Black Friday is November 27 this year, giving Athens, GA businesses about four weeks to prepare. That’s enough time to send a full run of emails without wearing out your list… if you lock the dates in now.
Below is the calendar, send by send, with the reason behind each date. If you haven’t settled your offer or cleaned your list yet, start with our guide to preparing your Athens business for Black Friday. If you’re still deciding where to spend your effort, which Black Friday marketing channels to use covers that.
Check three things before the first send
You need:
- An offer
- A list free of bounced and abandoned addresses
- An unsubscribe link plus your business address in every email.
- The FTC’s CAN-SPAM guide explains the legal requirements for commercial email. Send a test to your own phone before every campaign, and make sure your email marketing platform can handle a volume spike.
“DO NOT send out an email to an audience without confirming that they consented to be added. It is a great way to get every email you make sent to spam.” -Cole
Two to three weeks out: warm up the list
Your list shouldn’t hear from you for the first time in months on Black Friday. A couple of early sends give people a reason to open your mail, and they build a VIP list you can reward with early access.
- Thursday, November 12: Send a save-the-date. Share the sale dates and invite people to join your early-access list. Two weeks out leaves time to build that list before the holiday inbox rush.
- Tuesday, November 17: Send a sneak peek. Show one or two products or services that will be in the sale. It gives people a reason to click before everyone else’s sale emails arrive.
Send these first emails to your most engaged subscribers, who are the people who opened or clicked recently.
The week of: tell everyone it’s coming
- Monday, November 23: Announce the sale to your full list. State the offer, the dates, and anything limited. Four days out gives people time to plan, and a Monday email arrives before the holiday week gets busy.
- Wednesday, November 25: Send a countdown reminder in the evening. “Starts Friday” is all it needs to say. Omnisend’s send-time data shows 8 to 10 PM among the strongest windows.
- Thursday, November 26: Send a short Thanksgiving thank-you with early access for your VIP list.
Black Friday through Cyber Monday
- Friday, November 27, 8 to 9 AM: Launch the sale to your full list. Omnisend suggests a main-launch email in this window. Put the offer and the end date in the first lines.
- Saturday, November 28: Resend Friday’s email to people who didn’t open it, with a new subject line. Omnisend recommends a resend 24 to 48 hours later. Saturday is also Small Business Saturday, so add a separate, warmer note aimed at local customers who are already thinking about shopping at businesses like yours.
- Sunday, November 29: Send one short Cyber Monday preview in the evening, only if you have something new to announce. Klaviyo advises using Sunday to build anticipation without over-messaging.
- Monday, November 30: Send your Cyber Monday offer in the morning, or a last-chance reminder for the Black Friday deal. Follow it with a final-hours email at 8 to 10 PM. If you sell appointments rather than products, close the sale on Sunday night and skip this day.
After the sale: follow up with the people who almost bought
- Tuesday, December 1: Extend the offer for people who clicked but didn’t buy. Klaviyo’s schedule uses the Tuesday after Cyber Monday to extend promotions to window shoppers and non-buyers. Keep the extension short, 24 hours or less.
- Thursday, December 3: Welcome everyone who joined your list during the sale. Tell them what to expect and how often you’ll email so they don’t get overwhelmed. New subscribers are your warmest audience, and a clear first message sets expectations.
What goes in every email
Keep each email to one offer and one button. You should clearly label the deal and the end date in the subject line, like “20% off through Sunday,” instead of a lackluster pun nobody wants to decode at 7 AM.
You should write like you’re texting a regular customer: include short sentences, your name at the bottom, and a reply-to address that reaches an actual person. A customer with a question the night before they buy should be able to ask it.
Two rules for every send
Send when your readers are (1) awake and (2) not busy. Sending between 6 to 9 AM and 8 to 10 PM puts you ahead of midday sends. Check which hours got your best open rates last year and shift the calendar to match!
Change something when you resend. A new subject line, a different first image, or a shorter opening gives the second email a better shot than a copy of the first.
If you want help writing and scheduling this run, reach out here. MORE builds email marketing campaigns for Athens businesses, and we can pair them with social media management and Google Ads so your Black Friday offer shows up everywhere your customers look.