Thanksgiving is fast approaching. As a person living in the United States, this probably excites you. Everyone loves the comfort food, family togetherness and other traditions. As a marketer, this means something bigger. No, I’m not talking about the warm and fuzzy feelings that can be created with a Thanksgiving email campaign. I’m talking about the fact that Thanksgiving makes way for one of the biggest sales days of the year: Black Friday!

In fact, in some cases, Black Friday begins right after your last bite of pie after your Thanksgiving dinner. Retailers such as Toys R Us will be open Thursday night all the way through Friday evening. Details of the retailers with the biggest and best Black Friday sales are starting to emerge. Some have gone as far as to provide customers with blueprints of the store, so that they can plan their route (re: mad dash) through the store.

One result of the slumping economy has been smarter shoppers. Black Friday is the Super Bowl to smart shoppers. The smart shopper does his or her research prior to heading out into the chaos of Black Friday. Prepare your subscribers for your Black Friday goings on with a Black Friday email campaign. Make them need to add your deals to their Black Friday itinerary.