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Black Friday Email Best Practices

Black Friday and Cyber Monday represent one of the busiest email sending periods of the year. 

Overview

Black Friday and Cyber Monday represent one of the busiest email sending periods of the year. Whether you're promoting holiday show tickets, year-end membership drives, or donation appeals, your messages will be competing with unprecedented inbox volume during this time.

While Activity Stream's email infrastructure is prepared to handle peak holiday traffic, your sending strategy plays a crucial role in ensuring your messages reach subscriber inboxes successfully.

Best Practices for Holiday Email Campaigns

Start Your Email Warm-Up Early

What it means: Gradually increase your email sending volume in the weeks leading up to Black Friday.

Why it matters: Mailbox providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) monitor sending patterns. A sudden spike in volume can trigger spam filters, even for legitimate organizations.

How to do it:

  • Begin increasing your send frequency 2-3 weeks before Thanksgiving
  • If you typically send one email per week, consider adding a second weekly send in early November
  • Avoid jumping from low volume directly to your highest-volume Black Friday campaign

Example: If you plan to send to your full list of 50,000 contacts on Black Friday, consider sending to 25,000 in early November, then 35,000 the following week, before sending your full campaign.

Segment Your Audiences Strategically

What it means: Focus your holiday campaigns on subscribers most likely to engage.

Why it matters: Mailbox providers track engagement rates (opens, clicks). Sending to unengaged subscribers hurts your sender reputation and reduces deliverability for everyone on your list.

How to do it:

  • Prioritize subscribers who have opened emails in the last 90 days
  • Create separate campaigns for highly engaged vs. moderately engaged audiences
  • Consider suppressing subscribers who haven't opened an email in 6+ months

For Activity Stream users: Use your engagement data from campaign analytics to create targeted segments. Your most engaged subscribers are your best opportunity for conversions during the holiday period.

Avoid Peak Sending Times

What it means: Schedule your campaigns to avoid the top of the hour (e.g., 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM).

Why it matters: Mailbox providers receive massive traffic spikes at the top of each hour as marketers worldwide schedule campaigns for "round" times. This congestion can delay delivery and reduce inbox placement.

How to do it:

  • Instead of 10:00 AM, schedule for 10:03 AM or 10:07 AM
  • Offset by just a few minutes to avoid the congestion window
  • Test different send times in advance to see what works for your audience

Pro Tip: Even a 3-5 minute offset can significantly improve delivery speed during peak periods like Black Friday weekend.

Clean Your Email Lists

What it means: Remove invalid, bounced, and chronically unengaged email addresses before your holiday campaigns.

Why it matters: Sending to bad addresses or unengaged subscribers damages your sender reputation and wastes sending capacity during critical campaign windows.

How to do it:

  • Remove any hard bounces (invalid addresses) from previous campaigns
  • Suppress subscribers with 6-12 months of zero engagement
  • If you import lists from your ticketing system, verify the data is current
  • Run a small test campaign to validate your list quality before Black Friday

For Activity Stream users: Review your bounce reports and engagement metrics in your campaign analytics before scheduling holiday sends.

Monitor Your Campaign Performance in Real-Time

What it means: Watch your campaign metrics closely as emails are delivered.

Why it matters: Early detection of delivery issues, low open rates, or technical problems allows you to adjust quickly during time-sensitive promotional windows.

How to do it:

  • Check Activity Stream analytics within 30-60 minutes of sending
  • Monitor delivery rates, bounce rates, and open rates
  • Watch for unusual patterns (e.g., sudden spike in bounces or drops in deliverability)
  • Have a plan to pause or adjust campaigns if issues arise

Key metrics to watch:

  • Delivery rate: Should be 95%+ for clean lists
  • Bounce rate: Should be under 2-3%
  • Open rate: Compare to your historical averages

Holiday Campaign Checklist

2-3 Weeks Before Black Friday (Now-ish):

  • ☑️ Review and segment your email lists
  • ☑️ Begin warm-up sends (increase frequency gradually)
  • ☑️ Clean your list (remove bounces and unengaged subscribers)
  • ☑️ Test your email templates and links

Week of Thanksgiving:

  • ☑️ Schedule campaigns with off-hour send times (avoid :00 times)
  • ☑️ Prepare backup campaign content in case adjustments are needed
  • ☑️ Set calendar reminders to monitor campaigns in real-time
  • ☑️ Confirm your Activity Stream account has no outstanding technical issues

During Black Friday Weekend:

  • ☑️ Monitor campaign analytics closely
  • ☑️ Watch for delivery or engagement anomalies
  • ☑️ Be prepared to adjust send times or segments if needed

Questions or Support Needed?

If you need assistance with list segmentation, campaign scheduling, or troubleshooting delivery issues during the holiday period, please reach out to our support team.

Remember: The holiday email season is competitive, but thoughtful planning and these best practices will help ensure your messages reach your subscribers when it matters most.