The Perfect Black Friday Cyber Monday Email & SMS Campaign Calendar You Never Had!
Let’s be real: Black Friday weekend is the Super Bowl of ecommerce. This is where you separate the amateur brands from the revenue-generating 24/7/365 ones.
If you’ve done your job right — built your list, primed your audience, tested your templates — this is your championship moment. The next five days will decide whether you end Q4 with a bang or a whimper.
This is not about discounts. It’s about strategy.
This is how you own the five-day window — Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday — and turn it into a 5-day conversion marathon.
Let’s break it down day by day.
Day 1: Thanksgiving Day — The Gratitude Letter That Opens the Floodgates
Thanksgiving is the calm before the storm. Everyone’s relaxed, full of turkey, scrolling their phones between bites of pie.
You could hit them with another “SALE STARTS NOW” email like every other brand… or you could do something smarter.
8:00 AM — The “Thank You” Letter from the CEO
Send a plain-text email from the CEO or founder. Not HTML, not fancy design — just raw, human text.
Why? Because it feels real. It cuts through the noise. It lands in the inbox, not the Promotions tab.
This email should say:
“We’re grateful for you.”
“We wouldn’t be here without you.”
“To say thanks, we’re giving you early access to our Black Friday deals — starting right now.”
That’s it. Simple, emotional, personal.
This is the most underused weapon in ecommerce.
Everyone screams about sales; almost nobody starts with gratitude. Gratitude builds trust, and trust converts.
And by giving your list early access before the chaos, you make them feel like insiders. That’s how you turn subscribers into fans.
5:00 PM — The Dinner Table Drop (SMS + Optional Email)
Now everyone’s finishing dinner, unbuttoning their jeans, pulling out their phones.
That’s when you hit them again — this time with an SMS:
“Hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving. Our Black Friday deals just dropped — shop early before they’re gone.”
Short, simple, immediate.
People shop while they eat. Your goal is to be in their notifications while their brain is in dopamine mode.
If you want to double down, send a matching email around 5–6 PM. Keep it visual. Bold hero image, big discount banner, one-click CTA.
This combo — a personal morning email and an evening SMS — sets up your weekend perfectly.
You’ve opened the door and invited them in before everyone else starts screaming about 50% OFF tomorrow.
Day 2: Black Friday — The Main Event (3 Emails, 1 SMS, Infinite Cash)
Today is chaos. Everyone’s inbox looks like Times Square.
If you don’t plan your timing right, you’re invisible.
Let’s fix that.
6:00 AM — The Big Bang Email
As soon as people wake up, they’re checking their phones.
Your email should already be there.
Subject line: “It’s On: Our Biggest Sale of the Year Starts NOW”
This is the flagship campaign — the one you’ve been saving your list for.
Here’s how to make it count:
Use your winning design templates from the past year (look at your heat maps and click reports — find what worked).
Put your top-selling products front and center.
Make the discount crystal clear — don’t bury it in a paragraph.
You’re not here to “build awareness.” You’re here to make sales.
So write like it.
12:00 PM — Midday SMS (Optional Midday Email)
By noon, traffic spikes again. People are comparing prices, browsing multiple tabs, checking who’s got the best deals.
This is your window to pull them back in.
Send this SMS:
“New Black Friday deals just added — come back before they’re gone.”
This message works because it leverages curiosity and FOMO. You’re not telling them what’s new — you’re telling them they might be missing something.
If you want to get aggressive, drop a short midday email too:
“New Deals Just Landed.”
Keep it tight, fast, and mobile-optimized.
8:00 PM — “Last Chance” Resend
Now the amateurs are tired. You’re not.
By this point, your automated flows have been working all day — browse abandonment, cart abandonment, checkout abandonment. They’ve done their job.
Now you swoop in to collect the rest.
Send your resend campaign around 7–8 PM:
Subject line:
“Black Friday Ends Tonight — Last Chance to Save.”
This email performs insanely well because you’re hitting buyers right after dinner when they’re scrolling again.
The urgency is real. The FOMO is real. The conversions? Even more real.
In most of my campaigns, the last-chance email outperforms the morning one.
Why? Because people procrastinate. They need the pressure. They need you to tell them, “Buy now or regret it tomorrow.”
That’s how you own Black Friday — by pacing it.
Not flooding inboxes every hour. Just perfectly timed punches.
Day 3: Saturday — The Calm After the Storm (But You’re Still Selling)
Here’s where most brands mess up.
They go silent after Black Friday. They think the job’s done.
Wrong.
Saturday is cleanup day — and it’s worth gold if you play it right.
7:00 AM — The “Best of Black Friday” Recap
People still have credit cards warm from yesterday. They’re still in shopping mode.
Send a curated recap email of your top-performing Black Friday deals:
Highlight what’s still available.
Use dynamic content blocks to show personalized product picks.
Lead with social proof — “These were the top sellers yesterday.”
The psychology is simple:
If other people bought it, it must be good.
If it’s almost gone, I better grab it now.
Afternoon — “Still Here (But Not for Long)” SMS
Send an SMS in the late afternoon:
“Black Friday deals still live for a few more hours — don’t miss out.”
It’s short, direct, and reminds them the window’s closing.
Some brands add a Small Business Saturday twist here — “Support small, save big.”
It’s fine, but don’t count on it driving massive revenue. It’s more brand play than conversion driver.
If you’re optimizing for sales, stick with scarcity and simplicity.
You’re recapturing anyone who didn’t convert Friday.
This email + SMS combo cleans up the leftovers and extends your momentum another day.
Day 4: Sunday — Cyber Monday Early Access
Now we pivot.
Most brands make one of two mistakes here:
They try to milk Black Friday for another 24 hours.
They wait until Monday morning to start Cyber Monday.
Both are wrong.
You start Cyber Monday early. Period.
You’ll double your sales doing this — I’ve tested it repeatedly.
12:00 PM — Cyber Monday VIP Early Access (SMS)
This is your re-entry point.
“Cyber Monday starts now. Early access for our VIP list only.”
It’s half truth, half positioning — and it works like crazy.
You’re flipping the switch from “Black Friday leftovers” to “new Cyber Monday deals.”
It feels fresh. It feels exclusive. It’s the next dopamine hit.
3:00 PM — “It’s Here” Email
Follow up with a Cyber Monday early access email.
Subject line:
“It’s Finally Here — Cyber Monday Starts Now.”
Inside:
New visuals.
New deals (or at least repackaged ones).
Clear, simple call to action.
This transition email resets the frame in the customer’s head.
They’re not seeing the same sale twice — they’re seeing a new opportunity.
And because everyone else is still milking “extended Black Friday,” you stand out as the first to pivot.
That’s how you get the early Cyber Monday cash while competitors are still squeezing the same lemon.
Day 5: Cyber Monday — The Grand Finale
This is your last shot to squeeze every dollar out of your audience before the holiday fatigue sets in.
Most brands half-ass it. Don’t.
7:00 AM — The Kickoff Email
Your audience is commuting, scrolling, or sitting at work pretending to be productive.
Your job is to make sure your email is the first thing they see.
Subject line:
“Cyber Monday is Live — Your Final Chance to Save.”
This is your last high-traffic day of the year.
Don’t overcomplicate it.
Big headline. Bold offer. CTA button. Social proof. Done.
12:00 PM — “New Deals Added” SMS
Just like Friday, the midday refresh works perfectly here.
“Cyber Monday update: new deals just dropped. Grab them before they’re gone.”
This does two things:
Re-engages people who opened the morning email but didn’t buy.
Triggers curiosity to check what’s “new.”
It’s a pattern interrupt — they think they’ve seen your offer, but now you’ve added more value.
6:00 PM — “Last Chance” Closeout Email
This is your final punch.
Subject line:
“Cyber Monday Ends Tonight — Last Chance to Save Big.”
Timing matters. Send it between 6–8 PM when people are on their way home or scrolling before bed.
Remind them this is it.
No more extensions. No more deals tomorrow.
Make the deadline clear:
“Ends at midnight. After that, it’s gone.”
People don’t act until they have to. You’re creating the “have to.”
Expect your final Cyber Monday email to rival or even beat your morning one.
End strong.
You’re not just closing sales — you’re closing the year on a win.
Bonus: What Makes This 5-Day Plan Work
This isn’t random. Every timing, every touchpoint is built on three key principles.
1. Frequency + Intention = Profit
You can’t send one email and call it a campaign.
Each message has a job:
Thursday morning builds goodwill.
Friday morning drives awareness.
Friday night closes.
Saturday re-engages.
Sunday resets the stage.
Monday finishes the job.
Each layer stacks on the last.
The people who saw your Thanksgiving letter trust you. The people who opened Friday morning but didn’t buy get hit again Saturday.
By Monday, the only ones left are your biggest procrastinators — and they still buy.
2. SMS Isn’t Optional — It’s Essential
SMS is no longer “extra.” It’s your secret weapon.
Open rates are near 100%.
Timing is instant.
Behavioral targeting is tight.
Use it to reinforce, not replace, your emails.
Your customer should feel like they’re in a synchronized shopping experience — email, SMS, retargeting all moving together.
When your 5:00 PM SMS hits right after their 4:30 PM browse session, that’s where magic happens.
3. Urgency > Creativity
This is not the time to test quirky subject lines or clever puns.
Black Friday weekend is about clarity.
Your customers are scanning, not reading. They need to know in one second:
What’s the offer?
When does it end?
Why should I care?
If your subject line or banner doesn’t answer those, you lose.
“Ends Tonight.”
“Biggest Sale of the Year.”
“Early Access Ends Now.”
That’s what converts.
The Big Picture: You’re Not Running a Sale — You’re Running a System
Think about it like this:
Each email, each SMS, each trigger is a gear in a machine.
When the machine runs right, it compounds.
You’re not relying on luck. You’re relying on leverage.
You’ve built this list all year. You’ve earned their attention.
Now it’s time to cash in — the right way.
If you execute this 5-day plan correctly, here’s what happens:
Your open rates double.
Your conversion rates spike.
Your flows follow up automatically while you sleep.
And your Black Friday weekend becomes your single biggest revenue event of the year.
This is how the top 1% of ecommerce brands operate.
They don’t just run sales — they run systems.
They don’t send random emails — they build predictable machines.
Final Thoughts: Be the Brand That’s Ready, Not Reactive
Everyone else will panic.
They’ll send last-minute campaigns.
They’ll extend sales because “traffic was low.”
That’s noise.
You? You’ll be prepared.
You’ll know exactly what to send, when to send it, and why it works.
You’ll execute like a machine, and your numbers will reflect it.
Because this 5-day plan isn’t about guessing.
It’s about precision.
You’ve primed your list, built momentum, and positioned your brand ahead of the chaos.
That’s how you win Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday — not by shouting louder, but by strategizing smarter.
Bottom line:
Black Friday weekend isn’t just a sale. It’s a strategy test.
Execute this 5-day plan, and you’ll turn one chaotic weekend into your most profitable, predictable system of the year.
Don’t wing it. Don’t hope.
Plan. Execute. Dominate.
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