Ultimate Guide to Black Friday Email Marketing
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some the highest volume email days of the year. Your recipients are most likely receiving tons of offers from other senders, and the ISPs are flagging loads of mail trying to prevent unwanted messages from cluttering inboxes. They key to success is differentiating your messages from all the other noise but how do you go about that, exactly? This newsletter will address strategies that you can deploy to ensure your messages stand out.
Part 1 - Key Concepts
Act Now
Don't wait. Starting your Black Friday messages early gives you chance to start warming recipients up to the idea. Don't over send either, but start a few weeks out by sending an alert to your core group of engaged recipients. The last week in October or the first week in November are good starting dates. Consider sending a message one month out, one week out, and then again during the Black Friday week/weekend itself.
Sending History
Your message does not exist in a vacuum. Your mailing history is like your credit score. It's the trust you build between you and your customers. If recipients are responding poorly to your mail, or not responding at all, it's time to re-evaluate your list. Expect that it's going to be harder than normal to gain traction on Black Friday. Targeting your core subscribers is a great way to make sure you stand out from the crowd.
Target
Everyone has a core set of recipients that interact with their messages more than others. Identify these people and treat them separately. These are the individuals that are most likely to make a purchase. Make sure you prioritize them over others in your lists. You should still make an outreach to all recent subscribers but by separating out the core group or most likely responders and messaging them first, you give yourself the best of chance of inboxing.
Focus
Keep it simple. Black Friday is NOT the time to send a message with multiple CTAs (calls to action). Make sure your message is simple and to the point. Use enticing images to promote your offers and high contract links/buttons that draw the readers eye to the action you wish them to take. A CTA button should be obvious and near the top of the email. Information overload in the email will lead to ignored messages. Show your message to a friend or colleague. If they can't tell exactly what you want them to do in 5-10 seconds, re-work your content.
Part 2 - Dos and Don'ts - common mistakes to avoid.
Part 3 - Design Examples - Industry leader examples and why they work