In this guide: Craft a unified BFCM messaging strategy that builds relationships and drives purchases. Map out your messaging calendar, define your priority segments, and create the assets that bring your campaigns to life.

The BFCM shopping season keeps getting longer—and marketers are adapting their strategies accordingly.

This year’s BFCM landscape presents new challenges, as revealed in the Attentive Consumer Pulse:

• 59% will start their holiday shopping before Black Friday—with 17% having already started as of early August
• 29% plan to spend less than they did last year‍
• 75% of shoppers are expecting some change to their end-of-year holiday spend—mostly by searching for more deals and buying fewer items

Our performance data shows how successful brands are taking advantage of these trends.

In 2024, brands that spiked their Q4 campaign sends during BFCM without gradually increasing their send volume saw 22% lower ROI than all other brands.

So rather than saving your campaigns for just one big Cyber Week push, you’ll benefit from engaging shoppers throughout the summer and fall.

As consumers become more selective, the brands that build familiarity and trust early will capture a greater share of these more deliberate spending decisions.

That’s when unified messaging becomes central to a high-performing BFCM strategy.

Instead of scrambling to compete for attention during the BFCM frenzy, the most successful brands will craft a cohesive narrative in the weeks (and months) ahead that builds anticipation, drives sales, and creates lasting relationships—ultimately leading to a more profitable Q4 and beyond.

If you’ve been following our BFCM countdown, you’ve already established a strong email and SMS plan with 90 Days to BFCM: Create Your Foundation. Now it’s time to translate what you’ve learned into a strategic messaging approach.

With 60 days until Black Friday, we’ll help you determine the kinds of messages you’ll send, the segments you’ll send to, and the creative assets you’ll need for your campaigns. Then you’ll have a clear plan for drafting and scheduling your campaigns without the last-minute scrambling to come up with a strategy.

Rather than approaching BFCM as an isolated event, treat your entire season as a connected customer journey that builds anticipation, converts shoppers, and creates lasting customer relationships.

Before Cyber Week: Cultivate anticipation and capture early shoppers

As end-of-year holiday shopping starts earlier, blend a traditional pre-BFCM approach (inspiring loyalty and building anticipation to drive future purchases) with a revenue-driving plan that draws in early shoppers.

This method is important as 59% of shoppers plan to start their end-of-year holiday shopping before Black Friday, and 17% had already begun shopping by early August.

This will consist of building customer relationships by introducing new subscribers to your brand, sharing helpful content like gift guides, and continuing to send the personalized messages you established in the 90 Days to BFCM guide.

To build loyalty and anticipation:

• Tease promotions: Preview your deals, new products, and limited-edition items to build excitement. Let shoppers know exactly when your promos will start and end, since every brand launches deals at a different time.
• Share gift guides: Send subscribers curated guides to help shoppers check items off their gift-giving lists.
• Create relevant content: Shoppers are preparing for various seasonal events,so send helpful content relevant to your products, like recipes or styling tips.
• Educate subscribers: Remind subscribers what sets your brand apart from competitors and give them a reason to choose you during the busy shopping season. Sending this kind of content builds a base of loyal customers that are more likely to take advantage of your sales during Cyber Week.

To drive early purchases:

• ‍Give VIPs early access: Your most loyal customers have higher conversion rates and yield higher ROI, so reward them with exclusive discounts or early access to sales.
• Inspire early purchases during seasonal moments: Take advantage of big global retail holidays like Veterans Day (US), Singles’ Day, and Bonfire Night (UK) and lean into other events that align with your brand, like Halloween, Daylight Savings, or World Mental Health Day. These moments give you more reason to engage shoppers and match sustained shopping patterns.
• Send personalized product recommendations: 77% of consumers are likely to purchase from a brand when they get relevant product recommendations. Suggest products based on past purchases, or use conversational texts to help shoppers find what they’re looking for.
• Introduce subscribers to new products: New product mentions in SMS messages without an offer increase conversion rates by 17%. So if you’re launching new products before the main BFCM event, it’s a great way to capture early shoppers. 

• Send low-stock alerts: Inventory messages in SMS campaigns without a discount boost conversion rates by 19%. These messages inspire FOMO and show subscribers that your brand is valuable and beloved. Use them outside of sales to create urgency around popular items.
• Offer month-long deals and discounts: Rather than saving everything for BFCM, consider extending your sales throughout November to promote mindful shopping habits and help shoppers get ahead of shipping deadlines. This “Slowvember” approach also helps ease inventory pressure by spreading demand and giving you the chance to switch out your deals if certain SKUs go too fast for you to keep up.
• ‍Let subscribers opt in to extended promos: If you’ll be hitting messaging hard leading up to Cyber Week (like a “30 days of deals” promo), consider giving subscribers the option of participating to reduce opt-outs.

"Success on BFCM doesn’t come from cramming high-frequency messaging into a narrow 4–7 day window—it’s earned through thoughtful storytelling that builds trust, fuels anticipation, and drives meaningful action throughout the entire season." ‍

Nikki Tooman, Co-Founder, Sticky Digital

During Cyber Week: Launch your most compelling offers of the season

Even though Black Friday shopping starts early, many shoppers will still expect your best deals of the year during Cyber Week, and are likely to use this opportunity to pick up anything they haven’t bought yet. So seize the opportunity presented by the surge in shopping activity.

As you map out your Cyber Week messaging plan, consider these best practices to drive sales:

• Lean on SMS for time-sensitive notifications: Send limited-time deals or low-inventory items that require immediate action.
• Use email for detailed information: Send more specifics about your sales via email. You can also send reminders to subscribers who didn’t act on your initial text.
• Personalize your promotions: Feature relevant products and deals (e.g., clothing by gender) to cut through the noise of generic sales. Personalize your sales announcements with relevant imagery or featured products that will entice shoppers to click.
• Send inventory updates: Encourage subscribers to grab well-loved products while they have a chance by sending low-stock and back-in-stock alerts.

• Send reminders throughout your sale period: Shoppers get distracted easily during BFCM and expect to receive more brand campaigns at this time of year, so don’t be afraid to bump up your sending volume. 
• Create retargeting campaigns for engaged non-purchasers: Target subscribers who clicked on your BFCM campaigns but haven’t purchased yet with follow-up messages that encourage them to come back and shop.
• Engage in Small Business Saturday, if relevant: If you’re a small business, local store, or new or emerging company, shoppers who support you likely have a soft spot for small brands. Remind them to shop with you on Small Business Saturday and thank them for supporting you.

After Cyber Week: Foster subscriber relationships and convert last-minute shoppers

Many brands go quiet after Cyber Monday, but that’s a massive lost opportunity. This is your chance to foster new customer relationships and give them a reason to stay subscribed.

Plus, historically, 120+ million US shoppers have expected to shop Super Saturday (the Saturday before Christmas)—meaning there are substantial revenue opportunities well through December.

Consider connecting with customers through these types of campaigns:

• Sale-extension messages: Customers expect your sales to end after Cyber Monday. So if you’re keeping a good thing going, remind them that they still have time to shop a good deal.
• Giving Tuesday: This global generosity movement is a chance to connect with shoppers on shared values by offering to donate to charity when they place an order. Choose a charity that aligns with your brand’s values to strengthen brand affinity.
• New deals: Consider mapping out new deals for shoppers that missed out on Black Friday. Not as big as your BFCM deals, but you can excite shoppers with other offers like a smaller discount, free gift with purchase, etc.
• Gift delivery cutoffs: Remind shoppers when your shipping deadlines are so they don’t miss the chance to get gifts in time.
• Gift cards: After anydelivery deadline has passed, there are bound to be shoppers that missed the boat. Encourage them to buy a digital gift card for last-minute gifting.
• Boxing Day: This is a big event in the UK, Canada, and Australia, but Boxing Day is gaining momentum in the US, too. It’s traditionally a gift-giving day but also serves as a time to gather with loved ones, watch sports, and hunt for great deals. Some brands use it as an opportunity to clear out seasonal inventory.

• Send post-purchase messages to encourage customers to use their new products: Shoppers are more likely to keep shopping with your brand if they have a good experience with your product. Share product tutorials, use tips, recipes, or styling guides to help them get the most out of their purchase. Make it seasonal when you can—like sending a New Year’s drink recipe.
• Recommend their next purchase: 52% of shoppers name receiving relevant product suggestions as a top influence to continue buying from a brand. So once a customer falls in love with their first purchase, recommend products that complement what they bought or reference your customer data to identify what people tend to buy next.
• ‍Invite customers to join your loyalty program: Loyalty points are the #1 perk shoppers want from brands. So tell them how many points they can claim from their recent purchase and how to redeem them.
• Help shoppers prep for New Year’s Eve: Promote the essentials people will need, like party outfits or hosting supplies. Support your conversion-focused content with styling guides, makeup tutorials, or party recipes that showcase your products in action.
• Give them something else to look forward to: Let subscribers know there’s more to come in the New Year so they have a reason to be excited to continue engaging with your brand. For example: you might be launching a new product or kicking off a New Year’s challenge they can participate in.
• Support New Year’s resolutions: Help subscribers reach their 2026 goals by promoting relevant products—like fitness gear for workout resolutions or journals for mindfulness goals.

"After Cyber Week, the opportunity to convert last-minute shoppers is still strong, but nurturing your clients—both new and existing—begins right away. Include post-purchase guides, recommend complementary products, and prep them for replenishment needs down the road. Staying relevant with timely offers and personalized touches ensures your subscribers are excited to keep engaging with your brand well into the New Year."‍

Carla Donahue, Head of Lifecycle Marketing, WITHIN

90% of marketers are leaning on segmentation to drive sales in the current economic climate. It’s an effective strategy year-round, but especially crucial for BFCM.

“BFCM is the time to focus on high-intent audiences,” says Brian Shumsky, Sr. Director, Strategic Partnerships at Amperity, “When brands know exactly who’s ready to buy and what they’re likely to want, they can turn segmentation into serious revenue.”

Segmentation enables you to personalize more of the messages you send to increase engagement and ROI. So even though you’ll likely be sending a few full-list blasts, adding dedicated messages to specific segments of your strategy will help entice more customers to take advantage of your offer.

With Audiences AI, you can maximize performance for each segment by automatically including high-intent subscribers and excluding those unlikely to convert.

“Attentive AI™ Pro makes our current strategy more granular than we could ever do on our own. That's going to be especially important as we look to ensure we're reaching more people at the right time with a relevant message during BFCM, our busiest season. Why not let AI support us, especially when it can deliver such great results?"‍

Christine Taylor, Senior Retention Marketing Manager

Start by building these top segmentation strategies we see from our customers:

• Engaged vs. unengaged: You can send more messages to your engaged segment without risking low engagement or unsubscribes. But don’t forget about your “unengaged” list. Many wait to shop your big sales like BFCM. Consider warming them up pre-BFCM and reacquainting them with your brand and products.
• VIPs: Reward this segment with exclusive perks or early access to sales. How you define a “VIP” is up to you. It could be a formal loyalty program that subscribers join or a segment of frequent purchasers.
• Interest-based segments: Use zero-party data or past purchases to segment subscribers by interest (e.g., skin type, pets they have, how they exercise, fashion style, health concerns, product categories they buy, etc.). Then send out promotions featuring the products they’re likely to be interested in.
• Location: Geo-targeting helps you personalize messages and promos based on where subscribers live. Then you can promote relevant products (like warm boots for colder locations) or ssend targeted special offers for customers in your store vicinity. 

Lean on your A/B testing from earlier this year to focus on the segments—and parameters that define each segment—that work for your brand.

Optimize every segment with Audiences AI

Once you’ve created your segments, Audiences AI identifies patterns in your customer data that wouldn’t be possible to identify manually. Then, it fine-tunes each segment by adding subscribers likely to purchase and excluding those who aren’t.

This real-time optimization means you reach more high-intent shoppers while avoiding message fatigue for less engaged subscribers.

Audiences AI gives brands a 25%+ revenue lift for email and up to 40% boost to multi-campaign revenue.

Your visual assets can make or break campaign performance. The wrong creative can confuse shoppers and tank conversion rates, but the right visuals encourage clicks, build trust, and drive purchases.

Start creating your visual assets now—especially if you're collaborating with other teams. This will give you enough time to test different approaches and perfect your creative before your campaigns go live.

Keep these best practices in mind to create high-converting BFCM visuals:

• Trust your data: What works for one brand can fall flat for yours. Use everything you’ve learned from A/B testing throughout the year to brief your creative team on what resonates with your audience.
• Create multiple iterations: Request iterations on your assets so you can test different approaches on your BFCM campaigns themselves—copy variations on the images, text-heavy vs. simple, product image style, tones and moods, GIF vs. static.
• Plan for MMS size limits: Our data shows that MMS sees a 2.8x higher average conversion rate than SMS. So it’s a powerful medium if you’re sending within the US. Just let your creative team know that the max image file size for October 31-December 2 is decreased to 300 KB for MMS messages on the Attentive platform to ensure timely delivery of your campaigns.

Your roadmap to BFCM success is set. Now prepare for seamless execution.

After completing the work set out in this guide, you’ll be on track to launch a successful BFCM campaign without the last-minute scrambling to figure out your messaging plan.

By mapping out your email and SMS strategy, defining your priority segments, and planning your creative assets, you’ve established a clear direction for the messages you’ll craft next month.

This unified approach—building anticipation early and nurturing customer relationships—will help you capture BFCM sales and build lasting customer relationships that drive revenue into 2026 and beyond.

Stay tuned for our next guide, 30 Days to BFCM: Embrace Authentic Connection, coming in September. It will walk you through drafting high-converting campaigns, updating your behavioral flows, and optimizing your send times.