How to use e-mail marketing during Black Friday to boost sales

Black Friday has evolved—from one intense shopping day into a full-scale event spanning weeks. For eCommerce brands, it’s one of the biggest opportunities of the year. But with inboxes flooded, messages ignored, and competition fierce, having a smart email strategy makes the difference between “meh” results and a serious bump in revenue.

In this article we’ll cover why email matters for Black Friday, how to structure your campaigns, key best-practices and metrics, and how to squeeze maximum value from your list during the event.

Why email should be a priority for Black Friday

• Over 61% of consumers say they prefer hearing about Black Friday deals via email.

• During a Black Friday period, email open and click-rates tend to rise compared to normal days — indicating heightened intent.

• Emails are cost-effective, direct, and give you control over messaging. With paid ads being more expensive and competitive, email gives you a chance to reach your subscribers where they already are.

• Because customers are already in a deal-hunting mindset, your email list is a high-value asset when leveraged correctly (rather than just blasting generic offers).

How to structure your Black Friday email campaign

Phase 1 – Pre-Black Friday (database build-up & warm-up & teasers)

• Start early. Many successful brands begin their Black Friday email build months ahead of the actual day.

• Send teaser emails. “Something big is coming”, “VIP early access”, “Sneak peek at deals” — these build anticipation and give you list engagement data.

• Clean your list and segment. Use this phase to re-engage your best subscribers and identify inactive profiles to avoid deliverability issues.

• Test subject lines, design, timing. With less inbox noise early on you can trial what resonates, but keep in mind that Black Friday dynamic is a little bit different than normal days/campaigns.

  
  

Phase 2 – Black Friday day/days

• Send your main offers. Strong subject lines, clear value proposition, urgency / FOMO (“Today only”, “Ends midnight”, etc.).

• Use segmentation and reward loyalty. Loyal customers get earlier access or exclusive deals; first-time subscribers get a friendly welcome and deal, etc.

• Keep it mobile-first: Many opens will be on mobile.

• Reminder / last-chance emails: As the day progresses, send reminders (“X hours left”, “Last chance”) to capture late decision-makers.

  
  

Phase 3 – Post-Black Friday / Weekend / Cyber Monday

• Extend the sale or run follow-up offers for weekend shoppers. Make sure that your Black Friday offers remain the best offers of the year.

• Send email flows for cart abandoners who engaged but didn’t purchase.

• Re-engage customers who bought: cross-sell, upsell, or invite to a loyalty programme. You might not high conversions for sales, but you will get high adoption rate for a loyalty programme.

• Analyse results and prepare learnings for the next big event.

Key best practices

Subject lines & preview text

• Be clear and value-oriented (“50% off everything – Black Friday starts now!”)

• Use urgency/time cues (“Ends tonight”, “4 hrs left”, “Exclusive early access”)

• Test your subject lines

  
  

Offer & value presentation

• Make the offer front and centre (discount %, free shipping, bundle);

• Keep the design clean—hero image, bold headline, simple CTA;

• For Black Friday, shoppers expect big value – but don’t just discount everything; consider smart bundles or exclusives to protect margin.

  
  

Segmentation & personalisation

• Segment your list by purchase behaviour, engagement, lifetime value;

• Tailor message copy accordingly (loyal customer gets “Thanks for being with us — here’s early access”, new customer gets “Welcome! Here’s your deal”);

• Use dynamic content blocks: e.g., product recommendations based on past browsing or purchase.

  
  

Timing & frequency

• Pre-event: send few but high-value emails (to avoid fatigue);

• During event: send main offer email + follow-up reminder;

• Post-event: last-chance + retention flows;

• Be careful about over-mailing: the inbox will be full and people unsubscribe or ignore;

• Sending early (well before the actual Black Friday) helps you stand out.

  
  

Deliverability & infrastructure

• Clean your list: remove invalid or unengaged addresses to avoid deliverability hits;

• Sending spikes during Black Friday mean mailbox providers are extra vigilant;

• Ensure you have capacity & email server infrastructure to handle higher volume;

• Keep your sender reputation intact — don’t use spammy tactics.

  
  

Mobile optimisation

• Many opens will be on mobile devices — ensure your design is responsive, buttons are big/tappable, fonts are legible;

• Consider dark mode readability;

• Simplify layout: one main message + CTA rather than multiple offers in one email.

  
  

Cross-channel & omnichannel integration

• Email doesn’t work in isolation. Tie it with your website, SMS, push notifications, social;

• If someone clicks your email but doesn’t purchase, follow-up via SMS or remarketing;

• Use your email campaign to drive traffic to a landing page that is optimised for Black Friday (fast load, clear offer, checkout flow).

  
  

Retention & post-purchase strategy

• After the purchase, send thank-you email, shipping/tracking updates, and a loyalty/next-purchase incentive;

• Consider a “welcome to loyalty club” if the customer is new;

• Use this event to onboard new customers and convert them to repeat buyers, not only focus on first sale.

Black Friday is not just about heavy discounting—it’s about using your email list intelligently to engage, convert, retain. With inboxes overflowing and competition high, your email strategy must be nuanced: well-timed, well-segmented, mobile-optimised, and integrated into a broader marketing ecosystem.

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