Black Friday (+Cyber Monday) Email Ideas to Attract Subscribers [2023]

Rukham Khan
Rukham Khan

Last updated on

February 8, 2023

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are win-win occasions for businesses and consumers alike. Customers get to take advantage of once-a-year discounts and businesses get to sell in unusually high volumes.

One thing that can hinder this beautiful interaction between these two parties is lack of awareness. How will your customers find you? How will you tell them about your amazing deals?

You’ll use email marketing of course. By announcing your offers directly through your customers’ inboxes, you’ll have a way to quickly and cheaply promote your products.

To help you come up with Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails that invite clicks, we’ve gathered 7 unique emails for you that were successful in gathering attention. Use these to create your own emails and get your sales ticking this holiday season.

#1 reMarkable: Get $50 off your reMarkable paper tablet

Black Friday Email Ideas: reMarable's example

What the Email is: An urgency email by reMarkable, a digital sketching device with a paper like feel, sent to remind subscribers to visit their store.

The Good: reMarkable uses a classic persuasion technique, that of urgency, to convince people to buy from them.

You’re greeted by a headline that tells you Black Friday is ending, followed by a huge countdown timer that ticks away, dramatizing the urgency of their offer.

As they’ve set the tone for urgency, they only need two sentences in their copy to attract readers. They ask a question and tell they’re offering 50% off. Having done the persuasive work with the headline and the countdown timer, they then straight away present the CTA to take you to their website, telling you to Buy Now!

It’s a small email with one main graphic and minimal copy but it does the job.

Takeaways: When you’re running a Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotion, it’s advisable to follow up with last minute emails that convey the urgency of your promotions by letting customers know they won’t be able to avail such great deals later.

#2 Hershel Supply Co: Our Biggest Sale Starts Now

Black Friday Email Ideas: Hershel Supply Co example

What the Emails are: Two back to b(l)ack emails by Hershel Supply Co, a backpack and accessories store, announcing the start of their Black Friday offers, followed by Cyber Monday Deals.

The Good: Taking into account both the emails, you notice the zigzag pattern both emails employ. It starts with the heading, the text/headings then moves left, then alternates towards the right column and so on. Such design ensures that the eye remains captivated and the person skims through the email easily without missing any important information.

The other admirable thing about the emails is there is literally no lengthy copy at at all. After the ‘Black Friday Starts Now’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ headings in both emails, the offers are straightaway displayed in bold. A reader immediately understands how much they can expect to save on which purchases. Thus saving them time and making it easier for them to decide if they want to buy or not.

Finally, just the fact that they sent a separate email for Black Friday and Cyber Monday ensures that they’ll grab the attention of people who may miss the first email.

Takeaways: If you want maximum attention, take a leaf from Hershel’s book and go straight for the jugular. Using captivating design such as the zig-zag pattern and presenting discounts in bold, you’re bound to deliver your offers across with utmost ease.

#3 Standard and Strange: It’s Cyber Monday Somewhere…Sail starts *NOW*

Black Friday Email Ideas: Standard And Strange's example

What the Email is: A plain text and ASCII email by Standard and Strange that announcing their  Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving offers in cryptic writing and a truly strange style (remaining true to their name).

The Good: This email is an excellent example in staying true to one’s brand and also standing out grabbing attention by merit of its novelty.

It not only offers discounts through the whole Black Friday week but also presents them in a way that makes them highly engaging. You have different discounts for different days. There’s annelement of teasing with the coupon code, and the haikus are entertaining and humorous.

The email ends with some ASCII art and the coupon codes. By the time the reader reaches the coupon code, they’ve had a delightful mini journey through the email and will feel more warm about shopping from Standard and Strange.

Takeaways: If you can create rich and engaging copy, you don’t even need graphics and Standard and Strange is an excellent case in point. They carry the email on the weight of their words and their unique style of writing.

#4 Casper: zzz what’s inside

Black Friday Email Ideas: Casper's example

What the Email is: An email by Casper, a bedding company, that highlights their Cyber Monday discounts. Neatly designed images, crisp copy, and use of a blue backdrop are its central themes.

The Good: The symmetrical gift wrapped letter Zs show that with their brand Casper, sleeping also becomes a thing to celebrate. The complete feel of the email invites warmth and sets the tone for their brand message. To complement that mood, they also use a light font with white color for text.

Another admirable thing about this email is the flow. The first thing that catches your attention is the $150 discount, followed by the subject of the email ‘The Gift of Sleep’ which hints at the content of the email. To complement the subject is the Zs graphic. By this point, the reader is fully primed for the main message and is definitely more likely to click on the CTA.

Takeaways: A well-designed email with appropriate use of graphics and content can perform a much better job than an email loaded with incoherent content.

#5 FatFace: We’re not discounting. We’re donating!

Black Friday Email Ideas: FatFace's example

What the Email is: A Black Friday promotional email that appeals to the consumer’s altruistic tendencies. It uses a simple black and white color theme with different fonts to emphasize different aspects of the email.

The Good: Fatface has taken a very fresh approach to BFCM marketing. Instead of offering customers mad discounts and crazy deals, they break the saturated space by offering to donate to charity on each sale made through the weekend. For customers who are conscientious and altruistic, such an email is a great way to grab their attention.

Just above the CTA, they re-emphasize their message by using wordplay. Instead of wishing you Happy Thanksgiving, they wish you Thanks for Giving. For a reader who’s inclined towards clicking the CTA, such a message will work to strengthen their conviction.

Takeaways: BFCM weekend buyers are looking for two basic things: same for less or more for same. They want the same (or higher) value for less money. Discounting is the same for less practice and donating is more for same. FatFace shows that you can use either method to entice people to visit your website.

#6 PrettyLittleThing: Don’t miss out again ! 😱

Black Friday Email Ideas: Pretty Little Thing example

What the Email is: A Black Friday email from PrettyLittleThing (a women’s clothing brand) that uses a colorful aprroach to signal their discounts.

The Good: Similar to reMarkable’s email, PrettyLittleThing also uses the sense of urgency and fear of missing out to attract attention. Their subject line calls upon you to not miss out on their juicy offers again while the count-down timer builds up the urgency.

Where this email departs from reMarkable is its use of bright saturated colors and bold shiny headlines. Because they’ve positioned themselves as a colorful and unapologetic brand, they use themes that pop and make the user pay attention, and it works for them.

Takeaways: Use a Black Friday countdown timer. People quickly act on countdown timers like this one because they can see their opportunity ticking away right in front of their eyes.

#7 Udemy: Learn something new during our biggest sale

Black Friday Email Ideas: Udemy's example

What the email is: A mega Black Friday sale email by Udemy that lists products according to their customers’ interests.

The good: A captivating image grabs your attention, thematically spelling out what the promotion email is about: high-value online courses at deep discounts.

Udemy does well by listing products according to the subscribers’ interests. This allows them to create emails that will attract higher click through rates and get them more sales through the Black Friday Weekend.

The takeaway: Even though this is a software subscription company, as a store you can take a leaf from Udemy’s book by displaying relevant products, along with their ratings and discounts within the email. Not only will this make it easier for customers to navigate to the product page but you’ll also give them ideas on what is worth buying from your store.

Conclusion

You’ll notice that all these emails take different approaches to deliver their promotions according to how they operate as a brand. But one thing that is consistent in all emails is the ‘punch’ of delivery. None of the brands shy away from displaying their promotions, and do so with zeal.

Using the right copy, enticing graphics, eye-catching headlines and adding urgency to your emails, you too can create highly converting Black Friday/Cyber Monday emails.

Author Bio

Rukham Khan

Rukham is the Content Lead at Mailmunch. He believes trust should be the basis for all marketing communications.

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