Black Friday Text Message

Create a sense of urgency

Rhone sent this Black Friday text message six days before the start of Black Friday urging its subscribers to take action before everyone else starts shopping. It’s a great way to spur people to shop.

Another smart way to create a sense of urgency is by announcing the end of your Black Friday sale, as skincare brand Dermatologica does with this Black Friday sale text. Pay attention to phrases such as “last chance,” “coming to an end,” and “don’t miss out.”

Build anticipation

Hobbytron sent this Black Friday sale text the day before Black Friday. Instead of starting the sale early as many brands do, Hobbytron built anticipation by announcing its sale and asking its subscribers to “stay tuned.” It also clearly communicated the dates of the sale and where it would take place.

Announce the start

Even if you start promoting your Black Friday sale well in advance, it’s a good idea to announce the actual start of your sale on the big day itself. After all, that’s what many of your competitors will be doing and you don’t want them to steal your subscribers’ attention. We like how Audry Rose starts its Black Friday sale announcement message with a friendly “Good Morning!” and lets its list know what to expect: “20% off, no exclusions.”

Hold a pre-sale

Leesa Sleep knew its subscribers would be inundated by marketing messages as Black Friday neared, so the brand held a “Black Friday Preview Sale” in September. The benefit of presenting it as a Black Friday pre-sale and not as just another sale is that it raises the expectation of significant discounts and amazing deals.

If you run a campaign like this, make sure it doesn’t interfere with any of the other promotions you may have running. The Leesa Sleep campaign, for example, went out in the second half of September when lots of people might still be in a back-to-school shopping mood.

Have an easy-to-remember promo code

Not everyone likes to shop on their phone or is great at copy/pasting things from text messages into their phone’s browser. That’s why it’s important to have an easy-to-remember promo code for your Black Friday say. Make it short, too, so it doesn’t take up too many characters from your text messages.

Fashion brand Bhfo’s “BF25” is super clear: it’s a Black Friday code for 25% off.

Provide early access to deals

Two weeks before Black Friday, cookware brand Great Jones sent the above text message to its subscribers, offering them “VIP early access” to its Black Friday sale. Not only does this tactic get people to start shopping sooner, but it also makes them feel special (“VIP”).

The brand makes another smart move by following up on this SMS with the following message:

“Hi there! Our Black Friday sale goes live to the public this Monday, but we have a feeling things will move fast, so we’re giving you the chance to shop early. Use EABFBU21 at checkout to enjoy 20% off orders over $100 until November 22 at 11:59 p.m. PST (exclusions apply). https://greatjones.attn.tv/l/UbD/Eb0K9”

This SMS creates a sense of urgency by telling its subscribers that products will probably sell fast once the sale opens to the public, and reminding them that they have the option to enjoy a pre-sale. One thing we would improve about this last message is the promo code. “EABFBU21” is not the easiest to remember for someone who might want to open up their laptop to do their shopping from there.

Offer free shipping

Free shipping is always a good incentive for people to shop. If you’re offering it for Black Friday, make sure to mention that in your Black Friday sale text message, like MacKenzie-Childs does here.

Also note how the brand reduces its long company name to “M-C”. This allows its subscribers to recognize who is texting them without using a lot of characters.

Offer a free gift

Just like offering free shipping, offering a gift can be a good way to convince people to buy from you and not from your competitors. You can even generate some curiosity by turning it into a mystery gift as BH Cosmetics did. The brand also only offered the mystery gift with orders of $50 or more, using the free gift strategy as a way to increase order value per customer.

Include Black Friday in your welcome messages

Go for a double win and let new subscribers know you have a Black Friday sale going on in your welcome message, just like Ergobaby does here. Just make sure you also include all the information a welcome message should contain, like how people can opt out again and where they can find your privacy policy.

Combine Black Friday and Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving happening just the day before, it only makes sense to refer to the holiday in your Black Friday promotional SMS. Clothing brand Terez does this in a fun way by letting its subscribers know it sells stretchy pants that could come in handy after a big Thanksgiving meal.

MUJI takes a different approach. The brand urges its subscribers to get their Back Friday shopping done before the Thanksgiving dinner. The unwritten idea behind it is that they can then fully enjoy the time with their loved ones.

Keep it simple

Black Friday is such a massive shopping day that it doesn’t need much explaining for most shoppers. Elie Tahari keeps this Black Friday promotion text simple by announcing “‘Tis the Season to Save” followed by a concise overview of the different discounts offered.

Bring people to your store

Have a physical store? Use one of your Black Friday text messages to invite people there, like ABC Carpet and Home does with this text. Also note how the message is area-specific: it invites the recipient to come and check out the sale at the ABC Brooklyn store.

If you have data on where your subscribers are based, you can help them shop by promoting the store location closest to them.

Communicate extended sales

Many brands extend their Black Friday sales until the Monday after the big holiday. If you’re doing the same, don’t forget to communicate this with your SMS list. The Clymb texted its subscribers on Black Friday to let them know the sale would continue for two more days.

We also like how the brand includes an SMS-specific promo code so they can track sales from text messages even if the subscriber decides to surf to the store using their laptop.