9 Black Friday email templates to turn a holiday profit
To turn a profit this holiday season, get these 9 Black Friday and Cyber Monday email templates. The copy is primed and ready for you to simply customize.
You’re gearing up for the holiday season (is it that time already?) and you’re planning out your holiday promos.
After all, ‘tis the season for sales.
May as well hop on that bandwagon and discount some of your great digital products for sale , to help spread the love this holiday season.
Before you launch your email campaign, though, we’ve got some holiday email templates for you that will boost your email marketing results come Black Friday and Cyber Monday .
Let’s first quickly cover a couple key pieces to include in your email marketing campaign, before diving into the Black Friday email templates.
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What makes a great Black Friday email?
For the sake of simplicity, I’ll refer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday interchangeably, since our tips and templates apply to both. Of course, adapt our tactics according to your specific holiday email campaign.
With that caveat out of the way, let’s talk Black Friday emails. The body of your Black Friday emails won’t see the light of day if you don’t have a compelling subject line.
It’s challenging enough to get your subscribers to open your email on a regular day.
After all, 47% of email recipients open their emails based on the subject line alone.
The competition is even fiercer on Black Friday and Cyber Monday -- when 116.5 million emails and 106 million emails are sent, respectively.
To create an open-worthy Black Friday email subject line that stands a chance in your subscribers’ flooded-with-ecommerce-emails inbox this holiday season, pay extra close attention to some of the best email subject line formulas .
For instance, use scarcity and a sense of urgency in your subject line to entice people to open their email, like in On ’s “Last Chance: Sprint for Gifts” subject line:
Another tactic is to surprise your audience with a gift like in Mod&Dot ’s “A small gift to get you ready for Mod&Dot” subject line.
Also, just like On and Mod&Dot do, you can include an emoji in your subject line to boost your open rates.
If you think emoji are a silly thing to include in your Black Friday email subject lines, consider this stat:
Companies that include emoji in subject lines have as much as a 56% higher open rate compared to companies that don’t.
So, why not embrace the light-hearted spirit and try on a holiday emoji to lift your open rate?
Either way, once you get your subscribers to open your email, half the battle is over. Truly.
The other key ingredient that will make your Black Friday email campaign a success is an explicit call-to-action (CTA).
Be very clear about what your email subscriber should do next. A simple “shop now” CTA that stands out from the rest of your email should suffice for your holiday emails.
Check out any number of Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails and the CTA is hardly varied across the board.
Plae , for instance, uses an obvious green “SHOP NOW” CTA at the bottom of its Black Friday email.
And Baggu includes a wide “SHOP NOW” CTA that extends across the width of its Black Friday email design.
For a slight variant, look to Rapha , which includes a pink “SHOP THE SALE” CTA that pops nicely against the black email background.
You get the gist. Make your CTA as obvious as you can.
Finally, your Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails can include a GIF if you want to add some extra holiday flair to your email content.
After all, 700 million people use GIFs daily, and Giphy services up a whopping 10 billion GIFS every day. To say people enjoy their GIFs is an understatement.
It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, either. This straightforward GIF at the top of a Black Friday email that I received from BabyCenter in 2019 is enough to draw attention to its CTA while spreading holiday cheer.
GIFs aside, the main takeaway is:
Include a compelling subject line, strong and clear CTA, and (optional) GIF in your Black Friday email campaign.
Without further ado, here are nine Black Friday and Cyber Monday email templates, so you can preload your email marketing tool with your email sequence.
“Anticipation” Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails
There’s nothing like building up excitement and anticipation for your brand.
One way to do that is to build hype around your offerings in the emails that lead up to your Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials.
As in, send emails well before your holiday discount days and consider starting your Black Friday sale in the days preceding Black Friday.
Why? People don’t necessarily want to wait for Black Friday.
Especially when it comes to online shopping that is instigated by email campaigns.
In fact, even on Thanksgiving, consumers purchase almost as many products online from email campaigns as on actual Black Friday. And open rates and click-through rates are generally greater before Black Friday weekend hits.
To that end, we’ve got three email templates in this category that will help you build excitement around your brand and rev up your subscribers to purchase specific profitable digital products from your ecommerce site.
Type #1. The mysterious announcement email template
Hey [first name],
There’s something exciting brewing and it’s headed your way.
I can’t say much more than that.
Other than I know you’re gonna love it.
So, keep your eyes peeled this coming week.
(And yes, it’s better than your typical Black Friday deal.)
Just keeping you posted on the latest over here at [brand name]!
So excited,
[your name]
Type #2. The everything you need email template
Hey [first name],
Yes, it’s that time of year again.
Love or hate the holidays, though, you will get through this.
(We all need this reminder, especially this year, am I right?)
So, to make your life a little easier, this isn’t just another email pushing a Black Friday deal.
It’s an email that reassures you we have everything you need to [solve problem].
Especially this year, I want to make sure [brand] helps you as much as possible.
By giving you everything you need to [solve problem].
Truly.
Here’s what we’ve got for you:
- If you’re experiencing [problem], we offer you the [product].
- If you’re experiencing [problem], we offer you the [product].
- If you’re experiencing [problem], we offer you the [product].
- If you’re experiencing [problem], we offer you the [product].
- If you’re experiencing [problem], we offer you the [product].
(Yes, we’re still offering a traditional Black Friday deal [timeframe] on everything, so keep your eyes peeled for the discount details.)
And if one of these options still doesn’t fit the bill, just hit reply to this email and we’ll make it work.
Because we can, and because we want to.
And we could all use a little extra support right about now.
Here for you,
[your name]
Type #3. The product recommendation email template
Hey [first name],
Just thought we’d help make things a little easier for you as you shop (online) this holiday season.
As a fan of [product], we think you’ll also love:
- [product]
- [product]
- [product]
If you’re looking to [solve problem], these will help you with that.
And of course, we’ll be joining the Black Friday and Cyber Monday discount party by giving you [discount] on [products].
We’ll send it over to you [timeframe].
So, be on the lookout for our sweetest deal of the year!
Here to help,
[your name]
“Sense of urgency” Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails
Based on Cialdini’s principles of persuasion , our next Cyber Monday and Black Friday email templates create a sense of urgency and scarcity for your digital product ideas .
You’ll likely see a ton of these in your own inbox when Black Friday and Cyber Monday come, but there’s a good reason for it.
It works.
Basically, the more limited your products are, the more attractive and time-sensitive they will be to your audience.
For an iconic view into how this backend psychology works, look no further than the classic cookie jar study , where 200 people were asked to rate cookies. 10 cookies were placed in one jar and two placed in another (of the same cookie, of course).
As you’d guess, the cookies in the two-cookie jar were rated 2x higher than the 10-cookie jar.
So, how can you inject scarcity and a sense of urgency into your holiday email campaign?
Whether it’s through a limited discount, timeframe, or inventory, our next set of Cyber Monday and Black Friday email templates are designed to conjure up a fear of missing out (FOMO).
Pro-tip: Couple these templates with a countdown timer and/or inventory counter on your landing pages and ecommerce product pages for extra FOMO.
Type #4. The straightforward FOMO email template
Hey [first name],
To help you avoid FOMO, I’ll be super straightforward.
Here are our biggest deals of the year.
From [timeframe], we’re giving you a [discount] as our 2020 Black Friday deal.
Which means, if you’re looking to [solve problem], you’ll want to use this killer discount for access to:
- [product category]
- [product category]
- [product category]
- [product category]
If you’re wondering when the best time to purchase [product topic] is, that time is now until [timeframe].
Here’s to [solving problem] (at a major limited-time discount)!
[CTA]
Cheers,
[your name]
Type #5. The straightforward discount email template
Hey [first name],
Our best Black Friday deal is here, just for you!
From now until [timeframe], we’re giving you a [discount] off our [products].
Just use [discount code] at checkout for your instant discount.
If you (or someone you know) struggles with [problem], now is the time to fix that (at a killer one-time deal).
[CTA]
Happy Black Friday,
[your name]
Type #6. Last chance email template
Hey [first name],
Just a reminder: there’s only [timeframe] left to take advantage of our [discount].
Our Black Friday sale ends on [date].
So, if you want to [solve problem], you can do it for a [discount] before [timeframe].
That means [discount] until the sale ends on [timeframe] for:
- [product category]
- [product category]
- [product category]
- [product category]
Don’t miss our biggest discount of the year if you’re looking to [desired result].
[CTA]
Cheers,
[your name]
[script box end]
Type #7. The scarcity email template
Hey [first name],
Just a quick heads up:
There’s only [limited amount] [product] left at the discounted [Black Friday deal].
If you’re someone who struggles with [problem], don’t miss this Black Friday deal that could truly [fix problem].
(And at a heavy discount, what’s a better time than now?)
So, if you’re even thinking about [joining/purchasing] [product], I’d hop on it before the last [product] is taken.
[CTA]
It’s not too late!
[your name]
“Follow-up incentive” Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails
Our final set of Cyber Monday and Black Friday emails is designed to seal the deal.
By reminding your subscribers one more time to take advantage of your Black Friday deals, and layering on yet one more incentive before the Black Friday sale ends, it’s another push to act now.
If you think you’re overdoing it by sending extra reminders in your Black Friday email marketing campaign, think again.
When it comes to scoring a response, follow-up emails typically get a better response rate than your first email.
In fact, one study saw an 18% response rate to the first email, 13% to the fourth follow-up email, and an astounding 27% to the sixth.
What’s more, sending more follow-up emails is known to triple your reply rate .
Basically, if you want a response from your subscribers, it’s most likely happening in the follow-up emails. So, don’t pass up the chance to tack on a couple more enticing messages to your Black Friday email marketing campaign.
Type #8. The contest email template
Hey [first name],
We’ve got an exciting announcement for you:
The first [number] people who purchase our [product] will enter the chance to win a [prize].
How fun is that?
And you can use our Black Friday discount [code] to get an extra [discount] off.
We decided to add some extra cheer into the mix this year, because… well, it’s been a 2020 kind of year.
[CTA]
Good luck!
[your name]
Type #9. The loyal customer email template
Hey [first name],
This is a simple email just to thank you.
Thank you for being who you are and for trusting me to help you [solve problem].
To show my gratitude, I want to gift you with an extra little something.
From [timeframe], please enjoy an extra [discount] on [products].
No strings. You can use access code [discount code] at checkout to redeem your gift.
Just a way to truly thank you for allowing me to thrive in my mission to help [solve problem].
As always, if there’s anything I can do to help make your life a little better, please reach out.
[CTA]
Gratefully,
[your name]
Supercharge your sales this Black Friday and Cyber Monday
With 93.2 million buyers who made an online purchase on Black Friday last year, it’d be silly not to join the Black Friday sale frenzy and promote your brand’s offers with a solid holiday email campaign.
Especially this year, when the pandemic dwindled in-person shopping experiences.
To create a successful holiday email marketing campaign, follow our Black Friday email tips and templates:
Include a compelling subject line, strong CTA, and even a little holiday flair with a GIF in your Black Friday email designs.
Use our “anticipation” email templates to build hype and excitement around your brand.
Use our “sense of urgency” email templates to create scarcity for your products and nudge your subscribers to purchase right away.
Use our “follow-up incentive” email templates to remind your subscribers about when your Black Friday sale ends and incentivize loyal customers.
May you write the best Black Friday emails, and have an epic Black Friday sale and beyond.
P.S.: Still missing an email service provider for sending your Black Friday and Cyber Monday email campaign? Give Podia a try for free.