Howdy Readers š„°Ā
In this newsletter, youāll find:
š Why your best BFCM offer should never appear on your website
š¢ ChatGPT expands shopping ads, cta buttons, and AI-powered creative enhancements
š Ad of the day
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š Why your best BFCM offer should never appear on your website
When a Black Friday offer goes live sitewide, it reaches everyone at once: subscribers, coupon sites, marketplace price trackers, and shoppers who would have paid full price anyway.
An email-only offer works differently. It exists for the people you chose and nobody else.
What it protects
Public pricing. Your site keeps its normal sale structure, so price-tracking tools and comparison sites donāt record your deepest discount.
Subscriber value. Being on your list means something. That gives people a reason to stay subscribed after the holidays.
Measurement. Every redemption traces back to one send, so you can see what email drove it without arguing over attribution.
Enflow Digital used exactly this setup for a skincare client before BFCM. The offer didnāt appear anywhere on the brandās website.
One plain-text email went to 1,676 loyal customers, chosen with Omnisendās segmentation, and generated nearly $18,000, beating the previous monthās broad-audience campaigns combined. Co-founder Karolina explains how they built the audience and the offer.
How to keep it email-only
Use single-use codes. One code per recipient stops a code from spreading to coupon sites. If your platform canāt issue them, use a hidden landing page plus a short code expiry.
Hide the landing page. Exclude it from navigation and site search, and add a noindex tag so it doesnāt show up in search results.
Set an expiry. A 72-hour window keeps the offer tight. That length is my judgment.
Limit stacking. Make sure the code canāt combine with your public sale, or your best customers get a discount nobody planned.
Test for leaks
Search the code name on the main coupon sites 24 hours after sending. Check redemptions against recipients too. If redemptions come from accounts that never received the email, the code leaked.
Choose who gets it
An email-only offer works best for a defined group, such as repeat buyers or your most engaged subscribers. Sending it to your whole list turns it back into a public sale with extra steps.
What to offer
Email-only doesnāt have to mean the deepest discount. A gift, a bundle that isnāt sold publicly or early access to limited stock all feel exclusive without putting a lower price on record.
Omnisend runs email and SMS for 150,000+ ecommerce brands, and migration takes up to five business days at no cost. You can check out Omnisend here.
Pick one group for an email-only BFCM offer, and set up single-use codes before you write the email.
š¢ ChatGPT expands shopping ads, cta buttons and AI-powered creative enhancements
OpenAI is expanding ChatGPTās advertising capabilities with single-brand shopping ads, clickable CTA buttons and automated creative enhancements, while fixing a tracking bug that caused marketers to underestimate referral traffic.
The Breakdown:
ChatGPT Tests Single-Brand Shopping Ads - New ad units appear at the bottom of ChatGPT responses, displaying products from one advertiser with its website name, favicon, product images, and prices.
CTA Buttons Appear Inside ChatGPT Ads - OpenAI is testing clickable calls to action with dotted underlines and arrow icons, giving advertisers a more prominent way to direct users toward their websites or offers.
AI Will Automatically Modify Ad Creatives - Starting October 31, OpenAIās creative enhancements will be enabled by default, allowing AI to rewrite headlines, translate copy, resize images, and optimize landing page destinations without approving every variation.
ChatGPT Fixes Referral Tracking Bug - Missing UTM parameters caused approximately 31,000 daily ChatGPT visits to disappear from referral reports in one analysis, with many classified as direct traffic. OpenAI began rolling out a fix on October 15.
ChatGPT is expanding its advertising formats while introducing more automation into campaign delivery. Advertisers gain new opportunities for product visibility and engagement, but should review creative enhancement settings and monitor attribution accuracy to maintain control over their campaigns and measure performance reliably.
š Ad of the Day
What Works:
Positioning Feels Distinct - āClear thinker drinkerā gives the alcohol-free proposition a sharper identity, reframing abstaining as an intentional lifestyle choice rather than a compromise.
Benefits Scan Easily - Alcohol-free, low sugar, 60 calories, and vegan cues surround the product clearly, reducing cognitive load while giving shoppers multiple fast reasons to consider switching.
Color Builds Appetite - The warm yellow background and orange drink create a bright, refreshing visual system, while the red can keeps branding recall strong and the product easy to spot.
Instead of only listing functional benefits, give the customer a label they want to identify with. Strong identity framing can make alternative products feel more aspirational.
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