You don’t want to miss these 5 benefits of effective Black Friday marketing

7 min read

September 26, 2024

Black Friday Cyber Monday is the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Intent to buy is high, and money moves.

For consumer-facing brands, that makes this a great time to get a revenue bump and hit annual goals.

Brands can see up to a third of their annual revenue during the holiday season, estimates Alex Melone, co-founder of email marketing agency CodeCrew.

That’s 2x the proportion of revenue you’d expect from November and December if they were normal shopping months, since they only make up a sixth of the year.

And even though CPMs are high and inboxes are noisy, opting out of BFCM is a risk.

“You absolutely want to be part of the bustle, because otherwise your customers will start looking at your competition instead,” explains Andrei Marin, COO of CodeCrew.

A successful BFCM isn’t just a short-term, end-of-year win—it also builds your long-term moat, strengthening your brand and boosting the efficiency of your marketing operation for the months ahead.

Here are our top 5 benefits of effective Black Friday marketing.

1. Black Friday marketing increases sales

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way: a well-planned Black Friday marketing strategy can lead to a significant boost in sales, helping you connect with more customers during this busy shopping season. During this time, shoppers aren’t only browsing—they’re ready to spend.

So, why not use the BFCM rush as an opportunity to achieve standout results for your brand? Take a look at how a few real-life brands developed a creative approach to do exactly that:

POPFLEX boosts ecomm revenue from BFCM sale 91% YoY

Apparel brand POPFLEX was no stranger to successful Black Friday seasons. But in 2023, they wanted to take their 2023 BFCM sale to the next level. The brand ran a shopping spree giveaway in October, requiring entrants to create holiday wishlists on their site. They then used the data they gathered from nearly 100,000 customers to send more targeted holiday messaging—and boosted ecomm revenue from their BFCM sale 91% YoY.

Tecovas grows BFCM revenue from flows 138.8% YoY

Tecovas, a Western-style apparel retailer, faced a unique Black Friday challenge: the brand doesn’t discount. Instead, the team needed to build buzz around a non-traditional offer: for every $100 customers spent during the Black Friday sale, they would earn $20 toward their next purchase. In 2022, the brand optimized their abandonment flows through A/B testing, segmented their lists to send more relevant communications, and ramped up email frequency during the sale. The results: 138.8% YoY growth in revenue from flows.

Jones Road Beauty increases Klaviyo-attributed BFCM revenue 167% YoY

Clean beauty brand Jones Road Beauty not only doesn’t do discounts—they don’t even do sales. Instead, their recent Black Friday strategy has revolved around a limited-edition product drop. In 2023, they announced the drop a few days earlier than they had in the past, driving traffic to a sign-up form where people could subscribe for product updates. Then, they updated their evergreen flows to spotlight the product and messaged the drop differently for different segments—all of which contributed to a 167% increase in Klaviyo-attributed revenue during BFCM 2023.

Whether your brand’s Black Friday marketing strategy focuses on personalized outreach, strategic email and SMS automations, creative product launches, or something else, getting it right can give your brand a meaningful boost in sales.

2. Black Friday marketing attracts new customers

Black Friday isn’t only about satisfying your regulars—it’s also a great time to bring in new faces. Think of this as the ultimate “try before you buy” moment for your brand. As marketing consultant Grace Clarke explains, “The volume of shopping goes up, ergo your top of funnel is going to expand.”

Not every new customer will stick around forever. Some may be “one-time” deal hunters—and that’s perfectly fine, because others could turn into high-LTV customers who come back again and again.

Here are a few types of new customers you might attract during Black Friday Cyber Monday:

High-LTV customers: These are loyal customers who might buy regularly and stick with you for months or even years.
One-time customers buying gifts: This buyer may shop with you once, but the recipient of the gift could become a lifelong fan. “When you’re gifting, one purchase has two customers,” Clarke points out.
Customers who hype you up: These could be long- or short-term customers, but they help build buzz around your brand with word of mouth and/or organic social posts. That’s a win.

During BFCM, don’t focus only on acquisition costs or the number of first-time buyers. Track the behaviors and long-term value that matter most to your business, and tie them to your acquisition strategies as much as possible.

3. Black Friday marketing boosts brand awareness and visibility

During Black Friday, you have the opportunity to put your brand in the spotlight. With the surge of ads, social media posts, and emails during Black Friday, this is your golden moment to cut through the noise, capture attention, and introduce your brand to a whole new audience.

For example: in 2020, Allbirds found a way to prioritize sustainability on Black Friday. They charged $1 more per pair of sneakers and donated $2 per pair sold to Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for the Future. This bold move reflected their values and earned them coverage in major outlets like the Huffington Post and Retail Dive, driving massive visibility.

Effective Black Friday marketing can showcase what makes your brand unique, whether it’s a sustainable mission, a standout product, or unbeatable customer service. When you do it right, BFCM marketing can also keep your brand top of mind long after the holiday shopping season ends.

4. Black Friday marketing supports inventory management and clearance

If you have leftover products that aren’t moving, overstocked items, or last season’s items sitting on your shelves, Black Friday is the perfect time to try to sell them.

SuitShop, for example, participates minimally in BFCM—the suit and tuxedo retailer’s peak season is wedding season. But it’s still a great time for clearing out lingering clearance items, reports Kristen Tumasonis, marketing director.

“Even though these things have been on sale all year, while people are in that shopping mindset, we push that inventory and get it out of the warehouse,” Tumasonis explains.

With 67% of shoppers hunting for deals, according to Klaviyo’s 2024 consumer spending report, attaching discounts to excess stock can be a great way to clear it out.

5. Black Friday marketing can re-engage customers

If you’re ever going to re-engage a dormant email lead, it’s during BFCM.

“When Black Friday comes along, you not only have a discount available, but you also know that the customer is in a very different mood,” says Marin. “That’s the one time of year where you should dust off the cobwebs and just send to the entire list as much as possible.”

Even just 1–2 email blasts to all (or most) of your list during the shopping holiday can expand your 30-day-engaged segment substantially—and set you up for successful email marketing in 2024.

Benefit from this Black Friday season with Klaviyo

Black Friday brings plenty of challenges for ecommerce brands: serious competition, the pressure to offer huge discounts, higher marketing costs, and the risk of attracting short-term customers.

But with a smart approach and the right technology, you can handle these obstacles—and turn Black Friday into a big win for your business.

The holiday season is largely digital now, and it’s time to make your mark online. As POPFLEX, Tecovas, and Jones Road Beauty have found, today’s big wins come from standout email and SMS marketing.

Don’t wait until the last minute—start planning your Black Friday marketing strategy with Klaviyo, and make this holiday season one of your most profitable yet.

Power smarter digital relationships with Klaviyo.