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$10 million weekend: The Black Friday Formula

Black Friday is 113 days away.

That sounds like a long time.

But it isn’t. You need to be preparing right now – because your competitors definitely are.

In fact, the keys to a really profitable Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend are:

• Starting early.
• Standing out from the crowd.
• Staying true to your brand.

With everyone from mom-and-pop stores to Amazon muscling in on the “early Black Friday” trend, it’s harder and harder for brands to differentiate themselves and make an impact in overcrowded inboxes.

This agency has cracked the code, bringing their clients phenomenal results that get better year on year.

Here’s how they secured over $10 million in email revenue for 44 e-commerce brands:

• Early bird offers that sometimes generate more sales than Black Friday itself.
• A mix of designed and plain text, zero-fluff emails.
• Ladder discounts to reward loyal customers.
• Continual monitoring to keep deliverability healthy and click rates high.

Curiosity piqued?

Get a free consultation to launch your best BFCM yet.

You meet a new person. Your first impression? Meh.

The conversation is drier than your throat when reporting to the CEO. And the conversations are awkward.

But then, the subject of basketball comes up—and you mention you’re a fan of a certain team. Suddenly, something happens.

Their eyes widen and they become visibly more friendly—you support the same team!

Suddenly, you feel like you’ve known each other forever. At that moment, you are best friends.

You belong to the same group. The same “tribe.” And that is completely fine.

Of course, if you start to look at that person more favorably just because of that—well, that’s in-group favoritism.

The idea of group bias has been present throughout human history. But in the early 20th century, academics started researching it more—especially after World War events.

In the 1970s, Henri Tajfel and his colleagues popularized the theory by proving that if you divide people into arbitrary groups, they’ll favor their “members” and discriminate against others.

Basically, people tend to treat people better when they belong in the same group. And they often treat members of other groups worse.

You see this in any dividing topic—from important subjects like politics to trivial stuff like…

… Pepsi or Coke?

And that’s where in-group favoritism can be a powerful tool for marketing.

Three ways you can leverage In-group favoritism

01

Compare yourself to competitors

Don’t shy away from saying you’re the best in what you offer.

With in-group favoritism, it’s not only about affiliating your customers with your brand—it’s also about creating an “us vs. them” mindset and positioning yourself as a better alternative.

This helps strengthen your customers’ feeling that they’re on the “right side,” while also downplaying your competitors.

Coke and Pepsi have done this for decades. Not only did it boost both brands—it also produced some of the best light-hearted smear campaigns:

Another example is the funny ad where ClickUp fired their competition Jira.

Careful, though: Make sure your campaigns are playful and in good spirit, even if they’re referring to negatives. You don’t want to get into legal trouble.

02

Foster community and loyalty

Establishing group loyalty is just the first step. The next step is to nurture it.

Loyalty isn’t just about repeat purchases; it’s about creating a community of dedicated customers who feel like they’re part of something special.

For that reason, brands go above and beyond to create amazing experiences, build communities, reward loyalty, and promote user generated content.

This all builds a tribalistic sense within your customers—making them see themselves as part of the group. It can also boost your brand awareness through UGC and word of mouth.

Community is often the selling point of many creator-first brands, such as Prime by content creators Logan Paul and KSI.

Or… MrBeast’s Feastables.

03

Associate your brand with a group, movement, or cause

Many times, you don’t even have to build a community.

Your brand might already be a part of an existing cause that goes beyond your products and services and taps into much deeper values of your customers.

For example, Hellmann’s mayo—a product often labeled as “junk food”—started a Real Food Movement with anti-food waste experts to promote the use of real, simple ingredients in cooking.

Brands like Patagonia—which fights against consumerism and encourages environmental activism, or Nike, which often supports social justice movements, are famous examples of this approach.

You can also rethink your positioning, join movements that align with your brand, and let customers within the same group find you.

You’ll help your brand, and also contribute to a higher cause. Both are great, right?