Here’s the take-away: If you want more profit from Black Friday, you gotta send your promotional emails on Thursday instead.
Ouch. I know that cuts into the holiday festivities.
So why should you send your promo’s the day before Black Friday?
According to new research from Constant Contact, open rates are higher the day before, and the day after.
They claim that Thursday and Saturday are the sweet spots.
That means Thanksgiving is THE DAY to promote your Black Friday deals. Yes, your family is gonna moan at you for working. But that’s the price you pay for entrepreneurship.
Listen, I’ve secretly worked on every single Christmas Day, New Years’ Day and Birthday for the last 16 years.
Why? Mainly because it stifles the workaholic-induced-guilt I feel when I even think about taking a break, but also because most of the bloggers in my niche don’t work on those days… or on Thanksgiving weekends.
In fact, during the entire the holiday weekend (from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday) Constant Contact found that Black Friday is THE WORST day to send offers. Crazy, right?
They also report that emails sent on Black Friday have actually seen an 11% decrease in open rates, with a 20% increase in emails being sent.
So, more people are emailing their offers on Black Friday while fewer people are opening them. That’s bad news for people like us.
But what about Cyber Monday?
Surely it’s business as usual? Nope.
Constant Contact report that Tuesday is the best time to email your Cyber Monday offers, so just hold back a few hours.
They’re seeing an 8.5% increase in open rates when an email is sent on the Tuesday instead.
But the obvious question; can we really promote a Cyber Monday offer the day AFTER Cyber Monday?
The simple answer is; it’s your business and you can do whatever you like.
When everyone else zigs, you zag.
Check out the infographic from Constant Contact. (I would slap it up on this page for you, but I haven’t asked for permission yet.)
But hey, as cool as all that info is, there’s another lesson to be learnt here.
It’s an AWESOME way to promote your brand.
It helps to establish credibility and authority. It gets your name out there and people talking. And it contributes something positive to your marketplace.
And bloggers (like me) don’t even mind if we help out with a little overt advertising, as a result.
It’s a win-win.
Fancy replicating that kinda marketing awesomeness for yourself? Its pretty simple.
Look at your analytics, find a pattern or find a strong correlation between something you did, and something that happened.
It doesn’t even have to be a positive result, you can use your failures too, as long as it benefits other people in your space.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Constant Contact, and I have never used their service.