Black Friday/Cyber Monday preparedness: Maximize email deliverability and engagement

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) period is one of the most anticipated shopping events for consumers and brands alike. But to create deeper customer connections, increase engagement, optimize sales, and ultimately make the most out of this frenzied period, brands need the right email strategy.

Email is one of the most critical channels in marketing today and provides high ROI in comparison to other channels. A surge in customer spending during this time of the year makes email an indispensable tool for driving sales. At the same time, it means that even a minor drop in your sender reputation can lead to a significant amount of lost revenue.

To avoid this outcome, savvy brands intentionally prioritize email deliverability preparedness. With this preparedness, marketers can make sure that all necessary measures are taken to optimize email performance and help email communications successfully reach their intended recipients.

Understanding email deliverability readiness

When it comes to getting ready for BFCM, it’s smart to start early. Getting ready ahead of the period itself increases the likelihood that emails will land in the inbox, leading to engagement, ROI, and conversion boosts. Mailbox providers such as Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft often need to apply tight scrutiny during these busy periods due to a massive surge in email volumes to protect their end users. As their spam filters become stricter, even minor issues can result in deferrals, blocks, and placement in the spam folder. Accordingly, developing and executing a proactive strategy that effectively enhances sending reputation is crucial for businesses.

A few of the basic elements to be considered for email deliverability readiness include data quality, sending strategy, monitoring and analyzing real-time sends. Each element plays a role in building trust with mailbox providers, with the ultimate goal of achieving inbox folder placement.

During BFCM 2024, brands using Braze sent more than 50 billion messages, surpassing our previous record for sending volumes during this period. That included 13.9 billion messages sent on Black Friday and 13.2 billion messages on Cyber Monday. Email deliverability readiness ensures that legitimate messages land in the inbox, and not the spam folder.

Here are a few guidelines to improve your email deliverability and prepare yourself for Black Friday/Cyber Monday:

• Segmentation and list hygiene: High inbox folder placement is proportional to a clean and engaged list. Sending to unengaged users is one of the reasons for an increase in spam complaints; consequently, any unengaged users/inactive subscribers who have not opened or clicked in the last 6-12 months should be suppressed from the active sending list. This minimizes bounces, disengagement, and complaint rates. Being proactive by leveraging a re-engagement campaign to identify active subscribers before the busy period actually occurs can protect the sender's reputation in the long term.
• IP warming and sending practices: When people think about IP warming, it’s usually in the context of warming brand new sending IPs—but that’s not the only time this approach may be needed. If the plan is to send a higher number of emails than usual, gradually increase your sending volume before the weeks leading up to the sale day to prevent deferrals and throttling. Delivered rates and email performance can drop due to sudden spikes in volume. Mailbox providers love consistency, and sending too many emails too quickly can cause you to be flagged for suspicious activity. The most effective means of maintaining a sender's reputation is through consistent sending patterns and balanced scheduling of sends, so consider using IP warming to minimize disruption and maintain a good reputation.
• Content: The quality of your email content directly influences spam filtering outcomes. Why? Because content quality directly impacts a recipient’s experience. Avoid misleading content and subject lines, as well as unclear unsubscribe options. If your emails aren’t created with the recipient experience in mind, issues in any of these areas can result in subscriber complaints. Regular monitoring of complaint rates during these sends helps to make adjustments to honor the subscriber experience and protect engagement. To maintain high audience engagement, it is essential to balance promotional content with value-driven data, such as loyalty rewards or early bird access.
• Authentication: Ensure your emails are fully authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC (especially critical following stricter new guidelines from Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft). These authentication protocols must be correctly configured, as they verify the legitimacy of the sender. Neglecting this key step can significantly impede your ability to see the full value of your email program during the BFCM period.
• Measure, analyze, and improve: Consistent monitoring of deliverability metrics across provides a comprehensive understanding of the performance of mailbox providers. To preemptively identify potential throttling issues, we recommend utilizing tools like Microsoft SNDS and Google Postmaster by connecting them to your Braze platform’s Deliverability Center in order to monitor your IP reputation closely. Deliverability requires continuous analysis and proactive measures to continually improve email performance and maintain a strong sender reputation.

The multi-phase sending strategy

Final thoughts

During the BFCM, it can be challenging to cut through inbox noise to maximize sales and truly deepen connections with consumers. But brands that find a way to support the delivery of their emails even during these sorts of high-volume periods see a strategic advantage over those who neglect deliverability.

By preparing your email deliverability well in advance, you can be confident that your communications will land in the inbox, and not in the spam folder. Establishing proper authentication, maintaining a clean and engaged list, scaling volume thoughtfully, and adhering to best practice standards all contribute to a strong sender reputation. Sender reputation is the most valuable indicator of high email performance during BFCM rush hours, and protecting it ensures your revenue-driving emails reach the inbox. Every email is an opportunity for customer engagement. Make it count!

Need some help? Braze Deliverability Services are here to lend a helping hand. For more information, check out our additional resources, like our blog, previous webinars, lessons, and our Master Email Deliverability learning path.