6 Tips To Build Your Black Friday Email Marketing Campaign

Black Friday emails pile up in customers’ inboxes like a heap of fallen autumn leaves. That’s why you need to do something to stand out from the stack of emails. And that ‘something’ is relevant to all aspects of your Black Friday email marketing. It starts with the roots of an email: subject line, content, and design. It continues with the branches of the email campaign: how many emails to prepare, what emails to write for different contact groups, and when to send them out. In this blog post, we’ll cover all these by giving you six tips to create your Black Friday email campaign.

1.Write Black Friday email subject lines that create urgency and show your offer

The subject line of your email has a one-off purpose. It needs to get the recipients to open your email. For this purpose, the subject line has to follow two main rules. It should create a sense of urgency and showcase your offer. It also needs to make it clear that it’s about Black Friday. Here are some words, phrases, and small tricks that can help you achieve these tasks:

• Sale / Offer / X% off / Free delivery
• Black Friday / Cyber Monday / X hours left / Ends soon / Last chance
• Include emojis

You also need to choose the wording of your subject line based on the timing of the email and on the contact list that’ll receive it. For Black Friday teaser emails, your subject line should put customers in the spirit of your upcoming offers and get them prepared to buy. Use phrases like: “Are you ready?”; “This Black Friday”; “X Hours Left Until”, etc. If you’re entering the last stage of Black Friday, include phrases like: “Last Chance”; “Deals End Soon”; “It’s not too late”, etc. 

Consider who’s going to read the subject line and prepare separate ones for your different contact lists. Be careful whether you’re talking to your loyal and VIP customers, newly joined customers, or potential ones. Use phrases like: “Offer Only For You”; “You’re In, Keep Shopping”; “Don’t Miss the Deals”, etc. Here are some examples to illustrate these points:

• 50% Off ✅ Free Shipping ✅ Black Friday ✅
• Up to 70% Off | Final sale | Cyber Monday
• Last Chance ⏳ Grab the Best Offers 👌🏻
• 12 Hours Left | 50% Off All Menswear | Cyber Monday
• Up to 75% Off All Smartphones 📱 Ends In 6 Hours Only ⏳

2. Make your email content clear and distinguishable

There are certain guidelines for crafting the body of your Black Friday sale email as well. Whether it’s plain text, or more visually-pleasing, make sure to stick to these four tips in your Black Friday email campaigns:

• Be clear about your deals or offers. Don’t be mysterious and don’t let your customers guess what is on sale. Chances are that your customers will get similar offers from your competitors and they might get bored, if they have to ‘work’ to find what you’re offering them.
• Show your products right away in the email body. Your bestsellers will definitely draw the attention of your customers. You can show a few examples of your products as well as their corresponding discount or discount codes.
• Create a sense of urgency. Make sure to create a sense of urgency by implementing words that create a fear of missing out (FOMO) effect. You can achieve the FOMO effect by including a countdown of how many products are left/how many were already sold to other customers, etc.
• Have a call to action. You’d definitely need to include a call to action: what you want your customers to do. To build a successful one, write a clear and concise phrase or sentence that you put in the right place in your email/visual. You don’t necessarily need to put it at the end of the email, as it can be in the middle as well. It’s more important to see where your CTA fits best with the rest of the copy.

3. Create a Black Friday email design that stands out

What makes the best Black Friday email stand out is not only its subject line and copy. It’s the combination of these elements with the email’s design. That’s why you need to make sure that you get creative with your Black Friday email designs. You can use graphics, gifs, or even animations. Yet, try to stick to simple and clean design as customers would most probably be overwhelmed by all kinds of creatives around the promotion days.

Thus, you need to put the best of the best from your products on the frontline. Focus on a selection of your bestsellers or your newest collection of items that you want to promote. To attract more attention, make sure to indicate either what was the initial price versus the discount one, or clearly show the percentage discount.

The color palette of the email design is another topic of huge importance. Don’t miss on the basics to use colors that respond to your brand and to your target audience. Build upon that and avoid the ‘black’ color unless it’s used in an interesting way that corresponds to your brand style.

4. Prepare separate emails for different contact lists

Once you’re ready with the email, comes the natural question to whom you will send it. You’d need to segment your contact lists to different sets of customers and send them different emails. This might sound like a bit more work, but it will pay off. What is more, you can use the strategies described in this blog post in regards to the different groups of people. For example, you can divide your contacts into three groups:

Loyal or VIP customers 

In the email to this group, you can include a sneak peek at your upcoming Black Friday deals, or limited edition products available only for them to buy.

New customers

Customers who recently bought from you for the first time, can get access to special discounts or sales that say: “You’re now in, keep shopping with us”. These could be something like ‘Buy one, get one free’ offers.

Potential clients 

You can allure new customers with offers that give them free shipping, free samples, or giveaways, after they buy their first product from you. You could also tempt them with the possibility of joining your loyal customers program once they purchase.

In our blog, you can find some more Black Friday ideas that aren’t discounts to use for your different customers’ groups.

5. Send three types of Black Friday emails

You can divide the timing of your Black Friday email campaign in three different stages as well:

Teaser

This email should inform your customers about your upcoming Black Friday deals so that they can plan their budget and purchases. You should tease your customers to make them curious about your deals and have them anticipate your products. The second important goal of the teaser email is to give clear information on what, where, and when will be on sale.

Announcement

You can’t rely on the teaser email that customers will remember the launch time of your Black Friday campaign. That’s why you need to prepare an announcement/going live email. In this email, in addition to the information from the teaser one, you need to include your CTA, create a sense of urgency, and a feeling that products are limited in number.

Reminder

The third stage of the Black Friday email marketing campaign is the customers’ last chance to buy your products. But it’s also your last chance to push them to purchase from you. Therefore, you need to include again a call to action, information about the products on sale, but with a focus on the “last hours left” from your campaign.

6. Send your Black Friday emails at the right time

Even though there is no general rule for the best date/time to send the emails, there are some guidelines that can help you plan your Black Friday email marketing campaign, based on your own needs and goals.

The ‘teaser’ email should go out at least one week before the start of your Black Friday deals. If you plan to send more than one teaser email, plan enough time between the different emails and enough time before the start of Black Friday.

The ‘announcement’ email is a bit more tricky because chances are that you will send it on Black Friday, like all your competitors. That’s why you need to carefully choose the best times from the day to send it out. One of the best options to boost your open rates is to send it between 10:00 am (when people open their morning emails) and 12:00 pm (they catch up around noon again). Another option is from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm (when people either get ready to finish work, or are already home).

The ‘last chance’ email sending times will depend on how long your promotion lasts. In case your sale will be on during the entire Black Friday weekend, you can send this email on the last day. But if it’s only a one-day event, you need to send the ‘last chance’ email in the final hours, stating clearly how many hours have left.

Among all other tips mentioned above, there are two basic rules to follow when sending your mail on Black Friday:

Be honest with your customers about your offers and discounts. Don’t say one thing in your email, and then offer them something else on your sale. This will not only create mistrust, but chances are that customers will unsubscribe from your contact list as well.

Less is more. Think of short, straightforward, and simple messages. These are true both for the copy of your email and for its design.

Last but not least, studies anticipate that an estimated 72.4 million Americans plan to shop during end-of-year sales like Black Friday this year. Stick to the above-mentioned tips during this most competitive time of the year to attract as many of these customers as possible.