It’s beginning to look a lot like Black Friday.
EVERYWHERE YOU GOOOO.
Okay-okay, that’s not the way this song goes.
On a serious note, BFCM is just around the corner, and for most brand owners and marketers, it’s a pretty stressful time.
Honestly though, it doesn’t have to be.
I actually think Black Friday is kinda overrated.
Most brands struggle to attract quality customers during this time.
A lot of people that buy from you are deal hunters who’ll never come back for a second purchase.
The CLV of these customers just isn’t big enough to move the needle.
And if the product you sell isn’t giftable, then that’s an even tougher sell.
That said, in this article, I’ll go through one of the most effective Black Friday marketing tactics.
It’s called a VIP early access sale.
If you’ve run one of these for your brand before, you already know how effective it can be.
If you haven’t, this could be a real game-changer for you this year.
The email sequence we’re looking at is from a travel brand called Contiki.
No matter what you sell, this tactic works for any ecommerce brand.
Before we get into it…
What is Emails That Sell?
Each week, I break down an email from a DTC e-commerce brand. Some of these brands are absolutely killing it when it comes to email marketing.
My goal with this series is to challenge conventional email marketing. Expect to learn different copywriting techniques, sales psychology, and consumer behavior — everything that moves you away from hard-selling discount campaigns and other mass-market tactics.
If you have an email you want me to break down, send it over to me on LinkedIn or at marketing@siimpettai.com.
Let’s get into it now:
The first thing you need to do is fill your pipeline with high-quality leads.
That means giving website traffic (both paid and organic) throughout October and early November a chance to sign up for early Black Friday access via a pop-up form.
You can’t really mess this up — just make sure your pop-up mentions the incentive, is easy-to-fill, and isn’t too intrusive (wait at least 5-7 seconds to show it).
Asking for people’s phone numbers is also possible, but just know that sending SMS is more expensive than email, and the more fields you have on your pop-up, the more people will drop out.
Once you have their email address, you should send users a confirmation email like this:
There’s nothing complicated here. Simply let them know they’re on the list, and to keep an eye out for exclusive deals.
If you can drop a specific date when the early access sale goes live, even better.
The next campaign is where you announce the promo:
Again, notice how simple this email is.
All you need to do is let people know your secret early access sale is live and direct them to your website.
You don’t need fancy visuals or graphics; these can all be plain text emails.
If it makes sense for your business, one thing you can do here is focus on scarcity and create FOMO.
Make them feel special by mentioning the deal is only available to them.
The last email is where you follow up with those that didn’t buy from the first email:
Ideally, this is where you double down on urgency.
Mention that stock is limited, and once early access ends, the public BFCM deal will be available — but it won’t be as good.
You could even add a visual countdown timer here to make it more dramatic.
It’s also worth mentioning that subject lines during BFCM matter more than usual. You’re competing for attention so you want to make them as punchy as possible.
Let’s have a look at the SL’s here:
Email 1: Your first dibs on Contiki’s biggest sale
Email 2: Early Access is live. Book early + win your trip!
Email 3: Last chance to win your trip
You know I’m a fan of lower case subject lines. They’ve done well here.
If anything, I’d make these a bit more punchy. For example, in email 3, you could ask a question: “You passing on this?”
All in all, I’m sure this simple email sequence printed money for Contiki.
To recap:
TL;DR
Key takeaway #1: Fill your pipeline with leads in October/early November. Use a pop-up to convert website traffic onto your list.
Key takeaway #2: Announce your early access VIP sale a few days before BFCM
Key takeaway #3: Plain text emails work perfectly fine here, you don’t need fancy visuals
Key takeaway #4: Double down on urgency and create FOMO
Key takeaway #5: Craft punchy, curiosity-driven subject lines to stand out in crowded inboxes
Key takeaway #6: Make your VIP early access deal more appealing than the public BFCM sale
What’s next:
Now it’s time to run your own early access sale. Trust me, this will be the best thing you do all Q4.
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