Jimmy KimCEO & Founder, Commerce Roundtable · Marketer of 17+ Years, 4x Founder. Former DTC/Retailer & SaaS Founder. Newsletter. Host of ASOM & Send it! Podcast. DTC Event: Commerce Roundtable

Q5 Mistakes: What NOT to Do After Black Friday

20 Nov 2025 · 1 min

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In this brief dialogue, Jimmy Kim warns marketers about common mistakes to avoid when transitioning from Black Friday (BFCM) to the Q5 period. He emphasizes that simply copying the exact Black Friday email campaign without any changes is a bad practice, as customers will notice the repetition. Instead, marketers should modify the framing, messaging, and possibly the offer to keep the campaign feeling fresh. Additionally, Jimmy cautions against over‑discounting—regularly offering deep discounts (e.g., 40% off) can train customers to expect low prices and devalue the brand. Q5 should be used to drive revenue without resorting to heavy discounting, leveraging the natural spending momentum after the holiday season.

Let's talk about what not to do. I think, you know, what you should not do, run the same exact BFCM sale with no changes, right? That's crazy. If you copy and paste your Black Friday emails, people will be like, didn't we just do this? I think that's really important to understand. Just because we're saying run the same sale doesn't mean run the exact same sales. Thoughts?
Yeah. Change the framing, change the messaging, maybe adjust the offer slightly. Just make it feel fresh. It doesn't have to be entirely new.
Yeah. And we'll add, don't overdiscount. If you train people that you do 40% off every week, you're kind of valuing your brand as a 40% off brand. And Q5 is a chance to drive revenue without racing to the bottom. Again, people are just spending.
Yeah, you know you gotta send it so you can learn a lesson from retention marketing to email and text message.