Updated November 23, 2022
I love Black Friday. I use this marketing madness to declutter my email. It’s amazing how many email lists only reach out to sell me stuff on Black Friday.
Happy Email Relationships
Now, let’s be clear, I enjoy happy email relationships with numerous online retailers. Reitmans, LEGO, Tombow, Trinny London, and other retailers are all welcome in my inbox. I buy, use, and enthuse about their products. I welcome their emails because we have an ongoing relationship.
Similarly, I have happy email relationships with many professional colleagues and organizations. I look forward to hearing from Rebecca Coleman, Mike Vardy, Chris Brogan, and Vicki McLeod, as well as GetConnected and BC BookWorld.
Unhappy Email Relationships
Black Friday is when the unhappy email relationships appear. The spammy business lists are a good example. Retailers and other businesses that only email to sell you their latest offer. All sales all the time is not a good look!
There are also crowdfunders that have added me to lists based on my Kickstarter support. Some of those are happy email relationships. A few of the 94 campaigns I’ve supported have been disappointments. And it seems the disappointments are the companies I’m most likely to hear from on Black Friday. Sigh…
What treasures have popped up in your inbox this Black Friday? Any truly archaic contacts? Weirdly wonderful messages? Frustrating free-not-free content?
Unsubscribe Is the Solution
By law, every bulk email 
you receive should include an easy way to unsubscribe. A simple click is usually all that’s needed. And if you’ve read my book, Declutter Your Data, you know I’m a big fan of digital decluttering.
If I unsubscribe, please don’t take it personally. I may no longer be interested or I have been added unwillingly to your list. For some brands, I find it easier to keep up to date with your community via Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. As Sandra Yancey said about customers who aren’t meant to be, “bless and release”. There’s no point in forcing someone to stay on your email list if they aren’t interested.
I find it interesting that so many companies pay to keep names on a list. As a business owner, I would rather have a small list of quality contacts. Yes, I understand some email marketing campaigns are a numbers game. If 2% respond and your list is 1,000 strong, in theory, you’ll have even more success if your list is 10,000 strong. But I maintain that it depends on the quality of your list!
Black Friday Emails
In summary, I love Black Friday. It helps me declutter my email subscriptions, reduce my inbox overload, and saves the sender a few marketing pennies.
And, yes, I purchase a few Black Friday specials, Small Business Saturday items, and Cyber Monday deals. My bargain hunting ways are a different story…
P.S. Unsubscribe works any day of the year!