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73 Days Until Black Friday: Time to get ready
So I spent the past week diving through our Black Friday email collection (yes, that’s how I spend my free time), and I realized something: we all talk about BFCM strategy in theory, but what we really need to see is what actually worked.
Instead of another “here’s how to write subject lines” post, I’m going to show you exactly what the smartest brands did last year and what you can steal from them for 2025. By the end of this, you’ll have a swipe file of proven tactics you can adapt starting today.
Because here’s the thing: 73 days feels like forever until it doesn’t. And the brands that start thinking about this stuff now? They’re the ones popping champagne in December while everyone else is scrambling to make up their numbers.
Subject Lines That Actually Get Opened
Let’s start with the first hurdle: getting people to actually open your email when their inbox looks like a Black Friday battlefield.
“Save Up to $100 With Bundles 🥾” Preview Text: “👟➕👟➕👟 = 💰💰”
This caught attention with emoji math in the preview text. It was fun, visual, and broke up the monotony of text-heavy sale announcements. Sometimes a little playfulness is exactly what cuts through the noise.
What you can steal: Use emojis to create visual interest in your preview text, especially if you can make them tell a story or create a formula.
“01110011011010000110111101110000” Preview Text: “Up to 50% OFF the internet’s best deals”
Binary code that translates to “Shop.” Completely unexpected and definitely risky, but it demanded attention by being unlike anything else in the inbox. Some subscribers probably had no idea what it meant, but curiosity is powerful.
What you can steal: Sometimes being completely different is worth the risk. If everyone else is doing one thing, consider doing the exact opposite.
Mate the Label’s intrigue play:
“THEY’LL NEVER KNOW” Preview Text: “…that their gift was 30% off”
The subject line creates mystery, and the preview text delivers the payoff. It perfectly captures the gift-giving mindset: getting a great deal without looking cheap. The two-part reveal is satisfying.
What you can steal: Use the subject line + preview text combination to create a mini story or reveal.
“$1,400,000.00+” Preview Text: “Cyber Extended to Support Southern Smoke Foundation”
Instead of leading with a sale, they led with their charitable impact. The large dollar amount creates curiosity until you realize it’s about giving back, not just taking money. It adds emotional depth to a typically transactional moment.
What you can steal: If your brand supports causes, lead with impact rather than discounts.
Miracle Made’s reverse psychology:
“⏰ Cutting the sale short” Preview Text: “A victim of its own success”
While everyone else was extending sales with “Last chance!” messaging, they flipped the script. They made ending the sale early feel exclusive rather than disappointing. It’s brilliant reverse psychology.
What you can steal: When everyone zigs, zag. If the market is full of extensions, try scarcity. If everyone’s shouting, try whispering.
The pattern here? The standout subject lines broke conventions. They used curiosity, humor, values, reverse psychology, and even binary code. Anything except the predictable “Don’t Miss Out!” approach.
Design and Visual Storytelling That Convert
Once you get that email opened, your design has about 3 seconds to communicate value before someone hits delete. The best campaigns combined smart layout choices with compelling visual narratives.
Layout and hierarchy that works:
Knot About’s countdown urgency
They went big with “BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR” and paired it with a live countdown timer showing days, hours, minutes, and seconds. The blue and yellow color scheme made everything pop against the dark background.
Instead of cluttering their email with multiple offers, they created a clean tiered pricing structure showing different ring finishes with specific dollar amounts off ($100, $70, $50, etc.). Each product had its own space to shine.
Db Equipment’s minimalist approach
Clean white text on black background, simple product shot, and one clear call-to-action. No clutter, no confusion about what to do next.
What you can steal: Use visual hierarchy to guide the eye. Make your most important elements (offer, CTA, countdown) impossible to miss through size, color, and positioning.
Photography that tells a story:
Snake River Farms’ premium food styling
Their steaks weren’t just photographed, they were styled in elegant plating that made you imagine the dining experience. You could practically taste the quality.
Thursday Boot Company’s lifestyle integration
Their leather goods were shown in real environments: jackets worn by real people, boots in natural settings. You weren’t just buying products, you were buying into a rugged, authentic lifestyle.
Their bundle photography showed products in beautiful, organized arrangements that made you want to recreate that level of put-together elegance in your own life.
What you can steal: Your product photography should show the outcome or experience, not just the item. Help customers imagine how your product fits into their ideal life.
Functional design elements that drive action:
Their coffee pods were photographed in beautiful kitchen settings that emphasized the ritual and experience of great coffee, not just the convenience.
BookWright’s benefit-first approach
Instead of leading with discounts, they led with “Take your book from good to great” and showed their value proposition first, sale second.
What you can steal: Lead with benefits, follow with offers. Make navigation and choice architecture as simple as possible.
Offers That Go Beyond “X% Off Everything”
Here’s where most brands get lazy. They default to percentage discounts and call it a day. The smart brands? They got creative.
Straightaway Cocktails’ variety approach:
They offered curated sets like “The Party Favor Trio” and “The Vintage Duo” rather than just percentage discounts. Made choosing feel special and thoughtful.
Whistle’s subscription enhancement:
“Get 20% off a new Whistle subscription with the purchase of any device.” They used Black Friday to drive long-term customer value, not just one-time sales.
What worked across all these? They aligned their offers with customer psychology rather than just slashing prices.
Copy That Connects (Beyond the Headlines)
The brands that really stood out had copy that felt human, not corporate. Here are the approaches that worked:
Tracksmith’s customer voice integration:
They wove customer testimonials throughout the email, not just in a separate section. Each product mention was supported by a real customer quote, building trust at the moment of consideration.
What you can steal: Let real customer voices sell your products for you during high-stakes moments.
They prominently featured before/after photos from real customers. During Black Friday, when people are making quick decisions, social proof through real results is incredibly powerful.
What you can steal: Show outcomes, not just features. People buy transformations.
Building Anticipation (The Pre-Game Strategy)
The brands that won Black Friday didn’t just show up on November 29th. They’d been warming up their audience for weeks.
Morning’s educational buildup:
Before their sale, they spent time explaining their different products and benefits. By sale time, customers understood the value and were primed to purchase.
They promoted “The Parachute Holiday Village” for LA customers, creating a physical experience around their brand during the holiday season. This builds community beyond just selling products.
The pattern here? Build emotional and practical investment before you ask for financial investment.
The Frequency Question (What Actually Works)
Everyone wants to know: how many emails is too many during BFCM week? While I can’t tell you exactly what each brand sent, I can share what generally works based on years of observing successful campaigns.
The typical successful approach:
Most brands that perform well during BFCM send 3-5 emails between Thursday and Monday, but the key isn’t the number, it’s the purpose. Each email should justify its existence with unique value.
Pre-Friday (Thursday): Early access or anticipation building
Friday morning: Main sale announcement
Friday evening/Saturday: Different angle, social proof, or urgency
Sunday: Extension, new products, or gift angle
Monday: Final push or Cyber Monday pivot
What makes multiple emails work:
Different angles for each send.
Instead of just repeating “SALE! SALE! SALE!” successful brands find new ways to present their offer. One email might focus on gift-giving, another on personal use, another on shipping deadlines.
Educational content mixed with selling.
Some of the best BFCM sequences include emails that teach something valuable while also promoting the sale. Product care tips, styling guides, or how-to content that happens to mention the sale.
Segmentation by engagement.
Your most engaged subscribers can probably handle more emails than your once-a-month openers. Consider sending different frequencies to different segments.
Clear unsubscribe and preference options.
Make it easy for people to reduce frequency rather than unsubscribe entirely. Some brands see success with a “pause emails until December” option during heavy send periods.
Your BFCM frequency should be higher than normal, but don’t go from sending weekly to sending daily without warning your audience. And remember, unsubscribe rates typically spike during heavy promotional periods. That’s normal. What matters is net revenue impact, not just email metrics.
The brands that get frequency right focus on value per email rather than just volume. If every email teaches something, offers something new, or approaches the sale from a fresh angle, people are more likely to stay engaged.
What Success Actually Looks Like
Let’s talk about realistic expectations. Not every Black Friday email needs to be revolutionary. In fact, some of the most successful campaigns I saw were simply well-executed basics.
The fundamentals that mattered most:
Clear value proposition above the fold, mobile-optimized design, working links (you’d be surprised), and consistent brand voice. Simple CTAs, clean product grids, and obvious next steps. All effective because they were clear and functional.
Your Black Friday performance should be compared to your own historical Black Friday performance, not your regular Tuesday newsletter. These are different beasts entirely.
The brands that succeeded weren’t necessarily the most creative, they were the most prepared. They started early, tested their approaches, and executed consistently across multiple touchpoints.
Your 73-Day Action Plan
Alright, enough analysis. Here’s what you need to do starting today:
This week:
- Audit last year’s BFCM performance and identify what you want to improve
- Choose which approach from these examples best fits your brand personality
- Start planning your offer strategy (bundles vs. discounts vs. value-adds)
Next month:
- Create your email designs using the visual hierarchy principles that worked for these brands
- Write your copy using the voice and framework examples that resonated with you
- Set up your pre-sale educational content and anticipation building
October:
- Test everything on multiple devices and email clients
- Create your sending sequence with distinct purposes for each email
- Finalize your countdown timers and urgency messaging
Look, you don’t need to reinvent email marketing here. These brands figured out what works through testing, iteration, and probably a few failures along the way. Your job is to adapt their successful strategies to fit your brand and audience.
The brands starting this process now? They’re the ones who’ll be celebrating record-breaking revenue in December while their competitors are frantically throwing together last-minute campaigns in November.
So which of these examples made you think “I wish I’d thought of that”? Hit reply and let me know. I’m always hunting for more examples to feature, and your favorites help me figure out what resonates with fellow email marketers.
P.S. Speaking of examples, this Black Friday we’ll be automatically uploading Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails from over 5,000 brands. We’re expecting a huge influx, so make sure you check our Black Friday and Cyber Monday galleries to see what brands are sending in real time. It’s like having a front-row seat to the biggest email marketing event of the year. And if you end up adapting any of these approaches for your own campaigns, I’d love to see how they work for your brand.
Much love,
Andy
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @emaillove
