Plan your Q4 text calendar

The merchants who do best during BFCM aren't the ones who send the most on Black Friday. They're the ones who warmed up their list, trained carriers to expect their volume, and had every send scheduled before peak week started.

Work from the quarter down to the day

Start with the whole quarter, then zoom in.

October: grow your list and build your baseline. Send at least one campaign a week so subscribers are used to hearing from you and carriers see steady volume.

Early to mid November: increase to two sends a week. Tease what's coming. Launch early access for VIPs.

Peak week (November 23 to December 1): your highest volume. Every send should be scheduled by Friday, November 20, the Friday before Thanksgiving week.

December: shipping cutoffs, gift guides, last-minute deals, and your first post-holiday sends.

Pick your sale window first

Decide now whether you're running one continuous sale from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, or separate Black Friday and Cyber Monday events with different offers.

A continuous sale is simpler to message and easier for your agent to explain. Separate events give you two launch moments and a reason to text on both days without repeating yourself. Either works; what hurts is deciding on the day.

Key dates to build around

• October 31: Halloween

• November 11: Singles' Day (big for beauty, fashion, and gifting)

• November 23 to 25: early access and preview sends

• November 26: Thanksgiving. One warm message with a soft offer or early access link tends to perform well without feeling pushy.

• November 27: Black Friday

• November 28: Small Business Saturday

• November 29: Sunday. Often a "sale extended" or "last chance" message

• November 30: Cyber Monday

• December 1: Giving Tuesday. Good for a donation tie-in or thank-you send

• December 4 (evening): Hanukkah begins

• December 14: Green Monday and Free Shipping Day

• December 15 to 20: standard shipping cutoffs (confirm yours with your carrier)

• December 25: Christmas

• December 26 to 31: post-holiday clearance and gift card redemption

Find your own key dates

Look at last year's data for the days your store spiked outside the big holidays. Product launches, restock days, brand anniversaries, and niche days for your category (National Coffee Day, National Dog Day) can all be worth a send.

Block out placeholder sends now

Put every planned send on the calendar even if the copy doesn't exist yet. It's much easier to write into a slot than to decide on the day. Here's a simple version that also shows who each send should go to: