Black Friday is next month, and if you are launching your sale early, you may have only a few weeks before you put your foot on the proverbial sale accelerator. Are you ready?
With so many brands taking advantage of Black Friday, it can be hard to stay front of mind, especially if you are running a shorter promo than the ambitious brands opting for a month-long festivity. But you are not left to fend for yourself. One of the strongest ways to stay a brand customers choose is to give your email subscribers early access.
What Is Early Access?
Just as it sounds, early access means giving customers the chance to shop your sale before it officially launches. If you run 30% off sitewide from the 20th of November, early access gives subscribers a few extra days to shop before the sale is advertised elsewhere, so they get first pick of products and styles.
How the timing plays out
Early access is particularly beneficial for brands with limited stock, letting customers grab a favourite before it runs out. But it is strong for all brands because it sells exclusivity. To make it more alluring, offer an additional percentage off, cashback or a gift with purchase to secure as many sales as possible before the official period, getting you in front of your competition.
How Does Early Access Work?
The way you run early access differs from brand to brand, but there are four key approaches you can take.
Early access to all of your email subscribers as a reward for being part of your database, so everyone knows about the sale before it launches online. You might also add a new pop-up encouraging people to sign up for early access too.
Early access sent only to the customers you believe are most valuable. It is targeted, and you can say so: "you are one of our favourites, and that's why we're letting you in early." These are proven spenders, likely (though not guaranteed) to spend again.
A little more pre-work, but it guarantees early access reaches the eager. You ask subscribers if they want in on Black Friday early access. Those who say yes are separately segmented and sent the email on launch.
Like the sign-up approach, but it moves beyond your email database. Set up an auto-reply so customers comment a keyword on your Instagram posts, like "EARLYACCESS." That triggers automated messages collecting email consent, then adds them to a Klaviyo list you can push early offers to.
Which one is right for you?
Match the method to your goal
What works for one brand may not work for another. Testing different approaches across Black Friday campaigns, and other promotional periods throughout the year, helps you understand what drives the strongest results for you.
Ready when you are
Need help this Black Friday?
Lock in 15 minutes to talk strategy, or grab a limited one-on-one Black Friday Campaign Planning Session: 90 minutes covering offers, timing, segmentation and everything you need to ace your campaigns.
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