Black Friday: five sends, built from the data
Black Friday is 27 November 2026, Cyber Monday 30 November. The series below comes from two sources: what the industry measured in BFCM 2025, and what Particula’s own Black Friday emails earned last year in Klaviyo. Heroes are the real products re-lit in a black studio; every thumbnail is the store photo.
The research
1. Segments beat blasts, in our own data
Last year the sends to people who had shown interest (the Wizard list, product viewers) earned $0.39 to $0.66 per recipient. The whole-list sends earned $0.03 to $0.13, and carried 0.9% to 1.2% unsubscribes. Every send in this series goes to a segment.
2. Thanksgiving and “24 hrs left” to everyone barely paid
$0.03 and $0.045 per recipient. Both are dropped. The last-chance job moves to Cyber Monday, to engaged and clicked-not-bought only.
3. The weekend after Friday is growing fastest
Cyber Sunday was the fastest-growing day of BFCM 2025 (about +14%), and Cyber Monday grew faster than Black Friday. Hence a Sunday send that answers objections, not another discount blast.
4. Send times
Black Friday converted best at 8am ET and clicked best at 8pm ET; Cyber Monday converted best at 6am ET. Treat as a guide, then test.
5. Subject lines: deal first, inside 40 characters
Across 4.2B Black Friday emails, deal clarity outperformed relationship language (“you”, “your”). One or two emojis at most. Every send here has an A and a B line to test.
6. Early access rewards the engaged
Openers and clickers are the group for early access. It is the best-performing send type for single brands (54% to 62% opens in published examples), and it was ours too.
7. Gift guides: by budget and by recipient
Gift buyers set a price per person first. Tight guides (six to ten items, each with a reason, a price and its own button) work best. Ours: under $50, under $100, the big one.
8. Protect the price
Repeat buyers drove 53% of BFCM 2025 orders. Suppress anyone who already ordered, so a Friday buyer does not get three more offer emails by Monday. Consider a gift with purchase or a spend tier ($X off over $Y) instead of a deeper flat discount.
Particula, Black Friday 2025 (Klaviyo)
Highlighted rows went to a segment. Orders and revenue use the Placed Order metric, 31 Oct to 3 Dec 2025.
| Send (2025) | Audience | Recipients | Orders | Revenue | Per recipient | Unsubscribe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Call: Wizard | Wizard list | 1,758 | 3 | $1,157 | $0.66 | 0.3% |
| BF Main #1: Wizard | Wizard list | 1,378 | 2 | $748 | $0.54 | 1.0% |
| Early Call: GoChess | Viewed, not ordered | 2,894 | 4 | $1,300 | $0.45 | 0.6% |
| New GoBalance | Viewed GoBalance | 2,169 | 7 | $848 | $0.39 | 1.2% |
| Cyber Monday: Main | Whole list | 21,624 | 12 | $2,912 | $0.13 | 0.9% |
| BF Final Call | Whole list | 20,859 | 11 | $2,454 | $0.12 | 1.1% |
| 24 hrs left | Whole list | 18,787 | 5 | $845 | $0.045 | 1.2% |
| Thanksgiving | Whole list | 20,395 | 5 | $645 | $0.03 | 1.2% |
The series
Your early access is open: GoChess Wizard at its Black Friday price, before everyone else. GoCube, GoDice and GoBalance too.
GoChess Wizard, at its Black Friday price. Then picks under $100 and under $50 for the rest of the list.
[XX]% off GoChess Wizard, the board that lights every legal move. Through Cyber Monday.
Three quick answers before Black Friday prices end on Monday.
GoChess Wizard at its Black Friday price, until midnight tonight.
The structure of each email
Each send has its own job and its own structure, so the same subscriber gets four different reads, not one template four times.
Segmented, offer up front, all four brands in one grid. Last year the segmented early sends earned the most per recipient.
Sorted by budget, because gift buyers set a price per person first. Rows with a price and a button each.
The main offer at 8am ET, three reasons, then all four with prices on black.
Only for people who clicked and did not buy: the three objections that stop a gift purchase.
Short and offer-led at 6am ET: last day, all four, three quick quotes.
What changes from email to email
| Section | Early access | Gift guide | Black Friday | Cyber weekend | Cyber Monday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Send | Fri 20 Nov | Tue 24 Nov | Fri 27 Nov, 8am ET | Sun 29 Nov | Mon 30 Nov, 6am ET |
| Audience | Engaged in 90 days + viewed, not ordered + the Wizard list | Engaged in 180 days (gift buyers browse early) | Engaged in 180 days (suppress anyone who ordered since Nov 20) | Clicked a Black Friday email, no order yet | Engaged in 90 days + clicked any BFCM email, no order |
| Subject A | Early access: GoChess Wizard at its Black Friday price | The big gift this year: GoChess Wizard | Black Friday: [XX]% off GoChess Wizard | Cyber weekend: 3 questions, answered | Last day: GoChess Wizard at [XX]% off |
| Subject B (test) | Black Friday, a week early (subscribers only) | Gifts sorted by budget, from $49.95 | Black Friday is on: [XX]% off GoChess Wizard & more | 2 days left: GoChess Wizard at its Black Friday price | Ends at midnight: Black Friday prices |
| Preheader | Your early access is open: GoChess Wizard and the whole range at Black Friday prices. | GoChess Wizard at its Black Friday price, plus picks under $100 and under $50. | [XX]% off GoChess Wizard, and the whole range, through Cyber Monday. | Returns, warranty and holiday delivery: three quick answers before the sale ends. | Black Friday prices end tonight at midnight. One last look at all four. |
| Hero | The camera circles the GoChess Wizard board while a hand lifts a piece over the lit coaching rings | The GoChess Wizard board under a single spotlight | A hand sets a GoChess Wizard piece down among the glowing blue coaching rings | A beam of light through haze over the GoChess Wizard board | GoChess Wizard pieces outlined in lime light on a glossy black floor |
| Offer framing | Early access | Black Friday prices | Black Friday | Cyber weekend | Last day |
| Products | Grid of four | By budget, 8 products | Three reasons + all four | Not in this email | All four, compact |
| Proof | Chloe (GoChess Wizard), Lori G (GoDice) | Ava Walker (GoCube), Mane (GoDice), Scott Cameron (GoBalance) | Jeffrey Hoffman (GoChess Wizard) | Amber Cronin (GoBalance), Jack K. (GoCube) | Marcus T. (GoChess Wizard), Sophie (GoChess Wizard), Natalie (GoBalance) |
| P.S. | Early access is for subscribers. Forward this to whoever is buying the gifts this year. | GoChess Wizard for the Harry Potter fan, GoCube for the puzzler, GoDice for game night, GoBalance for the kid who never sits still. | Buying for the holidays? Every order has 30 days to come back. | Not sure it will stick? Try it for 30 days. If it does not earn its place, send it back for your money. | After [date] at midnight the code stops working. This is the last reminder. |
Placeholders to fill
[XX]% OFF and [COUPON CODE] (also inside the Apply my offer link); [ORDER BY DATE] and [DATE] for holiday delivery in the Sunday email.
Before sending
Flow filter: exclude anyone who placed an order since 20 Nov. UTM tracking on. Countdown GIF (optional) in the Cyber Monday bar.
Sources
Klaviyo BFCM 2025 recap (BusinessWire)
Bluecore 2025 BFCM benchmarks
Attentive: BFCM send times and frequency
Mailjet: BFCM 2025 email performance
Bird: 4.2B Black Friday emails
Shopify: BFCM email segments
Omnisend: Black Friday segmentation
Klaviyo: when to send Black Friday emails
MarTech: holiday gift guide ideas