October 26, 2026
The revenue around Black Friday and Cyber Monday continues to climb, but are you making the most out of your CRM campaigns for it?
Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) revenue has grown consistently year-on-year, with US-based consultancy firm Bain projecting 8.5% growth and revenue north of $85 billion in 2027. As this revenue exponentially grows, so does the competition for it. Everyone’s inboxes are busy at the best of times, and BFCM is notoriously one of the busiest times of the year. So, how do you cut through the noise and stand out and put you, your business and your products in front of the people that matter most over BFCM?
The honest answer starts with an uncomfortable truth: the best BFCM prep does not begin in October. Black Friday is a season, not a week in November, and the brands that do it well chose their offers and built their calendar months in advance. However, if you’re reading this with just a month to go, you haven’t missed your window: most of what follows can still be done, and where it can’t, we can guide you on what to do instead.
We’ve broken down BFCM prep into four key parts:
A pop-up asking people to sign up for Black Friday is a good start for growing your list, but your efforts shouldn’t stop there. You should make the pop-up form BFCM specific, with its own message, and keep it separate from your standard sign-up. That way you can tell new subscribers from existing ones, which matters when you decide who hears what and when.
You should also gamify it, as gamification can drastically improve conversion rates. For example; you could ask a single question with three or four button options (what are you shopping for, or who are you shopping for?) and you improve your first-party data without asking anyone to fill in a long form.
It’s important that you don’t forget the people already on your list. A pop-up asking existing email subscribers for their mobile number is one of the easiest wins going, and early access is a good reason for them to give it. You can then take your BFCM campaigns beyond the website and meet people where they are.
Use teaser posts and countdowns on your organic channels, with the BFCM sign-up link as the call to action. The people following you already have an interest in the brand and, as such, should be easy to motivate.
Build lookalike audiences from your most valuable, loyal customers and use them to promote the sign-up form to people who look just like your best buyers but you aren’t connected with just yet.
Consent is channel-specific, so don’t assume your email opt-in covers text messages. Ask for SMS and Whatsapp consent separately, and consider an extra incentive such as free delivery or a free gift. It’s worth the effort: an omnichannel approach gives your offer more chances to be seen outside the noise of the inbox, and a short message doesn’t have to compete as hard for attention.
Picture this: you haven’t sent your list an email in three months, and then your biggest offer of the year goes to the full list in one go.
It’s unlikely to have the impact you hoped. For starters, the chances of landing in primary inboxes are so much lower, and an email that lands in spam won’t make sales, no matter how good the offer is.
Mailbox providers reward two things: a consistent sending cadence and positive engagement signals. Trust is built over time, by sending good, relevant emails that people open and click. This can’t just be bought the week you need it, but needs to be carefully nurtured over time.
An MVP approach would involve starting in September. But, if you’re just starting now, the principle is the same, albeit compressed. Get into a consistent sending frequency starting this week. If you plan to send more than usual in the run-up, you want to build the volume up gradually, rather than jumping straight to it. We advocate for running a re-engagement campaign now, not in November. This cleans your list, removes unengaged contacts before they can drag your results down, and stops you mailing a dormant list on the day that matters most.
If you’ve left it late, put your most engaged customers first, and think hard before sending your biggest offer to people who haven’t opened anything for months.
The key to a good Black Friday campaign is anticipation. The first time someone hears about your offer shouldn’t be the moment it lands.
You should give people a specific date and, most importantly, a reason to listen out for your email, so they’re excited for it to arrive and open it when it does.
Drop a hint of what’s coming, because it keeps you front of mind, but don’t reveal everything. Reward your subscribers with early access, and tell your highest-intent audience first. A list of customers waiting to hear from you is obviously much stronger than one that discovers your offer once it’s live.
So what do you send new subscribers between now and Black Friday? You could start with a custom welcome flow: that contains the standard introduction to your brand, plus what’s coming and when to expect it.
Re-engage last year’s purchasers too, especially the ones who haven’t bought since. They’re likely very deals-led, and Black Friday is the moment they’re most likely to buy again.
Then keep people warming up with product previews built from browsing data, and wishlists, so they’ve decided what they want before the promotion begins. When early access opens, send an SMS as well as the email. A short message is more likely to be seen by a busy customer in the middle of things.
On your Black Friday offer: a single offer isn’t enough to run a whole Black Friday on. One offer is limited, and brains don’t get excited by the same thing over and over again. People are excited by variety and anticipation, which is why advent calendars, daily competitions and countdowns work so well. Come up with several offers and space them through the month and across your segments.
The offer matters, but it isn’t everything. Add value around it: how to use the product, pairing guides, behind-the-scenes content, the product’s history. Give people something to read that isn’t a discount.
BFCM buyers are often deal-driven, and less likely to buy again unless you give them a reason to. Your goal is to extend that relationship beyond the initial Black Friday sale and into the cadence of regular email and SMS campaigns.
You should build the follow-up before the sale starts: a thank-you email, delivery updates, how-to-use content, then a request for feedback or a review. After that, cross-sell, or stock-up and replenishment where it fits. Use it as a bridge into your Christmas campaigns and loyalty programme, and put a winback flow behind the people who don’t return.
Measure BFCM customers separately and track their repeat purchase rate. Judging the season on transactions and revenue alone just tells you how Friday went. What it won’t tell you is whether you gained engaged and loyal customers.
In 2026 Black Friday is on 27th November and Cyber Monday is on the 30th. This week, sort your forms and send your re-engagement campaign. Throughout November, send consistent comms, focus on building anticipation and make sure you space out your offers. When the sale lands, give your highest-intent customers early access by email and SMS first. Then keep going with post-purchase, Christmas and winback, and measure your BFCM customers on their own.
If you need help with running a Black Friday/Cyber Monday CRM, email or SMS campaign, then simply get in touch and we’ll tell you how we can help put your business in front of the people who matter most to you, at the time that matters most to them.