10 Black Friday Lessons That'll Save You From Disaster

It's weird being down South right now.

All the stores are pushing Halloween and fall decorations. Pumpkin spice everything. Cozy sweater displays.

Meanwhile, it was 90 degrees this weekend.

Speaking of fall in the air... Black Friday is around the corner.

I've spent the last 6 years handling Black Fridays for DTC brands.

It’s always exciting. Always a little stressful. Always scary.

Here's what I've learned. And here's what you should be doing right now to have your best Black Friday ever.

10 Hard-Earned Black Friday Lessons

1. Start Planning Yesterday (Seriously) If you haven't brainstormed offers yet, you're behind. September should be strategy month. October should be execution month. November should be "everything's ready, let's go" month.

2. Know Your Actual Goal Are you trying to get first-time customers who'll come back? Or be profitable right now? Different goals = different offers. Run cohort analysis on last November's customers before you decide.

3. You Don't Need Massive Discounts Free gifts work great. Dollar amounts off minimums work great. Don't assume you need 40% off just because everyone else is doing it. You can't see their strategy or margins.

4. Have Campaigns Written by Mid-October All your copy, all your sequences, everything ready. You can swap offers in and out, but the bones should be done. No scrambling in November.

5. Never Change Your Offer Last-Minute I've watched founders panic and torch three weeks of prep because they saw a competitor's offer. Don't do this. You don't know their numbers or strategy.

6. Ramp Up Your Send Frequency If you normally send 2 emails per week, plan for daily during the sale. Big days (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, last day): 3 emails plus 2 SMS. But exclude people who already bought.

7. Tell People If This Is Your Only Offer People wait for better deals unless you tell them this is it. If you're not doing multiple offers, say so clearly in your copy.

8. Create Rapid-Fire Backup Templates Have your designer make 10 different email banners with your offer. Create text-only templates anyone can use. When you need to pivot fast (boost sales, answer questions), you're ready in minutes.

9. Clone All Your Automations Now Welcome series, abandoned cart, browse abandonment - clone everything. Remove conflicting offers. Add Black Friday messaging. Schedule them to turn on automatically. Do this by mid-October.

10. Turn Off Smart Sending on Big Days Klaviyo's smart sending will kill your final day emails. I watched $30k disappear because "helpful" algorithms decided people had gotten enough emails. Turn it off for crucial sends.

Bonus: Use a Buddy System Double-check your scheduling. I once sent Black Friday emails on Thanksgiving. Don't be me.

The more you sweat now, the less you'll bleed in November.

Listen, I've got about two weeks left where I'll take on new clients before Black Friday and the heart of Q4 starts - after that, I'm done because I don't need that kind of stress in my life.

If you're drowning and need real help, hit reply ASAP because this window closes fast.

Got something you’d like me to talk about? Reply to this email, I do my best to reply to them all.

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