As we enter the last quarter of the year, companies across the globe are gearing up for the busy season ahead. Preparing early for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales is important. 2010 was the year when online spending hit $1 billion on Cyber Monday. Within a decade, it stood at $10.8 billion, but last year it was $10.7 billion due to the pandemic. Forecasts show that sales are going to pick up this year. But as digital spaces become incredibly crowded, businesses need brilliant Black Friday email marketing strategies to stand out.
Black Friday 2022 – Email Marketing Strategies
There are several ways to strategize your Black Friday email marketing. Here are a few that might inspire you to develop your own campaign for your target audience.
Meaningful subject lines and preheader text
It is no secret that a catchy subject line is often the topmost reason emails are opened. 47% of people open emails based on subject lines.
Here are a few tips to help you craft the perfect one for your brand.
- Use your customer’s name. Personalized emails have a 29% higher open rate. Example: Suzanne, your boss, is shopping today too
- Use your company/ brand name. Your audience can immediately see who the email is from. More than a 40% increase in open rate has been noted when the company name or product name was used in the subject line. Example: Huge Black Friday Announcement from Neil Patel
- It is Black Friday, so create some urgency to tell people that these deals won’t last. An example: Black Friday deals too good to miss…
- ake your audience curious by showing them a teaser of what they will see in your email. Example: If you open one email this Black Friday…
- Inject some humor in your subject lines. If your subject line makes them cheerful, they might be more likely to open your email. Here is an example: Turkey can wait. Our BLACK FRIDAY sneak peek won’t!
- Mention the discount amount or sale details in the subject line, as it has been found to have a more than 18% conversion rate compared to 3.8% when not mentioned. For example – 40% Off. Free shipping. It must be Black Friday
- Finally, remember to use just one or two tactics when crafting your subject line – using them all can make your email look spam.
Make sure your preheader complements your subject line without being repetitive. That small line that appears right after the subject line can enhance your subject line further.
Preheaders are often quite under-utilized; hence if you make the most of it, you might be ahead of others and get more of your audience to open your emails. Here is how it looks in your inbox:
Here are some examples of preheader text used along with the subject line.
- Subject line: Make a splash!, Preheader: Our new rainboots are here!
- Subject line: Sale extended. Preheader: Offer ends at midnight.
Here is an email from GoPro. The subject line is – Ready or not, the deals are on.
A good design can speak volumes
The design and color are the first things your audience will notice when they open your email. Hence it is imperative to design the emails aesthetically to attract attention without taking the spotlight away from the main offer of your email. Though your design must reflect the upcoming festivities, try to avoid an entirely black background or black and gold themes, as they have been stereotyped too often.
However, it is best not to rule out black completely. Why not if it resonates with your brand image and if you have an excellent and unique design in mind? Designs in black can be very classy unless using black is your only design strategy.
Here is one from Bose that uses black but adds a fun factor in the form of a scratch card. The confetti in the corners lifts the whole design and gives it a festive feel.
Show your gratitude
Thanksgiving gives you the perfect opportunity to show gratitude to your audience. There are various ways to say thank you, but the one that works best is giving them discounts. However, there are several other ways to do it – adding a small free gift with every purchase, offering free shipping, donating to charity, and so on. But your main aim here is to say thank you, sometimes, just doing that is enough.
Here is a perfect example from Anthropologie – short, sweet, and just doing the job.
Extend sales for late shoppers
Only some people can plan and buy gifts early. There will always be latecomers. Extend your sale, and your audience will be thankful to you. Continue it a couple of days after Cyber Monday. It will be easy for your audience to spot your emails in their inbox since the peak of the sales is over. Some of your audience might even prefer to shop later as it is more peaceful then.
Here is one from National Geographic.
Sometimes plain text works well too
We know Black Friday sales emails are all about amazing designs, classy black, gold, glitter, or a pop of color, but sometimes just plain old text can do the job very well.
Here is one from Simplisafe that looks like an email from a friend. However, they don’t miss out on any critical information and make the email personal and perfect for the occasion. Since Simplisafe is a brand that sells home security systems, the plain text goes well with their brand image too.
Here is the email:
Create Urgency
As brands battle fiercely to catch their audience’s attention in the inbox, FOMO or fear of missing out is a brilliant strategy to adopt during Black Friday sales. It has been found that most people care more about what they miss out on than what they have. Hence, creating some kind of urgency around your Black Friday sales can be effective.
Here are a few ways you can do it.
- Limited-time sale: Many brands prefer to have a limited-time deal. Including a countdown timer will give your email design some edge and create a sense of urgency among your audience.
- Products selling out fast: Let your audience know if your products are selling out fast. Most of us like the thrill of grabbing them before others.
- Use your social proof: This is the perfect opportunity to show off your social proof. For example, people love to buy things that others have bought. So show your audience how many people have purchased your bestsellers or how many have them in their carts.
- The biggest sale of the year: If this is your company’s biggest sale, let them know. They would want to buy since they won’t get the best deals again.
Udemy nails it with its Cyber Monday email.
Be Different
Black Friday is all about discounts, sales, and coupon codes. But some brands stand out from the crowd by doing something different. It is easy to get noticed when you are different and might even make more sense to your audience. Here is one from Dunkin’ Donuts. Instead of giving a free gift or extra discount on Black Friday, they offer 3X points. The subject line and preheader make it very clear what to expect from the email and even make them smile.
Subject line: Fuel up before the Black Friday Lines
Preheader text: Earn 3X points starting today through Cyber Monday.
#Givingtuesday
Finally, make sure to give back to society. Black Friday is the busiest time of the year and generates a good amount of business revenue. Many of these businesses donate a percentage of their profits or revenue to charity. If your audience feels strongly about giving back, they might become more loyal to your brand when they find you feel the same.
#Givingtuesday comes right after Cyber Monday and has been adopted by many brands for the right reasons.
Here is one from Lyft.
Final Thoughts
We hope we have been able to inspire you and help you save some time by finding some of the top strategies used by well-known brands in this article. However, each brand is unique, and you know your audience best. So you will know which strategy will be effective for your subscribers. Now is the time to put your strategies into action.
If you need further help planning your holiday marketing, we have a comprehensive guide ready for you to download here.
