Black Friday is still the biggest online shopping day of the year in the UK. In 2025, shoppers spent £1.16 billion online on Black Friday alone, with Cyber Weekend generating £3.8 billion. The opportunity is huge, but so is the competition for attention
Here are 15 practical ways to make your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns work harder.
1. Start early to build anticipation
Don’t leave it until the last minute. Many brands start teasing their Black Friday offers weeks in advance. Send sneak peeks, teaser campaigns or early-bird access offers to warm up your audience. If you’re running late, at least drop a teaser a week before Black Friday, then follow up with countdown emails.
2. Segment your audience for personalisation & profit
Generic emails? That’s not going to work. Use behaviour, purchase history or customer value to segment your audience. Reward loyal customers with early access, and target cart abandoners with special incentives.
Smart brands use RFM (Recency, Frequency and Monetary) to tailor offers. For instance, light discounts on high-margin items for top spenders, and deeper discounts on trending stock to clear inventory.
3. Mix up your offer strategy
Overdid discounting last year? Switch things up. Percentage off isn’t always the most effective.
Test free gifts, bundles, multibuy offers or free delivery instead. Customers often see added value in gifts than in hefty discounts.
4. Go for flash sales & stock-limited offers
Flash sales and limited-stock deals drive urgency. Try time-sensitive or quantity-limited offers to spark excitement.
Keep momentum high with updates via email and SMS throughout the day.
5. Lean into storytelling if deep discounts aren’t possible
Not offering steep discounts? Focus on narrative instead.
Share your brand story, product inspiration or user success stories to build emotional connection.
A well-told message stands out amid purely promotional emails. Bonus: if it fits your brand, an anti-Black Friday stance can be powerful.
6. Offer exclusivity to top customers
Show your VIPs some love with early access or subscriber-only deals. Send exclusive emails to your best customers before the public sale starts – it builds loyalty and drives conversions.
7. Design for the mobile inbox
Black Friday inboxes are crowded, and most ecommerce spending now happens on mobile. Keep headlines short, body copy easy to scan and CTAs large enough to tap comfortably. Use strong imagery, but don’t let it push your key message or offer too far down the screen.
Animated GIFs can help attract attention, but make sure the first frame works on its own too.
8. Use dynamic content for FOMO
Countdown timers and low-stock alerts feed FOMO and prompt quick action.
Phrases like “Only 5 items left” or “Sale ends in 2 hours” encourage faster responses.
9. Turn up engagement with interactive elements
Interactive features like scratch-to-reveal offers or clickable image hotspots make campaigns more engaging and can boost conversions.
Use them to highlight features or surprise deals.
10. Accelerate abandoned basket campaigns
Browsing and buying cycles become much shorter during Black Friday, so your normal abandoned basket timings may be too slow.
Review the delay between abandonment and your first reminder, then test follow-ups over the next 24 to 48 hours. The important thing is to reach customers while the product and offer are still front of mind.
11. Include reviews for instant credibility
Customer satisfaction matters as much as product quality. Feature reviews or testimonials prominently to build trust in your Black Friday campaigns.
Tools like Trustpilot let you dynamically showcase reviews in emails.
12. Write subject lines that stand out
Your subject line needs to cut through the noise. Personalise it with dynamic content where possible. If not, get creative.
Pique curiosity to drive open rates. With attention spans so short, every word counts.
13. Clean your list for better deliverability
During peak season, inbox placement matters. Prune inactive contacts before BFCM to boost deliverability and avoid spam traps.
14. Don’t rely on email alone
Black Friday is noisy across every channel. Use SMS, WhatsApp and push notifications alongside email where customers have opted in.
The channels don’t need to repeat the same message. Email can explain the offer, while messaging channels work well for shorter reminders, early-access alerts and time-sensitive updates.
15. Follow Up with Post-BFCM Campaigns
Don’t stop on Cyber Monday. Send thank-you emails, request reviews or share related offers.
Retarget interested but non-buying visitors with a tailored welcome journey – that’s how first-time buyers turn into repeat customers.
Win Your Inbox Space This Black Friday
Personalise your content, add urgency, and deliver seamless customer experiences. Start early, test smart, and measure results now to fine-tune next year’s campaign.
Don’t let poor sender reputation spoil it. Check out Spotler’s Black Friday deliverability guide to make sure your emails reach the right place at the right time.
Black Friday Marketing Hub
No need to stress about your Black Friday campaign. We have a complete toolkit ready for you with all the help you will need. Stress less. Sell more. Start with your Black Friday campaign now!
