The highest converting Black Friday email subject lines

The arrival of cooler temperatures and the rustle of leaves underfoot is synonymous with autumn—the same is true of the holiday season. This means that it’s time to focus on crafting compelling Black Friday email subject lines for your campaigns.

If you’re feeling stuck about what to write, we’re here to help. Research of BFCM emails shows that less is more: for open rates, the best Black Friday subject lines have up to about 7 words.

In this article, we’re going to share more of the best Black Friday email subject lines as well as the best incentives for the shopping weekend, to help you make this your best BFCM yet.

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1. Percentage discounts remain classic for Black Friday campaigns

Perhaps the easiest way to make your store more attractive to your customer is to save them money with a discount—we all want more for less.

Long before Black Friday even shows up, customers are on the hunt for the best deals of the season, and ecommerce merchants respond in kind.

During past Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekends, the percent sign (%) was used in a significant portion of Black Friday email subject lines sent to more than 5,000 subscribers in English-speaking countries.

Our research has consistently shown that the most popular discounts that retailers offer in their email campaigns are the following:

• 30% discount (16%)
• 50% discount (14%)
• 25% discount (13%)
• 20% discount (13%)
• 40% discount (9%)

Discounts come as a standard during the holiday season, so it’s smart to give customers what they’re expecting. Modkat opted for a pared-down holiday campaign, making sure their added-value was clear: 20% off sitewide.

Our tip for the holidays: Get the word out about what you’ll be offering in November. Put a banner on your site, send out a few teaser campaigns, and make sure your customer is excited for your sales this holiday season. However, as discounts are prevalent in holiday promotions, it would be wise to combine the trusty discount with another added-value this year.

Best Black Friday subject lines for campaigns with discounts

(Data is sourced from previous analysis of the best Black Friday email subject lines, focusing on campaigns sent to databases of more than 5,000 subscribers.)

2. A little something special makes the difference

Everyone loves a free gift, and everyone gets into the gifting spirit when they’re getting a little something for themselves too! Urban Decay offered a cheeky campaign last year that offered not only free shipping but also a special free gift with a certain spending threshold.

A spending threshold is wise because it encourages your customers to increase their average order value (AOV) to qualify for the gift.

Sometimes a little something extra special to treat your customers or add on to their gift can be a great way to make it more attractive to shop at your store over your competition. It can be something as simple as free samples added at checkout (but advertised at the cart) or more widespread, such as a BOGO (buy one get one) sale.

Hot Topic was one of many that offered a BOGO sale during Gray November.

Our tip for the holidays: Offer a free gift with a spending threshold to encourage a higher AOV. This helps make the freebie worth your while and helps your customers feel appreciated. Also, don’t forget to mention your gift in the subject lines or preheaders — this can help you increase open rates.

Best Black Friday email subject lines for campaigns with gifting

3. Free or upgraded shipping is the new normal

Everyone loves free shipping—and during the holiday season, free and upgraded shipping will be a must-have for many customers.

With bigger retailer giants like Amazon offering free shipping year-round, it’s become a standard in the ecommerce world. Having to pay for shipping today has a bigger negative impact on customers than it did a few years ago.

But offering free shipping year-round isn’t sustainable for some. If you can’t offer it all the time, rope it into your promotions for the holiday season. And if free shipping is something you frequently offer, take it a step further: offer free upgraded shipping.

As mentioned, last-minute shopping happens, and there’s always one gift that slips through the cracks. Offering a last-minute free upgraded shipping option to your customers who reach a certain spending threshold can help them make shopping with your brand a priority.

For example, Old Navy offered free shipping plus free extended returns for any order higher than the relatively low purchase threshold of $25. On top of that, another great way to add convenience is by offering extended store hours. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, this might be a great way to make it attractive and convenient for your shoppers.

Our tip for the holidays: Go the extra mile this holiday season. If you don’t normally offer free shipping, this is your chance to promote it to your customers.

If you want to add that extra special bit of convenience to your busy last-minute shoppers, offer free expedited shipping with expected shipping times and ‘last-day to order’ information posted clearly on your site.

Best subject lines for Black Friday campaigns with free shipping in focus

Bonus: Check out a few extra subject lines that demonstrated great results in previous Black Friday events

Main insights from our Black Friday subject lines analysis

As already mentioned, we carried out some research on previous Black Friday email subject lines. Here are some of the most interesting insights that we gained from our Black Friday subject lines analysis.

1. None of our top subject lines have personalization (the customer’s name). So it apparently isn’t a necessity for a good open rate.
2. The most often used words are “Black Friday,” “deals,” “%,” and “off.”
3. The most frequent discounts were ones with a percent sign (%), in particular, 30%, 50%, and 25%.
4. The highest-converting subject lines were short and to the point.
5. In most subject lines, retailers used active words and a call-to-action inside: “buy,” “get,” “shop,” “save,” etc.
6. Better-performing subject lines contained scarcity and time reference: “now,” “while they last,” “until midnight,” “today,” etc.
7. A lot of retailers used emojis in their subject lines. It helped them stand out in crowded inboxes.

Wrap up

Crafting attention-grabbing Black Friday email subject lines doesn’t have to be complicated.

Focus on convenience, remove the roadblocks from your customers’ paths, and make sure you write bright and actionable subject lines. You’ll find that your customers will thank you with more purchases and higher-order values!