There’s a famous restaurant in Taiwan called Din Tai Fung.
It’s one of the most iconic Taiwanese restaurant chains worldwide.
When you look at their menu, you’ll notice that most of their famous dishes are fairly simple. No deconstructed bs. No foams. Just classics.
Fried rice, soup dumplings, red oil wontons, etc.
But they make every ingredient just right, combining them into a perfect dish.
A good offer works the same way.
In previous emails, I told you I want to share my personal step-by-step process for crafting effective offers for ecommerces during Black Friday (or any holiday promo).
But the truth is…
Instead of a step-by-step process…
It’s more like a collection of critical pillars.
A checklist of ingredients.
And the process of creating an outstanding offer is about getting as many “ingredients” just right.
The more elements you nail, the closer you are to an irresistible offer.
The more elements you miss, the heavier you rely on the strategy and copy.
With that being said…
Here’s my humble list of core elements for an irresistible offer:
1) Everything starts with a good product
*BANG-BANG-BANG*
I could already hear the angry villagers banging on my door.
“Wait, Wuyen! You just said in the last few emails that Product ≠ Offer.”
BOOOOOO
Hold your fire.
I did say product doesn’t equal offer, yet –
The relationship between a product and an offer is like that between a tree and its fruit. One apple tree can produce many, many apples.
BUT –
You cannot have a juicy, delicious apple (offer) without a healthy tree (product).
2) A good offer comes with a deadline
I hate to admit this.
But human beings are lazy animals by nature.
That includes me.
If there’s no deadline… there’s no urgency.
And urgency sweetens up the deal.
I’m going to take it one step farther and say…
Without a “tight enough” deadline, your offer loses its magic.
I have a client who wanted to scale their BFCM revenue. So they decided to extend their originally 18-day promo (2024) to 26 days (2025).
I warned them –
“Be careful. You must know that sales will not scale with an extended promo.”
They didn’t believe me.
They should.
Not only did the promo make very few sales during the extended middle period, but the extended timeframe KILLED the urgency for the close cart.
This made the WHOLE promo less effective.
Yes, re-read that line.
Extending a promo can make you earn LESS in total.
Because very few prospects will tune in to purchase in the last few days (when the closing deadline was supposed to drive most sales).
3) A good offer comes with a narrative
A mission.
A reason why.
A story behind why you’re doing this.
Batman without the childhood tragedy would just be a weirdo in spandex. But Master Wayne, with a mission to eliminate crime in Gotham City, becomes a weirdo known as Hero.
Yes, Black Friday is a shopping holiday.
BUT you can still give it a purpose.
To give you one example –
I helped a client run a very successful BFCM launch with the theme “We won the tariff.” Because the whole industry has been looming under the shadow of the new Trump tariffs… and only recently seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
This narrative boosted the engagement (and desire).
It also gave me a reason to send more emails than usual.
4) A good offer must stand true
If you say the value of a Mystery Gift is 20 bucks…
…you better be damn sure you give 20+ buckaroos in real retail value.
5) A good offer makes you wince in pain
If you’re not scared… uncomfortable… and doubting yourself about this offer… it’s not a good enough deal.
You have to be naturally worried about “Am I offering too much?”
6) A good offer should start with a BANG… and end with FOMO
Here’s what I mean…
Most brands make the mistake of running an Early Black Friday Promo with a semi-good deal… and making another “irresistible offer” on Black Friday Weekend.
But why?
The people who buy early are your BEST customers.
They trust you enough to buy immediately.
WHY ARE YOU PUNISHING YOUR BEST CUSTOMERS?
Instead, here’s what I recommend –
Start with a (very early) Early Black Friday Flash Sale.
Like the first week of November, early.
Offer this to your past customers ONLY.
Make it the ABSOLUTE BEST DEAL of the year.
Close the deal in 3-4 days. Maximum 5.
Then…
Reopen the cart, with a slightly reduced deal, a week or two before Black Friday.
This is your “official” Black Friday Sale — to your whole list.
Open the cart for 3 days…
…then start taking away the deals one by one until you reach the Black Friday Weekend.
To give you an example –
Let’s say you sell beef.
Your main Black Friday deal is up to 35 percent off.
In the first week of November, you open your cart to your past customers with… 50 percent off, 3-day flash sale.
Then, you reopen the offer of up to 35 percent off a week before BF… taking one collection off the shelf at a time.
Day 1 – Everything up to 35 percent off
Day 2 – Everything up to 35 percent off
Day 3 – Everything up to 35 percent off
Day 4 – Everything up to 35 percent off… excluding Filet Mignon
Day 5 – Everything up to 35 percent off… excluding Filet and ribeyes
Day 6 – Everything up to 35 percent off… excluding all steaks
Day 7 – 35 percent off ground beef and burgers only
Now…
I pull these numbers (and product type) out of thin air.
So, it might make no sense. That’s not the point.
I just want you to see how I front-load the value while manufacturing a stronger and stronger urgency every day.
7) Price makes or breaks your offer
Did you know that the first impression someone has of your price will make or break your offer?
I remember reading an experiment…
(I’m recalling from memory here, so these aren’t the original numbers)
When a magazine listed its price as:
~ digital: 50
~ print: 125
~ print + digital: 125
The overwhelming majority ended up buying the third option — print + digital.
Why?
Because the first price of the digital offer anchored the value in people’s minds.
It gave people a perspective on how valuable the print version is.
Then…
When they see an option to get both… while receiving the digital version for free… they jump at the opportunity.
Did they really want the paper version?
No.
But they now know it’s valuable.
That’s why your pricing should always be carefully planned.
Not merely a mindless discount calculated from your margin.
There you go.
This is a lot to take in. Re-read this email a few more times to soak it in before you make your next offer.
Tomorrow, I’m going to wrap up this series with a quick recap.
To be continued…
– WYH