What’s your top piece of BFCM advice you'd tell another Klaviyo user in November?

One thing I’d add before BFCM: audit your flows. It’s easy to treat them as “set it and forget it,” but most of us built our flows months ago and don’t review them often enough. Go through each one and check that the timing still makes, that promo content won’t conflict with what your campaigns are saying, and that every link, product block and image still works. Ten minutes per flow of reviewing now beats finding out on Cyber Monday that your highest-volume automation was pointing to a dead page.

Love this. One thing that's worked for us: slowly and methodically widen your sending audience as you get closer to the big sale days.

Most of us (rightly) suppress unengaged profiles the rest of the year to protect deliverability. But there are people in that suppressed group who would convert on a day like Black Friday. They're not interested in your weekly emails. They're waiting for the deal.

The easiest place to start is anyone who opened, clicked or bought during these same days last year, even if they haven't engaged since. Add them back in stages over the weeks leading up instead of all at once, keep an eye on your bounce and spam rates as you go, and you'll head into the peak days with a bigger audience that inbox providers already trust.

It’s never too late to clean your lists!

My biggest BFCM advice? It's not too late to build a customer-centric post-purchase journey!

Make sure you're distinguishing between new and returning customers, acknowledging their relationship with your brand, and onboarding them based on the products they actually purchased.

Help customers understand how to use their products, get the most value out of them, and feel confident about their purchase.

BFCM isn't just about driving conversions. It's about turning those conversions into long-term customer relationships.

Want ALL your flow and campaign emails to show your holiday or BFCM sale?

Here’s a super quick way to update every email that uses your Universal Header — with just one click.

Add a temporary “Sale Announcement” block to your Universal Header Section.

This instantly updates every flow and campaign email that uses the same universal header. 

 

Do this when your sale goes live:

• Open any flow or campaign template that uses your Universal Header section.
• Click the Universal Header section.
• Select "Edit across all instances".
• Add your sale message - either a text block or button.
• Click "Done" and "Save and Publish".

Your sale announcement now appears across all flow and campaign emails that use that universal section.

When the sale ends, simply remove the block with one click in the Universal Header section.

One thing I'd plan ahead for is the email design work that comes immediately after BFCM.

Once the sale ends, teams often move straight into shipping cutoff reminders, last-minute gift card emails, and Christmas delivery countdowns. These all need their own designs, and they tend to land during the same week everyone is recovering from Cyber Monday.

I'd have a few things ready in advance:

• A shipping cutoff email with the date kept as live text, so it can be updated by region without redesigning the whole email.
• A gift card email for shoppers who miss the delivery cutoff.
• A short post-sale thank-you that focuses on appreciation rather than pushing another discount.

I also like Claudia's Universal Header idea. Having key seasonal information in a reusable section can make last-minute updates much easier.

I work at Marz Media, where we focus on email design for agencies, so planning those December assets early is something I always keep in mind.

One that’s saved me a lot of unsubscribes: the moment someone buys during the sale, take them out of the rest of the sale emails or make future follow up limiting if the offer does not change. 

Most accounts build the big BFCM segment once and blast it all weekend. So the person who ordered Friday morning still gets “last chance, 30% off” Sunday night and Monday morning. They already bought. At best they ignore it, at worst they feel like they missed a better deal and ask for a refund or hit unsubscribe.

Set up a segment for anyone who placed an order since the sale start date and exclude it from every remaining campaign. Then send that group one short email instead: thanks for the order, here’s when it ships, and here’s one thing that goes with what you picked up. Smaller list, way better response, and your main sends stop hitting people who are already done.

Build the segment now and run a test order through it so you’re not figuring it out at 11pm on Thanksgiving.

Clean up your list before sending out a lot of email volume. In the long run it will help improve your overall deliverability, and prevent your emails from ending up in spam, or worse, being marked as spam.

Keep it simple!! Customers are overrun with messaging, and will spend 3-4 seconds scanning your email IF they even open it. Offer messaging should be concise and to the point with clear CTAs. Spend extra time proofing subject lines and ensure they are as strong and intriguing as possible.