20 Black Friday Marketing Promotion Ideas for Entrepreneurs

Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, Black Friday has evolved into a global shopping event, not just for big retailers, but for ecommerce businesses and entrepreneurs of all kinds. With the rise of online shopping, Black Friday–and now, Cyber Monday–have become prime opportunities to boost online sales and reach new customers. Whether you’re offering services, courses, group programs, or digital products, this holiday shopping season can help you turn potential customers into hungry buyers.

In 2023, Black Friday shoppers in the U.S. spent a record $9.8 billion, and worldwide, retailers continue to see billions in sales during Black Friday weekend (Business Insider). Additionally, more than half of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are coming from mobile devices, so it’s crucial to optimize your checkout process for mobile users. Ecommerce stores that don’t adapt to mobile shopping could be leaving serious money on the table!

Source: Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend Shoppers, National Retail Federation

Source: Adobe

Should You Create a Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) Promotion?

Let’s be real: creating a promotion of any kind takes time and effort. While you can save time by repurposing existing marketing pages or products for a BFCM sale, you’ll still need to develop promotional content or invest in paid ads to get the word out about your limited-time offer. So, is a BFCM promotion right for you?The truth is, Black Friday is a prime opportunity to boost your sales, re-engage loyal customers, and attract new ones. Whether your revenue has hit a plateau, or you’d like an extra bump to make holiday shopping season easier, this is a strategy worth considering.

20 Black Friday Cyber Monday Promotion Ideas

Whether you’re a coach, consultant, freelancer, or agency owner, here are 20 BFCM marketing ideas that will help you launch a successful promotion—without resorting to cringy marketing tactics or false scarcity.

1. Offer VIP Coaching Packages

Create an exclusive VIP coaching package that includes premium 1:1 sessions, extended support, or bonuses only available during BFCM. Use email marketing and social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok to generate buzz. Having limited-time, exclusive flash sales like this drives a sense of urgency for your audience to hurry up and buy now!

Example: A business coach could offer a VIP package with weekly strategy sessions, email support, and a bonus resource kit, available at a special Black Friday deal.

Source: Emiel Dingemans on X

2. Create a Bundle Deal

Create a high-value package by bundling your services or digital products at a discounted price. Bundles are a great way to boost order value while appealing to customers seeking the best bang for their buck. You can attract new customers by offering a bundle that helps them hit their goals before the New Year—or set them up for success as the New Year begins.

Example: A health coach could bundle a nutrition coaching program with a meal plan guide and workout routine, offering the package at 30% off during Black Friday sales.

Source: 3 Wise Men

3. Sell Digital Toolkits or Templates

If you offer digital products like templates, toolkits, or checklists, you could promote them as part of your BFCM sale. These are easy-to-deliver items that can boost your conversion rates quickly. You can even create templates for free using design software like Canva, and sales funnel using sales funnel software like Kartra to help you sell the templates on autopilot.

Example: A social media strategist could offer a toolkit with templates for content calendars, hashtag research, and Instagram post templates, available at a 20% discount for Black Friday shoppers.

4. Reward Loyal Customers with a Special Discount

Offer a special discount to your loyal customers to thank them for their ongoing support. This helps build stronger relationships and encourages repeat purchases. To really boost your revenue, you could offer a package of sessions, rather than just one-off sessions. This way, the order value of each customer is significantly higher.

Example: A business consultant could offer a 20% loyalty discount to clients who have worked with them before, allowing them to purchase a new service at a reduced rate during Black Friday.

Source: PRESS Foods

5. Mystery Free Gift Offer

Add excitement by offering a free gift with every purchase made during BFCM. This strategy increases conversion rates because it adds an element of surprise. Ensure your free gift is relevant to whatever product or service your clients are buying.

Example: If you’re a content marketing coach, you could offer a mystery freebie like a “Content Creation Starter Pack” guide, filled with helpful tips and affiliate links to recommended tools on Amazon. To sweeten the deal, you can also surprise each new customer with a $50 Amazon gift card, so they can buy the tools directly from your guide—earning you some extra affiliate commission along the way!

6. Buy One, Get One 50% Off

Offer a buy-one-get-one-50%-off deal on your services or digital products, such as online courses or pre-built templates. This strategy encourages customers to explore more of what you offer, increasing their overall investment. To set this up quickly, add a bold, eye-catching banner or popup to your online store or the page where all of your courses and digital products are listed for purchase. Include a countdown timer and a BOGO 50% off discount code to create urgency. Promote your Black Friday deal on social media and use paid ads to drive as much traffic as possible to your online store!

Example: A web designer could offer 50% off a logo design service when customers purchase a website design package during Black Friday. This not only introduces clients to services they might not have considered but also helps them achieve better results by offering more comprehensive solutions.

7. Launch a Paid Mastermind Group

Offer an exclusive mastermind group with early access or a discounted rate during Black Friday. Masterminds provide immense value for clients seeking deeper engagement, personalized support, and a strong sense of community. You could elevate the experience by including an annual in-person event or retreat, which would significantly increase the perceived value. If that doesn’t align with your current lifestyle, consider offering a live virtual event once a year, allowing members to dive deeper than any online course ever could!

Example: A leadership coach could offer a 6-month mastermind program with group accountability personalized coaching, and one “emotional intelligence” day-long virtual event, discounted for Black Friday shoppers

8. Cart Abandonment Campaign

If you use shopping cart software like Kartra that tags customers who abandon their carts, you can easily set up a series of cart abandonment emails. To do this, simply target those who added items to their cart but didn’t complete the checkout process. Ideally, focus on customers who abandoned their cart within the past 1-3 months to keep your offer most relevant and memorable. For your Black Friday campaign, include a limited-time discount to incentivize them to finalize their purchase now!

Example: For a Black Friday promotion, send three cart abandonment emails over the span of 72 hours, offering a discount code if they complete their purchase during Black Friday.

Source: Vistek

9. Pre-Sell an Upcoming Course or Program

Creating a brand-new course without knowing if there’s demand can be risky—especially since online courses take time to develop. Pre-selling your course before it’s fully created is a smart, efficient strategy. You can announce the start date, market it, and only begin building the content once customers have purchased, ensuring you’re paid for your time upfront.

Offering a pre-sale during BFCM is a great way to generate buzz and excitement for something new, tapping into the hype of the holiday shopping season. Plus, this fresh and appealing approach can resonate with your audience, especially if they’ve passed on previous programs. It gives them a new opportunity to engage with your brand while securing revenue before the course even launches.

Example: A business coach launching a new program in January could offer early-bird pricing to all BFCM buyers for a limited time only.

10. Create a Storefront and Earn Commissions from Favorite Products

Expand into ecommerce by building a storefront featuring products you use and love. By promoting affiliate products, you can earn commissions on every sale. This is a great BFCM strategy because shoppers are looking for trusted recommendations, and you can leverage the rapport you’ve built with your audience. Curate products that align with your brand and offer limited-time bonuses during the holiday shopping season if they make purchases from your online store.

Example: A fitness coach could create a storefront showcasing favorite supplements, workout gear, and wellness tools. Product bundles like “Home Workout Essentials” can increase sales and provide extra convenience to their target audience. And, as a bonus for their customers buying during BFCM, they could share an exclusive guide, like a holiday home workout program that includes a niche-specific fitness routine.

11. Last Chance Promotion

Capitalize on urgency by running a last-minute promotion as Black Friday winds down. Use countdown timers in emails and on your landing pages to create a sense of urgency and push customers to act fast before the sale ends. This strategy plays into the fear of missing out (FOMO) and can lead to a surge of purchases at the last minute. Finally, those prospective customers who have been sitting on the fence can finally take the leap to become paying customers.

Example: A marketing consultant could offer 20% off services for anyone who purchases within a 72-hour window during a Black Friday weekend sale. A countdown timer on the sales page and in emails helps create urgency and motivates customers to take action before time runs out!

12. Sell a Live or Pre-Recorded Webinar

Offer an interactive webinar that helps your clients or prospective clients achieve their goals. You could charge for this and deliver all of the value during the live webinar. Or, you could run a free webinar that promotes a new program, provides a sneak peek into it, answers sales objections in the form of FAQs, and promotes your exclusive deal! Webinars are one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies for boosting enrollment for online courses and programs because they demonstrate your authority while creating a connection with your audience.

Example: A marketing strategist could sell a live webinar teaching the latest social media marketing strategies, with tickets discounted for BFCM and access to bonus materials like templates. As a bonus, you could even co-host your webinar with other influencers whose content complements yours, so you gain instant visibility to each other’s followers and email subscribers.

Source: TikTok – Ulta Beauty

13. Reward Long-Time Customers with a Loyalty Discount

Show your appreciation to loyal customers by offering a special loyalty program discount during BFCM. This strategy not only encourages repeat business but also strengthens the relationship with your long-time customers, making them feel valued. A well-crafted loyalty discount can boost customer retention and turn your most dedicated clients into brand advocates!

Example: Offer a 20% loyalty discount to clients who have worked with you before, inviting them to enroll in a new program during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

To implement this, you could use email automation software like Kartra to create an email marketing campaign that targets your loyal customers. In those emails, you could write personalized subject lines that feel more exclusive. If you pair your email marketing efforts with SMS marketing using Kartra, you can multiply your sales. To do this, send quick, friendly text messages with a link to your promo page, making it easy for your loyal customers to take advantage of your offer. The goal is to make them feel valued and appreciated—while helping you get a healthy cash injection!

14. Promote Affiliate Courses

Great news! You don’t always need to create a new product to boost your earnings on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By promoting courses you’re an affiliate for, you can earn commissions while offering valuable content to your audience. This is also a great opportunity to upsell or cross-sell related affiliate courses with minimal extra effort, allowing you to maximize your sales during BFCM. (Note: our Guide to Upselling and Cross-selling can give you more helpful tips!)

To do this successfully, create eye-catching social media posts promoting your favorite affiliate products, and send targeted email marketing messages that highlight your special offer. Set up automated follow-up sequences to continue engaging your email list throughout the promotion. For an added boost, consider running paid or retargeting ads to raise awareness of your exclusive deals and drive even more traffic to your offers.

Example: A productivity coach could promote an affiliate time-management course, offering a special discount code to their email list during Black Friday weekend. By sharing this exclusive deal through email marketing and social media posts, and following up automatically with leads, the coach can maximize exposure and generate more commissions.

15. Offer Subscription-Based Access

Create a subscription service, like a membership site, where clients can access your content or coaching on an ongoing basis. As a reference, we’ve mapped out 5 Examples of Outstanding Membership Sites that you can gain inspiration from. Creating ongoing content will give your customers consistent value, while generating recurring revenue for your business.

To maximize this strategy, you can sweeten the offer with a special coupon code for those who join during Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday. You can also offer a yearly subscription at a deeper discount to encourage long-term commitments. Promote this offer through your email list, social media posts, and even retargeting ads to capture those who’ve shown interest in your content but haven’t taken the plunge yet.

Example: A copywriting consultant could launch a subscription-based content library that includes exclusive templates, monthly Q&A sessions, and ongoing access to updated resources. For Black Friday, and Cyber Monday they could offer a special discount for new subscribers and throw in additional bonuses, like early access to upcoming content or one-on-one coaching calls, to create even more value.

16. Use a Countdown Timer

A countdown timer is a powerful tool for creating a sense of urgency and driving faster purchase decisions. By visually showing customers how much time they have left to take advantage of your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, you can encourage quick action and reduce hesitation. Adding a countdown timer to your landing page, online store, or even within your BFCM email marketing campaign taps into the scarcity mindset, making customers feel like they must act now or miss out. It’s one of the simplest yet most effective tactics for boosting conversions during limited-time promotions.

To get the most out of this strategy, place the countdown timer in multiple locations—on your sales page, checkout page, and even in email subject lines or body copy to create consistent urgency. You can also customize the timer to end at specific milestones, like the final hour of your sale, which further heightens the sense of urgency. Pair it with a compelling offer, such as a special discount, bonus product, or exclusive deal for Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers.

Example: If you’re offering a business coaching program, display a countdown timer on your homepage or course sales page showing how much time is left to grab your BFCM deals. You can also include the timer in email reminders sent to your email list, urging subscribers to take advantage of the deal before time runs out. The countdown serves as a constant reminder to act fast!

15. Offer Subscription-Based Access

To maximize this strategy, you can sweeten the offer with a special coupon code for those who join during Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday. You can also offer a yearly subscription at a deeper discount to encourage long-term commitments. Promote this offer through your email list, social media posts, and even retargeting ads to capture those who’ve shown interest in your content but haven’t taken the plunge yet.

Example: A copywriting consultant could launch a subscription-based content library that includes exclusive templates, monthly Q&A sessions, and ongoing access to updated resources. For Black Friday, and Cyber Monday they could offer a special discount for new subscribers and throw in additional bonuses, like early access to upcoming content or one-on-one coaching calls, to create even more value.

15. Offer Subscription-Based Access

To maximize this strategy, you can sweeten the offer with a special coupon code for those who join during Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday. You can also offer a yearly subscription at a deeper discount to encourage long-term commitments. Promote this offer through your email list, social media posts, and even retargeting ads to capture those who’ve shown interest in your content but haven’t taken the plunge yet.

Example: A copywriting consultant could launch a subscription-based content library that includes exclusive templates, monthly Q&A sessions, and ongoing access to updated resources. For Black Friday, and Cyber Monday they could offer a special discount for new subscribers and throw in additional bonuses, like early access to upcoming content or one-on-one coaching calls, to create even more value.

15. Offer Subscription-Based Access

To maximize this strategy, you can sweeten the offer with a special coupon code for those who join during Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday. You can also offer a yearly subscription at a deeper discount to encourage long-term commitments. Promote this offer through your email list, social media posts, and even retargeting ads to capture those who’ve shown interest in your content but haven’t taken the plunge yet.

Example: A copywriting consultant could launch a subscription-based content library that includes exclusive templates, monthly Q&A sessions, and ongoing access to updated resources. For Black Friday, and Cyber Monday they could offer a special discount for new subscribers and throw in additional bonuses, like early access to upcoming content or one-on-one coaching calls, to create even more value.

16. Use a Countdown Timer

A countdown timer is a powerful tool for creating a sense of urgency and driving faster purchase decisions. By visually showing customers how much time they have left to take advantage of your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, you can encourage quick action and reduce hesitation. Adding a countdown timer to your landing page, online store, or even within your BFCM email marketing campaign taps into the scarcity mindset, making customers feel like they must act now or miss out. It’s one of the simplest yet most effective tactics for boosting conversions during limited-time promotions.

To get the most out of this strategy, place the countdown timer in multiple locations—on your sales page, checkout page, and even in email subject lines or body copy to create consistent urgency. You can also customize the timer to end at specific milestones, like the final hour of your sale, which further heightens the sense of urgency. Pair it with a compelling offer, such as a special discount, bonus product, or exclusive deal for Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers.

Example: If you’re offering a business coaching program, display a countdown timer on your homepage or course sales page showing how much time is left to grab your BFCM deals. You can also include the timer in email reminders sent to your email list, urging subscribers to take advantage of the deal before time runs out. The countdown serves as a constant reminder to act fast!

17. Offer a Free Upgrade

Offering a free upgrade is a great way to entice customers to purchase your services during Black Friday. This strategy adds value to their purchase without you needing to discount your core offerings, making it a win-win for both you and your clients.

Free upgrades tap into the desire for a better experience or higher level of service, and they can significantly boost conversions by making your Black Friday offer feel like an unbeatable deal. Customers love feeling like they’re getting more for their money, and a free upgrade can create the perception of exclusivity and added value.

To maximize this approach, clearly communicate the benefits of the upgrade and how it directly benefits your customer’s goals. You can also limit the offer to a certain number of clients or a short window during Black Friday through Cyber Monday to create urgency.

Example: A marketing agency owner could offer a free upgrade to premium consulting for anyone who purchases a done-for-you website from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. This could include additional personalized marketing feedback, or exclusive access to resources typically reserved for premium clients. The upgrade provides added value to new clients without discounting the base service, making it an attractive offer for all parties involved.

18. Sell DIY Planners or Workbooks

Offering DIY planners or workbooks during Black Friday is a smart way to provide quick, actionable solutions that your audience can implement immediately. These resources are perfect for customers looking for the most helpful, efficient way to tackle their goals. You could send the workbooks in the form of a digital download, like a PDF, or you can leverage a print on demand service to send a hard copy without needing to manage or buy any inventory up front.

To boost sales, promote your planners or workbooks with a limited-time discount and highlight their immediate value through social media posts and email marketing.

Example: A mindset coach could offer a goal-setting workbook and planner bundle at 50% off, helping clients plan their new year with guided exercises and worksheets. This low-cost resource appeals to clients looking for DIY solutions, and it can lead to future upsell opportunities.

19. Offer a Referral Bonus

Encourage your current clients to refer new customers by offering a referral bonus during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This helps expand your reach through word-of-mouth and increases online sales. By rewarding both the referrer and the new customer, you make it appealing for clients to share your services while giving newcomers an incentive to purchase. For more ideas, check out our blog post Referral Marketing Strategies for Your Growth Marketing Plan.

Example: Offer a 15% discount to clients who refer a new customer and give the new customer a 10% discount. Promote the referral program through email marketing, social media posts, and SMS to maximize participation and boost sales.

20. Give New Clients Gift Cards

Who doesn’t love a good gift card!? Offering a gift card with each purchase can incentivize potential buyers and show appreciation for their business. To succeed with this strategy, you’ll need to run your numbers to ensure you select a gift card amount that keeps your profit margins healthy. This might be the exact teaser a new client needs if they’re on the fence about buying. With each purchase, you could even give away gift cards to your own online store, so your customers can purchase more from you in the near future.

Example: A personal branding freelancer could promote her “website in a day” design service for Black Friday, and include a $50 gift card that can be applied to her online store within the next six months.

Launch Your Black Friday Cyber Monday Promotion with Kartra

Launching a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategy doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With Kartra, the best all-in-one marketing platform for entrepreneurs, you can launch quickly and easily. Kartra provides pre-built sales funnels, landing pages, and email marketing campaigns, allowing you to launch any marketing promotion with ease.

Get started with Kartra today and make this your most profitable BFCM yet!