Dates below were checked on Nov 08, 2026.
Black Friday email season is loud. Your customers' inboxes fill up with giant brands shouting "50% OFF EVERYTHING" in all caps, and your little email has to stand out next to that.
Here is the good news. You do not need to sound like a big brand. You need to sound like you. The owner your customers already know, like and trust. That is the one thing the big guys cannot copy.
So I put together 11 copy-paste prompts that write your whole holiday email sequence in Claude or ChatGPT. Teaser, launch, reminders, last call and thank-you. Each one is built to sound like a real person wrote it, because a real person (you) is steering it.
Mark your calendar first
Here is how the big weekend falls this year:
- Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 26
- Black Friday: Friday, November 27
- Small Business Saturday: Saturday, November 28
- Cyber Monday: Monday, November 30
That gives you a natural five-day stretch, plus a week or two of warm-up before it. If you want the full day-by-day game plan (not just email), read my 7-day Black Friday plan for small business owners next.
Before you start: give the AI your voice
Every prompt below works better if the AI knows how you talk. Open a fresh chat and paste this first:
Before we write anything, I want you to learn my voice. Here are 3 emails or posts I've written that sound like me: [paste them]. Describe my tone, my favorite phrases, how long my sentences usually are, and what I never say. Then use that voice for every email we write in this chat. My business is [what you sell] and my customers are [who they are].
Now every email in that chat starts from your voice, not a generic one. Keep using the same chat for the whole sequence so it remembers.
The 11 holiday email prompts
1. The list warm-up email
Send this one or two weeks before Black Friday. It is not a sales email. It wakes up your list so your offer does not land cold.
Write a short, friendly email to my list that is NOT selling anything. Share one helpful tip about [your topic] and one small personal update from my business this month. End by letting them know I have something special coming the week of Thanksgiving, without giving details. Keep it under 150 words.
2. The teaser email
This builds a little curiosity a few days out.
Write a teaser email for my holiday offer: [describe the offer]. Hint at what's coming without revealing the full deal. Give one reason this is the best time of year to get it. Tell them to watch their inbox on [date]. Sound excited but not pushy. Give me 3 subject line options.
3. The VIP early-access email
Your past buyers are your best people. Treat them that way. Send this to that segment a day before everyone else.
Write an early-access email just for my past customers. Thank them for buying from me before and mention it feels personal, because it is. Give them first access to [offer] starting [date and time], one day before everyone else. Keep it warm, like a note from a friend who owns a shop.
4. The Black Friday launch email
This is the big one. Clear offer, clear deadline, one button.
Write my Black Friday launch email for [offer, price and what's included]. Open with how my customer will feel after they have it, not the features. Then list what they get in 3 to 5 short bullets. State the deadline clearly: [end date and time]. Use ONE call to action button that says [button text]. Under 250 words.
5. The Small Business Saturday email
This is your day. Lean into being small and local.
Write a Small Business Saturday email for my business. Tell a short, true story about why I started it: [your story in 2 sentences]. Remind people that shopping small supports real people in their community. Mention my offer is still live until [deadline]. Make it heartfelt, not guilt-trippy.
6. The "here's what people are loving" reminder
A mid-sale reminder that does not just repeat the launch email.
Write a reminder email for my holiday sale. Instead of repeating the offer, share what customers are picking most and why: [list your top 2 or 3 items or the most common question you're getting]. Answer one common question in the email. Remind them of the deadline at the end.
7. The Cyber Monday email
Cyber Monday is the last big day of the weekend, so make it feel like a fresh reason to open.
Write a Cyber Monday email for [offer]. Give a fresh angle compared to my Black Friday email, like a small bonus, a gift-ready option, or "for the person who missed it this weekend." Keep it short and upbeat. Give me 3 subject lines and matching preview text.
8. The last-call email
Plain and personal works best here. Short sentences. Real deadline.
Write a last-call email that sounds like I typed it myself in 5 minutes. No images, no hype. Tell them the offer ends tonight at [time and time zone]. One sentence on who this is perfect for. One link. Sign it with my first name.
9. The "we don't do discounts" email
Not every business can or should slash prices. You can still show up in the inbox with something worth reading.
I don't want to discount this year. Write a holiday email that explains, warmly and without judging anyone, why I'm not running a Black Friday sale. Then offer something else of value instead: [a gift with purchase, a free guide, a holiday tip, or a donation]. Make my customers feel good about buying from me at full price.
10. The thank-you email
Most businesses forget this one. That is exactly why it gets noticed.
Write a thank-you email to everyone who bought during my holiday sale. Make it sincere and specific to [what they bought]. Tell them what happens next (delivery, access, how to get started). Invite them to reply and tell me what they're most excited about. No selling in this email.
11. The subject line and preview text builder
Run this on every email above before you hit send.
Here is my email: [paste it]. Write 10 subject lines in my voice. Make each one promise only what the email actually delivers. Mix it up: curious, direct, personal and a little playful. Then write matching preview text for my top 3 picks, under 90 characters each.
How to put the sequence together
Here is a simple schedule you can steal:
- Two weeks before: Prompt 1, the warm-up
- Monday or Tuesday of Thanksgiving week: Prompt 2, the teaser
- Thursday, Nov 26: Prompt 3, VIP early access to past buyers
- Friday, Nov 27: Prompt 4, the launch
- Saturday, Nov 28: Prompt 5, Small Business Saturday
- Sunday, Nov 29: Prompt 6, the reminder
- Monday, Nov 30: Prompt 7 in the morning, Prompt 8 in the evening
- A few days after: Prompt 10, the thank-you
Using Prompt 9 instead of a sale? Swap it in for Prompt 4 and keep the rest of the rhythm.
Three things to check before you send
- Read it out loud. If it sounds like a brand and not like you, tell the AI "make this sound more like a text to a friend."
- Check every date, price and link. AI is a great writer and a sloppy fact-checker. You are the editor.
- One email, one button. If you see two calls to action, cut one.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start my Black Friday emails?
Start warming up your list one to two weeks before Black Friday, which is Friday, November 27 this year. Then send your main offer emails from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday on November 30.
How many emails should a small business send for Black Friday?
Four to eight is plenty for most small businesses. The minimum is a warm-up, a launch, one reminder and a last call. Add more only if your list is engaged and opening.
Can I use these prompts in ChatGPT and Claude?
Yes. They work in both. Use one chat for the whole sequence and paste your writing samples first, so every email sounds like you.
Will AI-written emails sound robotic?
Only if you skip the voice step. Give the AI three real samples of your writing, then read every email out loud before you send it. Edit anything that does not sound like you.
Do I have to offer a discount on Black Friday?
No. Prompt 9 is built for that. You can offer a gift with purchase, a bonus, a free guide or a donation instead, and still show up in your customers' inboxes that week.
What should I write in my subject lines?
Something specific and honest that the email actually delivers. Use Prompt 11 to get 10 options in your voice, then pick the one you would open yourself.
Want your marketing to sound like you every time?
Here is what most people do not realize. Once you know how to use Claude or ChatGPT, you can automate almost all of your marketing, including every holiday email above.
I just trained 450 people on my AI Marketing Machine skill. You install it, answer a few questions, and it takes my 20 years of marketing and puts it into 6 files that live on your laptop. From then on, every time you ask Claude or ChatGPT to write an email, a post or a promo, it pulls from those files and writes content that sounds exactly like you. No more pasting your writing samples every time.
It is not magic. It is just a new kind of technology, and you do not need to be a developer to use it.
No membership. No subscription. Just one download.
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