Guide
Black Friday
BFCM
Planning
Your BFCM
Why should BFCM planning start with retention?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday bring in more first-time buyers than almost any other week of the year. Most of them came for a deal. If nothing happens after the sale, they behave like any other one-time buyer and drift away.
The brands that get the most from BFCM plan the weeks after it as carefully as the sale itself. That’s retention that compounds: the people you win in November become the customers who buy again in December, January and beyond.
What should you do in the weeks before Black Friday?
Preparation does more for BFCM than any single email. A few things are worth doing well ahead of the sale:
Clean up your list: suppress addresses that bounce and people who haven’t engaged in a long time, so your emails keep landing in inboxes when you send more often.
Keep your engaged audience warm: send regularly in the run-up, so inbox providers and customers are used to hearing from you.
Grow your list early: use sign-up forms and early-access offers to collect emails and phone numbers before the sale, while people are already browsing.
Check your flows: make sure welcome, abandoned cart, abandoned checkout and post-purchase flows are live and on-brand, because they’ll see far more traffic than usual.
Plan your offer and your calendar: decide what you’re offering, who gets it first and what each send will say before November gets busy.
What does a BFCM email and SMS timeline look like?
Every brand’s calendar is different, but strong BFCM programs tend to follow a similar shape:
Early November: tease the sale and invite people to sign up for early access by email or SMS.
The week before: build anticipation with your best products, gift ideas and a clear date for the sale.
Early access: open the sale first to subscribers, SMS members and past customers, so your best customers feel looked after.
Black Friday: launch the sale to your engaged audience, with SMS for the moments that matter most.
The weekend: follow up with reminders, best sellers and anything that’s selling out, while abandonment flows catch people who didn’t finish checking out.
Cyber Monday: make a final push, often with a fresh angle or a last-chance message.
After the sale: switch quickly from promotion to post-purchase, thanking new customers and helping them get value from what they bought.
How should you use email and SMS together during BFCM?
Email carries the story: your offer, your products and your brand. SMS works best for short, timely messages, such as early access opening, the sale going live or a last-chance reminder. Using SMS for everything wears out its welcome quickly.
Your customer data should decide who hears what, and when. Past buyers, engaged subscribers, SMS members and first-time visitors don’t need the same messages, and sending fewer, better-targeted messages protects your list for the rest of the year.
How do you turn BFCM buyers into repeat customers?
The real opportunity starts when the sale ends. A customer who bought on Black Friday is easiest to bring back in the weeks right after, while the purchase is still fresh.
Thank them and set expectations: a clear, on-brand post-purchase email makes the first order feel like the start of a relationship, not a one-off deal.
Help them use what they bought: how-to content, care tips or styling ideas reduce returns and disappointment.
Separate deal hunters from new fans: watch who engages after the sale and give each group messages that fit, rather than more discounts for everyone.
Plan the next reason to buy: gift guides before the holidays, replenishment reminders, new arrivals in January and win-back for buyers who go quiet.
Welcome new subscribers properly: everyone who signed up during BFCM should go through a welcome flow that introduces your brand, not just your discounts.
This is where our proprietary retention playbook does its work: BFCM buyers become their own group, and what they do after the sale decides what they hear next.
What should you measure after BFCM?
Sale-week revenue is only half the picture. In the months after, look at how many BFCM first-time buyers come back for a second order, how long that takes, how your list health held up through heavier sending, and how many new subscribers became customers. Those numbers tell you whether this year’s BFCM will make next year easier.
What clients say
“Working with your team on our Black Friday and Cyber Monday email designs was a great experience! Even with a short timeline, you delivered quick turnarounds, clear communication, and were extremely receptive to feedback. The final designs looked great and fit exactly what we needed for the campaign. Overall, you did a fantastic job, and we’d definitely work with you again.”
Gaby Mitford, Numilk
Want help planning your BFCM?
Swayleo is a founder-led Klaviyo email & SMS agency for 7-figure Shopify and DTC brands. We plan, write, design and send BFCM programs, done for you, with the weeks after the sale built in from the start.
See how we work as a Klaviyo agency, or book a free strategy call to plan your Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Shopify & DTC brands
Quick Answers
Frequently
Asked Questions
When should I start planning Black Friday emails?
Earlier than feels necessary. Plan your offer and calendar, clean your list and check your flows well before November, so the sale itself is about execution, not scrambling.
Should I send more emails during BFCM?
Usually a few more, to your engaged audience. Extra sends to people who never open hurt deliverability, so let customer data decide who gets the additional messages.
Is SMS worth using for Black Friday?
Yes, for short, timely moments like early access, launch and last chance. Keep the story in email and use SMS sparingly so subscribers stay subscribed.
How do I keep Black Friday buyers after the sale?
Move quickly from promotion to post-purchase: thank them, help them use what they bought, and plan the next reason to buy, rather than waiting for next year’s sale.
Can Swayleo run our BFCM email and SMS?
Yes. We’re a founder-led Klaviyo email & SMS agency for 7-figure Shopify and DTC brands, and we plan, write, design and send BFCM programs done for you. Book a free strategy call to get started.
Shopify & DTC brands