Black Friday and Email : Are you actually ready?

by | Nov 2, 2022

Between 2020 and 2021, Black Friday’s sales increased by 40%. An opportunity that needs to be carefully prepared. Email is the most appropriate channel to solicit your audience: you control the time of distribution, unlike social networks. And you already have a base of interested prospects, whereas you would have to pay to reach them with Google Ads.

But how to make your email a powerful conversion tool? The key is anticipation. We wrote 6 pieces of advice to help you create accurate Email campaigns for Black Friday.

1. Your database : think about conversion when you collect data

Consent is key. When your lead joins your base, they  must be aware of his action. Their interest must be strong enough for them to accept to receive messages from your company. 

To increase your chances of converting, it is advisable to be transparent with your target. Explain: 

  • What the messages will contain 
  • How often your audience receives a message
  • The topics and themes you are addressing
  • The benefits your audience will get

How to collect new email addresses to fill your database?

  • Optin

Your contact adds their email address through a form. They explicitly give their consent to receive your news.

  • Co-registration

Your contact is filling a form. This form is not yours, but you are partnering with the owner. This owner accepted to add a final checkbox in the form. If the contact checks it, they will receive your messages.

  • Co-sponsoring

Co-sponsoring can take the form of entering a contest to win a prize from a major brand.

A number of advertisers, which can be called sponsors, are associated with this contest. The contacts will automatically receive the addresses that have signed up for the relevant competition.

2. Send your campaigns long before Black Friday begins

If you are not sending a lot of email campaigns during the year but you want to send 10 000 emails for Black Friday, Webmails are going to penalize you. 
Gmail, Yahoo… All webmails want to have a sending volume as even as possible.

What if you’re sending emails only during Black Friday?

Prepare for Black Friday 2 months in advance by gradually increasing the number of emails sent. 

What to do with inactive contacts for your email campaigns?

First of all, don’t send email campaigns to your inactive contacts during Black Friday. They will lead to a decrease in your results.

If they are not active for more than 6 months it’s easy: delete them from your databases

If you want to reactivate some of them, and if they are inactive for less than 6 months, choose one of these two solutions: 

  • Create a campaign of 3 to 4 emails only for them
  • Include them into your campaigns little by little, taking into account their interests

In both case, check up the number of complains and unsubscribe carefully. Adjust your strategy accordingly to your results.

What to do with inactive contacts for your email campaigns black friday mindbaz

3. Targeting to address Black Friday issues

Consider your audience’s fears

In 2022, inflation, concerns about the war in Ukraine and the growth of environmental awareness is having an impact on Black Friday. Your audience is likely to buy less unnecessary products. 

By refining your targeting, you increase your chances to convince your audience to take action. 

Therefore, analyze your database. Segment it according to : 

  • the types of products they have already purchased
  • their interests
  • their behaviors

Of course, you can use the demographical and geographical data you have recorded. But mind the stereotypes: King Charles III and Iggy Pop are both 73 and are living in the UK. Yet, you are not going to send them the same email.

Identify your most loyal segment and reward them

This is the best practice to use again and again: loyalty

Retaining a customer will cost you less than finding a new one: The probability of selling a product is 20% on average against more than 60% for a loyal customer (src: alpcat). 

For Black Friday, bet on your customers. Give them importance and reward them:

  • Better discounts
  • Early bird specials
  • Free shipping
  • New products
  • Exclusive content
  • Privileged appointments
  • Dedicated contests…
collect data for database black friday email campaigns mindbaz

4. Create Urgency in Your Black Friday Email Campaigns

Creating urgency feeling is a good way to generate more opens and clicks. This strategy plays with the FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. 

This feeling is exacerbated with social networks that promote the sharing of micro information constantly. 

Be careful though. Some words that generate the urgency feeling tend to drive your campaigns into spam. 

We have listed the words concerned right here. 

We therefore advise you to carefully play with urgency.

How to create urgency without ending up in the SPAM folder for Black Friday?

Lego’s marketing good idea 

It’s Christmas, so Lego was keen to reassure customers about their November inventory: “Don’t worry, we’re being vigilant, there will be no shortage this Christmas.”

This message implicitly indicated that a shortage was actually possible. As a result, Lego customers were shopping as early as November for the holidays. 

Lego was able to smooth out its sales in a healthy way and avoid stocking complications at Christmas and anticipate remaining inventory into January to limit losses. 

What can create urgency on Black Friday for your emails

  • Stock limits
  • The number one choice of people with the same profile as your segment
  • Preferred limited combos 
  • Limited times
  • Last chances 
  • Products that will no longer be sold
  • Trends from known influencers in your segment
  • New products that are sure to please
  • Limited promotions
Create Urgency in Your Black Friday Email Campaigns mindbaz

5. Features of a good email for Black Friday

  1. The email should have a short and impactful subject line. Why not add an emoji?
    We’ve put together all our tips for your subject line here
  2. It should contain 60% images and 40% text
  3. Your email should convince within 3 seconds
  4. Your email must be responsive
  5. It must be readable and pleasant for your user on mobile.

The extras of an email that leads to conversions

  • A countdown: it plays on the sense of urgency
  • Content that proves your arguments
    • A customer testimonial
    • A rating 
    • A guide 
  • Faces: if your email contains a face, it will generate more emotion
  • Humor: Not easy to handle, but with the right dose it transforms more. To find the right tone, do some tests with a part of your audience.

6. Break down your customers’ barriers to Black Friday

Our last advice to increase your sales is to identify your customers’ barriers so you can eradicate them.

When your contact is interested, why didn’t they eventually purchase

  • If they find your product or service too expensive, put forward other arguments
  • If they give up within 1 or 2 clicks of buying, reduce the number of actions to be taken to a minimum
  • If they give up after clicking on your email, change the landing page they arrive on
  • If they don’t click at all, reduce the number of call to actions, or be more precise on the text.

Let’s try A/B testing campaigns before Black Friday. This way, you can know your audience and their habits.

Is your campaign ready ? Enjoy Black Friday !

Don’t underestimate your deliverability for your Black Friday campaigns : choose Mindbaz