Why you need to start in October
The biggest risk over Black Friday isn't weak copy. It's your emails landing in spam on the one weekend you can least afford it. Every brand sends more that week, inbox providers get stricter, and if you suddenly start mailing people you haven't contacted since the summer, your deliverability takes a hit right when you need it.
So the first month of the plan is mostly unglamorous work that makes the big weekend possible.
October: get your sending in shape
- Check your authentication. Gmail and Yahoo now expect bulk senders to have SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up, a one click unsubscribe, and spam complaints kept below 0.3%. If any of that is missing, fix it now, not in November.
- Clean your list. Run your sunset flow and stop mailing people who haven't opened or clicked in months. It feels wrong to shrink your list before your biggest weekend, but it's what gets the rest of your emails seen.
- Warm up gradually. If you plan to send more often in November, increase your volume a bit at a time through October, starting with your most engaged people.
- Check your flows. Welcome, abandoned cart and post purchase flows will get more traffic than usual. Make sure they work and that the offers in them won't clash with your sale.
Early November: build anticipation
Give people a reason to stay subscribed and pay attention. The simplest way is an early access list: sign up and you get the sale before everyone else. It grows your list, it tells you who is keen, and it gives you a warm group to send to first.
Promote it through your emails, your site and your social channels. Keep the emails short and about one thing. You're not selling yet, you're making sure people are ready when you do.
The week before: tease it
Two or three emails that build towards the sale without giving everything away. Hint at what's included. Remind early access subscribers when their window opens. If you have gift guides, this is the week for them, because people are already thinking about Christmas shopping.
The weekend itself
This is the rhythm we use, based on the 2026 dates:
- Thursday 26 November, evening: early access opens for your VIPs and early access list. Make them feel like insiders, because they are.
- Friday 27 November, morning: Black Friday opens to everyone. Lead with your strongest offer and your bestsellers. A reminder later in the day to people who opened but didn't click is usually worth it.
- Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November: lighter sends. Highlight what's selling, what's running low, and remind people the sale is still on. Sunday works well for a last chance angle before Cyber Monday.
- Monday 30 November: Cyber Monday. Either extend the sale with a fresh angle or add something new. Finish with a clear "ends at midnight" email in the evening.
Send more often to your engaged subscribers and less often to everyone else. People who opened recently can handle two emails in a day over this weekend. People who haven't opened since summer probably shouldn't get more than one or two emails all weekend.
Don't forget your flows
Your automated flows are still running during the sale, and that can go wrong in small, costly ways. If your abandoned cart email offers 10% off and your sale is 25% off, the flow suddenly looks like a worse deal. Either pause discount emails in your flows for the weekend or update them to match the sale.
After Cyber Monday: keep the new customers
Black Friday brings in a lot of first time buyers. Most brands thank them once and then lose them. A proper post purchase flow is how you turn a sale shopper into someone who comes back at full price.
- Send a genuine thank you and set delivery expectations, since couriers are slower that week.
- Help them get the most out of what they bought.
- Move into Christmas: gift guides and clear last order dates for delivery before the 25th.
- Plan your January winback for anyone who bought once and went quiet.
A quick checklist
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up, one click unsubscribe working.
- Unengaged subscribers suppressed or sunset.
- Sending volume ramped up gradually through October.
- Early access list live by early November.
- Weekend emails written, designed and tested before the week of the sale.
- Flow offers checked so they don't undercut the sale.
- Post purchase flow ready for the wave of new customers.
Want us to run it?
We plan, write, design and automate the whole Black Friday and Cyber Monday programme, from the early access emails to the flows after the purchase. Book your call before Friday 6 November and it's 20% off. See the Black Friday offer.
Want this built for you?
We set up flows like this for eCommerce and B2B brands every week. Book a 30 minute call and we'll look at what you have running now and tell you where the money is slipping out. You'll leave with at least one fix, whether we work together or not.