You should probably stop trying to build a whole new set of holiday-themed ads. The surprising truth is that your best-performing creative from earlier in the fall is often what will perform best during the Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend, and trying to force in new, holiday-specific visuals can actually hurt you.
The ad platforms, especially Meta's, are built to optimize delivery around creative that has a proven track record. As the team from Pilothouse shared on the DTC Podcast, it's common to see “legacy evergreen” creative outperform expensive new Black Friday ads. When you launch a brand new campaign, the algorithm has to start its learning phase from scratch. Doing this during the most expensive and competitive weekend of the year is a huge risk, and you might spend your whole budget before the system even figures out who to show your new ads to.
The smart move is to take your existing winners and give them a simple, "scrappy" update. Instead of a full redesign, think about adding a festive border in Canva or a simple text overlay that clearly states your BFCM offer and deadline. The core of the ad, the part that's already resonating with your audience, remains intact. This approach, mentioned across several DTC Podcast episodes, lets you add urgency and a holiday feel without resetting the powerful optimization that your evergreen ads have already earned.
