Black Friday Part 4 - The Mom Test and 8 More Tips That Actually Work

Your website's gonna get rammed on Black Friday - but are you actually ready? In the fourth instalment of our Black Friday strategy series, Matt Edmundson reveals nine battle-tested tips that address the operational realities most brands completely ignore.

Episode Summary

This episode cuts through generic Black Friday advice to focus on what actually happens when your traffic explodes, customer service gets flooded, and 70% of sales shift to mobile devices. Matt introduces the 'mom test' - a simple but powerful framework for validating your Black Friday offers before they go live. We explore why Black Friday is really a two-week opportunity, not a single day, and cover essential operational preparations from site speed optimisation to weekend customer service planning.

Key Point Timestamps:

06:00 - Introducing the Mom Test Framework

07:00 - Site Speed: Your Hidden Conversion Killer

08:00 - Customer Service: Planning for the Flood

11:00 - Why Paid Media Gets Expensive (And What To Do)

13:00 - Social Media: Building Anticipation

14:00 - Mobile Reality: 70% of Sales Happen Here

15:00 - Cart Abandonment: Thursday's Big Challenge

16:00 - The Two-Week Mindset Shift

18:00 - Creating Year-Round Black Friday Pages

The Mom Test Framework (06:00)

At the heart of Matt's approach lies what he calls 'the mom test' - a deceptively simple validation method that prevents most Black Friday disasters before they happen.

"My mum is not the most technically savvy person on the planet, so if she can navigate it, I know other people will be okay with them as well," Matt explains. The test involves sending your Black Friday landing pages, offers, and purchase flows to someone who isn't your ideal target market but represents average technical ability.

Beyond preventing customer confusion, the mom test dramatically reduces customer service load by identifying common pain points before they become hundreds of support emails on Monday morning.

Mobile Reality: 70% of Sales (14:00)

"70% of sales on average on Black Friday weekend are gonna happen on a mobile device," Matt reveals, highlighting a critical reality most brands overlook in their preparation.

This isn't just about having a responsive design. Matt emphasises comprehensive mobile testing: "I want my mum in the mum test to do everything on her mobile. I want to talk to a friend who's got an Android because my mom's got an iPhone. I want to test it on Android as well."

The testing needs to cover the entire purchase journey across different devices, screen sizes, and operating systems to ensure nothing breaks when traffic spikes.

The Two-Week Opportunity (16:00)

Perhaps Matt's most powerful insight is reframing Black Friday entirely: "Black Friday now lasts two weeks. It's the week before and it's the week after, right? Starting with Cyber Monday, the week after going through."

This shift from viewing Black Friday as a single event to understanding it as a two-week marketing opportunity completely changes how you plan, execute, and measure success. Instead of cramming everything into one overwhelming day, you can build anticipation, test systems, and create multiple touchpoints.

Matt's team once ran '12 Days of Christmas' campaigns with different offers each day, keeping customers engaged throughout the extended period rather than relying on a single promotional push.

Planning for Operational Reality (08:00)

While competitors focus on offers and acquisition, Matt emphasises preparing for what actually happens during Black Friday. Your standard Monday-to-Friday customer service won't cut it when weekend queries pile up.

"You're gonna want customer service staff to man the emails, the live chat, and the phone over the weekend," he advises. "If you leave it until Monday, people feel forgotten, and you'll come in to hundreds of emails."

The episode covers essential operational preparations including site speed optimisation, customer service staffing, cart abandonment strategies for Thursday's high abandonment rates, and creating permanent Black Friday landing pages that build SEO authority year-round.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Matt Edmundson

Company: Aurion

Website: https://aurioncompany.com/

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mattedmundson