s not replacing authentic human storytelling anytime soon. In a world overflowing with algorithm-driven content, authentic storytelling is becoming a rare and valuable edge — one only humans can truly deliver.

Let’s dive into why that is.

The Rise of AI Content: A Double-Edged Sword

In recent years, AI-generated content has seen a significant rise, and a number of tools have revolutionized this new era of writing. 

AI writing tools can rapidly produce large volumes of content, mimic diverse writing styles, and synthesize information from vast datasets, enabling marketers and creators to speed up routine tasks and draft ideas more efficiently. 

Reports suggest that 62% of marketers use AI tools for content creation, highlighting the growing reliance on AI in the industry. AI can certainly accelerate content production, but faster doesn’t always mean better — especially in marketing, where quality often outweighs quantity. 

While AI excels at generating content through pattern recognition and statistical prediction, it lacks accurate understanding. It doesn’t comprehend the meaning behind the words it creates or the emotions they’re meant to evoke. And that’s the core limitation.

What Storytelling Truly Means

From ancient cave paintings to TikTok trends, humans are hardwired to respond to narrative patterns. It’s how we make sense of the world. Unlike data, stories invite the listener in. They create space for empathy, relatability, and imagination. 

Studies show that stories are up to 22 times more memorable than standalone facts, making narratives an ideal way to imprint your brand in consumers’ minds. When you embed numbers inside stories, listeners retain around 65–70% of the information, compared to just 5–10% when they are presented as standalone facts. 

This emotional resonance directly drives business results: brands that use storytelling see a 30% boost in conversion rates, 20% higher customer loyalty, and even a 30% increase in perceived value for their products. 

Authenticity plays a central role — 86% of consumers say that authenticity influences the brands they support, while 64% demand an emotional connection with the brands they choose. 

Storytelling isn’t mere embellishment; it’s scientifically proven to enhance recall, build trust, and inspire action in ways that raw facts simply can’t. For marketers, mastering the art of storytelling is no longer optional; it’s critical.

4 Reasons Why AI-Generated Content Misses the Mark — And How Humans Fill the Gap

As powerful as AI is, there are simply some things it cannot do. While it may have a “brain,” countless complex concepts remain far beyond its reach. Unlike machines, humans bring a nuanced understanding of storytelling that goes beyond word generation. While machines can generate words, only humans bring the emotional depth, cultural awareness, and ethical reasoning that make stories feel authentic, relatable, and impactful.

1. Lack of Genuine Emotion, Empathy & Adaptiveness

Coca Cola’s annual Christmas commercial has been created with AI this time. pic.twitter.com/xO72akwoBh

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 15, 2024

Consider the Coca-Cola AI ad controversy. It tried to capture the nostalgia of their iconic 90s ad but missed the mark. While it can sometimes use the “right” words to mimic emotional tone, it doesn’t understand the why behind them. That gap matters, especially in marketing. 

In today’s fast-moving digital space, human storytellers constantly monitor audience reactions and adapt in real-time. During a social media backlash, for instance, marketing teams can quickly pivot their tone by offering sincere apologies, clarifying misunderstandings, or spotlighting positive stories to rebuild trust. This kind of responsiveness requires emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity, and strategic thinking — skills AI can’t replicate. Human adaptability ensures brands stay connected and credible amid ever-evolving conversations.

Consumers can sense when something is emotionally authentic versus when it merely appears to be so. True storytelling requires not just expressing emotion, but also responding to it in a way that shows understanding and care. 

For example, AI-generated product descriptions may list features well, but they often fail to capture the emotional relief or joy a user feels when the product actually makes a difference in their life. 

2. No Personal Experience or Perspective

Stories gain power from perspective. A founder’s struggle through startup failures, a parent’s reflection on raising a child during a pandemic — these aren’t just facts. They’re infused with memory, meaning, and personal transformation. 

AI lacks any lived experience. As a result, its narratives often feel detached or overly generic, like they’ve been assembled rather than felt. 

For example, human marketers share stories about how products fit into real customer lifestyles, such as an athlete’s journey with new running shoes, which adds credibility and authenticity that AI-generated, generic use cases can’t match. 

This is where human creativity shines. We don’t just retell what’s been done; we experiment with humor, irony, and unexpected metaphors that spark curiosity. A brand launching a disruptive product might use bold humor or interactive formats — like quizzes or choose-your-own-adventure videos — to create experiences that captivate. These creative leaps are born from intuition and cultural awareness, which AI can’t predict or invent. By embracing risk, human storytellers create memorable moments that linger long after the campaign ends.

3. Lacking Morality, Meaning, and Relationship-Building

The best narratives don’t just inform, they question, challenge, inspire, and reflect our collective ethics. A powerful campaign can spotlight inequality, advocate for sustainability, or shift public attitudes. Because a human chose to tell that story with intention. 

By contrast, AI lacks a conscience. It can mimic moral language, but it doesn’t stand for anything. 

For example, brands committed to sustainability often use storytelling to communicate their values and the ethical choices behind their products.

Storytelling is not a one-off event; it’s a long-term relationship. Marketers understand that establishing a brand personality requires consistency and thoughtful evolution. They know when to stick to core values and when to adapt. A company might share behind-the-scenes product development stories, spotlight employee voices, or feature customer testimonials. These real, ongoing narratives build trust and emotional investment — turning customers into advocates.

4. Difficulty with Cultural and Contextual Themes 

Stories don’t exist in isolation; they live within culture. The tone, humor, symbolism, and even word choice that works for one audience might completely miss the mark with another. They can adjust their voice and message to meet people where they are. 

AI may reproduce stereotypes, misread cultural references, or fail to grasp the emotional temperature of a moment. And in an era of heightened cultural awareness, that can have real reputational consequences.

For example, launching a product in a diverse international market requires tailored messaging that respects local customs and languages. Human marketers excel at tailoring campaigns with nuance, avoiding tone-deaf mistakes and connecting in culturally relevant ways.

Today’s best campaigns often weave together complex themes, such as product innovation, social responsibility, and emotional relevance, into cohesive stories. Human storytellers interpret these layers and craft messages that resonate on multiple levels. A tech company might promote a new device by highlighting its cutting-edge features, the ethical sourcing of its materials, and the positive impact it has on users’ lives. Balancing these dimensions requires empathy, judgment, and creativity — qualities that machines simply can’t replicate.

Finding The Best of Both Worlds

Think of AI as GPS, great at providing directions, but humans are the drivers who choose the destination, speed, and stops along the way. 

AI excels at automating the tedious aspects of the content creation process — it can analyze vast datasets, draft outlines, suggest relevant keywords, generate content variants, and optimize for both SEO and readability. These strengths free up time and mental space for creators, allowing them to focus on higher-order storytelling. 

This collaboration can be especially powerful in marketing, where deadlines are tight and expectations are high. For instance, a content strategist might use AI to help develop ideas and utilize it as a research tool to understand why customers might need the product. 

When used thoughtfully, AI can be the assistant, never the author. The goal isn’t to replace human creativity but to amplify it, unlocking greater efficiency without losing what makes stories meaningful. In this hybrid model, AI accelerates the how, while humans define the why. And that’s where the magic happens.

Final Thoughts: What Makes GeistM Different

At GeistM, our mission isn’t just to create content; it’s to create authentic conversations that lead to action. In a world where AI-generated copy is becoming increasingly common (and often indistinguishable), we take a different approach: every piece of content we deliver is crafted by our exclusive, in-house content team. These aren’t generic blog posts; they’re original, thoughtfully written assets designed to serve a specific purpose, resonate with a distinct audience, and align seamlessly with campaign goals.

What sets us apart is the human intelligence behind every word. Our expert storytellers understand not just what to say, but how, when, and where to say it. We tailor each content asset not only to the campaign’s core objectives, but also to the platforms on which it will live. It’s about voice, value, and vision.

That’s the GeistM edge: we don’t just use storytelling as a tactic — we use it as our core strategy. Because when content is built by humans, for humans, it doesn’t just inform; it influences and drives results.

Ready to create content that actually connects? Let’s build something unforgettable together. Reach out to GeistM today.

Written by: Nitanti Alur