Shopify merchants set a new record last year, with $11.5 billion in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, a 24% increase over 2023, peaking at $4.6 million per minute. This should pique the interest of savvy business owners like you, who know that a clever marketing strategy can help land a piece of that Shopify revenue pie and scale their brand to new heights heading into the new year.
Black Friday/Cyber Monday success comes from planning early, focusing on the right products, and engaging customers at just the right times. Today, we’re covering our top holiday marketing tips and a step-by-step approach to building successful holiday marketing campaigns for Shopify merchants.
When is Black Friday Cyber Monday 2025?
This year, Black Friday falls on Friday, November 28th. Cyber Monday is on Monday, December 1st.
Now that we’re on the same page, let’s find out…
When to Plan Your Holiday Marketing Strategy
Timing is everything with holiday marketing campaigns. It’s quite literally never too early to start planning. In fact, you should be laying the groundwork in September and early October.
Why so early?
- You need time to gather last year’s data and run an ABC analysis: A-grade (top sellers), B-grade (mid performers), C-grade (slow movers).
- It takes weeks to set up email flows, teaser campaigns, bundles, discounts, and ads.
- Perhaps most importantly, your competitors are already pulling ahead.
You don’t want to scramble at the last minute. Instead, build your holiday marketing strategy early, so you’re completely prepared when the season hits.
When to Start Holiday Marketing
BFCM is no longer a single weekend of packed malls, red ticket items, and frantic shoppers. Sales (and competition) have moved online, and the whole affair is lasting much longer, too. Successful retailers are launching campaigns weeks in advance, capturing interest from both early browsers and last-minute buyers.
This means that starting your teaser campaigns in early November (or even late October) with new product drops, countdowns, special perks, and even the occasional teaser sale, in the lead up to BFCM. The goal is to use multiple touchpoints (email, SMS, social, etc.) to stay top-of-mind as much as possible.
That being said, you’ll want to watch out for customer fatigue. More on that later.
How to Create a Marketing Plan for Small Business Holiday Promotions
If you’re a small business or brand built on Shopify, or you just want to refresh your knowledge on Shopify marketing, this section is for you.
1. Plan Your Holiday Marketing Strategy Early
As we’ve already mentioned, starting early is key. Start by pulling last year’s sales data, or benchmark publicly reported data if your business doesn’t have data from a year ago. Determine which products drove the most revenue, and tailor your discounts accordingly.
2. Identify the Right Products
Review last year's data and run an ABC analysis:
- A-grade: Top sellers driving 80% of your revenue -> Offer modest discounts.
- B-grade: Mid-performers at ~15% revenue -> Consider bundling together or with other products to increase perceived value.
- C-grade: Slow movers at 5% revenue -> Use deep discounts to clear stock.
This holiday marketing strategy will help you maximize margins while drawing in customers (and conversions) with sales.
3. Retarget Past Visitors and Customers
Those who have visited or purchased before are your warmest audience. Use Meta Ads (AKA Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads) to retarget and remind them about why they liked you in the first place. A well-timed reminder can turn a browser into a buyer. Plus, Meta Ads have the advantage of retargeting, as well as easily targeting lookalike audiences (ie, people who resemble your current customers and brand advocates).
4. Start Building Your Holiday Email Marketing List Now
Your customers’ inboxes get crowded during BFCM. Cut through the competition and grab that coveted inbox real estate by:
- Optimizing your signup forms. When was the last time you refreshed your pop-up image or revisited your signup offer?
- Analyze and optimize your email flows. Find out what’s working and what could use improvement. Check out our previous blog for more info about marketing for Shopify with email flows.
- Optimize and segment your email list. If you’ve never dived into segmenting, now’s your perfect opportunity.
- Send “warm-up” holiday campaigns, such as teasers, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, or countdowns to your main offers. These emails prime subscribers and get them hyped up before the real holiday promotions begin.
5. Focus On What Works
Don’t try everything and dilute your impact. Double down on your strongest channels (ex, email, social, and Meta Ads) and best-performing products.
Create a schedule and stick to it. Add in the start dates of each of your Black Friday/Cyber Monday and December holiday sales, how long they last, and when they end. Include posting dates for social posts and send dates for email campaigns. That way, when the rush arrives, your team stays on track and on time.
Watch Out for Customer Fatigue
Holiday shoppers are bombarded with emails, ads, and push notifications. If you’re not careful, even your most loyal customers can start tuning you out, or worse, unsubscribing. The key to a strong holiday marketing strategy is to be thoughtful and strategic in your approach. Here are our top tips:
- Quality over quantity. Send fewer, but more targeted and personalized emails, perhaps to separate email segments. Focus on messages that offer real value, such as exclusive deals, early access, or personalized recommendations.
- Segment your audience. Customers want personalization in their email marketing now more than ever. Use your customer data to send the right messages to the right people. For instance, create separate messaging for VIPs vs new customers!
- Don’t be too frequent. Space out your emails and posts so you don’t overwhelm your audience, but post and send enough to stay on their mind. The key is finding the balance that works - last year’s data will be your friend in finding it.
- Test your creative. Rotate visuals and messaging to keep things fresh. Seeing the same subject lines or photo content over and over can make customers tune out.
Respect your audience’s attention and refrain from sending emails or posting content just for the sake of it. You’ll be rewarded by building stronger connections and keeping shoppers engaged all season long.
Let Good Commerce Handle Your Holiday Season
Want help building and executing your holiday marketing strategy, without running the risk of customer fatigue? Our Holiday Growth Accelerator Program is designed to get you record-breaking Q4 sales in just 14 days. We manage strategy, creative, and execution, so you can focus on fulfilling orders.
We only have a few spots left! Get in touch with us today to get started.