Stop Blasting One Flat Discount to Your Entire List
Most ecommerce brands run Black Friday the exact same way. They wait until the week of Thanksgiving, pick a single flat discount like 30% off, and blast it to their entire database. That is a mistake.
When you give your best customers the exact same discount as someone who has never purchased from you, you are giving away margin for zero reason. If someone has ordered six times in the last two years, they already love your product. They do not need a massive price cut to convert. They just want priority access and recognition.
In my books, a high-performing Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) campaign comes down to six distinct segments:
- High Rollers (15% off): Customers who have purchased 6 or more times in the last 2 years. They get our lowest discount and our highest VIP treatment.
- Potential High Rollers (20% off): Customers who have ordered between 3 and 6 times in the last 2 years. Highly likely to buy, so we keep the discount modest.
- Customers (40% off): People who have ordered 1 or 2 times in the last 2 years. They need a genuine nudge to return.
- Non-Customers Engaged (40% off): People who have 0 orders in the last 2 years, but have opened, clicked, or been active on your site in the last 90 days.
- Non-Customers Unengaged (40% off): Zero orders in 2 years and 0 engagement in 90 days. We treat this group very carefully to avoid hurting deliverability.
- Early Access List (40% off): Anyone who explicitly signs up to get the sale before the general public.
The Wallet Share Principle: Why Early Access Matters
Think about a customer's holiday budget as a single pool of cash, say $500. When Black Friday week kicks off, hundreds of brands are competing for a slice of that exact same $500. The brand that gets in front of the customer first with an irresistible offer usually takes the biggest slice.
Once that budget is spent, it is gone. No matter how clever your creative is on Cyber Monday, you cannot convert someone whose bank account is already drained.
To secure that wallet share early, you need to offer early access. We give our High Rollers and Potential High Rollers access 2 days before the public sale. For everyone else, we give them the option to opt in for 1-day early access.
Building the Early Access Capture Machine
Do not just tell people early access is happening. Make them raise their hand for it. This builds anticipation and creates a hyper-engaged list of high-intent buyers.
Set up a clean, dedicated landing page on your site with an embedded Klaviyo form. Keep it minimal: first name, email address, and a clear call to action to join the early access VIP list. When a subscriber submits the form, add them directly to a dedicated early access list and trigger a short confirmation flow that says, "You are on the list. Keep an eye on your inbox."
This immediate automated confirmation achieves two things. First, it reassures the customer. Second, it generates an immediate open, which helps warm up your sender reputation ahead of the massive send volumes coming later in November.
The Pre-Sale Campaign Runway (November 1 to November 16)
We kick off the BFCM campaign calendar right on the 1st of November. The goal here is not immediate revenue, but conditioning your audience and driving early access opt-ins.
On November 1st, send a plain text email to your High Rollers and Potential High Rollers telling them they will get access 2 days before everyone else. I prefer plain text here because heavy graphic templates feel like generic marketing. A plain text note from the founder feels personal and exclusive.
On the same day, send a campaign to your regular customers and non-customers inviting them to register for early access via your landing page form. Follow this up over the next two weeks:
- November 6: Send an educational or brand values campaign (for example, how your brand offsets its holiday shipping footprint) with a subtle early access banner at the bottom. Exclude unengaged subscribers here.
- November 13: A short plain text reminder to High Rollers to mark the early access date on their calendar.
- November 16: A "last chance for early access" push with an interactive countdown timer sent to your broader list.
Executing Cyber Weekend
By the time November 22nd rolls around, your segments are locked and your early access list is full. Now it is time to execute.
On November 22nd, send a teaser to the early access list and your VIP segments stating that the sale goes live in less than 24 hours. Always use the phrase "less than 24 hours" rather than an exact time, because subscribers open emails across different time zones throughout the day. Turn Smart Sending off in Klaviyo for these priority sends so nobody gets skipped.
On November 23rd, early access officially launches. Send the unlock email with individual tier discounts (15% for High Rollers, 20% for Potential High Rollers, 40% for the rest). When you send your general public announcement on Black Friday (November 24th), make sure you exclude anyone who already shopped during early access.
Keep the urgency high through Cyber Monday on November 27th with a final countdown campaign highlighting low stock levels and expiring codes.
The Final Tuesday Non-Buyer Sweep
Here is one simple campaign that consistently pulls in an extra bump of revenue. On the Tuesday following Cyber Monday, run a final sweep campaign.
Create a segment of every subscriber on your list who has not placed an order during the entire BFCM weekend. Send them a clean, direct 40% off campaign giving them one last opportunity to grab what they missed. It requires almost no extra design work, but it frequently catches the fence-sitters who suffered from decision fatigue over the weekend.
Final Thoughts
A profitable Black Friday is not about sending louder emails or slashing your prices down to zero margin. It is about rewarding loyalty, getting to your customers' wallets before your competitors do, and treating different segments according to their actual value. Map out your segments early, build your early access list, and execute cleanly.
If you want our team to map out, design, and execute a high-converting holiday campaign calendar for your store, take a look at our Email Campaigns service.
