How to Win Black Friday & Cyber Monday: A Simple Guide for Ecommerce Brands

Let’s be honest: Black Friday and Cyber Monday are make or break moments for many ecommerce brands. With shoppers hunting for the best deals (and their inboxes flooded with promotions), your marketing strategy has to be on point if you want to stand out and drive real results.

If you're gearing up for the biggest sales weekend of the year, here's what you need to have in place—without overcomplicating things. 1. Get Your Deliverability in Shape

During BFCM, everyone is sending emails. That means competition for inbox space is fierce. If your emails don’t land where they should, it’s game over.

• Clean your list.

• Monitor your sender reputation.

• Make sure your content isn’t triggering spam filters.
  

The goal: land in the inbox, not the spam folder. 2. Segment Like a Pro

Not every contact on your list is the same. That’s why segmentation is your best friend.

• Create audiences based on behavior, engagement, and purchase history.

• Send relevant offers to the right people.

• Avoid hitting spam traps or getting high bounce rates.
  

This simple step can seriously boost your open and click-through rates. 3. Grow Your List Before the Big Day

Don’t wait until the last minute.

• Use social media to drive signups.

• Launch lead generation ads.

• Offer early access or exclusive deals to new subscribers.

• Collect emails at in-person events or retail spots if you have them.
  

More contacts = more potential customers = more sales. 4. Check Your Automation Flows

Your email & SMS automations should be running like a well-oiled machine before Black Friday hits.

• Welcome series? Check.

• Abandoned cart? Definitely.

• Post-purchase flow? Absolutely.
  

If you’re expecting high traffic, make sure no opportunity slips through the cracks. 5. Speed Matters: Your Website Needs to Fly

Shoppers are impatient. If your site takes too long to load or your checkout is confusing, they’re gone.

• Run a speed test.

• Simplify the buying process.

• Test your mobile experience.
  

A fast, frictionless website = more conversions 6. Do You Need a Discount to Run a Campaign?

Not necessarily.

Luxury and purpose-driven brands are finding new ways to participate in BFCM without slashing prices. One standout example? A handbag brand that launched the campaign “Don’t save money, save lives.” Instead of offering discounts, they donated part of their sales to a charity.

That strategy not only kept their brand image intact—it also drove meaningful sales and engagement. 7. Don’t Forget to Track Your Results

Set up your metrics correctly from day one. You’ll want to measure:

• Sales & revenue.

• Traffic & behavior.

• Engagement from email & SMS campaigns.
  

This data will help you improve future campaigns and understand what truly worked (and what didn’t).