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Got the Black Friday / Cyber Monday jitters?
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by big brands and their flashy campaigns. But here’s the thing: you don’t need a massive budget to make a big impact.
While you’re fine-tuning email sequences, pricing smartly, and preparing to cut through inbox noise, remember: being a small, agile team is your secret weapon.
Your agility and personal touch might be exactly what burnt-out shoppers need in the sea of corporate discounts.
Whether you’re launching your first BFCM sale or looking to improve on last year’s results, our guide will walk you through tried-and-tested strategies that don’t require a Fortune 500 budget, a big team, or halving your prices.
Ready to make this your best holiday sales season yet?
Marketing Strategies to Boost Your BFCM Software Sales
Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving) is expected to hit $13.2 billion in spending, according to TechTarget. For software makers like yourself, these figures, combined with Black Friday sales, represent an unprecedented opportunity. If you’re still hesitant about participating in BFCM this year, consider these words:
“There’s a pervasive myth in the software industry that BFCM is only for the big players with deep marketing pockets,” explains Matt Cromwell, whose insights during a WP Product Talk episode challenge this assumption. “What we’ve actually seen is that smaller teams who approach BFCM strategically often see outsized returns precisely because they can be more nimble and personal in their approach.”
The key lies in data-driven decision-making. Successful software companies track crucial metrics like sales conversion rates, average order value, and email engagement to refine their strategy year over year.
And what about makers who’ve never run a BFCM campaign before?
Look to your peers and community for assistance. The WordPress community, for example, offers a wealth of battle-tested insights. As Katie Keith notes in the same episode:
The beauty of our ecosystem is that successful founders are incredibly generous with sharing what works. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
That said, while advice from other entrepreneurs is certainly valuable, there’s no substitute for experience — and the best way to gain it is by starting with proven strategies that have delivered results.
Here are some tried-and-true tactics to give your product the promo love it deserves:
Set Up a Dedicated BFCM 2024 Landing Page
Is creating a landing page worth the effort, especially when a simple banner on your homepage might seem like an easier solution?
Yes!
Choosing the easier option means you’d miss out on the following benefits:
- A BFCM landing page creates hype by showcasing your products in a new, exciting light and drives sales with FOMO triggers like countdown timers.
- It generates case-specific data. In other words, users who purposefully visit your BFCM landing page are likely interested in your products and the deals on offer. These insights allow for data-driven quick wins like segmenting those users into dedicated email lists. You can then send them informative emails about the products they’re interested in, along with persuasive coupons and special offers to seal the deal.
This blog post provides valuable insights into the key elements needed to craft a high-converting BFCM landing page:
- Clear messaging
- Mobile-friendly design
- Clean design elements
- A sense of urgency
- An appeal to FOMO (fear of missing out)
- A call-to-action
Set Up Polls
Using polls on X (or other channels where your audience hangs out) can generate feedback and engagement.
Something like: Would you like to see this product discounted for BFCM 2024?
Email Marketing
Deploying emails during the BFCM period is essential, but overloading users with messages from early November through the big weekend risks driving unsubscribes.
The key to a successful BFCM email marketing strategy lies in striking the right balance.
A great way to address potential fatigue is to include an opt-out button in your emails, allowing customers to remove themselves from BFCM-specific communications without unsubscribing entirely.
Once that’s handled, the next challenge arises: how many emails should you send to maximize engagement without overwhelming your audience?
There are different philosophies, and — again — you’ll need to find what works for you, but:
- A good rule of thumb is to send one or two emails leading up to the big weekend with a save-the-date button so customers can add your sale to their calendars.
- Stellar WP — the company Matt Cromwell works for — sends out two per day during the sale itself. Zack Katz opts for three a day for GravityKit: one in the morning and one in the evening. The first aims to spark interest and engage potential customers, the second to build momentum, the final one to seal the deal with last-chance tactics.
Choose the Right Type of Offer
BFCM campaigns should be about creating more value, “not racing to the bottom with the biggest discount,” as Jack Paxton, founder of Top Growth Marketing puts it.
“We usually try and build bundles that add more products, seem unique, or deliver a higher AOV while still giving an aggressive discount/value offering.”
This approach is especially valuable for smaller businesses.
“You can stand out by over-delivering since it’s a smaller number of customers you have to service. So do something that a customer would want to share on social media or with a friend. Word of mouth is super important early on but it does not happen naturally, you need to foster it by being unique, solving industry issues, and adding more value than the current options on the market,” advises Jack.
On that note, here are six simple ways to boost your product’s value without significantly lowering the price.
1. BOGO: Buy One Get One Free (or Discounted)
If you’re a software maker with multiple products, you can bundle complementary solutions or offer a coupon code for a second product.
The coupon can be for any percentage you choose, but the goal is to incentivize a second purchase while maintaining your average sale price (ASP).
If you don’t have complementary products of your own, consider partnering with another maker who offers products within your niche. Promoting partner products can lead to mutually beneficial affiliate or cross-promotion opportunities.
This method is also a win-win-win for you (avoiding the discount), the third-party software maker (who gets the promotion), and the customer (who gets more value for the same price).
2. Raffle
Instead of offering a discount, you can incentivize purchases by inviting users to participate in a raffle.
Besides the chance to win a “grand prize”, you could also offer small rewards to participants, depending on your marketing budget.
Elementor executed this strategy recently with additional prizes like 1:1s with their team.
3. Donate Instead of Discount
Consider donating a percentage of your BFCM sales to charity to support a meaningful cause and create goodwill among customers. You can either select a cause that aligns with your values or let customers pick their favorite. Freemius recently had a campaign that inspired people to rally behind a worthy cause, allowing us to raise money to donate to a nonprofit.
Set the donation period on a website notification bar (like a header) and then allot a percentage of all sales during that period. You can even keep the header active after BFCM to showcase the total amount donated during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.
4. Focus on Offering Higher Value
Offer more site activations or licenses in your plans instead of lowering prices — this benefits sellers by maintaining ASP and buyers by providing future flexibility.
Most buyers don’t use all their site activations, so offering extras over the BFCM period won’t significantly increase your support load.
Another alternative is to increase the license period you typically offer. So, if you normally offer a monthly plan, you could add on two free months. Or, if you offer an annual plan, you can add three or even six months for the same price.
5. Refer a Friend
Referral programs can be an impactful, low-cost way to present your offer without devaluing your product. Marijana Gligoric, co-founder and CEO of brigit.dev has seen it work well in practice.
“We helped a SaaS client create a BFCM campaign offering existing users a special discount if they referred a friend during the sale period. This approach turned loyal customers into brand advocates and spread the word without high advertising costs.”
Bonus Tips for a Successful BFCM Promotion
Add Live Chat to Your Site
Adding temporary live chat during BFCM can boost sales by providing instant customer support and creating a personal connection. As this takes some effort to implement, this is a feature that helps you stand out from competitors regardless of your pricing strategy.
Extend Your Offer Period
Consider extending your BFCM sale beyond the traditional four-day weekend to maximize exposure.
Google data, highlighted in an analysis by Alex Denning, shows significant search volume both six weeks before and two weeks after BFCM.
You can leverage this untapped sales opportunity by surprising customers with an additional week of deals. This approach can capture shoppers who missed the initial rush or were undecided during the event.
Here’s how makers can add a coupon to the Freemius Checkout to catch customers who missed the BFCM offer. Just remember that discounts can’t be combined.
- Access your Developer Dashboard
- Navigate to Coupons → Add Coupon
- Configure discount (recommended: start at 5%)
- Create a 60-minute FOMO timer
Don’t Fall for the Tricks of Bargain Hunters
Software makers often use aggressive BFCM discounts to acquire new subscribers since over 50% typically renew at full price the following year.
However, savvy customers (also known as “discount hunters”) may try to game the system by renewing their subscriptions during future BFCM sales.
The solution? Use intelligent coupon systems to offer different discount tiers — like 50% off for new customers and 30% for existing ones — protecting your bottom line while still providing attractive offers to both customer segments.
Get Your Promotion Out Into the World and Measure It
It’s almost always unwise to put all your eggs in one basket.
Be sure to use multiple distribution channels — a dedicated Black Friday Cyber Monday landing page, email campaign, pop-up ads, and more — and see which ones work best for future reference.
Marijana from brigit.dev suggests hosting a webinar:
“Another effective tactic is hosting a quick, free live webinar on how to get the most out of the software; it generates genuine interest and showcases the product’s value in real-time, driving engagement right before BFCM kicks off.”
You can gauge which channels are most effective by offering different coupon codes that link back to each channel individually.
Alternatively, you can use UTM links with Google Analytics to see which channels bring in the most traffic and conversions.
With the planning sorted, let’s dive into tips and strategies for smooth BFCM execution.
Executing a Successful BFCM Sale
After promotion, it’s time to launch.
Rolling out a successful BFCM campaign requires more than just slashing prices — it’s about creating a seamless experience that converts browsers into buyers.
Here are the key elements that will help you maximize sales while protecting your margins and building lasting relationships with your new and existing users.
The Importance of Urgency and FOMO During Your BFCM Deal
The BFCM sales dance is all about creating urgency and FOMO.
Remember the countdown timer on the dedicated landing page we mentioned? It’s useful, but it won’t necessarily make users buy immediately. Add to the urgency by offering coupons limited according to tiers (50% off for the first 500 users, 30% off for the next 1000, etc.).
By creating a sense of scarcity, this strategy makes software with infinite inventory feel like a limited-time opportunity.
You could also build anticipation with a giveaway during BFCM. For example, a free one-year product license for one (or more) lucky user(s) who subscribe to your email list. It’s a double-win: you get to grow your subscriber base while marketing your product to new prospects.
Automatically Apply Coupons at Checkout
To make life easier for all parties involved (the customer and your marketing and support teams), ensure that users can checkout with an automatically activated coupon instead of entering a code manually. It reduces friction during checkout, speeds up purchases, and decreases abandoned carts.
Reduce Checkout Friction with a Single Coupon Code
Let’s say you decide to implement a 50% discount for a software product with a high subscription renewal rate but would like to offer a 30% discount for its lifetime license.
Leaving it up to the customer to select the correct coupon for their preferred billing cycle creates an unnecessary obstacle, likely reducing conversion rates and leading to lower sales.
With Freemius, you can create multiple coupons with the same coupon code and different settings, and the checkout will automatically apply the coupon according to the state of the cart (the product, number of licenses, billing cycle, and more).
For example, in the screenshot above, you can see an execution of a BFCM campaign with three discounts/coupons using the same coupon code:
- A 50% discount on the first payment for the first 100 buyers (this will only work for new customers)
- A 40% discount for the next 300 buyers (this will work for both existing and new customers)
- Finally, a 30% discount for the next 500 buyers, allowing the same buyers to buy multiple discounted licenses and also discount renewals
Discount the First Payment and Avoid Discounting Renewals
Not discounting renewals for BFCM customers might seem counterintuitive at first.
However, since they receive the same benefits as full-paying users, offering them a renewal discount isn’t exactly fair, is it? Plus, the extra support demands from bargain hunters can strain your resources and hinder your ability to improve your products and business.
Make it clear that the discounted price applies to a limited subscription period (usually one year) and that thereafter, renewals will be billed in full. You owe it to yourself, your products, and your recurring customer base.
There are also other perils to heed during Black Friday and Cyber Monday…
The Risks of Selling on Black Friday / Cyber Monday
While BFCM offers massive opportunities for software makers, it also comes with risks that can negatively impact your business after the sales end.
Understanding these challenges will help you craft a strategy that drives sustainable growth rather than just short-term gains.
Copying Your Competitors
Your product is unique, and your BFCM sale should be too. Setting your offer based on your competition is a common mistake small teams should avoid, according to Jack Paxton.
“Try to make your offer different, not just a lower price. Once you have this, make sure you understand how much you can pay to acquire a customer with this offer. If you know your lifetime value, average order value, operating cost, and COGS, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of how much you can afford to pay for a customer without losing money,” Jack adds that some brands tend to over discount, only to find out that strategy didn’t add any extra profit to the bottom line.
At the end of the day not all customers are good customers once you factor in refunds, returns, customer support, etc. So make sure you are attracting the right kind of customer.
Should You List New Products?
While BFCM’s buying frenzy might seem perfect for launching a new product, it comes with significant risks. This timing can attract bargain hunters who may not fit your ideal customer profile (ICP). Feedback from these users could misguide product improvements, making them less relevant to your target audience.
Fewer Renewals
Tragic as it may be, a good chunk of Black Friday / Cyber Monday bargain hunters will be less likely to renew their subscriptions at the regular price. For them, buying your product at a discounted price is usually a means to an end rather than a long-term solution.
According to Matt Cromwell, these bargain hunters tend to have higher support demands, usually cancel their subscriptions within less than two years, and often insist on discounts when they do decide to renew.
Of course, this problem isn’t unique to BFCM as customers looking for the cheapest solution will always be around. However, it’s worth preparing for.
Starting Your Sale Early
There are differing opinions on offering an early access sale versus sticking to the traditional BFCM window.
Some software makers argue that making customers wait weeks for a discount on something they want now feels counterproductive, while others believe early sales can devalue your product.
Keep in mind that extending your sale beyond the usual BFCM weekend could result in a larger share of discounted customers with the same support demands — whether they’re bargain hunters or not. The choice is yours, but be ready to handle the post-sale workload if you opt for an early sale.
While these risks are real, having the right tools and support system can help you navigate BFCM successfully. Let’s examine how Freemius helps sellers maximize their BFCM potential.
How Freemius Helps Sellers Make More Sales During BFCM
Freemius is passionate about helping our makers’ community — creators and companies who use our platform to sell their software products — generate solid profits during BFCM.
Over the past several years, we’ve leveraged our network in a collective effort to cross-promote our makers’ products by showcasing promotions on a dedicated BFCM landing page.
Practicing what we preach, we provide a single coupon code that buyers can use on the checkout page of any of the listed products, making for a seamless experience.
To participate, makers need to opt in to be part of our collective campaign. We then add banners to their Customer Portals and transactional emails to market the Freemius BFCM landing page to all participating makers’ users and customers.
Promotions via the User Dashboard
As per the above screenshot: When a user logs into the Customer Portal of a participating seller, they’ll see an eye-catching header advertising the Freemius makers’ community BFCM deals.
Promotions Through Transactional Emails
In some transactional emails, we attach a footer banner linking to our BFCM promotion. The BFCM footer will only be included if the software maker of the corresponding product(s) has agreed to enter Freemius’ BFCM promotion.
Please note that these promo perks are exclusive to software companies selling with Freemius. Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to join the club.
Moving Forward After the Madness
After Black Friday / Cyber Monday, it’s vital to collect data from your different channels — emails, social media, web analytics, etc. — and consolidate the information.
From there, you can draw insights (while the post-sale rush is fresh) and document them for 2025 and beyond!
While it’s essential to be prepared for BFCM, don’t stress or overthink it — especially if it’s your first time. Embrace the experience, learn as you go, and focus on improving for next year. With each round, it’s only going to get better!
Don’t forget to browse our Black Friday / Cyber Monday 2024 showcase now and explore 150+ software products at up to 80% off.
