4 Tips for Black Friday Email Marketing
If you sell products online, Black Friday is a make it or break it moment.
But Black Friday isn't just a one-day event. The Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend starts on Thanksgiving and continues until the following Tuesday, November 30 – which means small businesses need to plan marketing content for nearly a full week.
And customers are more likely to shop online for their holiday gifts than ever. For example, Americans spent a record $10.8 billion online on Cyber Monday in 2020, up 15 percent from 2019. According to Adobe Analytics, it was the largest online shopping day in U.S. history.
Despite the increase in online shopping, it's getting harder and harder to see return on investment for paid advertisements. Google and Apple are both implementing new privacy restrictions (making it more difficult to track your customers online.) And the holidays, especially Black Friday and Cyber Monday, are crowded with ads. Without a massive budget, paid advertisements can feel like lighting money on fire.
But the people who are most likely to convert for you are already on your email list.
Email marketing is the most personalized, engaging, and cost effective strategy to convert the people who want your product, and this article will show you who to contact, how often you should contact them, and what you should be messaging during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.
Just a quick note: In the United States, the Christmas holidays have dominated our culture and influenced many of us to buy gifts for each other at the end of the year.
But your end of year marketing doesn't have to center on Christmas to be successful. You can have your best weekend ever during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. If you sell lifestyle products that would make great gifts, keep reading to learn how email can be the primary driver of your end-of-year sales.
Table of Contents:
Black Friday Email Segments
You've worked hard to build a relationship with your email subscribers, so it's important not to feel like you are spamming them with promotions during the Black Friday weekend.
That's where segmenting comes in.
Segmenting just means sorting your customers into lists, based on their behavior. I recommend using dynamic segments, not static lists, so people can move in and out of them. If you use Klaviyo, they have some great help articles on creating segments for your year-round marketing strategy.
Here are three segments that you should have in place for the Black Friday weekend.
VIP Customers
Depending on what kind of products you sell, these customers will have purchased from you recently, at a higher frequency, and/or at a higher value than your other customers.
If this is your first year in business, or you don't have enough sales to identify VIPs, build a segment of anyone who has purchased from you in the past year.
This is a segment that you'll want to send special early access and behind the scenes emails and offers.
Window Shoppers or "Almost Theres"
These are customers who have displayed a strong interest in your products, but haven't yet purchased.
You can use behavior like clicking your emails, visiting your website, or viewing products to categorize your window shoppers.
You're going to want to target this list heavily during Black Friday to push them over the finish line to convert.
Black Friday shoppers
You also want to create a segment of people that has purchased from you during this Black Friday weekend, or anytime after Thanksgiving on November 25 and before Wednesday December 1.
You might be thinking, "Wait a second, how can I create that list if Black Friday hasn't happened yet?"
When you set up this list, it should have 0 people in it. As people start to purchase during Black Friday weekend, that behavior will add them to this list.
Here's where you can feel comfortable about not spamming people. If a customer bought from you on Friday, you don't need to constantly email for the rest of the weekend.
You should plan to remove this segment from your emails later on in the Black Friday weekend, such as on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
How many emails to send
I recommend sending about 10 to 12 emails to your list starting on Thursday, November 25 and ending on Tuesday November 30.
I've created a chart that you can use to plan out your Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend cadence. Click here to view the chart on Google doc and make a copy.
Take note of which segments I recommend sending to with each email, as well as the suggested topics and messaging strategy.
Black Friday Email Content
It is definitely worth it to put a little extra brain power and creativity behind your Black Friday messaging and content.
People are expecting to be bombarded with emails, so you want to be sure that you're showing up in an authentic and delightful way that sets you apart.
Here are some Black Friday email content prompts to spark your imagination.
Nostalgia and New Traditions
The end of the year, and the holidays that come with it, are often a time of nostalgia and tradition for many people. And, in this time of Covid, everything has morphed and changed so many times.
Take a minute and think of all the traditions, rituals, daily life moments during the end of time of year that your product could play a role in.
Maybe it's an old tradition, or a new ritual. Use these moments to guide your content strategy.
Gamification
Now is the time to think outside of the box and incorporate gamification into your holiday emails!
How can you make it sort of fun to open your emails?
For example, I was inspired by German store displays and Advent calendars (my heritage) to make these fun guessing emails for Minneapolis Craft Market last year.
Don't you kind of want to know what's in this present? Learn more about the results of this Black Friday campaign in this case study. Hopefully this sparks some inspiration to create your own "game" for your customers.
Put the Focus on People
Go back to your brand origin story. What really makes your product stand out from everything else?
Maybe it's the countries that you source your materials from. Maybe it's the people that make your products. Maybe it's the community you serve.
You may have noticed that I've picked a lot of examples that showcase people. Try to put your people -- who no other brand can claim -- front and center in your marketing strategy.
Black Friday Email Automations
While much of your Black Friday/Cyber Monday preparation will involve creating new content, don't forget to take a look back at your email automations.
Make sure your abandoned cart, welcome sequence, and thank you email automations are up to date with your brand messaging.
Additionally, don't forget to make sure your email sign-up forms are working properly, and that the call to action to join your email list is strong and compelling.
You're going to have a lot more people than normal going through these email funnels, so a high-quality automation will be key to turning a Black Friday customer into a recurring customer.
If you expect to be promoting a specific product or product package, consider creating a custom thank-you automation for that product to support your customer as they receive and begin to use or gift your product.
Are you ready for the holiday season?
I’ve led holiday email marketing campaigns that have tripled sales, and I want to do the same for you.
Limited spots are available for my 2021 Holiday Email Packages. Learn more about c.e.galles digital can use email to increase holiday sales and hit your year-end goals.