If I were in your shoes, the very first thing I'd do is lock in my exact offer, a full two to three months out. That's your foundation. A brilliant Black Friday Cyber Monday strategy with a mediocre offer is like a sports car with a lawnmower engine. You won't get far. The guys from eCommerce Uncensored, Jason Caruso and Kevin Monell, constantly talk about creating an offer that has a high perceived value, which isn't always just the biggest discount. Think about bundles, exclusive products, or a gift with purchase that feels special.
In that first month of planning, I’d map out the entire promotional calendar. This is a point Luke Austin and Steve Rekuc made on Ecommerce Playbook that really stuck with me. You shouldn’t have one single deal, but a sequence of them. Maybe an "early bird" special for your best customers, a main offer for the BFCM weekend itself, and a final "last chance" deal for Cyber Monday. This ensures you have fresh news to share and you capture different types of buyers. This is also when I’d focus heavily on my email and SMS lists. Adam Kitchen pointed out on the 2X eCommerce Podcast that trying to acquire new customers during BFCM is incredibly expensive. Your existing list is your goldmine.
Then, in the final month before Black Friday, I’d shift entirely to execution. This means getting all of your ad creative and email copy finalized and scheduled. It’s about warming up retargeting campaigns and ensuring your website is optimized. Nik Sharma made a great point on Limited Supply about running your site through the “grandma test” to make sure it's incredibly simple to navigate and check out. This is also the time for proper inventory management to ensure you can actually fulfill the demand you're creating.
The thing I would absolutely ignore is what every other brand is doing. Don't get distracted by a competitor's flashy 70% off sale if your margins can't support it. Stick to your plan. The biggest trap to avoid is blowing your budget too early. I’ve heard Taylor Holiday talk about this on Ecommerce Playbook. It's so tempting to go all-in on sales in early November, but you risk having no firepower left for the peak weekend. You have to save the majority of your budget for when people are actually in a frenzy to buy. That's how you truly follow something like Ezra Firestone's million-dollar Black Friday blueprint: with disciplined planning and patient execution.
