If you’re reading this a week before Black Friday, you’re probably not looking for a brand-new funnel.
You’re looking at what you already built and thinking:
“Is this still right for this year?”
“Did I accidentally copy-paste 2024?”
“Is there anything I can tweak that will actually move the needle?”
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: from this point, what you say in the next 7–10 days matters more than what you build.
The biggest mistake brands make right now is assuming the customer they’re emailing in 2025 is the same customer they sold to in 2020. Same discount, same urgency hacks, same “last 24 hours!” subject lines.
But consumers have changed, quietly, and a lot.
Inflation, tariffs, AI, TikTok, political unrest… our collective neural wiring has been completely rewired from the ground up in the last year alone.
In a training I just did for my membership, I walked through five major behavioral shifts among buyers this year. You don’t need to rebuild your campaigns around them.
You just need to rewrite how you talk to people.
This guide is your “week-before-BFCM” checklist: the fastest fixes you can still make that will matter for BFCM and the rest of the holiday season.
Shift #1: Consumers Aren’t Revenge Spending. They’re “Revenge Saving.”
A few years ago, everyone was “revenge spending.” They got out of lockdown and sprinted to the mall to prove to themselves they were alive.
That’s over.
In my conversations and in the data, I’m seeing a different flex: people want to feel responsible. They’re bragging about how much they put into their 401k or sharing that they boosted their emergency fund.
I call it “revenge saving.”
Nobody officially stamped “recession” on the year, but it feels like one. So people are future-proofing. They want to be the person who “did the smart thing,” even if they’re still spending.
That doesn’t mean they’ll never buy your stuff. But it means they only feel good about buying if it still fits their “I’m responsible” identity.
What to change this week
You don’t have time to invent a whole new promo. You do have time to change how you frame it.
a. Shift from “You deserve this” → “You’re preparing for later.”
Bad week-before copy:
“You’ve worked hard. You deserve to treat yourself. Take 40% off just because.”
Better copy for 2025:
“Lock in what you’ll need for the next 6 months while it’s 40% off.”
“Stock up once now so you don’t have to think about it again until spring.”
Where to update:
BFCM announcement email hero and subhead
Sale landing page headline
Bundle descriptions (“3-month supply” → “3-month buffer”)
Any “treat yourself” messaging in your ads
b. Make your deals look like “future-proofing.”
If you sell consumables or repeat-use products:
Rename sets to “stock-up bundles” or “seasonal supply kits”
Call out: “You’re covered through January / through spring / for the school year”
If you sell higher-ticket items:
Tie it to future use: “This covers you for the next 100 workouts / 50 commutes / 30 events.”
The identity shift is simple:
Old identity: “I’m free, I can splurge.”
New identity: “I’m smart, I’m prepared.”
Write to that person, and your existing offer gets a lot more interesting.
Shift #2: Mental Health Isn’t a Bonus. It’s the Infrastructure.
Another huge shift: mental health went from “if I have time” to “this is fundamental.”
In the fifties through the early 2000s, people would drag themselves into work no matter how they felt. Now you’ll hear:
“If I’m having a bad day, I just don’t go in.”
“My mental health comes first; I’ll deal with work later.”
That mindset bleeds into buying behavior.
People aren’t just asking:
“Is this a good deal?”
They’re asking:
“Is this going to make my life easier or more stressful?”
“Is this adding one more thing to my brain, or taking a load off?”
BFCM stacks stress by default: inbox overload, timers, decisions, FOMO.
If your messaging adds hype on top of that, it’s just noise.
What to change this week
You don’t have to become a wellness brand. Simply stop pretending your customer isn’t exhausted.
a. Rewrite urgency into relief.
Instead of: “Don’t miss out! Time’s running out!”
Try: “One less thing to think about in December.”
b. Acknowledge that being human right now is hard.
Try something like, “This season is… a lot. If you’re tired of making 10,000 tiny decisions a day, we get it. Our BFCM deal is simple on purpose: one choice, handled now, pays you back later.”
Where to update:
Welcome flow (for new subs joining during BFCM): “We’re not here to spam you. We’re here to make at least one part of your holiday easier.”
Abandoned cart flow: “If this sits in your cart one more day, your brain has to keep tracking it. Let’s cross at least one decision off your list.”
Banners and pop-ups: “Holiday brain is real. We kept this deal stupid simple.”
Treat “reducing decision load” as part of the value proposition. Because for many shoppers, it is.
Shift #3: Loss-Mode Buyers vs. Gain-Mode Buyers (A.K.A. Why Some Shoppers Go Huge When They Feel Broke)
Here’s where it gets fun. Because people are saving more and watching the economy, you’re seeing two very different buying modes:
Loss-mode buyers
They feel like they’re behind. Money’s tight. Life’s heavy.
Surprisingly, loss-mode buyers will often buy more—not less. They go big on one shot to “make it worth it.”
Gain-mode buyers
They feel stable-ish. “I'm not going to buy everything, I want the BEST thing.”
Gain-mode buyers will buy less, but will make one very considered, very safe purchase.
You want to have offers that speak to both types of buyers.
What to change this week
You do have time to give people two paths through the same sale.
a. Add a “go big” path and a “safe bet” path.
For loss-mode buyers (down bad, want to catch up):
Big bundles (“9–12 months of product”)
“All-in” kits
Language like: “Set yourself up for the next year in one click.”
For gain-mode buyers (feeling okay, want control):
One hero product, discounted
Easy add-ons or gifts with purchase
Language like: “Not ready for the full bundle? Start with the one thing our customers refuse to give up.”
b. Build this directly into your sale page and emails.
On your sale landing page:
Option A: “Go all in” → highlight your biggest bundle or stack deal
Option B: “Just grab the essentials” → highlight the safest starter
In your emails:
First content block: “For the planners who want to be stocked until spring”
Second content block: “For the careful shoppers who want to try one thing first”
You don’t have to perfectly segment loss vs gain mode with data this week.
Just acknowledging both ways of feeling—and giving both a logical option—makes your sale feel more human and less like a one-size-fits-none.
Shift #4: Trust Is Low. So Stop Faking Urgency and Start Showing Receipts.
Let’s be real, advertisers did this to themselves.
We’ve spent years:
Saying “Last 48 hours!” and then extending the sale on Monday
Calling everything “biggest sale of the year”
Pretending discounts are rare when we run one every six weeks
Consumers noticed. They’re not dumb.
Nobody trusts businesses in the U.S. anymore.
Even when people have a good experience, it doesn’t hold the same weight—especially for younger buyers.
Their belief is: “Most brands are just trying to make money off me, and the offer is probably not as good as they say it is.”
You can’t talk people out of that belief by insisting you’re different.
You have to show them.
What to change this week
You will not rebuild trust in 7 days. But you can stop digging the hole deeper.
Two priorities:
Ditch fake urgency.
Replace claims with proof.
a. Make your scarcity visual, not arbitrary.
Instead of hammering “24 hours left!” in every email, show the product disappearing, not the clock.
If you started the month with 1,000 units:
Pre-sale: “We’re about to launch BFCM with 1,000 units of [Product]. We don’t expect them to last.”
Mid-sale: “We’re down to 512 units. Here’s how fast they’ve moved in a week.”
BFCM weekend: “157 left as of this morning. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
That feels urgent because it’s real, and you’re being transparent with shoppers about how much you have to give.
You can do this with:
Plain text updates
Simple counters on site
A progress bar in your emails
b. Show the math.
If you’re claiming “this is a $60 value,” prove it.
“Here’s what it costs us to make this: X.
Here’s our margin so we can keep running the business: Y.
Here’s what you pay during BFCM: Z.”
That transparency is disarming. It says, “We know you think we’re trying to trick you. We’re not. Here’s the breakdown.”
Where to update:
Abandoned cart flows: Add a line like: “We started with 1,000. There are 143 left. We won’t extend this when it sells out.”
BFCM banners / headlines: Instead of “Last chance!” say “Sale runs from X to Y. We won’t extend it.” (And then actually don’t.)
Sale page body copy: Add a short “How we priced this” or “Why this is the best price you’ll see this year” section with numbers, not adjectives.
Consumers are operating on “show, don’t tell” this year. Your copy has to keep up.
Shift #5: Stop Re-Running 2024. Ask People How They Feel Right Now!
Marketers love to ask, “What worked for us last year?”
It’s the wrong question.
Yes, you can learn from your 2024 playbook. But you can’t just rerun it like your customer hasn’t changed. The better question is:
“What are people feeling about BFCM this year—and how do we join that conversation instead of ignoring it?”
The simplest, fastest way to answer that? Run a survey. Even a tiny one.
What to do this week
If you do nothing else after reading this, do this:
a. Ask 1–2 questions. That’s it.
“How are you feeling about BFCM this year?”
Skeptical
Indifferent
Excited
Or “Which describes you best right now?”
“I don’t really trust brands during BFCM.”
“I’m excited for deals but picky about what I buy.”
“Honestly, I haven’t thought about it.”
Send it to your list, run it as a poll on social, or drop it into a post-purchase survey.
b. Match your messaging to how they feel.
If most people are skeptical:
Lean hard on transparency, proof, and clear dates.
Use copy like “We know you’ve been burned by sales before. Here’s exactly what we’re doing and not doing.”
If they’re indifferent:
You need more pattern breaks and humor.
“We’re not here to scream about 48-hour timers. We’re here to give you one really good reason to care.”
If they’re genuinely excited:
Make the path to “go big” crystal clear and remove friction.
“If you’re ready, here’s how to get the maximum value with the least effort.”
The point is you follow them, not the other way around.
How to Prioritize in the Last Week Before BFCM
You’re not going to rebuild your BFCM infrastructure in a week. But you can make your communication match the 2025 brain.
Keep this mind, these behaviors don’t evaporate on Cyber Monday. People will keep:
Revenge saving
Prioritizing mental health
Oscillating between loss-mode and gain-mode
Distrusting vague marketing claims
Your holiday campaigns in December—and honestly, your 2026 planning—will be better if you stop treating this as a one-week anomaly and start treating it as a new baseline.
