revenue lift
+420%
Year-over-year BFCM peak-week revenue. Flat ad spend; the growth came from list and from drop cadence.
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§ · case study
Kids brand, BFCM up 420% on scheduled drops.
An archetype drawn from BFCM playbook work we have shipped for baby and kids brands. Six-week runway, twenty-three drops, $184K to $956K in peak-week revenue.
§ 01 · archetype · baby + kids brand
A DTC baby brand lifted BFCM peak-week revenue from $184K to $956K year-over-year.
One discount code on Black Friday is not a playbook. A playbook is a six-week drop runway that warms the email list, stages content, seeds creators, and lands peak-week traffic on a site that has been shipping to expect it. The brand's 2024 BFCM followed the usual one-code approach and did $184K. The 2025 rebuild shipped 23 drops across six weeks and landed at $956K on the same ad spend.
email list
+38%
Growth during the six-week runway. Warm-up popup + creator referral codes drove 52K net-new subscribers before peak.
returning customer
+61%
Share of BFCM orders from returning customers, up from 34% prior year. Drop cadence trained the list to check back.
§ 02 · the challenge
One big discount on one big day leaves revenue on the table.
The 2024 BFCM ran the same playbook most small DTC brands run: a single 25-percent-off code, pushed via one Black Friday email, one Cyber Monday email, and a handful of boosted Meta posts during peak week. The site handled the traffic; the checkout held up; the discount code worked. Peak-week revenue came in at $184K, which was a 40-percent lift on a normal week. Serviceable. Not special.
The diagnostic for 2025 surfaced three issues. First, the list was warmer than the brand realized: 60 percent of the email subscribers had never made a purchase. The one-code Black Friday email was the only BFCM communication they had ever received; many had never been shown the product catalog outside of an ad. Second, the creator layer was untapped: the brand had three parent influencers on modest retainers, posting inconsistently, with no BFCM-aligned content plan. Third, the merchandising was static: the homepage showed the same best-sellers the week before BFCM as the week of.
The rebuild turned all three around. The six-week runway gave the list something new to see every few days. The creator plan shipped 18 coordinated posts in a two-week warm-up sequence. The merchandising rotated daily during peak week. Peak-week revenue grew 5.2x.
§ 03 · the drop calendar
Six weeks. Twenty-three drops. One peak.
weeks -6 to -5
Warm-up.
Homepage pop-up for BFCM early-access list. Creator warm-up posts begin. "BFCM coming" non-promotional email series seeds anticipation.
weeks -4 to -3
Bundle drops.
Three themed bundles launched as limited-quantity drops (gift bundle, newborn starter, winter essentials). Early-access list gets 48-hour preview window.
weeks -2 to -1
Creator push.
18 coordinated creator posts across 6 creators. Each creator has unique discount code linked to affiliate commission. Posts land 10am ET, 6pm ET daily.
week 0 · thanksgiving
Pre-BFCM.
Thanksgiving-day email with "sneak peek" of Black Friday pricing. No live code yet; builds intent for 24h.
black friday
Core sale.
Site-wide sale live 6am ET. 4 emails spaced 4 hours apart, each highlighting a different collection. Homepage rotates every 6 hours.
cyber monday
Final hours.
Hourly countdown emails in the final 12 hours. Last-hour SKU spotlights on evergreen bestsellers. 31 percent of peak-week revenue comes from the final 24 hours alone.
§ 04 · the segmentation
Five list segments. Five timelines.
Not everyone sees the same email at the same time. Klaviyo flows segmented by five cohorts, each with distinct messaging and discount access windows.
| segment | early access | discount ceiling |
|---|---|---|
| VIP (lifetime value > $400) | Wednesday before Thanksgiving | 35% + free gift |
| repeat customer | Thursday 6pm ET | 30% |
| first-purchase customer | Friday 6am ET | 25% |
| non-buyer subscriber | Friday 6am ET | 25% + welcome bundle |
| reactivation (dormant 180d+) | Saturday | 30% + free shipping |
§ 05 · the delta
Two years. One playbook.
from the founder · archetype composite
"The playbook felt like a lot of work for something that used to be one email. The peak week answered the question."
Composite quote
Patterns from multiple DTC baby brand founder conversations
§ 06 · plan your BFCM
Planning your peak season?
We run BFCM playbook engagements starting 10 weeks before peak week. Audit + plan in weeks 1-2, implementation weeks 3-8, ship from week 9. Scoped quote in 48 hours.