7 creative Black Friday coupon code ideas you can steal

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Black Friday signals the beginning of the holiday season and an opportunity for merchants to make significant online sales. With so much digital competition, creative and unique Black Friday coupon code ideas are a great way to distinguish your business from others.

You have an opportunity to engage customers and boost sales, so it’s important to take the time to brainstorm and implement a strategy before the big day. Plus, by offering different daily promotions and discounts, you’ll keep your audience returning for more while continuing to attract new consumers.

This article will cover our top 10 Black Friday code ideas and outline best practices to help your business make the most of the Black Friday Cyber Monday period.

Why coupon codes are essential for Black Friday

Distinctive and memorable Black Friday discount code ideas can make all the difference during one of the busiest days of the year for ecommerce.

Consumers are increasingly digitally savvy, with many planning to take advantage of the lucrative discounts and promotions of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period from the comfort of their own home.

By offering intriguing and time-sensitive Black Friday coupon codes, you’re increasing customer engagement and driving sales — especially if you deploy targeted online-only deals. You’ll also be maximizing the chance of repeat purchases and increased average order values by driving traffic to your website.

Omnisend can streamline your Black Friday coupon code creation process and tracking, making it easy to reward email subscribers and convert more sales with unique discount codes embedded in your email marketing.

Even better, ensuring a stress-free Black Friday purchasing experience will improve customer loyalty, supporting the likelihood of referrals.

7 creative Black Friday coupon code ideas

Prepare your business for one of the busiest times in the ecommerce calendar by pre-planning your Black Friday coupon code ideas. 

These are our top seven choices for creative and appealing Black Friday code ideas:

1. BOGO (buy one, get one) code

Buy one, get one (BOGO) codes offer customers a free or discounted item with the purchase of another. It works to drive volume sales through bulk buying.

With a BOGO code, you likely already have an engaged customer on the cusp of making a sale. You’re increasing the average order value by offering a BOGO code that discounts another item — such as a “buy one, get second for 50% off”.

You can offer a site-wide BOGO deal, a BOGO code on a product bundle, or a BOGO deal on a special product. Plus, a BOGO code can be particularly effective if you’re trying to move inventory and sell bulk products.

Zound uses a simple BOGO offer, which is the focal point of its email. It includes a to-the-point “SHOP NOW AND SAVE” call to action, emphasizing both the value and urgency of the offer.

2. Mystery discount code

Promising and revealing mystery discounts can create intrigue and anticipation, which drives customer engagement. By withholding the discount until customers reach the checkout point, the shopping experience is made more exciting.

Customers are compelled to complete their purchases quicker, which drives faster buying decisions and boosts sales.

Accordingly, mystery discounts work by gamifying the experience. 

This mystery discount code from Charlotte’s Web works by gamifying the shopping experience, piquing customer interest, and inciting engagement.

Gamification increases enjoyability for the customer, with the benefits of an improved experience, increased sales and revenue, and more chance of repeat and future purchases.

If you distinguish your Black Friday coupon code offering by gamifying it, you’re making your brand stand out from competitors. 

It can also improve your overall brand awareness and reputation by creating a lasting impression on your audience.

3. Countdown triggered discount

Countdown-triggered discounts work off one of the most important elements of any deal — urgency. 

If you’re looking for tried-and-tested Black Friday promo code ideas, countdown-triggered discounts must feature in your marketing plan.

This countdown-triggered discount encourages impulse buying. 

Creating a sense of urgency and showing how much time is left to make a decision encourages undecided shoppers to complete their purchase, which can boost sales.

Like mystery discounts, countdown timers in emails also work on the principle of gamifying the experience and improving its enjoyability. You can even use countdown-triggered discounts to build anticipation for the actual day by sending exclusive previews and rewarding early shoppers.

4. Early access discount code for VIP customers

You can combine countdown-triggered and early access discounts in your company’s Black Friday coupon code ideas.

Build on existing loyalty programs and increase customers’ lifetime values with special Black Friday discounts and perks. Rewarding VIP customers with early access discount codes will kickstart your sales and build momentum for Black Friday.

You’ll also be nurturing your relationship with loyal and repeat customers, improving their experience with your brand, and further establishing brand trust and advocacy.

This email from BaubleBar uses language that makes a customer feel appreciated and valued as a VIP.

Don’t forget that you can also use word-of-mouth marketing and reward loyal customers for promoting your business. 

Offer referral rewards through further coupons or points and incentivize customers to refer friends and family. You’ll drive sales, expand your customer base, and increase brand awareness.

5. Tiered discount codes

There are many advantages to using discounts for your Black Friday promo code ideas. From acquiring new customers to retaining a loyal base of repeat purchasers, discount codes can help foster and promote customer loyalty and enhance their experience with your brand.

Tiered discount codes are a particularly effective element of Black Friday code ideas. They increase cart value, encouraging customers to spend more and increasing the average order value. 

Plus, tiered discount codes can even offset operational costs — fewer orders of higher value are less burdensome for your logistics.

You can implement tiered discount codes by distinguishing the overall discount according to the order total.

This email from Baggu creates exactly this ladder-like (tiered) system by offering 25% off orders over $50 and 30% off orders over $100.

6. Limited-time free shipping code

Limited-time offers come in many shapes and sizes.

Offering free shipping for a limited time with a Black Friday coupon code can help boost sales by cultivating a sense of urgency. You can improve your own conversions and reduce the likelihood of abandoned carts by offering a limited-time free shipping code.

This email clearly defines the 24 hours over which free shipping is offered. In doing so, it incentivizes customers to purchase over this time period.

Alternatively, you could offer free shipping to first-time customers or orders over a certain value to encourage customers to increase their overall cart value.

7. Exclusive SMS-only discount

SMS messaging can be one of the most effective and engaging ways to reach your audience and drive up sales over Black Friday.

Using holiday SMS promotions allows you to send customers personalized, direct, and timely messages. 

An SMS text offering a discount like this can drive a sense of urgency, compelling customers to make speedy purchases to avoid the risk of missing out.

Sending an SMS-only promotional discount can give you access to thousands of engaged consumers quickly and easily. Plus, it’s a highly cost-effective way of engaging your audience and can easily be automated and integrated with your Black Friday email marketing with a platform like Omnisend.

Best practices for using Black Friday coupon codes

You may have the best Black Friday promo code ideas, but without implementing best practices around them, you may not reap the benefits. 

Follow these three strategies, and you’re one step closer to success:

Use urgency and scarcity

A Black Friday sale is built off urgency and scarcity — after all, it’s only four days in the calendar year. You should collate your list of Black Friday promo code ideas around these two principles. 

When you advertise your products or services as limited in number or availability, you’re more likely to compel customers to purchase.

By pushing the urgency of customer purchases through coupon codes with countdown timers, you can cultivate a fear of missing out and motivate purchases by working on your audience’s loss aversion bias.

Personalize codes for different audience segments

There are several tangible benefits to segmenting your audience. Customer segmentation allows you to effectively target your audience based on different variables. It helps you send the best possible message to that niche, better serving their interests.

Personalizing Black Friday discount codes will improve your customer engagement and improve satisfaction.

By avoiding generic mass market messages, you’re catering to each group’s needs and demonstrating your value as a brand. This will increase conversions and foster customer loyalty, potentially even leading to referrals.

Test codes ahead of time to ensure functionality

There’s no point in having a creative list of Black Friday discount code ideas without first testing each code to ensure they actually work. Broken checkout flows and downtime during peak shopping hours will lead to abandoned carts and reduced conversions.

Conduct thorough end-to-end testing before the Black Friday period to ensure that your website can manage the uptick in stress and load.

You should also conduct a comprehensive security audit to ensure your gateways are compliant and won’t be at risk.

Wrap up

Having a list of comprehensive, appealing, and unique Black Friday coupon code ideas is one surefire way to support your business’s ecommerce success over this busy period.

Strategies like mystery and tiered discount codes can all help to increase customer loyalty and referrals, improve the shopping experience, boost conversions, and drive sales. 

Remember to always plan ahead to ensure your site runs smoothly, minimizing the risk of cart abandonments. You can also take lessons from your year-long digital marketing, segmenting audiences to deliver discount codes that meet their niche.