October BFCM checklist

The holidays are a busy time for everyone-and this is especially true for marketers.

As soon as fall comes around, we're firing on all cylinders to make sure our messages stand out in a seemingly endless sea of promotional content. And this is no understatement. In 2023, brands using Klaviyo sent over 11.6 million messages per minute during peak times from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday.

The key to getting your messages read during the holidays is to get a head start. Pressing "go" on your long-term BFCM strategy in October sets your brand up to prime your subscribers for the promotional content to come.

So what steps can you take now to make your brand stand out and drive more sales during BFCM weekend?

1. Keep growing your list

My fellow Klaviyo Community Champions have been recommending that you focus on growing your email and SMS lists since August, and October is no time to stop. If you haven't already, make sure you:

2. Hone your overall strategy

Hopefully by now, you've done your major A/B testing and decided on your macro offers. But October is a great time to take a step back and make sure your house is in order.

• Monitor deliverability. You'll want to make sure you catch any issues before your big BFCM sends.
• Make sure your tech stack is properly set up. Come BFCM, you'll need all hands on deck to deal with customer service issues and logistics. Making sure your toolset is working together optimally ahead of time can save your team headaches and lost revenue.
• Update your content to include testimonials and UGC.Social proof is a key way to build trust with your audience, and there's no better time to solidify that than leading up to BFCM.
• Promote loyalty programs. Your most loyal customers are probably a pretty small segment of your audience. The months leading up to BFCM are a great time to nurture and grow that group.

October is really your last chance to do this before you enter full action mode for the holidays, and then your post-holiday cool-down phase.

3. Revamp your segmentation

Remember: different customers require different content. New subscribers may still be learning about your brand; one-time-buyers may need an incentive to make their next purchase; your most loyal customer may need to feel a deeper connection to your brand in the form of early access to sales.

October is a great time to make sure your segmentation takes into account purchase behavior in addition to email engagement. Keep in mind, this type of segmentation strategy works best for brands with replenishable products, or brands with the opportunity for repurchases or second conversions.

If your brand has a product that people don't have to buy frequently, like a washing machine, consider segmenting your purchasers according to referrals. You can then use that messaging to ask them to leave a review, share their positive experience on social media, or directly refer friends and family.

4. Share a buying guide with your customers

BFCM is a ton of work for marketers, but it can also be overwhelming and confusing for shoppers. Your best customers might be thrilled to get 50% off on Black Friday, only to feel duped on Cyber Monday when you're offering 60% off.

So, why not walk them through your offers ahead of time? It removes the element of surprise, but that's okay. My clients have found a lot of success with buying guides, because customers appreciate the transparency.

You can also use a buying guide to your advantage if you have an omnichannel strategy. Consider publishing the buying guide on a landing page, and index it so it has a chance to rank on Google in advance of the holiday. You can even drive paid ads to it. You can also send it out via email to an exclusive list like your VIP customers.

5. Warm your new SMS subscribers

October is a great time to warm new SMS subscribers to your brand. Consider building SMS as your VIP channel. Give them sneak peaks and early access to sales, and use two-way SMS for customer support and to ask them what they want to hear about.

Ideally, you'll win your first sale so that come BFCM, it's a second, third, or fourth conversion.

October BFCM SMS tip: Stay away from any frivolous SMS communication leading up to BFCM. Don't send the same message multiple times or use the channel to explain what VIP means, for example. You don't want to give your subscribers any reason to disengage.

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