35 email subject lines for Black Friday and Cyber Monday + killer copywriting ideas
You’re ready to get cracking on a slew of Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) email newsletters, but you’re having trouble awakening the creative juices.
What’s a good email subject line to grab attention for your Shopify store? What’s the right text for the message of the body?
We have advice and ideas for you to steal.
The data behind BFCM email subject lines
Before we get to the content ideas, we want to emphasize some points around email subject lines:
- The subject line is crucial to an email’s success. A weak subject line could prevent some subscribers from opening the email and seeing the great content inside. Ensure you're following best practices for email subject lines.
- Even if you write the most incredible subject lines, holiday emails typically generate lower open rates than regular promos. One study found it’s a 16.8% decline. Yet there is a silver lining: holiday emails convert at higher rates. The same report cites Black Friday emails convert at a 33% higher rate than non-holiday newsletters.
How can you entice opens? There is no magic formula, according to our analysis of Seguno customer 2023 BFCM emails. However, a few observations emerged from surveying open rate, click rate, conversion rate, and revenue:
- Subject lines containing “BFCM” (of which there were very few) had higher open rates and average order values (AOVs) than those containing “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday”
- Three words or less had higher open rates than those with four or more words
- “Discount” outperformed those containing “%” or “$”
- The jury is out on emojis; the open rate was slightly lower for those containing four or more versus those with one to three or none
Whether you use these insights or not, resist the temptation to slap together a subject line. Think about what would motivate subscribers to open your email and ensure the copy and images correlate.
Making the most of BFCM and the holiday season depends on a good plan. Start by mapping out your email calendar.
BFCM subject line and copy ideas
The first step is identifying whether your email content leans toward promotional or emotional.
When you choose the type of email newsletter first, it’s much easier to piece together the subject line and copy.
Aside from subject line examples and body copy, we’re tossing in call-to-action ideas — the button (CTA) that leads subscribers to the next step.
We chunked all suggestions by email send time.
The message copy is short and sweet. Customize as you desire. Keep it brief or feel free to expand slightly.
Ideas for promotional newsletters
Promotional newsletters are all about an incentive/discount — what many shoppers expect from a BFCM email.
Subject lines
Early-access BFCM (before Black Friday):
Early Access to Black Friday Sales
Today only: ___ for Early Black Friday
Get a Sneak Peek at Black Friday 👀
Our Black Friday Sale Starts NOW
VIPs Only: Early Black Friday Deals
Get the Black Friday deals before anyone else!
Days of BFCM (Black Friday - Cyber Monday):
Black Friday Starts Now
Cyber Monday Starts Now
Black Friday Deals Just Released
Free Shipping This Weekend!
Get ___ this weekend only
Black Friday Deals Inside
Cyber Monday Deals Inside
Extended or last chance (after Cyber Monday):
Sale ends at ___ EST
Last chance, ends tonight. __% off
Don’t miss out! Last chance for ___
Only 3 hours left to get ___
___% Off Extended for Cyber Week!
Cyber Monday Sale Extended
Missed our Black Friday Sale? Here's ___% off!
Do you want more people to see your subject line? Grow your subscriber list with email popups for BFCM.
Text copy
Early-access BFCM (before Black Friday):
Early Black Friday Deals Start Now!
It’s our early Black Friday Event
Why Wait ‘Till Friday? Get Great Deals Now
Psst! We’re only letting our VIP fans shop our Black Friday Deals early. Thanks for being a VIP.
For a limited time, you can get __(discount)___ on all _(product/category)__
Days of BFCM (Black Friday - Cyber Monday):
We’re only letting our VIPs know about this …
___ now on sale, today only. Ends at 9pm EST
Our Black Friday Sale Starts ____
Get __% off starting NOW
Black Friday - Limited-time deals are waiting for you
Black Friday Deals That Delight
It’s finally here. We don’t do this often. Even we’re excited about this sale.
For a limited time, get _(promotion)__ off _(product)__
Cozy on up to these Black Friday deals
Extended or last chance (after Cyber Monday):
Black Friday Sale Extended!
Last chance to get __% off.
Sale Ends Tonight
While supplies last (and we’re running out)
We extended the sale one more day, but we’re closing it down at 9pm ET tonight.
Don’t miss out on these deals, it only happens once a year.
CTAs
Shop Now
Claim My Offer
Shop Gifts
Shop Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals
Shop Now and Save!
Start Shopping
See My Deals
Apply Discount
Shop the Sale
See the Deals
Get __% off Now!
Get a better feel for promotional and emotional email marketing for BFCM, with tips and examples.
Ideas for emotional newsletters
Emotional newsletters focus on the company, a product, a problem the product solves, etc. They’re ideal for merchants that sell luxe products, make their items by hand, or have low margins.
You’ll notice that some text includes an incentive, which is secondary to the prime message.
Subject lines
Early-access BFCM (before Black Friday):
First Look: Our NEW ___
Shop Our New Holiday Line
❄️ Preview the Winter Collection ❄️
Limited Time: Free Gift with Purchase
Shop Local! Shop Smart! Extra ___ Off!
Days of BFCM (Black Friday - Cyber Monday):
Black Friday: Shop Local and Get ___% Off
We’re Thankful for You
Cyber Monday Exclusives
Your Ultimate Gift Guide
New: Perfect Holiday Gifts
Check Out Our New ___
Extended or last chance (after Cyber Monday):
Have you seen our new holiday styles?
We’ve only got a few of these left …
Last Chance to Get ___
Don’t Miss Out On ___
Text copy
Early-access BFCM (before Black Friday):
Start the season off right. Take a look at our new styles and collections.
Sneak peek: we’ve got new items that just landed on the site. You get to see them first.
Free Gift with Purchase
As a special thank you for being a fan, this holiday season we’re giving away something special with each purchase
Shop early and save, _____ for a limited time.
Days of BFCM (Black Friday - Cyber Monday):
We’ve got new __ that just launched. Take a look.
Thanks for being a fan, enjoy ____ today!
We know you have a choice when you shop. We appreciate that you shop locally, and remember the small businesses.
Take an additional ___ as our way of saying thanks.
Extended or last chance (after Cyber Monday):
Black Friday sales are winding down. So if you missed ours in the hustle and bustle, take a look now.
Final call. We’re shutting the sale down later today, but wanted to make sure you had a chance to shop.
Our newest arrivals have just launched. We’ve got ___ and ___ just in time for the holidays.
CTAs
Learn More
See More
See the Styles
Indulge Me
Let's Go!
Find My Style
See What's New
Find Out More
Show Me More
Treat Myself
Get First Dibs
Speed up your Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails with Seguno’s pre-built templates
We hope the above suggestions will help you create your BFCM email subject lines, body copy, and CTAs smoothly. Use any idea as is or thicken it up to give your audience more.
Seguno has professionally designed newsletter and campaign templates to get you started. They’re free for all paying customers. Browse our Template store to find Black Friday email templates, Cyber Monday email templates, and themed campaign packs.
Install the template of your choice, customize as you’d like, and you’re ready to roll.
create, manage, and track your email marketing—without leaving Shopify.
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