🛍️ Cyber Week Playbook: How to Prep for BFCM Success

Get ready for your most profitable week of the year. This guide walks you through proven Cyber Week tactics and to-do’s across list growth, campaigns, and journeys.

📘 Plus, check out The Edit to make sure you’re set up for a successful BFCM.

Tl;dr: Your BFCM “Need-to-Know” Quick Reference

Messaging Best Practices

• Use SMS for urgency, MMS for visuals: Keep MMS under 300 KB and limit them to ~25% of sends. Make sure messages make sense even if images don’t load.
• Respect SMS Quiet Hours (8 PM–12 PM): Use email to reach shoppers during this time.
• Consider peak sending times:
  • SMS: Send outside peak congestion (10 AM–3 PM) ET on Black Friday and Cyber Monday for faster delivery.
  • Email: Offset from top-of-hour times (e.g., 10:12 AM, 1:43 PM).
• Turn off Smart Sending for key moments (sale launches, live alerts, last calls) so everyone gets the message in time.

Optimization Essentials

• Schedule and segment early: Schedule SMS and email campaigns in advance so carrier teams can prepare for higher volumes, and pre-build and upload segments early to avoid processing delays during peak days.
• Plan for 2-3x your normal weekly SMS volume: Last year, the strongest-performing brands sent 2-3x their normal weekly SMS campaign volume.
• Use Two-tap™ sign-up across both mobile and desktop: Ensure your texts reach Apple’s main inbox—even after iOS 26 filter changes.
• Activate all core journeys and shorten trigger timing to account for shorter buying windows: Turn on Abandoned Cart, Abandoned Browse, Post-Purchase, Price Drop, and Back-in-Stock before Cyber Week to capture every conversion.

Key Dates to Know

• October 23–December 8th: You won’t be able to make the following RCS for Business changes:
  • Switch your targeting strategy (Visibility AI and Maximize Reach)
  • Change your A/B test traffic split
  • Launch a new agent or program
• November 12–December 2: Audiences AI will automatically exclude fewer subscribers to maximize your BFCM reach.
• November 25–December 1: Self-serve attribution settings will be temporarily locked for edits.
• November 26–November 30: Subscriber and attribute uploads through Batch Uploader are disabled. Complete planned uploads before November 26, and contact your CSM or Attentive Support if you have a critical upload that can’t wait.
• November 26–December 1: Send Time AI will be disabled by default—use manual timing for time-sensitive campaigns.
• November 26–December 1: SMS Smart Sending settings will be updated to 1 message every 3 hours (not applicable for Email or if you have customized send windows).
• November 13–December 3: MMS size will be reduced to 300kb to ensure speedy and reliable delivery during peak traffic.

Support & Resources: BFCM Hours

Need help as you prep for Cyber Week? Our support teams are here to help Monday through Friday, 24 hours a day during BFCM to make sure your messages reach your shoppers on time.

Support Form: Submit a request to get in touch with our support team
⏰ Available continuously from Monday 9 AM Sydney time through Friday 9 PM ET.

Live Chat: Access via your Attentive dashboard
⏰Available Monday through Friday, 9 AM – 9 PM ET

During holidays or holiday weekends, response times for general inquiries may be slower than usual. Our team actively monitors incoming tickets and continues to address any time-sensitive or business-critical issues as they arise.

1. Update sign-up forms

Why it matters
New subscribers captured during Cyber Week make up just 0.8% of total sign-ups—but drive over 22% of Cyber Week revenue. Preparing early ensures you capture these high-intent shoppers when it matters most.

Before Black Friday

Set up and test your sign-up units early to grow your list and optimize performance ahead of the rush.

✅Schedule your BFCM units to go live early (at least two weeks before) to build hype and grow lists. Update your sign-up units to highlight early access to Black Friday deals, first-to-know, exclusive deals, or stackable welcome offers

 ✅Use early November to optimize your sign-up units with A/B testing - smart tests to run before BFCM include:

• Offer framing: “20% off your first order” vs. “$10 off your first purchase”
• Incentive type: discount vs. early access to deals
• CTA copy: “Sign up to unlock early access” vs. “Join the list for exclusive offers”
• Visual style: static vs. animated or festive-themed imagery

During Cyber Week

Keep sign-up units active and aligned with your live promotions to capture high-intent traffic.

✅ Activate sign-up units that mirror or exceed on-site promotions: Keep your messaging consistent: if your on-site banner says 20% off everything, your sign-up unit should, too. Many brands mirror their on-site promo or use urgency-based copy like “Be the first to know about deals.”

✅ Plan ahead for changing offers: Schedule your sign-up units to refresh automatically as promotions shift from Black Friday to Cyber Monday to Giving Tuesday.

✅ Use Two-tap™ sign-up to ensure your texts reach Apple’s main inbox—even after the iOS 26 filter changes.

✅ Design for the holiday: Customize your sign-up unit designs to apply seasonal colors, imagery, and copy to your sign-up units. A simple festive touch can increase conversion rates. You can also add urgency by including a countdown timer or emphasizing the time-sensitive nature of your sale.

✅ Keep holiday promotions aligned with shopper segment and offer timing: Use display conditions to highlight VIP early access, promote SMS sign-up to email-only subscribers, tailor creative to shopper intent, and schedule updates as offers change from early access through Cyber Monday.

📘 Want more guidance and inspiration? Explore our How to Turn BFCM Traffic Into High-Value Subscribers guide.

2. Build segmentation strategy ahead of time

Why it matters

Building your segments in advance helps avoid delays in data processing during peak days—plus, 52% of marketers whose BFCM performance improved last year credit better targeting and segmentation.  

Before Black Friday

Prepare your audiences early so you can target the right groups when it’s time to launch your campaigns.

✅ Send at least one full-list send on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Many subscribers who stay inactive most of the year re-activate for BFCM deals.

✅ Segment your key audiences early so your biggest sends of the year feel personal, timely, and relevant. How you define each audience might be unique to your business—but here are a few ideas to get started:

• VIP Customers: Loyalty program members, top spenders, frequent purchasers, or a combination of criteria. 
• Engaged Subscribers: Clicked or opened a message in the last 2-4 weeks; clicked in the last 7 days.
• Unengaged Subscribers: No message interactions in 90+ days, no recent purchase.
• Product Affinity or interest-based segments: Grouped by bought or browsed product categories, or by zero-party data shared in sign-up units, quizzes, or two-way text conversations (e.g., skin concerns, pet type, exercise preferences). 
• BFCM Purchasers: Purchased during your BFCM sale.
• Geographic Segments: Grouped by climate, store proximity, or region. 

✅ Audit your audience data: Confirm that key data points like last purchase date, total spend, and engagement activity are syncing correctly from your ecommerce and email systems.

✅ Add exclusions: Make sure VIPs aren’t double-counted in “engaged” segments or duplicated across sends.

📘 For more on BFCM segmentation strategies explore Segmentation: The Audiences to Define Before BFCM or our The First- and Zero-Party Data to Prioritize for BFCM guide.

3. Plan campaigns, send timing, and frequency

Why it matters

Brands that send a higher volume of messages during Cyber Week earn more revenue. The strongest-performing brands sent 2-3x their normal weekly SMS campaign volume—using the average from August-October as a baseline. 

For more concrete benchmarks:

• Minimum baseline: Send at least six BFCM-related SMS campaigns.
• Larger brands: Send 11+ campaigns during Cyber Week.

Before Black Friday

Ramp sending slowly heading into Cyber Week, and plan/ schedule your campaigns early to ensure timely deliverability and clean data processing during peak send periods.

✅ Determine how many emails you want to send during Cyber Week: Review last year’s performance and send volume, plus this year’s list growth projections. 

✅ Ramp up email sends gradually: Slowly increase your email sends to reach your send volume goal by Black Friday. Cap your daily send increase at 5 - 10% higher than the previous day’s volume. 

• High-volume senders (1M+ emails/day): Increase by 5% daily.
• Smaller-volume senders (~100K emails/day): Target up to 10% daily increases.

This gradual increase helps maintain deliverability and engagement heading into Cyber Week.

✅ Prepare creative and offers in advance: Finalize copy, promo codes, and imagery for all major BFCM messages (announcement, reminders, last call).

✅ Schedule and segment early: Schedule all SMS and email campaigns in advance so carrier teams can prepare for higher volumes, and build segments early to avoid processing delays during peak days.

📘 Explore 16 BFCM Campaigns That Convert for 16 campaigns you can put on your Cyber Week calendar—organized in the order you'd send them.

During Cyber Week

High-frequency messaging works best when your communications offer unique value. Mix different content types and messaging approaches to prevent frequency fatigue while keeping subscribers engaged.

✅ Use MMS for high-impact moments. MMS messages achieve a 2.8x higher conversion rate on average than SMS. Reserve MMS for high-impact moments like your Black Friday sales announcement where the visual helps capture attention or provide essential details.

✅ Plan for 2-3x your normal weekly SMS volume: Keep messages short and focused on urgency.

✅ Turn off Smart Sending for key moments (sale launches, live alerts, and last calls) so all subscribers receive messages in time.

📘 Explore When to Send—and How Often—During BFCM for more on what the data says about send timing, frequency, and keeping messages useful.

4. Channel orchestration and sequencing 

Why it matters

57% of shoppers say they’re more likely to buy when they see the same promotion across channels, but 73% prefer follow-ups that add something new rather than repeating the same thing.

So coordinating your campaigns within and across channels to create a cohesive experience, where each message builds on the one before it is critical. 

✅ Lead with SMS and push, then follow up by email: Subscribers see texts and push notifications within minutes—use them to announce. Follow up shortly after by email, where you have room for full details and more visuals.

✅ Build sequential campaigns where each message adds something new: For example, move from an initial sales announcement to a bestselling product feature to a gift guide that helps undecided shoppers find the right product.

✅ Target based on channel affinity: If certain subscribers are more engaged on one channel—or only subscribe to one—segment by that behavior, so every subscriber gets a cohesive brand experience.

✅ Use RCS for a richer messaging experience: 

• Product showcases: A tappable carousel can feature your top BFCM deals in one message—letting shoppers browse without leaving their texts. Use it for gift guides, bestseller roundups, category spotlights, and personalized product recommendations.
• Interactive engagement: Suggested replies make a campaign interactive. Let shoppers tap to see deals by who they’re shopping for or by budget.

✅ Use Push for most time-sensitive moments: your sale going live, final hours, and inventory alerts. When crafting for push: 

• Front-load the offer: Lead with the deal and the deadline.
• Deep link past the homepage: Send shoppers straight to the sale collection or the product you're featuring. Extra taps between the lock screen and the cart can reduce conversions.
• Add an image when the product is the message: Rich push with a strong product shot works for drops, bestseller spotlights, and inventory alerts—moments where seeing the item does the selling.
• Offer app subscribers early access or exclusive discounts: Perks rewards high-intent shoppers—and gives others a reason to download the app and turn on notifications.

💡 Tip: Use SMS to announce deals and drive quick action, Push for your time-sensitive moments, RCS for interactive engagement and product showcases, and email for full offer details, rich visuals, and social proof. Segment by channel affinity so you tailor frequency to single-channel subscribers.

📘 Explore BFCM Campaign Best Practices for SMS, Email, Push, and RCS, and Cross-Channel Marketing: How to Make SMS, Email, and Push Work Together for BFCM to learn more about coordinating cross-channel marketing for BFCM. 

5. Deliverability and timing best practices

During Cyber Week

Optimize send times and message design to keep deliverability strong and engagement high.

✅ Encourage subscribers to save your Contact Card before BFCM: Get ahead of iOS 26 inbox filters by reminding shoppers to save your brand as a contact before the deals start rolling in. 

💡 Tip: A quick reminder campaign can go a long way—try copy like “Save us to your contacts so you’re first to know when our biggest sale of the year goes live.” This small step helps ensure your messages land front and center (with notifications on) when Cyber Week kicks off.

✅ Use SMS for time-sensitive offers, MMS for visuals: Limit MMS to ~25% of sends and keep files under 300 KB for faster delivery. For urgent messages, use SMS instead.

✅ Note peak congestion: For fastest delivery of SMS, send outside peak congestion (10 AM–3 PM) ET on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For email, offset your sends from top-of-hour times (e.g., 10:12 AM, 1:43 PM).

✅ Send email during off-peak evening hours, when SMS is limited by quiet-hour rules. 

✅ For SMS, avoid the top of the hour and half-hour marks (like 11am and 2:30pm) when traffic spikes.

✅ Reserve MMS for outside peak hours, since it can take longer to deliver than SMS.

✅ Address disengaged subscribers as you ram: Enroll unengaged subscribers into a sunset or winback flow, and suppress any who remain inactive. A cleaner list raises the engagement signals providers reward.

✅ Save Push for time-sensitive, high-intent moments: Push depends on whether users grant notification permission—on iOS you only get one official chance to ask, so it’s worth treating that permission with care once you get it. 

✅ Include a pre-ask for Push opt-in permission: Before triggering the system prompt, show your own in-app screen explaining what notifications are worth getting—order updates, back-in-stock alerts, early sale access.

Best Times to Send SMS Campaigns During Cyber Week (Based on 2025)

Best Times to Send Email Campaigns During Cyber Week (Based on 2025)

📘 Use our BFCM Email Deliverability: Rules for 2026 guide to improve inbox placement and deliverability performance – or, check out our BFCM Timing Guide to explore more send-time insights from last year’s Cyber Week

6. Adjust journeys for BFCM 

Why it matters
Higher BFCM traffic can trigger more messages, making it worth reviewing your journey timing and content before the sale. Among marketers who reported improved BFCM performance last year, 41% are adjusting journey timing or content specifically for BFCM 2026, compared with 31% of other marketers.

Before Black Friday

✅ Turn on all core triggers: Activate Abandoned Cart, Browse, Post-Purchase, Price Drop, and Back-in-Stock journeys to capture every opportunity.

✅ Shorten your trigger timing: During Cyber Week shoppers decide in hours, not days. Go through each journey’s timing with a shorter buying window in mind:

• Shorten the first-touch delay: Move browse and cart abandonment triggers up so the message lands while the shopper is still in deal-hunting mode.
• Tighten the spacing between messages: If your abandonment journey spreads three touches across several days, part of that sequence may fire after Cyber Monday. Compress it so the full flow plays out while your sale is live.

✅ Adjust your post-purchase journey for repeat buyers: Encourage proven buyers to buy again while your deal is still live. 

• Give buyers a reason to come back before the sale ends: Follow the confirmation with a message recommending what pairs with their purchase—still at the BFCM price.

• Leave helpful content for after BFCM: Long-tail post-purchase content (review requests, replenishment reminders) can wait until after Cyber Monday.

✅ Adjust copy around your BFCM offer: Review messages in all live journeys and check it against your offer:

• Remove conflicting discounts: If you’ve got an offer in your welcome journey or abandonment journey that can’t be layered on top of your BFCM sale, shoppers get an offer they can’t use. Swap in BFCM versions that acknowledge the sale instead.
• Highlight the BFCM deadline: Reminding shoppers when your sale ends adds tangible urgency to acting on abandonment journeys.

💡Tip: Use Attentive’s MCP to review, flag, and adjust copy in your flows to save time and decrease manual work for your team. 

✅ Add extra touchpoints to high-revenue journeys: Purchase intent is higher than usual during Cyber Week. Two flows that benefit from the added touch:

• Welcome journey: Subscribers who join during BFCM joined because of the sale, and historically they’ve generated more welcome-journey revenue than usual.
• Cart abandonment: Subscribers who joined before BFCM respond especially well to cart abandonment during the sale—they already know your brand, and the deal gives them a reason to complete their purchase.

Consider adding 1–2 messages to each for the BFCM window.

✅ Set send caps and suppression rules: Prevent messages from stacking up by setting guardrails before your sale starts. Marketers who use suppression rules to keep competing messages from stacking were 23% more likely to report improved BFCM performance.

✅ Add Contact Card messaging to your Welcome Journeys: BFCM sees an influx in new subscribers so encouraging shoppers to save your contact card not only makes you a recognized sender for sale announcements—it also helps keep future messages front and center in their inbox.

📘Check out How to Tune Your Behavioral Flows for BFCM for more tips on optimizing your journeys this BFCM. 

7. Get more from your AI tools during BFCM

Why it matters

Attentive AI can help you select audiences, time messages, grow your subscriber list, and personalize journeys during BFCM. Review your settings and turn on the tools available to your team before peak shopping begins, so they’re ready for your sale schedule and offers.

What to do

✅ Turn on Audiences AI: From November 12 to December 2, Audiences AI will automatically exclude fewer subscribers help you reach more likely buyers during peak shopping. Engagement rises during this period, so more subscribers are eligible to receive messages and convert.

💡 Tip:  If you’re scheduling sends before November 12 that will go out during BFCM, toggle Exclusions off to avoid full exclusions logic.

✅ Enable Identity AI: Recover more abandoned sessions and re-engage anonymous browsers automatically. Identity AI connects shoppers across devices, helping you capture conversions that might otherwise be missed.

✅ Use Send Time AI selectively during BFCM: From November 26 to December 1, Send Time AI will be disabled by default to ensure time-sensitive messages reach subscribers immediately. Use manual send timing for critical promotions such as:

• Sales with specific start and end times
• Flash or limited-time offers
• Products that may sell out quickly
• Urgent updates or announcements

You can continue using Send Time AI before Black Friday for awareness campaigns, and after Cyber Week to support extended end-of-year sales. Send Time AI respects customized Quiet Hours. 

✅ Optimize AI Journeys ahead of BFCM: Prepare your automations to align with seasonal offers and budget pacing. 

• Discuss budgets with your account team to ensure coverage throughout Cyber Week.
• Leverage sitewide sales functionality for stronger alignment between automations and on-site offers.
• Review sitewide sale dates, start and end times, and time zone. 
• Review offers assigned to your sign-up units for Welcome messages and abandonment offer settings.
• Adjust offers and exclusions proactively.

📘 Make BFCM easier than ever with our BFCM AI Guide.