Steal This Black Friday Email Template (The One That Doubled Revenue)
Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain the most competitive retail events of the entire year. In 2025 alone, shoppers planned to spend £3.9 billion over the BFCM weekend and Amazon accounted for almost 18% of all online transactions on Black Friday, generating nearly $900 million in a single day.
With that level of competition, one channel consistently outperforms all others during BFCM: email.
Over 42% of businesses cite email as their strongest digital channel and with an average ROI of $44 for every $1 spent, it remains unmatched by SEO, social, or paid ads. At Hive Beach Co, email is responsible for more than 70% of our annual revenue.
But most business email campaigns fail to get results like this because they miss one key ingredient — showmanship.
It was the core of our BFCM email campaigns this year which generated a 55%+ open rate, a 5% conversion rate and an 82% increase in BFCM revenue year-over-year.
Not only that, but in the 30+ years the company has been in business, we generated our highest sales month ever at Hive Beach Co.
Inboxes become battlefields for attention during Black Friday week, so to be successful, your emails must:
- Get delivered
- Get opened
- Get clicked
And to achieve that, your emails need to:
- Spark curiosity
- Get read
- Inspire urgent action
Here’s the exact framework behind the “leaked” email campaign we used to generate those results.
Before I dive deeper, I want you to know: our BFCM deals were exactly the same as in previous years and our budget also remained the same.
The only thing we changed was how we delivered the offer — to a subscriber base the size of a small English town.
Subject line options
Most people decide whether they’ll continue reading your email based on the subject line.
There are two groups of emails in an inbox:
- Those received from colleagues, friends and family
- Promotions from businesses
Yours needs to look like it belongs to the first group.
Here are some examples of subject lines belonging to the former group:
- Can I chat to you about this in the morning?
- Is this ready to send?
- Quick question
- Re: Approval needed
And here are some examples of subject lines belonging to the later:
- Flash Sale: 20% Off Sitewide
- ENJOY COMPLIMENTARY SHIPPING
- Don’t Let 50% Off Pass You By!
- 12 Days Of Gifting
The rules for crafting a great subject line:
- 4–6 words or very long — nothing in between
- No emojis or caps lock
- Creates a cliff-hanger or question
- Feels out of place in the inbox (in a good way)
The email body template
Great, you’ve now got an intriguing subject line and earned a click.
Here’s the exact structure for your “leaked” email campaign.
This is email 1 of 2. I’ll show you the follow-up template immediately after.
Subject line examples:
- RE: are the deals ready to launch?
- is this ready to send?
- quick question about monday’s launch
Step 1 – Start with a personal greeting
“Hi [colleague’s name]”
Step 2 – “Accidentally” reveal the deals
“I’m just about to finalise our [Cyber Monday/Black Friday] deals and had a thought…
Since we only have [X spaces/products] left, I was wondering if it might be worth giving our email subscribers exclusive early access — after all, they are our top fans.
They can use code [EXCLUSIVEACCESS] at checkout to get [X%] off starting from today.
What do you think?”
This makes the email feel internal, conversational, and slightly mischievous (in a good way).
Step 3 – Subtle CTA
Include a simple button or hyperlink. Make sure it’s not overly promotional.
Step 4 – Sign off
“Kind regards,
[Your Name]”
[Your email signature or “Sent from my iPhone” message]
Optional follow-up email (24 hours later)
This email reinforces the storyline, clears confusion, and ramps up urgency.
Subject line options:
- Oops… we got caught mid-launch!
- we weren’t meant to send that…
- well… that escalated quickly
Body:
“Hi [First Name],
Well… it looks like our ‘secret plans’ didn’t stay under wraps for long.
To clear things up — yesterday’s email was intentional. And because you’re an email subscriber, you get first access to our Cyber Monday offers before anyone else.
Since we only have [X spaces/products] available, we wanted to give you the best possible chance of grabbing them before they go live to everyone else.
Sound good?
Use code [EXCLUSIVEACCESS] at checkout now to get [X%] off!
[Button]
Kind regards,
[Your Name]”
[Your email signature]
Why this follow-up works
- It resolves confusion from email #1
- It leans into the narrative (authenticity)
- It creates urgency (limited stock)
- It reinforces exclusivity (you’re first to know)
These two emails work together as a perfect pair — curiosity + clarity, intrigue + urgency.
How we deployed this template
Our BFCM sequence used two paired emails — one sent on Thursday 27th (the day before Black Friday), and the second 24 hours later.
Email #1 was styled as a “leaked” internal email between me and a colleague, with the subject line:
RE: Are the deals ready to launch?
Preview text: Hi Flora…
It was the star of the show — a conversational plain-text email disguised as an internal exchange. Bold, mischievous, disruptive… exactly what the BFCM inbox needs.
It didn’t look like marketing.
It looked like a real person sending a real message.
And people opened it — a lot of them.
Why this email template works so well
1. It entertains (most emails don’t)
My biggest fear in email marketing is sending something that fails to entertain. Too many brands rely on polished, over-designed corporate emails that blend into the Promotions tab.
Our number one goal is to add spice, humour and playfulness to an otherwise vanilla inbox.
The directors at Hive Beach Co called the campaign “genius,” and a managing director at Land Rover personally congratulated us on the creativity — but what mattered most was the love from our subscribers. When an email sparks joy, you win attention. And attention converts.
Yes, this template looks nothing like a typical polished corporate email filled with pretty images — and that’s the point. If you want to become a memorable brand, you have to be willing to do something memorable.
Most businesses play it safe because they’re scared of offending a few people — and that fear costs them money, attention and memorability every single year.
As long as you’re not lying, misleading or using poor taste or trickery, there’s no good reason to play small. Don’t sacrifice sales just to avoid upsetting people who were never going to buy from you anyway.
2. The subject line created intrigue
Most people decide whether or not to open your email based on one thing: the subject line.
There are two types of emails in an inbox:
- Personal emails from colleagues, friends, and family
- Promotional emails from businesses
Gmail also uses this distinction when sorting “Primary” vs “Promotions” (alongside sender reputation and other signals).
That’s why we write subject lines that mimic personal emails — sentence case or lower case, no title case, no caps, no emojis. We reveal just enough of the story to leave people on a cliff-hanger.
“Black Friday Is Here. Get 20% Off Sitewide” tells the entire story — there’s no reason for someone to open the email.
Who should use this email template?
This works best for brands that already have a friendly rapport with their audience. At Hive Beach Co, a premium seafood restaurant group based in Dorset, our marketing is known for its warmth, wit and charm. We’re playful, but principled.
If you’re offering first-class professional services, or you handle sensitive data, this approach may not be right for you. Use it only if it aligns with your brand personality and personalise your emails as much as possible.
Conclusion
Most brands treat Black Friday like a shouting contest — louder graphics, bigger discounts, more emails. But inboxes don’t reward volume; they reward creativity, personality and pattern-breaking.
This template works because it cuts through the noise.
It surprises people.
It feels human.
And it makes subscribers want to keep reading.
Use it well, adapt it to your voice and you’ll stand out in even the most competitive inbox of the year.
