We’ll arm you with the knowledge of exactly when you should send out your BFCM marketing messages in terms of specific dates and times.
The Black Friday pre-sale period - Fri Nov 8th to Thurs Nov 28th
As mentioned in BFCM marketing tip #2, we recommend sending out three or four messages during this time. Specifically, send them as follows:
Message 1 – between 8th and 15th November
Message 2 – between 15th and 21st November
Message 3 – between 21st and 24th November
Message 4 – between 25th and 28th November
Black Friday and Cyber Monday - Fri Nov 29th to Mon Dec 2nd
During the Black Friday weekend, send out eleven messages. Times are important here. Send them out as follows:
Four on Black Friday (use web push notifications and Messenger)
09:00 – Send your first 2 messages (one to your early bird subscriber list and the other to your entire list).
14:00 – This is the start of the busiest shopping time.
18:00 – This is peak shopping time. Send your final message of the day.
Two on Saturday November 30th (use SMS)
12:00 – Send your first message.
16:00 – Send you second message.
One on Sunday December 1st (use Messenger)
12:00 - send your message at midday.
Three on Cyber Monday (use all three channels)
10:00 – Send your first message.
15:00 – This is the start of the busiest shopping time on Cyber Monday.
19:00 – This is peak shopping time on Cyber Monday, and it’s also the end of the Black Friday weekend.
The eleventh message should be your abandoned cart reminders - make sure these are activated in advance so you can retarget shoppers who leave items in their cart automatically.
Post Black Friday holiday sale period - Tues Dec 3rd to Sun Dec 8th
Six messages should be sent out during this time - spread them out across the above-mentioned dates. Don’t send more than two messages in a single day, however.
Further reading
Read out detailed Black Friday marketing guide. It’s also worth making sure you’re planning ahead for other key shopping holiday dates - refer to our e-commerce checklist and calendar for this.