Power Up Your BigCommerce Store’s email marketing with SmartrMail

Unlock the full potential of your e-commerce business with powerful email automations, stunning templates, and effortless newsletter creation.
With a perfect 5-star rating on the BigCommerce App Store, SmartrMail is the ideal choice to boost your e-commerce sales through email marketing.

So join the thousands of merchants who have already made over $224,872,972 in extra sales with SmartrMail.

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Empower your growing business with
essential email marketing features

Pre-built email automations for all buyer stages

Effortlessly activate essential email automations in just a few clicks with our pre-built series of emails. 

Set up welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, thank you messages, and win-back campaigns in minutes.

Customizable forms and pop-ups for more conversions

Retarget your visitors to convert them into first-time buyers. Create customized pop-ups from scratch or choose from our library. 

Display your forms strategically to engage visitors without being intrusive.

Elegant email templates for all scenarios

SmartrMail automatically creates email templates that perfectly match your store’s design presets.

You can also select from our wide range of expertly designed newsletter templates to elevate your marketing efforts.

Drag-and-drop pop-up builder

Eliminate hours spent crafting pop-ups. With our intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can easily create pop-ups with a click or let SmartrMail automatically select the best newsletter designs for you.

“This year, I’m finally back full-time with a renewed focus and mental clarity. Rebuilding the business has been positive – we’re exceeding last year’s sales by over 10% and the upward trend is clear. SmartrMail has been instrumental in this. As a self-funded company for 17 years, cost-consciousness is key. Unlike other platforms with ever-increasing fees and lock-in tactics, SmartrMail offered a cost-effective solution with practically every feature I needed.”

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Upgrading to any SmartrMail annual plan to 30% off our regular pricing. Save up to 50% of your current email marketing cost.

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The post Black Friday Cyber Monday Email Marketing 2024 checklist appeared first on SmartrMail Email Marketing Blog.

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What’s in this checklist for you?

This comprehensive Black Friday Cyber Monday checklist is your go-to guide for ensuring every aspect of your e-commerce business is ready for the holiday shopping rush.

Simplify your Black Friday Cyber Monday workflows

Streamline your operations. Use our comprehensive checklist to manage every detail, from your marketing strategy to fulfillment.

Boost sales with tried-and-true strategies

Get hands-on strategies that help you maximize sales during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday surge.

Build connections, not just sales

Discover simple ways to turn first-time shoppers into loyal fans with a shopping experience that feels personal and memorable.

All the support you need

“Excellent customer support. I had a meeting with one of the guys and he helped me edit my abandoned cart emails Plus a subscription pop up. I really like the responsiveness of the team.”

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Easy-to-navigate, ideal for small businesses

“Their customer service is AMAZING! Seriously, they’re legit. They get back to you within the same day of your trouble and are always willing to get their hands dirty and dig into your account to help! I love that hands on experience! Their platform is super easy to navigate too.
Definitely recommend for small businesses just getting started. This is definitely the e-mail platform for you.”

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The post Black Friday Checklist appeared first on SmartrMail Email Marketing Blog.

By reaching them directly in their inbox, email has the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel (averaging $40 for every $1 spent). And while landing in the inbox is great, it doesn’t beat SMS’ phenomenal 98% read rate (with 60% of customers reading an SMS campaign within 5 minutes). 

So it’s fair to say email and SMS are pretty important. That said, behind every great email or SMS marketing strategy lies one essential element: a powerful list of subscribers. 

It’s no exaggeration to say that your list and how you build it can literally make or break your campaigns. And by extension, your business.

The highest-converting lists are built with active, purchase-ready subscribers ready to engage with your campaigns. This is the closest you’re to get to having a licence to print money. Frustratingly for most merchants, their lists are far from this ideal.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide on how to build an email list that can drive millions in sales.

Steps to building high-converting lists

1) Focus on quality over quantity 

It’s tempting to focus on building your list as quickly and as large as you can. But you need to be selective of who’s signing up and qualitatively determine the filters that will be installed if you use tools such as sales navigator for lead generation.

That’s not to say that quantity isn’t important. All else being equal, a list with a million subscribers is going to drive more sales than a list with only a few hundred. 

But in their rush to build a list, too many merchants just slap together a basic popup overnight with an uninspired offer such as “10% off your first purchase” and try to pass it off as a lead magnet. 

Sure, this will get people to sign up, but it’s a safe bet a lot of them won’t qualify as leads. 

Instead, you should think about who you want on your list. Who do you want to be communicating with? Freebie-seekers? Or people who are your actual target customers and have the potential to become loyal, repeat purchasers? 

In other words, you want people who show purchase intent. Not only will it make your list more profitable, but your sender’s reputation will also remain intact thanks to a clean list. 

Which popup do you think will result in a higher-quality list?

Your existing customers are those with the highest purchase intent, as they’ve already converted. That’s why it’s essential you give people the option to subscribe during check out. 

Obviously you don’t want to limit yourself to just existing customers, that’s why the next step is all about where you get people to sign up. 

2) Think about where to find subscribers

The best way to build a quality list is to think about where and how people are signing up. 

We’ve already mentioned that the best subscribers are your existing customers, but the aim of your list is to scale your sales. This means growing your customer base by growing your list. 

There are two ways you can achieve this: organically, or through paid campaigns. 

Organic is nearly always better so it should be your main focus. 

Ways you can grow your list organically include making the most of your online store’s traffic and your social following. This is because the act of visiting your store or following your brand on social media is in itself a purchase intent signal. These are people interested in what you’re selling. Ideally, they’ll have visited more than just your homepage or a random blog article, but we’ll touch on that in the next section. 

Essentially paying for subscribers through paid activities such as social media campaigns is okay, but it’s definitely the lesser of the two options.  

While not perfect (the value proposition should take prominence above the ‘swipe up to join mailing list’ call-to-action), Bail Body does this reasonably well in the example below.

Whatever you do though, do not go purchasing lists. Only sending campaigns to those who have opted in is essential, unless you want to destroy your sending reputation and end up in the spam folder.

3) How to build an email list 101: Offer them something in return

Now that you have an idea of who you want on your list and how and where to find them, it’s time to think about the what. That’s what you offer them.

People are not going to hand over their email address or phone number for nothing in return. 

And what you decide to offer is going to impact both your conversion rate and the type of people signing up. Remember, you want to focus on quality over quantity. People who display purchase intent over freebie-seekers. 

So what should you offer? 

This is a classic case of it depends. It depends on whether they’re existing or potential customers and it depends on what stage of the purchase journey they’re at. But in general, here’s what we’ve found results in the highest quality lists: 

Tools and resources

This is anything you could consider educational. Think buyer guides, recipes, cheatsheets, even a collection of the latest trends in your industry as a source of inspiration. 

These resources are particularly enticing to potential customers early on in their purchase journey (in other words, at the top of the funnel) as they’re likely still trying to understand your products and which is best for them. 

That’s what makes the popup from Tile Mountain below effective: tiling is something you want to get right the first time, but unless you’re a professional tiler, you’re going to need a bit of help.

Ideally, whatever tool or resource you offer, it will encourage your new subscribers to use your products. You can bet Tile Mountain recommends plenty of its own products in its tiling checklist.

Quizzes

Quizzes are questionnaires visitors answer to get a specific result. They don’t work for every store, but for those they do, they tend to result in some of the highest intent, most profitable lists you’ll build. 

Quizzes work best when customers genuinely need recommendations to make the best purchase possible. Such as finding the right combination of supplements, personalized skincare routine, or what haircare product to buy like in the example below from Curlsmith. 

Deals

This is your quintessential ecommerce lead magnet. Think “free shipping” or “buy one, get one free” (BOGO). 

Yes, everyone does them, but there’s a reason for that: they’ll be the highest-converting lead magnet you’ll have. 

The trick to making sure you capture high-intent potential customers instead of freebie-seekers is where you make the offer. 

Don’t have it pop up on your homepage immediately when someone first visits. Include them on your product pages. Have them appear after your visitor has been on the page for a certain amount of time or has scrolled down most of the page. 

4) Matching your messaging to your audience

Copywriting is a crucial marketing skill, and there are few places where getting your messaging right is more important than your popup. 

The key to making your popup copy work (and where most merchants fall short) is making it relevant by matching it with the context. 

Has your visitor just returned to the same product page for the 9th time this week? Or have they just landed on your site for the first time and are reading a blog article? Is a major event like Black Friday just a few days away? 

The popup below does a good job of leaning into Black Friday with copy including “jump the queues” and the value proposition of getting early access. 

Recognizing that not all your visitors are the same and that time of year can play a big part too will help you write killer copy. 

5) Nailing the execution

Final step before you can launch: think about your popup’s execution. 

We’ve just mentioned that you don’t want your popup appearing immediately when someone lands on a page. We generally recommend a 3-5 second delay. 

Another factor to consider is the format: are you going to be collecting both email and phone number? If so, you’ll want to use a 2-step format where you just ask for email first as people are more willing to hand over their email address than their phone number. (Asking for too much info at the same time will hurt your conversion rate.)

When they get to the SMS step, you’ll want to offer something extra above and beyond the email offer as well. Otherwise there’s no reason for them to also provide their phone number. 

Once you’ve got a solid plan for execution, it’s time to launch! 

6) Test, test, and test again

You’re not finished yet, though. In fact, you’ll never be ‘finished’ if you want to build a high-quality list. 

No matter how much care and attention you put into every step above, you won’t have created the perfect popup. 

And even if you did, the performance of different strategies varies over time. What was highly successful last year might not convert that well this year. Especially in a fast-paced industry like ecommerce. 

The only way to keep your offer fresh and enticing is to continually optimize it. This means running a split test, then another split test, and another (you really should not stop testing). 

But don’t just test things randomly. Approach your split tests in a methodical way by testing one element at a time and tracking the conversion rate closely. Test your offer, then your messaging, then your design, then your execution, and repeat. 

Learning how to build an email list is just the beginning

A high-converting list can make or break your future email and SMS campaigns. But it’s also simply the foundation of your campaigns.

Following the strategies we’ve just covered, such as focusing on quality over quantity and being conscious of who’s signing up, will put you on the right path. What will bring in the actual sales are the campaigns you send to your list. 

Now that you know how to build an email list, check out our blog for strategies on sending killer email and SMS campaigns. 

The post How To Build an Email list & an SMS List That Drive Millions In Sales for Ecommerce appeared first on SmartrMail Email Marketing Blog.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be just as stressful for e-commerce merchants. But with lots of planning and preparation, and you can turn one of the biggest annual sales events into a huge success for your business.

In this guide I’ll teach you how to do just that…

1) Pre-Black Friday Hype and Preparation

Black Friday shoppers are starting to choose to shop online, rather than lining up in front of bricks and mortar stores. I definitely get it. I wouldn’t want to get up early, brave the cold, or deal with big queues and vicious doorbusters in the hope of picking up a few bargains either.

Yikes.

This is where you come in as an e-commerce merchant – Black Friday shoppers can sit in the comfort of their own homes and take advantage of your online sales. But to make this event as smooth as possible (both for you and your store’s customers), there are some housekeeping things you need to take care of well in advance.

Tip 1: Prepare for a huge spike in sales

Black Friday is one of the biggest e-commerce events of the year, and it’s important that your e-commerce store is able to handle a massive increase in traffic and sales.

Source

Firstly, this involves making sure your site is stable enough to handle a massive amount of traffic. Start testing now! This is especially important for Cyber Monday (more on that later). The last thing you want is for your website to crash during one of your busiest trading periods of the year.

You’re obviously going to miss out on a lot of potential sales, but you might also get a lot of angry emails, messages and Tweets from shoppers (remember: Black Friday makes people a little crazy), damaging your brand and customer lifetime value.

You should also make 100% sure that you have enough stock. It might even be a good idea to overstock; it’s better to be safe than sorry. You also need to worry about whether you have enough people on hand to handle customer enquiries, whether you are able to handle shipping, and so on. All of these things need to be looked after months in advance.

Tip 2: Start hyping your offers with email and social media marketing

Before you start sending out a bunch of emails, tweets and Facebook posts, you need to plan out what you’re actually going to advertise. In other words: what will you be offering your customers on Black Friday?

Some options include offer codes, sales on specific products, free gifts and free shipping. It’s also important to clearly state the conditions of your special offers: When will the offer expire? Do customers need to spend a certain amount of money? Are there any conditions to get a free gift?

Once you have planned this out, you can start creating a content calendar, and schedule your social media posts and emails. This is something you can start doing now.
Your email and social media marketing should start 2 months before Black Friday.

You can starting sending out emails and posts about once a week to pique people’s interest. Start asking them to sign up to your email list, or to follow your social media accounts so that they can stay up to date with (and stay interested in) your sales.

What I like about this email: The call to action is really clear throughout – I need to follow their social media accounts to stay up to date with their sales. This is also reflected in their use of colour, which draws attention to the backlinks and social media icons.

What could be improved: For consistency, they could have also included a backlink to their Pinterest account in the body of their email. I would’ve also emphasized the timeline of their sale, as well as their free shipping offer – Mabel’s Labels could’ve included these details in the eye-catching graphic.

For more tips on how to grow your email list in preparation for Black Friday, read here: 5 Steps to Supercharge Your Store’s Email List Growth.

As people begin to subscribe to your email list, it’s also a good idea to avoid spamming those that aren’t actively engaging with your emails. Simply segment your active and inactive subscribers, based on those who have engaged with your previous email campaigns. Send 2-3 emails per week to active customers, but inactive customers should only continue to receive a maximum of 1 per week.

By not overloading your inactive subscribers’ inboxes with emails, you won’t be ruining your store’s email deliverability as you send out a large volume of emails over this period. This has a number of disadvantages for your e-commerce store.

Firstly, there is a negative impact on your email open rate, which will drop as customers become less likely to read your newsletters. As these unopened emails build up, you risk having ISPs sending your emails straight to your subscribers spam folders, or having them blocked altogether. Alternately, subscribers could start marking your emails as spam by themselves if they are receiving too many irrelevant emails. Your emails will therefore be unread, meaning that click-through and conversion rates will drop as well.

This means that it’s extremely important to send personalized content. Since you know what offers you’re going to have or what products you’re going to have on sale, segment your email list based on their purchase history – for example, those who have purchased cameras or camera equipment from your store.

To read more about email segmentation on SmartrMail, read here: 6 Ways You Can Segment Your Email List with SmartrMail.

In late October, about a month away from the big day, start sending members of this segment emails showcasing your sales offers on tripods, lenses, and other related items they might be interested in buying on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

What I like about this email: The objective of of this email is really straightforward, with a clear call to action.

What could be improved: For a company known for their product recommendations, they could have found a way to include a few to personalize this email.

What I like about this email: Zagg does a great job at creating hype for their Black Friday sale. By including a timer counting down to the big day, this helps to generate anticipation for their sales event. They also attempt to combat the pre-Black Friday sales slump by throwing an early sale two weeks out from the actual date.

What could be improved: This email splits focus between their current pre-Black Friday sale, and their actual Black Friday sale. It might have been better had they focused solely on one, and created a separate email that markets the other sale.

A week before Black Friday, you can increase your email and post frequency yet again. Send 3-4 emails this week to engaged subscribers, but again keep unengaged subscribers frequency capped at once per week.

What I like about this email: Again, the inclusion of a countdown works to get subscribers excited in anticipation of the sale.

What could be improved: Vistaprint could have included a few extra things in this email. Firstly, there aren’t any specific details on what their offers are. It might have helped to generate more excitement had they included what discounts Black Friday shoppers can expect. The email simply asks subscribers to visit their site at the start of the sale; Vistaprint could have made their call to action to visit their site now, so that customers can browse their products beforehand.

2) The Day of Black Friday

Tip 1: Allow top customers in on a special pre-sale

Sending out an exclusive email to your high-value customers, giving them early access to your special offers, can do wonders for customer lifetime value. To do so, send out an email to the aforementioned segment of those who actively engage with your emails a day or so before your official sale has been scheduled.

What I like about this email: The text in the body of the email reads as genuine – Victoire seems to really appreciate their high-value customers.

What could be improved: This email is really unclear about what their specific deals are. They also don’t include a button to easily click through to their website. As such, I don’t really feel inclined to take advantage of their Black Friday sales (whatever they may be). And as much as I love Oprah, the inclusion of a Christmas-themed picture seems a little irrelevant to this email, and their brand in general.

What I like about this email: The deals and conditions are crystal clear in this email from Urban Outfitters. The call to action is also really clear, and the inclusion of a button at the bottom of the bottom makes it easy for shoppers to click through and start buying.

What could be improved: It would have been nice if they had shown more appreciation for their high-value customers; a quick message to thank Urban On Members somewhere in the email would have done the trick.

Tip 2: Send frequently to engaged customers

Send out your big email at the very start of your sale – the one that lets everyone know that your sale is live. Make sure again to clearly state the conditions of your sale (when the offer ends, minimum purchase, etc.) and the offer code, if you have opted for that.

What I like about this email: The discounts, conditions, offer code and call to action are all really clear. And not to be shallow, but I really like the design of the email as well.

What could be improved: Although they include the time frame of their offer in the fine print, Bonobos could have included some sort of time-sensitive element in the body of the email. This would have increased the sense of urgency.

What I like about this email: I like how CanvasPop really emphasizes their huge 40% off discount throughout the email – not only by repeating it several times, but making use of font size and colour to draw attention to their offer.

What could be improved: Again, they have included several subtle time-sensitive elements (“Last chance” in the body of the email, and the offer expiration time and date in fine print). However, a stronger emphasis on the limited time frame of their offer would have increased a sense of urgency.

Don’t hesitate to schedule a few emails and posts on social media during the course of Black Friday. As mentioned before, just make sure you’re emailing your most engaged subscribers. For unengaged subscribers, it might be worthwhile sending out a quick reminder of your sales anyway (they might have been busy with Thanksgiving or actually attended Black Friday sales in person).

It could be a good idea to include some time-sensitivity to your emails and social media posts, increasing a sense of urgency. This can be either letting customers know how long is left to go on your sale, or letting customers know that some of your items are running out of stock.

What I like about this email: The inclusion of “Hurry, ends Sunday!” increases the sense of urgency with this email. Tradesy’s Black Friday offer is also really clear, with the inclusion of conditions in fine print as well.

What could be improved: Their choice of balloons as the centerpiece of this email is confusing, and irrelevant to their brand. As such, I think the inclusion of personalized product recommendations (or at least a few products from their website) would have improved the relevance of this email.

What I like about this email: The timer counting down to the end of Diamond Store’s sale really increases the sense of urgency.

What could be improved: Diamond Store could have clarified what their offers specifically are, rather than just including a general “All items reduced” statement. And while they have included links to specific parts of their website underneath the logo, including another button at the bottom of the email would have strengthened the call the action.

3) Cyber Monday

People often view Cyber Monday as less important than Black Friday. Don’t be one of those people.

Hear me out.

If other e-commerce stores ignore Cyber Monday, there’s less competition for you. Additionally, many Black Friday doorbusters continue the tradition of lining up at bricks and mortar stores (although this trend is decreasing slowly over time), so pay less attention to online sales, whereas Cyber Monday is purely an online event.

Therefore, you have so much to gain from giving as much attention to your Cyber Monday marketing efforts. In fact, online sales figures from 2016 show that shoppers spent $3.45 billion on Cyber Monday, compared to $3.34 billion on Black Friday.

While there isn’t a big difference between the two when marketing your sales for these events, there are some things you can do to make the most of Cyber Monday.

Tip 1: Make use of paid advertisement

Cyber Monday is a good opportunity to make use of paid advertising platforms, like Google AdWords or Facebook Dynamic Product Ads. Because the marketplace is less crowded in comparison to Black Friday, your ads are much more likely to be seen.

However, cost per click (CPC) costs tend to skyrocket during the holiday period, as lots of advertisers make use of these platforms to market their own sales. Bigger companies spend more money, meaning that the CPC is increased for everyone else too.

Source

Facebook CPC too spikes during this period. In fact, CPC for Facebook advertising saw a 24% increase from the third to the fourth quarter last year.

We don’t recommend that small to medium businesses attempt to outbid massive companies, like Walmart and Amazon, in an attempt to acquire new customers through these channels. However, a much more effective strategy to implement over this busy period is retargeting customers.

To get the most out of Facebook advertising, use Custom Audiences for your ads. Create a Custom Audience to target those who have engaged with your website. By doing this, you are ensuring that you are delivering ads to only those who are interested in your products (since they have viewed these products from your store, or purchased from you already).

This makes using these paid advertising platforms during Black Friday and Cyber much more cost effective, given that repeat customers generate the majority of e-commerce revenue.

Tip 2: Abandoned cart emails

If you don’t use abandoned cart emails, Cyber Monday is probably the best opportunity to start integrating this into your e-commerce marketing.

You can target the many shoppers that abandoned their carts on Black Friday for whatever reason, and convert them by reminding them of the products they were interested in, or offering an incentive.

For more information on abandoned cart emails, read here: How to Get More Sales with Abandoned Cart Emails in 2022.

4) Extension into Cyber Week

If your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales went successfully, you may decide to extend your sales into Cyber Week.

If you choose to do so, it would be a good idea to reduce your email and social media post frequency. By this stage, if a transaction was to have happened, it would have happened already among all the Black Friday/Cyber Monday hysteria.

Flooding your customers’ inboxes and social media feeds will just annoy them, especially if they have already spent a lot of money over the weekend. Limit your Cyber Week emails and social campaigns to customers who didn’t purchase over the weekend, rather than targeting customers who’ve just forked up hundred (if not thousands) of dollars on sales.

Continue to make use of segmentation (both with email and on Facebook) to ensure that the offers and product newsletters you send to your customers are relevant to them.

As Cyber Week dies down, start analyzing your data – which marketing tactics and channels worked best for you over this period? Which ones weren’t as successful? What improvements can you make to your email and social media marketing for better conversion results? All of this is really important, so that you’re better prepared for future e-commerce events.

The final step: sit back and relax. But not for too long, Christmas and Boxing Day are just around the corner!

The post The 2024 Guide to Black Friday E-Commerce Email Marketing appeared first on SmartrMail Email Marketing Blog.

With every $1 spent on email marketing generating a $38 return – it’s no surprise that the top ecommerce fashion stores are focusing their efforts on email marketing. But fashion email marketing is no longer “This Month’s Top Picks” sent to your entire subscriber list. A successful fashion email marketing strategy includes campaigns that are personalized, triggered, and automated.

We’ve put together 12 different emails that every ecommerce fashion store needs to be sending. While 12 email campaigns might seem like a lot to be sending, most are automated, and you’ll start to see more sales by only implementing a third of the suggest emails into your fashion store’s marketing strategy. If you’re on Shopify, BigCommerce, or other ecommerce platforms – you can integrate email marketing apps to start sending fashionable emails in minutes.

1. Welcome Email

Your fashion welcome email is your chance to make a good first impression – don’t be lazy. The average welcome email generates four times the total open rates and five times the click rates compared with other bulk promotions. More importantly, revenue per email is eight times higher and transaction rates are nine times higher. But you won’t cash in on this sales opportunity with a black and white confirmation email.

When designing your welcome email include:

• A sincere thank you
• Creative imagery
• Content associated with your brand
• Links to your social profiles

The majority of ecommerce fashion stores also email a 10-20% discount to entice subscribers to make their first purchase from the store.

Take a look at how leading fashion brands send welcome emails that engage their subscribers and get them more sales for their stores.

2. Content Email

Sadly the first thing many ecommerce fashion retailers do is start hard selling their products right away. The result is a boring brand and an endless stream of apparel that your customer knows nothing about.

Luckily as a fashion retailer you have a wealth of content options you can send your subscribers. Use your content newsletter to promote your brand, educate your customers on the latest styles, and entertain them with meaningful content. You can get started with these 3 examples from leading fashion brands:

Email 1: Tell Your Story

Let your customer get to know you before they make a purchase from your store. Tell your brand’s story, including why you sell your products and who you sell them too. While not strictly a fashion or apparel retailer, no one can deny that Huckberry are the masters of email marketing. Their email does a great job of telling their story, while still including some products from their store.

Email 2: Style Tips

Emailing products that your customers don’t know how to wear is pointless in fashion marketing. Use your content email to educate your subscribers on the latest styles and how to wear certain items. If you have an accompanying brick and mortar store, get your staff involved in blogs where they share how they wear their favourite items. Banana Republic includes helpful style tips when they launch new collections.

Email 3: Guest Blog Feature

You no longer need a celebrity to wear your products for ecommerce fashion success. Partner with a local fashion blogger or influencer to create a blog post on your website. Get them to write on how they create their favorite outfits and put together a collection of related items. Share the blog post via email to nurture your leads and provide a fresh dose of content.

Check out Urban Outfitters’ guest blog with surfing influencer, Mick Rodgers.

Depending on the size of your store and the capabilities of your marketing team, schedule content emails once to twice a month as you don’t want to overfill your subscribers’ inboxes.

3. Promotional Email

Now that you’ve given your subscribers a warm welcome with thank yous, branding, and content – it’s time to run your first sales campaign. The best channel to do this is email.

When it comes to purchases made as a result of receiving a marketing message, email has the highest conversion rate (66%), beating out social, direct mail and more.

The first step of any promotional email is picking your offer. If you’re putting specific products on sale, segment your list so the right offer gets to the right customers. Don’t forget to flex your creative muscles, as your only goal shouldn’t be to get more sales. You can start with these 3 goal examples…

1. Increase average order value: A generic 20% discount might get you more sales but it also cuts into your bottom line. Add a minimum threshold that customers need to receive the discount. This will get you more sales while also increasing your average order value.

2. Get rid off overstocked or old items: Your stock room might be filled with sunglasses that didn’t sell over summer, but your customers don’t need to know that. Give them away for free for customers who spend a certain amount.

3. Encourage repeat purchases: Instead of offering a discount, give away loyalty points instead. On average, 40% of an ecommerce store’s sales are generated by only 8% of their customers.

The next step is to create your email.

Don’t overfill your promotion email with products, one of the purposes of this email is to drive customers back to your site so they can shop. The data collected from their browsing behavior can be used to power your product recommendation emails (which we’ll get to next). Make your offer clear, have a clear call to action button to drive traffic to your site, and include a few products related to the sale.

Now it’s time to send your email….

And send it again. and again. We can’t stress enough to SEND MORE THAN ONE EMAIL. People are too busy and inboxes are too full for a single email to grab anyone’s attention. Average ecommerce open rates are only 17.68 percent, making your time perfecting your campaign worthless if you’re only sending it once. By counting down your sale in your subject lines, you create urgency and increase the chance that your customer opens your marketing message.

If you think its too much work and you’d rather do social, consider this: Only 2% of your Facebook fans will see your post in their newsfeed, while 90% of emails will be delivered to the intended recipients inbox.

4. Personalized Product Recommendations

Do you know the recommended products you see when on a fashion product page? Now these product recommendations can be emailed as well.

But don’t send the same selection of dresses to everyone. Personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates compared to bulk email newsletters. Shopify and BigCommerce email marketing apps make it easy to track your customer’s past purchase history, browsing behavior, and email clicks to power hyper-personalized product recommendations straight into your customers’ inboxes.

It might sound creepy but your customers want you to do this. 73 percent of consumers prefer to do business with online retailers who use personal information to make their shopping experience more relevant. If I’m consistently shopping for shoes on your site, I don’t want an email filled with hats.

Send your personalized product emails every week or two to keep your subscribers engaged and one click away from their next purchase. You only have to set up and design them once, giving you time to plan and perfect your promotional email campaigns.

Learn more about SmartrMail personalized product emails.

5. Abandoned Cart Emails

Shopping cart abandonment alone accounts for $18 billion in lost revenue for ecommerce companies. Can you imagine what $18 billion of t-shirts, dresses, and other fashion apparel would look like in those carts?

By sending abandoned cart emails, fashion retailers have a chance at converting the over 68 percent of customers abandoning carts on their sites.

Radley London, a fashion accessory brand, recovered 7.9% of lost sales after sending cart abandonment emails. Now lets say your store store brings in $1 million in revenue through the one-third of customers who aren’t abandoning their carts. If you recover 7.9% of the two-thirds abandoned carts, you generate an extra $158,000 in revenue for your fashion store.

To craft the perfect abandoned cart email, fashion stores must understand what causes cart abandonment in the first place. According to a UPS and comScore study, the top 5 reasons why customers abandon their online shopping carts are:

1. Unexpected shipping costs or conditions at checkout
2. Browsing for a better price elsewhere
3. Didn’t want to create an account to purchase
4. Preferred payment was not offered
5. Got distracted and forgot to complete the order

Now lets use these insights to recover our lost sales.

Firstly, your customer probably isn’t expecting a reminder email, so your subject line should clearly indicate what your email is about. Knowing that your customer likely left their cart due to the costs of the shipping or to find a better price elsewhere, offer free shipping or a small discount to sweeten the deal.

72 percent of customers who buy from abandoned cart emails convert within the first 24 hours – so set your email to send quickly. If your customer doesn’t convert, send it again and again. Over the course of 3 emails create urgency by holding the item in their cart for a set time or by noting how many items are left in stock.

If you want to supercharge your abandoned cart emails, add a few personalized product recommendations. These recommendations can bring your customer back to your site incase they fall out of love with the original product, or if they need to meet a minimum threshold for free shipping.

Lastly, no one likes a nag. Use witty copy and fun images to give your customers a laugh and drive them back to their carts. If you need help getting started, check out these 5 abandoned cart emails every ecommerce fashion store should steal.

6. New Inventory

With the cost of acquiring new customers continuing to rise, ecommerce fashion stores must shift more focus to engaging their current customers. After all, it costs 5 times more to acquire new customers than it does to keep your existing ones.

Fashion stores can do this by regularly notifying their customers of new items and inventory.

When sending a new inventory email, fashion marketers must keep their email focused. Don’t overcrowd your email with information not relevant to the new inventory. The only goal of this email is to drive customers back to your site to check out your new inventory and ultimately make a purchase.

Some other best practices include:

• Include a few professional product photos: Adding a few of your best items to the email motivates customers to browse the entire range of new items.
• Have a clear subject line: This email doesn’t require a lot of text. However the text you choose for your subject line will effect your open rates. Keep it simple and clearly indicate what the email is about.
• Segment your email list: Your new selection of summer dresses won’t get much interest from your male subscribers. Send your new inventory email to subscribers who have previously purchased or browsed similar items. Doing so will improve your open rate, clicks, and revenue per email.
• Link to a relevant collection: Link to a separate collection of your new items on your Shopify or BigCommerce store. Don’t send your subscribers to your home page and hope they find their way.

7. Post Purchase Email

Post purchase email receipts have an open rate of 70.90%, compared to an average email marketing open rate of 17.68%.

Fashion email marketers should use this marketing opportunity to offer discounts, cross-sell, and promote their social channels. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%. In fact, Amazon reported that 35% of their revenue is through cross sales and up selling efforts, mostly through receipt emails.

Here are some examples of what you could include in your post purchase email:

• Post purchase survey
• Coupon code for next purchase
• Referral code
• Cross sell product recommendations
• Links to social profiles
• Link to share purchase on social

If you have a Shopify or BigCommerce store, try out Receiptful for customizable confirmation emails.

8. Review Request Email

Consumer product reviews are 12x more trusted than product descriptions that come from manufacturers and store owners. The content you generate from reviews can be used as social proof on your site and in future promotional emails. Customer generated content is also great for your SEO rankings as you’ll easily be able to add keywords that differentiate from the standard manufacturer description used by other fashion stores selling similar products.

Send your product review request email 2-3 days after you expect your customer to receive their items – keeping their purchase fresh in their mind and giving them a chance to assess the quality of the products.

You should be using Yotpo for this. Their app allows you send review requests email, display them on your site, and distribute the content on your social channels.

9. Testimonial Email

Now that you’ve collected great product reviews, start emailing them. 88% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations and 72% will only take action once reading a positive review.

When designing testimonial emails, ensure that the text and product images are clear. Link each product review to a product page where customers can see more reviews of the product.

10. Reactivation Email

Over time your subscribers will begin to tune out from your emails. They’ll stop opening emails, clicking to your site, and buying your products. Don’t make saying goodbye so easy.

Automate a reengagement campaign that reengages and reactivates dormant subscribers after 60 days. While your main goal is to make more sales, opens and clicks you get from your reengagement email also signal to Gmail and other ESPs that your customers still love getting emails from you. If a large portion of your email list remains inactive your emails will start ending up in the promotions tab, and eventually – the deadly SPAM folder.

Read: 5 more tips for ecommerce stores to avoid the SPAM folder

Like other promotional emails, sending it once won’t get you results. Implement this series of 4 reengagement emails into your fashion email marketing strategy now.

Email 1: “We’ve missed you”

Include a sad face in your body text to create sympathy, and add a products based on past purchases and popularity. You can choose to offer a small discount here to further incentives visiting your site.

Email 2: “50% OFF EVERYTHING – JUST FOR YOU”

Offer a massive discount that they can’t refuse. Be prepared to not to make any money from this sale. However you can leverage the data from their purchase and browsing behavior to deliver more personalized product recommendations in the future.

Email 3: “You will be deleted from our list in 7 days”

If you’re still not getting any response after that massive offer, it’s time to think about letting go. Notify your subscriber that they will be removed from your list in 7 days and that the offer will soon expire.

Email 4: “You’ve been unsubscribed”

Continuing to email inactive subscribers will lead to your emails being flagged as SPAM. Say your final goodbye to your inactive subscriber, but include a link for them to resubscribe to your email list and reactivate your offer.

11. Holiday Email

On Black Friday in 2015, email marketing drove the most ecommerce sales at 25.1% – more than both social and search.

Considering the creative and sales potential in holiday events, it’s important that you keep your fashion store’s email marketing a step ahead of the competition. Based on your target market, add important events such as Back-to-School, Halloween, Christmas, and Black Friday to your content calendar.

If you’re looking to get started, these are 12 ecommerce holidays that you should build fashion email content around:

1. Valentines Day – February 14th
2. Mother’s Day – May 10th
3. Father’s Day – June 21st
4. Independence Day – July 4th
5. Back-to-School – September 1st
6. Labor Day – September 7th
7. Halloween – October 31st
8. Black Friday – November 27th
9. Cyber Monday – November 30th
10. Super Saturday – December 19th
11. Christmas – December 25th
12. Boxing Day – December 26th

Once again! Send more than one email. Counting down your holiday sale will a sense of urgency with your subscribers and encourage them to act quickly.

12. Birthday Email

With personalized birthday emails having 5x the transaction rate of standard bulk mailings, your subscribers aren’t the only ones getting a reward on their birthday.

While the goal of this email is to make a sale on your site, appreciate your active subscribers by giving them a substantial discount. An Experian study found that giving a ‘$X off’ gift had the highest transaction rate and revenue per email, when compared to other percentage-based, point-based, or free shipping gifts.

Closing Note:

If you’ve made it this far, you’re ready implement your fashion email marketing strategy. We’ve put together a handy checklist for you to put this guide into action.

For your personalized product emails, newsletters, and abandoned cart emails – I’m going to encourage you to start using SmartrMail. Within minutes you can design and automate 2 of the above emails. What’re you waiting for? Start getting more sales for your fashion store now!

The post 2024 Email Marketing Guide for Fashion Brands with Examples appeared first on SmartrMail Email Marketing Blog.

You know for a fact that Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Standing out in the crowded digital space is going to take more than generic SMS messages.

SMS marketing offers a direct and immediate way to reach your audience, ensuring your promotions are seen when it matters most.

With high open rates and instant delivery, SMS is a powerful tool for driving sales and engagement during this high-stakes event.

The many benefits of Black Friday SMS marketing

Although social media, direct messaging, and emails have become the staple channels of communication, SMS still holds its position as a channel to connect with customers on a more individual level.

Black Friday SMS marketing can do wonders to your bottom line by boosting customer engagement and improving conversion rates. Here are some of its assured benefits:

Instant delivery and high open rates

SMS messages are delivered almost instantly and boast open rates as high as 98%, far surpassing email and other digital channels. This immediacy ensures that your Black Friday offers reach customers at the right moment, increasing the likelihood of quick responses and conversions.

Personalization opportunities

From addressing customers by name to tailoring offers based on shopping behavior, SMS marketing offers you a higher degree of personalization. This personalized approach can create a stronger connection with your audience, making them more likely to engage with your Black Friday deals.

Additionally, personalized SMS marketing can significantly boost customer loyalty by making customers feel valued and understood.

Direct communication with customers

SMS provides a direct line of communication to your customers, cutting through the noise of crowded inboxes and social media feeds. This directness is particularly valuable during Black Friday, when timely and relevant Black Friday messages can make the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity.

Direct communication through SMS can also significantly improve customer retention by fostering a more personal and immediate connection with your audience.

Cost-effective marketing channel

Compared to traditional advertising, SMS marketing is relatively low-cost while offering a high return on investment. The ability to reach a large audience with minimal expense makes it an attractive option for businesses looking to maximize their Black Friday marketing budget.

SMS Marketing Vs. Social Media Marketing Vs. Email Marketing

We briefly mentioned earlier that SMS marketing stills holds value amidst social media and email marketing. 

SMS marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing each have unique strengths and weaknesses. 

Here’s a comparison to help you decide which combination of channels will best suit your strategy.

Planning Your Black Friday SMS marketing Campaign

Planning your Black Friday SMS marketing campaign is not going to be an easy task. Neverthless, if you follow a process you can still end it on a success note.

Setting Clear Goals

Whether you’re aiming to drive sales, increase website traffic, or build brand awareness, having specific goals will guide your strategy and help measure success. Introducing a Black Friday pre-sale can create early shopping opportunities with exclusive discounts, setting the stage for significant savings and encouraging early purchases. Be it for Black Friday SMS marketing, or for any other holiday season marketing, it is necessary to set SMART goals as a precursor. Setting clear goals can also lead to higher customer satisfaction.

For example, if your primary goal is to boost sales, your SMS messages should focus on time-sensitive offers and strong CTAs.

If brand awareness is the target, you might prioritize messaging that encourages engagement and social sharing.

Audience Segmentation

Effective SMS campaigns are built on personalization, and that starts with audience segmentation. By dividing your audience into specific groups, you can tailor your messaging to resonate more with each segment. For instance:

• Loyal Customers: Reward them with exclusive early access or higher discounts.
• New Subscribers: Entice them with a welcome discount or first-purchase incentive.
• High-Value Shoppers: Offer personalized recommendations or premium deals to encourage repeat purchases.

Segmenting your target audience can improve the effectiveness of your SMS campaigns by ensuring that each message is relevant and engaging to the specific needs and interests of each group.

Crafting Compelling SMS Offers

Different types of offers can appeal to various segments of your audience. Put in some copywriting effort to craft the right SMS that will hook customers and reel them into making a purchase. Highlighting black friday sale items can be an effective way to attract attention to special offers and discounts.

Some of the strategies you can give a shot are:

• Percentage discounts
• Specific amount discounts
• BOGO (Buy One Get One)
• Exclusive early/VIP access
• Free shipping
• Limited-time offers

Let’s take a detailed look at these strategies and how you can leverage them.

Best SMS Marketing Strategies to Create Black Friday Text Messages

The right sale offer can motivate customers to act quickly, driving sales and engagement, especially during Black Friday sales. Here’s how to approach crafting offers for different types of promotions:

Discounts – Discounts are a classic and effective way to entice customers, especially during Black Friday. When crafting a discount offer, focus on making it substantial enough to stand out in the crowded market. Whether it’s a percentage off or a dollar amount discount, clearly communicate the value to the customer and include a sense of urgency to encourage quick action.

Flash Sales – Flash sales are short, time-limited promotions that create a sense of urgency and excitement. These offers work well in SMS marketing due to the immediacy of text messages. The key to a successful flash sale SMS offer is to emphasize the limited time frame and make the offer too good to pass up, such as a deep discount or an exclusive deal available only during the flash sale window.

Exclusive Access – Offering exclusive access to Black Friday deals can make your customers feel valued and appreciated. This type of offer works well for VIP customers or those who have subscribed to your SMS list specifically for early access. The messaging should highlight the exclusivity of the offer, making customers feel like they are getting a special advantage over others.

BOGO (Buy One, Get One) – BOGO offers are a popular choice for driving volume sales during Black Friday. These offers provide customers with a perceived higher value, as they’re getting an additional product for free or at a reduced price. When crafting a BOGO SMS offer, be clear about the terms and make it easy for customers to understand how they can take advantage of the deal.

Free Shipping – Free shipping is a powerful incentive that can reduce cart abandonment and encourage more customers to complete their purchases. This offer is particularly appealing during Black Friday when shoppers are looking to maximize their savings. In your SMS message, emphasize the convenience and cost savings that free shipping provides, and consider adding a minimum purchase requirement to boost average order value.

Bundle Deals – Bundle deals encourage customers to purchase multiple items by offering them at a discounted rate when bought together. This type of offer can increase the overall order value and help clear out inventory. Your SMS should clearly outline what’s included in the bundle and the savings customers will enjoy by choosing the bundle over individual items.

Loyalty Rewards – Loyalty rewards offer an excellent opportunity to acknowledge and reward your repeat customers. This could be in the form of extra discounts, bonus points, or exclusive gifts with purchase. The messaging should convey appreciation and make loyal customers feel like they are receiving a special perk for their continued support.

Gathering customer feedback can help refine your SMS marketing strategies by providing insights into what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to tailor your offers more effectively.

The art and science of crafting effective Black Friday SMS messages

Not just campaign planning, but copywriting also plays a crucial role in making your Black Friday SMS messages work. Consider following these best practices when writing your campaign messages.

Writing Attention-Grabbing Subject Lines

Subject lines are the first thing your audience will see, making them crucial in determining whether your message gets opened or ignored.

For SMS marketing, the subject line needs to be concise, yet powerful enough to capture attention immediately.

The best practices you must adhere to include:

• Keep It Short and Sweet: Aim for brevity, as you have limited characters. Focus on the key offer or benefit.
• Use Action-Oriented Language: Words like “Grab,” “Save,” “Unlock,” or “Exclusive” encourage immediate action.
• Highlight Urgency or Scarcity: Phrases like “Limited Time,” “Only Today,” or “Ending Soon” create a sense of urgency that can drive quicker responses.
• Personalize When Possible: Including the recipient’s name or referencing their previous shopping behavior can make your subject line more engaging.

Effective subject lines can significantly improve open rates, ensuring your message reaches a wider audience.

Example: “Hurry, [First Name]! 20% Off Just for You – Today Only!”

Message Length and Content

When crafting your SMS content, less is more. Given the character limit and the need to get straight to the point, your text message should be concise and focused on the essential details. Here’s why:

• Be Concise: SMS messages should be clear and to the point, as you only have about 160 characters. Avoid fluff and stick to the core message.
• Incorporate Urgency: Urgency drives action. Phrases like “Act Now,” “Limited Time,” or “Today Only” can encourage immediate engagement.
• Emphasize Exclusivity: Making customers feel special can increase their interest. Use phrases like “Exclusive Offer,” “Just for You,” or “VIP Access” to add value to your message.

Example: “Flash Sale! 50% off everything – today only. Shop now: <Link>

Using Personalization and Emojis

Personalization and emojis can add a layer of engagement and personality to your SMS messages, making them more relatable and impactful.

• Personalization Enhances Engagement: Tailoring your messages with the recipient’s name, past purchases, or browsing behavior can make them feel valued and more likely to engage. For instance, “Hi [First Name], your favorite items are on sale!”
• Appropriate Use of Emojis: Emojis can add a fun, visual element to your messages, but they should be used sparingly and appropriately. Emojis like (celebration), (urgency), or (shopping) can enhance your message without overwhelming it. However, ensure that they align with your brand’s tone and the message’s content.

Personalization and appropriate use of emojis can significantly enhance the customer experience by making messages feel more tailored and engaging.

Call to Action (CTA)

A strong, clear call to action is vital to the success of your SMS marketing campaign. The CTA directs your audience on what to do next and should be compelling enough to drive immediate action. Black Friday SMS templates are essential tools for creating compelling messages that effectively communicate deals and promotions during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events.

• Crafting Clear and Compelling CTAs: Your CTA should be direct and easy to understand, leaving no ambiguity about the next step. Use action verbs and create a sense of urgency to encourage immediate action.
• Examples of Effective CTAs for Black Friday:
• “Shop Now” – Simple and direct, perfect for time-sensitive offers.
• “Claim Your Discount” – Creates a sense of ownership and urgency.
• “Unlock Your Offer” – Adds an element of exclusivity and intrigue.
• “Buy Now Before It’s Gone” – Combines urgency with scarcity, motivating quick decisions.

A strong CTA can significantly improve conversion rates by guiding customers towards completing a purchase or taking the desired action.

Example: “Don’t miss out! Claim a promo code for your 25% off today: Link

By focusing on these elements, you can craft SMS messages that not only capture attention but also drive the desired action, ensuring your Black Friday campaign is both effective and engaging.

If you’re looking for ready-to-use SMS messages for all occasions, here are 40 SMS templates you can use.

Black Friday SMS messages for all occasions

Now we have reached the most important part of this article. the one that is going to save hours worth of brainstorming and tedious copywritign effort.

Here are the Balck Fridat SMS message tempaltes that you can use for any occasion:

1. Exclusive Early Access Sale

1. You’re in! Get exclusive early access to our Black Friday deals now. Take advantage of our pre Black Friday sale to enjoy early discounts and exclusive offers. Shop before everyone else: < Link> #VIPAccess. Exclusive early access can significantly boost customer loyalty by making customers feel valued and appreciated.
2. Early birds catch the best deals! Use code EARLYBF for 20% off before the rush. Shop now: < Link>
3. Black Friday starts NOW for our VIPs! Hurry, grab your favorites before they’re gone: < Link>
4. Shh…it’s a secret! Early access to our Black Friday sale is live. Use code SECRETSALE: < Link>
5. You’ve unlocked early access! Shop our Black Friday deals before the crowd: < Link> Limited time only!

2. Last-Minute Reminders

1. Time’s almost up! Black Friday weekend ends tonight. Don’t miss out on huge savings: < Link>
2. Final hours! Shop our Black Friday deals before they’re gone. Hurry: < Link>
3. Last chance to save big! Black Friday ends soon. Get your deals now: < Link>
4. Tick-tock… Last-minute Black Friday shopping? We’ve got you covered. Shop now: < Link>
5. Only a few hours left! Grab your Black Friday favorites before they’re gone: < Link>. Last-minute reminders can significantly improve conversion rates.

3. Cart Abandonment Reminder

1. Hey < First Name>, you left something behind! Complete your purchase now and enjoy 15% off with code SAVE15: < Link>. Cart abandonment reminders like this can significantly improve customer retention by encouraging customers to complete their purchases.
2. Don’t miss out, < First Name>! Your Black Friday picks are still waiting. Complete your order: < Link>
3. Your cart is calling! Grab your Black Friday deals before they’re gone. Finish checkout: < Link>
4. We saved your cart! Use code BFCM20 for 20% off and complete your order: < Link>
5. Your Black Friday deals are waiting! Finish your purchase before they sell out: < Link>

4. Flash Sale Notifications

1. Flash Sale Alert! 50% off for the next 2 hours only. Don’t miss out: < Link> Cyber Monday deals are just around the corner, so stay tuned for exclusive offers.
2. Quick! Flash sale is live for the next 3 hours. Grab 40% off sitewide: < Link>
3. Surprise Flash Sale! Shop now and get 30% off for the next hour: < Link>
4. Limited-time flash sale! 25% off everything, but only for the next 2 hours: < Link>
5. Act fast! Flash sale ends in 1 hour. Use code FLASH25 for 25% off: < Link>

5. Personalized Product Recommendations

1. Hi < First Name>, we’ve handpicked these Black Friday deals just for you! Check them out: < Link>
2. Your favorites are on sale! Shop personalized Black Friday deals before they’re gone: < Link>
3. Special Black Friday picks for you, < First Name>! Don’t miss out on these deals: < Link>
4. Looking for something specific? Check out our personalized Black Friday recommendations: < Link>. Personalized recommendations can significantly boost customer engagement.
5. We know you’ll love these! Shop your personalized Black Friday deals now: < Link>

6. Bogo (Buy One Get One) Offers

1. BOGO is here! Buy one, get one free on select items for Black Friday. Don’t forget to check out our Cyber Monday sales for even more amazing deals. Shop now: < Link> BOGO offers can significantly drive customer acquisition by attracting new shoppers looking for great deals.
2. Black Friday BOGO! Buy one, get one 50% off today only. Don’t miss out: < Link>
3. Double the deals! BOGO on your favorite products for Black Friday. Limited time: < Link>
4. It’s BOGO time! Buy one, get one free on everything. Shop Black Friday deals: < Link>
5. BOGO Alert! Buy one, get one 50% off for Black Friday. Shop before it’s gone: < Link>

7. Free Shipping Promotions

1. Free Shipping Alert! Enjoy free shipping on all Black Friday orders today only: < Link>
2. Shop more, save more! Free shipping on all Black Friday orders over $50. Use code FREESHIP: < Link>
3. Black Friday Special! Free shipping on everything, no minimum required: < Link>
4. Skip the lines, we’ll ship for free! Black Friday free shipping on all orders: < Link>
5. Order today and get free shipping! Black Friday deals + free shipping: < Link>. Free shipping can significantly improve customer satisfaction by reducing overall costs and providing a better shopping experience.

8. Exclusive VIP Offers

1. You’re a VIP, < First Name>! Enjoy 25% off all Black Friday items. Use code VIP25: < Link> Exclusive VIP offers like this can significantly boost customer loyalty.
2. VIP Alert! Get early access to our best Black Friday deals with code VIPFIRST: < Link>
3. Exclusive for VIPs! 30% off your entire Black Friday order. Shop now: < Link>
4. VIP Black Friday sale just for you! Save big with code VIPSALE: < Link>
5. As a VIP, you get the best deals first! Use code VIPDEAL for 20% off Black Friday items: < Link>

Timing Your SMS Campaign

Timing is everything when it comes to SMS marketing, especially during Black Friday, when consumers are bombarded with promotions free gift, from all directions. Sending your messages at the right time can significantly impact their effectiveness. Timing your SMS campaign correctly can improve open rates.

Which are the best days and times to send black friday sms campaigns?

The days leading up to Black Friday, including the weekend before, are prime times for sending SMS messages. Early morning (8-10 AM) or late afternoon (4-6 PM) tend to be the most effective, as people are more likely to check their phones during these times. 

On Black Friday itself, consider sending reminders early in the day and then follow-ups in the late afternoon to capture any last-minute shoppers.

Do consider your audience time zones as well.

If your audience spans multiple time zones, it’s crucial to schedule your SMS messages accordingly. Sending a message at 8 AM Eastern Time might be too early for your West Coast audience. 

Most SMS platforms allow you to segment your list by time zone, ensuring your messages are received at the optimal time for each group. This consideration can prevent your message from being ignored or worse, seen as intrusive.

Drip Campaigns and Follow-Ups

A single SMS message might not be enough to engage your audience fully, especially with the heightened competition during Black Friday. That’s where drip campaigns and follow-ups come into play.

Drip campaigns can significantly boost customer engagement by providing consistent and relevant communication over time.

Setting Up a Series of Messages Leading Up to Black Friday:

Drip campaigns involve sending a series of scheduled messages to build anticipation and keep your brand top-of-mind as Black Friday approaches. Start with a teaser message a week before the sale, hinting at the deals to come. Follow up with a more detailed message outlining the key offers a few days later, and finally, send a last-minute reminder on Black Friday morning. This strategy ensures consistent engagement without overwhelming your audience. Additionally, a well-executed series of messages can significantly improve customer retention by keeping your audience engaged and informed.

Example Drip Campaign:

• 7 Days Before Black Friday: “Get Ready! Exclusive Black Friday deals are coming soon. Stay tuned for a sneak peek!”
• 3 Days Before Black Friday: “Here’s your sneak peek: Up to 50% off sitewide starting Friday. Don’t miss out!”
• Black Friday Morning: “It’s time! Shop our Black Friday deals now and save big: [Link]”
• Late Afternoon on Black Friday: “Last chance! Black Friday deals end tonight. Grab yours before it’s too late: [Link]”

Follow-Ups:

Sending follow-up messages is key to maximizing conversions. If a customer has clicked on a link but hasn’t made a purchase, consider sending a follow-up reminder with a slightly sweeter deal, like an additional discount or free shipping offer.

Timing these follow-ups is critical—send them too soon, and they might be annoying; send them too late, and you could miss the opportunity altogether. A well-timed follow-up, perhaps in the late afternoon or evening on Black Friday, can turn an undecided shopper into a buyer.

By carefully planning the timing of your SMS campaigns and incorporating strategic drip and follow-up messages, you can increase the likelihood that your Black Friday promotions will stand out and drive the desired results. Follow-up messages can significantly improve conversion rates by keeping potential customers engaged and encouraging them to complete their purchases.

Compliance and Best Practices in Black Friday SMS marketing

Compliance is a cornerstone of any SMS marketing strategy, especially during major shopping events like Black Friday. Failing to adhere to legal guidelines can result in hefty fines and damage to your brand’s reputation.

Moreover, compliance with regulations can significantly improve customer satisfaction by ensuring that customers feel respected and valued.

Understanding SMS Marketing Regulations

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in the United States is the primary regulation governing SMS marketing. It mandates that businesses must obtain explicit consent from individuals before sending them SMS messages.

This consent must be clear, voluntary, and specific to the type of communication being sent.

Additionally, messages must include a clear opt-out mechanism, allowing recipients to easily stop receiving messages. Violations of the TCPA can result in significant penalties, including fines of up to $1,500 per message.

Other regions may have similar regulations, such as the GDPR in the European Union, which also requires explicit consent and provides individuals with rights over their personal data.

Adhering to these SMS marketing regulations can build customer trust by ensuring transparency and respecting consumer preferences.

A note on obtaining proper consent from customers

Obtaining proper consent isn’t just about compliance—it’s about respecting your customers’ preferences and building trust. Consent must be explicit, meaning customers must knowingly opt-in to receive SMS messages from your brand.

This can be done through a signup form on your website, an in-store registration, or any other method where the customer is fully informed about what they’re agreeing to. Using pre-checked boxes or assuming consent from other forms of communication (like email) is not compliant and could lead to legal trouble.

Proper consent also ensures that your messages are welcomed and reduces the likelihood of complaints or opt-outs. Obtaining proper consent can significantly build customer trust, as it shows that you value their choices and privacy.

Managing Opt-Ins/Opt-Outs

Managing opt-ins and opt-outs effectively is key to maintaining a healthy, engaged SMS subscriber list and ensuring a positive user experience. Building a robust list of SMS subscribers is crucial for effective SMS marketing campaigns, especially around events like Black Friday. Managing opt-ins/opt-outs effectively can significantly enhance the customer experience by ensuring that communications are relevant and welcomed.

Follow these best Practices for Managing Opt-Ins and Opt-Outs:

Opt-Ins

When a customer opts in to receive SMS messages, it’s important to immediately confirm their subscription with a welcome message that outlines what they can expect, such as the frequency of messages and the type of content you’ll be sending.

Opt-Outs

Providing a simple and easy opt-out mechanism is both a legal requirement and a best practice. A typical method involves allowing users to reply with a keyword like “STOP” to unsubscribe.

It’s important to acknowledge their opt-out request with a confirmation message, and ensure their number is removed from your list promptly to avoid any further communications, which could lead to compliance violations and customer frustration.

By understanding and implementing these compliance practices, you not only protect your business from potential legal risks but also foster a trusting relationship with your audience, leading to better engagement and more successful SMS marketing campaigns.

Wrapping up: Black Friday SMS marketing

SMS marketing is a powerful tool for Black Friday, offering direct and immediate access to your audience during one of the most competitive shopping events of the year. Its ability to create urgency, deliver personalized offers, and drive quick actions makes it an essential component of any comprehensive Black Friday marketing strategy.

To launch a successful campaign, remember to plan your timing carefully, craft concise and compelling messages, and stay compliant with regulations. By focusing on these key elements, you can maximize engagement, boost sales, and make the most of the Black Friday shopping frenzy.

Now that you know how to go about your BFCM SMS marketing, it’s time to create your own campaign! Black Friday SMS marketing can significantly boost customer engagement and conversion rates.

With SmartrMail, it’s easy to set up an SMS campaign for Black Friday (or any other event for that matter) and also combine it with your email marketing strategy.

If you’re already a SmartrMail user, you can learn how to do this right here. Otherwise, you can install SmartrMail for free right here.

All the best this Black Friday!

The post 40+ Black Friday SMS templates to win this holiday season appeared first on SmartrMail Email Marketing Blog.

And if there’s one thing you can bet on merchants doing every Black Friday in addition to heavily discounting their products, it’s that they’ll be sending plenty of emails. 

Whether they be your traditional brick and mortar store or colossus ecommerce website, every good retailer will be perfecting their Black Friday email campaigns to maximize sales. 

While email marketing is the most profitable marketing channel, you’ll never be up against more competition in making your email marketing campaigns stand out in subscribers’ inboxes.

With so much pressure, we’ve decided to lend a helping hand by showcasing these 10 great Black Friday email examples.

Feel free to use these as your Black Friday email inspiration when coming up with your own design and copy!

Black Friday Email Examples

Carhartt’s Animated Black Friday Email

Carhartt’s Black Friday email design includes a simple gif that’s attention grabbing and provides a clever way of announcing that their sale has started.

What’s one firesure way to make your emails stand out? Add an animation to them. 

The only thing missing is any mention of what discounts and specials they’re offering. 

This is important information when it comes to enticing people to click through. At least they have two clear CTA buttons at the bottom of the email to help with clicks.

Key takeaway:

• When most emails only include static images, a simple gif can go a long way to making your emails stand out.
  

Forever 21’s Anticipation Building Email Design

People love to reveal what’s hidden on scratch cards. That’s what makes this email design from Forever 21 so great (even if they went bankrupt).

By taking advantage of the compulsion to scratch these cards, they’ve effectively ensured that people will click through to see what their additional two offers are. 

Unlike other Black Friday emails, this one also includes a customer support phone number and links to FAQs, store locator and mobile apps. This helps to remove any barriers between a customer and their purchase.

Key takeaway:
Thinking outside the box when coming up with Black Friday email ideas will help you create a clever and unique design

ModCloth’s Colorful Black Friday Email

What’s the most common theme between Black Friday emails? The use of black.

That means making your emails stand out can be as easy as just using some color. 

ModCloth certainly dials the use of color up to the max, which they can get away with as it matches their brand. Even if your brand doesn’t lend itself to using the full rainbow, experiment with adding a few colors in your email design. 

Like every good Black Friday email, this example also states their offer and includes a clear CTA button through to their online store.

Though technically a Cyber Monday email, this design works as both a Black Friday and Cyber Monday email.

Key takeaway:

• Just because it’s Black Friday it doesn’t mean you need to go heavy with the black, experiment with other colors as apart of your Black Friday email strategy.

Casper’s Snooze Through Black Friday Email

Casper has always been creative with its email campaigns, and this Black Friday email promoting their gift promo code is no different. 

The pleasant image with gift boxes and pillows in the background is visually aesthetic. Product photography works fine for any situation, and Casper has leveraged it. 

The imagery is enriched with a smart copy which proclaims ‘Sleep as a gift”. Along with the copy they are announcing a gift code with an expiry date – which certainly creates an urgency to shop in the user. 

Key takeaway:

• The clever use of imagery that aligns perfectly with Casper’s business makes this a great Black Friday email.

Christopher and Banks Creates A Sense of Urgency

A few things stand out about this Black Friday email design. 

First, there’s no black in the design. The use of green and red helps tie it into the broader holiday season and Christmas. 

Second, the countdown timer at the top of the email beneath the words “FINAL HOURS” creates a sense of urgency which is a great strategy to get people to convert from your emails. Without it, you run the risk of people opening your email and then forgetting about your sales when they don’t head to your online store straightaway. 

However this is not the part of the email that immediately grabs your attention. Instead it’s the $19 figure that captures people’s attention by being so large. Whether it’s better for the Black Friday offer or the timer to be most prominent depends on the offer.

Either way, the CTA buttons at the bottom of the email should definitely be made to stand out more. With the design above they disappear into the background of the email, likely reducing click-through rates.

Key takeaway:

• Including a timer creates a sense of urgency that’ll get more people clicking through your email.

Peel’s Black Friday Sneak Peek Email

A great Black Friday email marketing strategy is to reward your loyal customers with a sneak peek of your offer. 

That’s exactly what this email from Peel does.

The sense of exclusivity also helps to make the email stand out from other Black Friday emails while also enticing the subscriber to click through and see what the offer is. 

Key takeaway:

• Making your loyal customers feel valued by offering them an exclusive sneak peek of your Black Friday offer is sure to boost email engagement.

Pretty Little Thing’s Colorful Black Friday Email

We’ve saved the most striking Black Friday email for last. 

There’s no denying that this email will definitely grab people’s attention when they open it. It’s not only the pink color that stands out compared to the usual black, but also the font choice and imagery. 

This email example incorporates a lot of the great elements of others on this list. Such as the clear CTA buttons, explicitly stating their offers and including a countdown timer.

The inclusion of a discount code helps to make their subscribers feel that this is an exclusive offer just for them too. 

While your brand might not be suited to such a striking design, it still goes to show that Black Friday emails don’t all have to look alike. 

Key takeaway: 

• Creating a unique email design will capture your subscribers’ attention when they open your email. 

Baggu Black Friday offer early announcement email

There are two things that capture your or any user’s attention right off the bat. First, the copy that says “This weekend won’t laster forever.” Next, the prominent clouds announcing the discount offers. 

Baggu has also experimented with three fonts across the email. We don’t recommend doing the same, because it might hamper the user experience. 

Key takeaway:

Mixing a combination of two fonts is recommended, any more could make the design appear cluttered.

Brooklinen’s bundle offers and referral deal

Black Friday offers two opportunities – one, to sell more to existing customers, second, to win new customers. Bundle deals and referrals are a great way to achieve both.

Brooklinen’s email announces a combination of several bundles on which specific deals are available.

Further, their final CTA banner is announcing a referral deal wherein existing customers referring new customers get a $15 discount for themselves and their friend. 

Key takeaways:

• If you have a product portfolio which has an opportunity for cross-selling, do consider bundling them together as a bundle.
• Announce holiday-specific referral deals that will build your existing customer base without incurring exorbitant marketing costs.

Tinker’s urgency-inducing countdown email

Of course, it is a watch brand. So using a catchphrase relevant to watches is obvious, and Tinker Watches has used a simple copy along with an abstract image of the watch for the email.

The visual is definitely captivating and relatable for the target audience who could be vying for exotic luxury watches with character. 

Key takeaways:

• Write copy and select visuals that are aligned to your product and brand.
• An announcement email prior to announcing the product launch or offer could create some excitement and garner customer attention.

Google’s last chance Black Friday Emails

Google’s Black Friday email announces hefty discounts in its hardware products. The copy is straightforward and announces the discount amount on each product.

The CTA which says ‘Save now’ is definitely persuasive and can help increase conversions. The email banner has a CTA that directs users to the page where all offers are listed. 

Key takeaways:

• If you have multiple offers that cannot be listed in a single email, create a landing page of offers and direct users from the email.
• Copy that announces the deal directly without making the users make sense of it is the best.

Adidas Black Friday email that announces free expedited shipping

There are two offers that tis Black Friday email from Adidas is spotlight on. Their massive 50% discount and free expedited shipping.

It is a very simple email with hardly three scrolls that contains all the possible information that a user might need. 

The carousel beneath the CTA with all their product categories takes care of helping users reach the right page where the product they’re looking for is available.

Key takeaways:

• Minimal emails do work out well, provided all necessary information is packaged properly.
• Use dynamic content blocks to personalize the content to make it suitable for the target audience.

Grammarly’s premium plan comparison email

Grammarly is one of the most widely writing tools and their free plan is perhaps the most popular one as well.

Their Black friday email announces an attractive 55% discount on the premium plan. To convert existing ree users, they are also showcasing the differences with a table. 

Since the email is targeting existing free users. This minimal email with relevant information works well.

Key takeaway:

• Black Friday emails can convert freemium customers into premium paid customers, if they are provided the right information aligned with a good discount.

Article announcing the biggest sale of the year

Article makes a splash with its email that uses gif to showcase its product. Further, they are announcing a 45% discount along with free shipping above a minimum order restricted to a deadline. 

User’s attention is captured, interest is won, and urgency is created with the simple copy.

Key takeaways:

• Static images are great, but animations and GIFs do have their own potential to impress recipients. Don’t shy away from experimenting.
• Arrange offers in a logical fashion that follows the user’s thought process, capture attention, sustain it, create urgency.

Postable’s madness Black Friday email

Postable calls its Black Friday offer the ‘Black Friday madness’. It is a quirky way to announce an offer along with a promo code. There is also a CTA button that takes users to the homepage where all offers are listed.

Key takeaways:

• Use a quirky theme or copy to announce the offer.
• Use emojis in the subject line.

United By Blue altruistic Black Friday Email

United By Blue’s email announces a 25% sitewide discount and free shopping on all orders. The messaging is loud and clear to existing customers who might have been buying at higher prices and were incurring shipping fees on low-value orders.

Further, there is also a second part of the newsletter where dedicated sections for gifts, new arrivals, women, men and products are provided for quick accessibility.

Key takeaways:

If your store has been charging for shipping or has been premium price for its products, maybe this format would be a good choice to announce the offers.

Encircled – an email with a difference

If being ‘candid’ was an email, Encircled owns it. Their copy seems to be reaching out to you and talking in person. It is personal, but, with a certain marketing angle to it that is characteristic to all Black Friday emails.

This particular email is an announcement of the upcoming Black Friday & Cyber Monday emails. It is giving up a gentle heads-up of the deluge of emails that are to follow and is offering users the option to opt out if required. Quite a contrarian approach compared to what other brands are doing. And that is exactly what captures the attention of some users as well.

Key takeaways:

Be wary of the user’s inbox. Don’t bombard them with emails. Do provide the option to opt out voluntarily. It will help the brand retain only those users who are really keen on receiving emails.

Sonos – Simple and straight-forward with no frills

Sonos is an premium audio equipment brand and any offers from them is well-received by users. This Black Friday email from Sono is focusing only on two major products – their home theater and their speaker set.

Sono is pretty clear about the discount being offered and its validity. There is no loud marketing copy or sales pitches. A simple and straightforward announcement, which should resonate well with its intended target audience of audiophiles.

Key takeaways:

Simple and straight-forward email communications trumps every other form of marketing pitches, especially for premium products.

Hill-Side – promo codes for the win

There are two things at play here. First, Hill-side is announcing the 30% discount prominently for Black Friday. 

However, it can be claimed only using the discount code “BLACKFRIDAY”. Promo codes are widely used by brands for holiday season sales. First, it helps keep a track of revenue the specific campaign has generated. Also, it becomes easier to toggle on and off a promo code once its validity expires. 

Key takeaways:

If you have the necessary tech stack, a promo code is the simplest and easiest way to provide discounts to customers.

Yoco – show’n’tell email for new customers

Some products are not readily accepted by customers. They need a little bit of content help to set context to sell better. Yoco is taking that route. 

The first scroll of the email prominently announces the Black Friday discount and when the sale is going live.

The second part of the email explains the product features and why customers have chosen it. It is a way of showcasing social proof to win new customers. 

Key takeaways:

For products with sophisticated target audience, it is ideal to set context with content. Showcase social proof that will create awareness and help them take a conscious decision.

GoPro’s email with stunning product imagery

When the world’s best action camera goes on discounted sale, it will sell like hotcakes. 

But, even a brand GoPro has to up its email marketing game to win new customers. 

This particular email is visually pleasing and goes on to showcase the bundle – including the camera and essential accessories.  Further, the sub-text before the CTA highlights unlimited cloud storage and replacement guarantee, all of which are highly persuasive for the adventure camera enthusiasts.

Key takeaways:

When text cannot describe an entire story, use images to showcase product value. Bundling products together based on most-purchased items is a good way to sell more to new and existing customers.

Creating Your Own Black Friday Email Campaign

Now that we’ve gone through 20 Black Friday email examples, it’s time to think about your own campaigns.

Hopefully now you have a good idea of what to include in your email copy as well as some inspiration for your email design.  

The truth is however that creating a great Black Friday email is only half of the challenge. 

Without a great subject line that entices people to click on, most of your subscribers won’t even open your email. Meaning that all that effort you went through for your email isn’t properly realized. 

Luckily we have a list of great Black Friday email subject lines that you can use.  

In addition we also have plenty of other Black Friday resources to help you create your best Black Friday email campaign ever. 

Looking for even more Black Friday email examples? Check out Really Good Emails.

The post 20+ Best Black Friday Email Examples to Spark Your Inspiration appeared first on SmartrMail Email Marketing Blog.

But with the frenzy of consumers looking for the best deals, also comes merchants trying to one up their competitors and capture as many sales as possible. Whether that’s by offering a bigger discount, throwing in free gifts or ramping up their marketing budget to the max.

With over $90 billion expected to be spent this year, the level of competition during the Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend is intense to say the least. 

But you likely already know that. Instead if you’re reading this post you’re fully aware of the importance of this time of year and are looking for Black Friday campaign ideas to take full advantage of the holiday shopping.

If this is you, then you’ve come to the right place. 

To give you the best chance at making the most of Black Friday, we’ve asked 18 marketing experts for their top Black Friday campaign ideas.

Here’s what they came up with.

Don’t Leave It To The Last Minute

A common response among experts we asked for their Black Friday marketing ideas was that merchants shouldn’t wait until Black Friday to launch their campaign.

1) Felix Süllwold

Felix Süllwold is a digital marketing veteran. He suggests warming up your marketing communications in the lead up to Black Friday.

BFCM – It’s not a 4-day activity. Counting down the days to Black Friday and then shooting all your marketing cannons will likely lead to your promotions just bouncing off. 

Warm up the communications channels you will be using for your BFCM marketing. The easiest way to do so is by building hype: Announce the big deals that are coming, when the promotions start, or send content that prepares potential buyers for making a purchase: such as how-tos, testimonials, or product hacks.

2) Steve Wilson 

Steve Wilson suggests beginning to offer your Black Friday deals from early November. 

Set up a form where people can sign up for early bird specials in the beginning of November so it has some time to collect email addresses. Then send out emails to these people (as well as you list you already have) about your early bird specials for Black Friday/Cyber Monday the week before. 

Also make sure you have Retargeted ads running to capture more sales. 

3) Jon Tabbernor

Jon Tabbernor also recommends getting your Black Friday campaigns up and running well before the week arrives.

It’s all about building a buzz around your sale. By building a buzz around your Black Friday sale beforehand you can ensure that people know your sale is coming to achieve maximum traffic. 

For example by signing people up to an exclusive Black Friday email list to ensure people don’t miss out you can ensure people are engaged with your sale beforehand. 

4) David Bridburg

David Bridburg is wise to point out that you shouldn’t be just starting to collect email addresses for Black Friday even a month out. 

Marketing is a yearly event. I collect many email addresses from the public and the Sunday afternoon before Cyber Monday, I email out my best sale of the year. Making the day my most successful of the year.

5) Jennifer Moore

While it may be a good idea to be prepared and launch your Black Friday campaigns early in November, Jennifer Moore, a marketing specialist, cautions against being too early. Instead suggests sending out your first Black Friday email two weeks in advance. 

Send targeted emails two weeks before your sales begin. 

In the past, we’ve tried a month prior, but we’ve found that as our world gets inundated with flashy tech, consumers are remembering less and less after a certain period of time. 

The two week mark before Black Friday is perfect because, by that time, consumers are already thinking of what they’d like to purchase. They’re making budgets and will be sure to include your product on their list. 

Depending on when you’re reading this, the ship may have already set sail on launching your campaigns in early November. But that doesn’t mean it’s too late to collect email address to boost sales.

The Power of Email Marketing During Black Friday

As a lot of the suggestions have already alluded to, email marketing is a powerful tool to increase sales.

This is especially true given that email is responsible for driving a fifth of all online sales during the holiday season.

6) Julianna Weiss-Roessler

If you don’t have to time to properly set up email flows in preparation for Black Friday this year, don’t worry. Julianna Weiss-Roessler points out that you can still use email marketing now in a way to also set yourself up for success next year.

Set yourself up for success in 2023. Take advantage of the bump in traffic by asking people for their email in exchange for the Black Friday deal. For example, you can offer, “Sign up for our email newsletter to get our killer Black Friday deal!” That way, you have the opportunity to turn a one-time buyer into a repeat client.

7) Igor Cerjan

Igor Cerjan from Perceptiv Digital recommends setting up an email campaign to build excitement for your Black Friday offer.

Email is still king.

Prepare a drip campaign driving awareness and excitement about your promotion starting 3-5 days before Black Friday to give people time to think through their potential purchases and kick off Black Friday with a custom template that drives urgency. 

Countdowns work best and make sure you put together a compelling offer! 

You’ll find people window shopping during the days leading up to the sale and then purchasing on the day. Re-target everyone who opened your email on Facebook leading up to the sale and on the day with a separate campaign (this will be cheap since its a specific warm audience). With short attention spans, getting their attention of Facebook will increase your conversions and sales on the day. 

8) George Hartley

Email marketing has multiple features that you can use to make more sales, such as personalized product recommendations. But if there’s one type of email you definitely should set up it’s abandoned cart emails.

These are emails that are automatically sent to customers who add items to their carts, but fail to checkout.

George Hartley recommends fully utilizing these emails during the Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend. 

Abandoned cart emails are a great tool to recover otherwise lost sales regardless of the time of year, but they’re especially useful on Black Friday.

Your customers are going to be doing a lot of shopping across a lot of different sites meaning they’re inevitably going to lose track of that’s in their carts. That’s why abandoned cart reminder emails are useful at prompting them to go back and checkout.

The problem however is that your competitors are also going to be sending the same people more emails than usual, leading to very crowded inboxes. 

The key to making abandoned cart emails work during Black Friday is then increasing the frequency of the follow up emails so that you send them all within the 24 hour sales period. 

Other abandoned cart best practices like including increasingly better discount codes in your second and subsequent follow ups still apply. 

9) Wei Tan

To help make your emails stand out in people’s inboxes, Wei Tan from The Orchard Agency recommends people use structured data.

To make your email campaigns really stand out, consider using structured data to generate more visibility and engagement with your Gmail audience. 

Structured data can create a more visually impactful presence in Gmail inboxes, by allowing you to customise and promote your own image, coupon code, and promotional offer before they open up your email. 

With approximately 40% of B2C databases consisting of Gmail addresses, the application of Structured Data will give you the competitive advantage for a significant portion of your audience/database. 

Black Friday Retargeting Campaigns

Retargeting campaigns are another highly effective Black Friday marketing strategy.  They also make a great addition to your email campaigns as you can often use your email list for your list of people retarget. 

10) Matthew Post

This is exactly what Matthew Post from MatthewPost.com recommends.

I would recommend going heavy on retargeting ads and remarketing emails. It is easier and more cost-effective to engage previous clients to have them purchase. Plus, shopping cart solutions, such as BigCommerce and WooCommerce, have plugins available where shoppers can receive an additional discount by sharing your store on social media. Combining these two strategies will turn past clients into evangelists.

11) Raúl Galera

When most merchants are trying to acquire new customers, Raúl Galera from ReferralCandy is wise to point out that your efforts are often best directed toward your existing customers.

When we think about BFCM we tend to think about how to attract new customers to our store: heavy discounts, free shipping, and so on. But are these really valuable to your store?

BFCM is the time for the deal hunters and impulse buys. Most of the customers that will be landing on your store for the first time are probably just going to be looking at the numbers before the “%” sign. And that’s okay. But the real value is what happens after that new customer makes their first purchase at your store.

It’s 6-7 times cheaper to persuade a customer to return than to acquire a new customer. You’ve done all the hard work — don’t let them go now! After their first visit, you should take the opportunity to start educating those customers about the brand, why you are different from other competitors and encourage them to come back for more. An email campaign is the best way to pique their interest.

Once these new customers start using your product and can see for themselves the value that you offer (say, a week after they’ve received your product), you can hit them with another email – now with an invitation to join your referral program. Once they’ve had enough time to use your product they’ll be able to pitch it to their friends and family more efficiently and generate more referral sales for your store.

Black Friday Social Media Campaigns

Of course, when it comes to online retailing we can’t forget about social media. Here are some of the expert Black Friday campaign ideas for social media.

12) Andrei Vasilescu 

Andrei Vasilescu from DontPayFull recommends starting your social media campaigns at least two weeks before Black Friday arrives.

Today everyone keeps an eye on social media to know what’s happening. 

Run a full scale social media campaign for your retail business highlighting your special discounts coupons or Black Friday special deals. Keep surfacing in popular social networks as many times as possible in a day and start campaigning from at least 15 days before Black Friday.

 This continuous and recurring appearance in the social networks will fetch people towards your retail store in the Black Friday to get your discount offers.

13) Syed Ali Hasan

For Syed from Film Jackets you just can’t forget about Facebook. 

Promote your products/services via Facebook Ads.

Everyone is using Facebook, and it is also a great platform to do online shopping. Users are more moving towards social networks so why not take advantage of such platforms? Facebook Advertising gives us the opportunity to target the right audiences that would take an interest in our products. 

During Black Friday, increase your ad spend because everyone will be competing for your target audience. In order to reach them, you can increase the budget but in the end, this will maximize your ROI. 

Offering a Free Gift to Black Friday Shoppers

Email marketing, social media and retargeting are all great ideas, but if you’ve been involved with online retail for a while now, you likely have these channels covered. 

A more unique Black Friday strategy, a couple of experts have advised offering free gifts to shoppers.

14) Shelley Grieshop

Shelley Grieshop from Totally Promotional recommends placing your logo on the free gifts for added brand exposure.

The best way to draw customers to brick and mortar or online stores for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday is to offer free stuff. Advertise via social media, on your website and other more traditional ways that customers will receive a free gift with every purchase. 

Choose affordable and useful customized gifts such as drawstring bags, chip clips or can coolers with your logo. Now you’ve created happy, loyal customers who will be exposing your logo to other potential clients wherever they take your gifts.

15) Becky Beach

Becky Beach from MomBeach.com suggests making your free gifts a Black Friday exclusive offer. 

What I have done last year and plan to do this year is to give a free item with a $30 or more purchase. This free item is exclusive and has never been sold on the site before. The only way my customers can get the item is if they spend $30. After the sale, the item goes away to never be sold again. 

Dealing with Shipping

A turn off potential customers often encounter with online shopping is shipping costs. While free shipping will prevent this from becoming an issue, not all stores can offer it. For these stores, there are some other solutions.

16) Cara Hebert

Cara Hebert from Wistia recommending using upsell and cross-sell promotions to offset shipping costs.

Shoppers have come to expect free shipping these days, but not every business can swing that on every order. To get around this, we suggest offering free shipping over a certain order value coupled with intelligent upsell and cross-sell promotions so that your business can stay competitive and raise the average order value (AOV) to help offset shipping costs. 

By pairing a free-shipping threshold with an automated cross-sell promotion, you can show visitors items within a certain price range that would raise their cart total to meet the free shipping minimum. 

In doing so, you reduce the chance of cart abandonment due to shipping costs and also increase your average order value by encouraging visitors to purchase more. 

If a free shipping threshold is still too expensive to apply nationwide, try geo-targeting the free shipping offer to a radius that makes more fiscal sense for your business.

Make Purchasing As Easy As Possible

In addition to running Black Friday campaigns, one of the best things you can do in preparation of Black Friday is making sure your online store is properly optimized. 

17) Pete Boyle

Pete Boyle recommends ensuring that it’s as easy as possible for your customers to checkout. 

During the BFCM weekend your potential customers are bombarded with offers, ads, deals, and communication. However, a lot of brands will fall foul of a simple rule. They still insist on implementing an unnecessarily complex purchase journey. 

They’ll connect with customers through ads or email, then redirect them to a different site where the customer has to navigate a 5+ step purchase journey.  

The result is a huge drop-off at every stage. 

You can tackle this by making the purchase journey as streamlined as possible. In particular, assessing user intent and formatting your checkout process to best mimic that intent. 

A user on social media is not necessarily intent on buying. They’re looking for a social distraction. Aligning your purchase journey with that intent will increase conversions.

Not All Black Friday Campaigns Need to be Digital

There’s no denying that online retail has taken off over the past decade, however that doesn’t mean all your Black Friday campaigns need to be digital.

18) Nick Titus

Nick Titus from Minuteman Press International suggests sending postcards to your potential customers. 

For independent retailers, it is vital to get Black Friday messaging out via multiple touchpoints such as cross-media marketing and direct mail. 

The USPS has a popular program called Every Door Direct Mail that allows retailers to send unaddressed mailings at a fraction of the cost. We have a program called Dynamic Direct Mail that links physical mailings to online marketing efforts. Retailers can mail a postcard to consumers who will then see online ads relating to that postcard.

Making This Your Best Black Friday Yet

Hopefully these Black Friday campaign ideas have given you some inspiration for your own marketing strategies. By taking on board this expert advice, you’re setting yourself and your store up for success this Black Friday. 

To help you maximize your sales, we also have plenty of other Black Friday resources. These include blog posts on great Black Friday email examples as well as over 100 Black Friday subject lines that’ll entice subscribers to open your emails. 

So no matter how little time there is left until Black Friday, there’s plenty of things you can do to make the most of the shopping holiday! 

The post 18 Experts Share Their Top Black Friday Campaign Ideas appeared first on SmartrMail Email Marketing Blog.