Top tips for Black Friday email campaigns

Over the next week, and specifically on Black Friday, email volume will significantly raise. SendGrid recently studied how email marketers used the holiday for their campaigns and found that the highest volume days were actually Black Friday and Cyber Monday, rather than the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

by Kristina Knight

"Though we expected holiday shopping marketing volume to be concentrated in advance of the big day, we found that wasn't the case. Plenty of emails went out pretty late in the day as well, despite Black Friday's reputation for early morning (or even midnight) deals," said Victor Amin, Data Scientist, SendGrid.

What does this mean for brands? Think about sending Black Friday emails before the afternoon or evening hours, and in some cases, sending that email on Wednesday, while shoppers are still planning their shopping strategy.

Amin also reminds brands that sending more emails will mean seeing more unsubscribes from the list. How can brands send more emails, but also keep their list engaged rather than fatigued?

"Make sure all the discounts, sales, special offers and product launches are exciting. Unfortunately, the deluge of emails can be overwhelming for consumers," said Amin. "Don't be shy about making the unsubscribe button more prominent during the holidays. If a consumer has to look for the unsubscribe button, they may find it easier to use the spam button instead, and spam complaints are much more harmful to your list than unsubscribes. If you don't feel comfortable with making the unsubscribe button more prominent, offer recipients a chance to "down subscribe" or opt-out of your holiday emails in your preference center. This removes recipients from the extra emails during the holidays rather than unsubscribing all together. Come January these recipients may be happy to hear from you again."

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: email campaign tips, email content, email marketing, holiday email, SendGrid