Black Friday Email Ideas For 2023
Posted By Peyton Fox | October 4th, 2023
The end of the year marks the holidays and the glorious sales that come with it. Now more than ever, people are opting to spend their Black Friday online. In 2021 alone, shoppers spent an estimated $8.9 billion online. For E-commerce brands, email marketing is a must-have, especially for Black Friday.
Here are some email ideas for your brand to utilize this 2023 shopping season. Keep those customers excited, engaged, and returning even after the shopping season.
Early Sale Teaser | Building Anticipation
Black Friday email marketing is a marathon, not a sprint, and success truly begins with an early sale email. With everyone being bombarded with sales emails, it’s important to get ahead of the crowd and start creating anticipation for your customers.
Start a week or two before the actual Black Friday sale, letting customers know that your brand will have deals on their favorite products and build a sense of hype and excitement for the upcoming deals. Customers might save your email or begin adding things to their cart in preparation for the upcoming sale.
Sneak Peek Email
To maintain a level of excitement and hype, lift the curtain back and offer a little sneak peek of some products or deals they can expect for this upcoming Black Friday shopping season. Sending a sneak peek email will let customers take a look at what your brand has to offer for the upcoming sale and set your brand apart from the onslaught of emails set to hit their inboxes when the Black Friday sales begin.
Put some creativity and content into your sneak peek emails to grab customers’ attention; include a catchy, fun subject line, as this is often the first thing your customers will see. Make it interesting by adding words that spark curiosity and hint at exclusive deals. Example subject lines include “The countdown to Black Friday is now!”, “Is It Black Friday Yet?” “Black Friday Starts Early For You,” or “Take A Sneak Peek At Our Deals.” Don’t just stop there; include appealing visuals to the email and give it some movement by adding gifs to keep it interesting. Some brands even change their layout to make it more festive for the season.
What do they do right?
- A creative, fun, and eye-catching email reveals a little sneak peek of what their customers can expect for Black Friday.
- Use a moving gif of the product images and add tons of color to make a fun, pleasing email.
- At the bottom is a box featuring the instructions and an early discount code for a free product with their order.
VIP Sale/Loyalty
VIP sales build customer loyalty and drive sales, especially during the holiday season. Show you care for your loyal customer base this season by inviting them to exclusive early-access sales. Make them feel special (because they are!) by driving home that this is an exclusive deal only for them. Stress that even though this is a VIP early access, the discounts don’t last forever, and they should put the discount into action before it’s too late. The goal of these emails is to make them know your brand is grateful for them and that the connection with the brand is highly valued.
What do they do right?
- Sephora has an “Insider” loyalty program that offers benefits such as free shipping and End-of-Year discounts.
- Email titles and subjects portray the exclusiveness of the email, including some of the deals the Insider can look forward to.
- The email creates a sense of urgency with it’s countdown to the season savings
- At the bottom is a box featuring the instructions and an early discount code for a free product with their order.
- The rest of the email features high-quality product photos with an eye-catching title, a clear description of the featured product, and a section that includes Klarna and Afterpay, two buy now, pay later services.
Launch Email
After you’ve built up the hype and excitement, it’s time to finally kick off your Black Friday sale! Add a GIF, an eye-catching CTA, and a subject line to begin the fun!
With the help of your previous emails, customers are now pumped up and excited for your brand’s Black Friday deals. When building an email, a layout with readability is key, so make sure your layout is easy for customers to navigate and make purchases. For your launch email, include your best product images, gifs, countdown timers, and anything else that captures the customer’s eye.
What do they do right?
- A playful but attention-grabbing subject line letting customers know their Black Friday sale has officially started.
- Uses “limited time” to create a sense of urgency that can be seen above the fold with the discount beside it.
- The main attraction is a colorful GIF that alternates between their different products. A customer may see their product on screen and be encouraged to buy it.
- The bottom sections include quality product photos into several groups.
Last Chance To Save
Maximize your sales potential this holiday season with a last-chance email; send an email with a sense of urgency highlighting any remaining deals and that the sale is ending soon. “Last Chance to Save” emails are vital for Black Friday because they create a sense of urgency, reduce the likelihood of cart abandonment, improve brand loyalty, promote consumer engagement, increase conversion rates, and remind customers of limited-time offers. Don’t overlook these emails this holiday season.
Cart Abandonment/Don't Miss Out on These Black Friday Deals
Don’t let potential sales slip away; try to pull customers back before the sale ends. This year, the cart abandonment rate averages around 70.19%, which is around $260 billion worth of orders lost. Even during the holidays, customers often leave things behind in their carts- it’s your job to remind them of what they’ve forgotten. Send customers reminder emails showcasing the products they’ve left behind and let them know that the sale won’t last forever and supplies are limited to create a sense of urgency.
Social proof and user-generated content, such as reviews from customers who purchased the products in the email, is also a great way to entice customers to make that purchase. If you want to sweeten the deal, nudge them with an offer of a small discount to complete the purchase.
What do they do right?
- The title and subject line include the words “just for you,” making it personal for each customer.
- Clear and bold title at the top that lets customers know it’s their last chance to shop the sale.
- Simple, high-quality photos of the products the customer has previously browsed.
- Creates a sense of urgency after showing the product images by including the phrase “limited time only.”
Extended Black Friday Sale Announcement
Maximize your Black Friday emails by including an Extended Black Friday sale announcement. Push your sale back to Cyber Monday or even for the rest of the month to let your customers know that your Black Friday sale doesn’t end when Black Friday does.
Buy Now Pay Later services are also on the rise; extended Black Friday sales can benefit from this if your company offers it. With 60% of consumers turning to BNPL services, customers will not only be more likely to make a purchase from an extended Black Friday sale but will also make more expensive purchases.
In 2022, U.S. consumers were 47% finished with their holiday shopping by the end of Cyber Week- use this chance to grab last-minute sales from customers who may have otherwise not made a purchase from you.
What do they do right?
- Includes colorful but easily readable text at the top with a GIF to emphasize the sale continues.
- High-quality photos of the products in clear readable boxes that each draw your attention to it.
- Their social media page to promote social proof and a chance to join their rewards program.
- They feature Affirm, a buy now pay later service designed with seasonal colors.
Conclusion
With the holiday season closing in, now is the time to strategize and plan the perfect emails to send. Plan ahead, think about what will truly resonate with your customers, and pick the best email tactics that work for your brand this Black Friday. ‘Tis the season to get creative!
By using pre-sale teasers, loyalty rewards, launch day, last chance, cart abandonment, and the optional sale announcement, you keep customers excited, engaged, and coming back even after the shopping season is over.
Need even more design inspiration? Check out our email design portfolio here.
Schedule Your Call
In our meeting together, we will run through your current email marketing setup, the hurdles you are facing, and more. At the end of our call, I’ll be able to detail how my team and I could help.
When booking, you’ll see a few questions that must be answered prior to our call. We are very selective about what brands and clients we work with to ensure we can succeed with your email marketing.
