Driving a 166% YoY Increase in CRM Revenue for BFCM
REESON Beauty is a UK-based skincare-infused makeup brand founded by beauty creator Really Ree, offering a curated range of high-quality cosmetics designed to deliver both instant radiance and long-term skin benefits.
The Challenge
Black Friday is a pivotal sales moment for REESON, but FY24 performance revealed several opportunities for improvement. The brand needed a CRM strategy that not only captured new sign-ups, but also maintained momentum from first touch to conversion, especially during a period where competition for attention is at its highest.
Key challenges included:
- Ensuring consistent and compelling messaging across flows and campaigns to avoid losing high-intent customers.
- Preventing wasted conversion opportunities for new subscribers whose early engagement coincided with the Black Friday period.
- Maintaining deliverability and audience health, while still increasing frequency to capitalise on peak seasonal interest.
- Designing a strategy that could warm up the database ahead of peak trading without fatigue or unsubscribe risk.
- Creating a clear value narrative around REESON’s offers, including tiered pre-BF discounts and the high-value final weekend incentive (30% off + free £24 worth brush).
REESON Beauty needed a CRM strategy that drove significant revenue during Black Friday while still protecting long-term customer engagement and list health.
The Solution
Gravytrain orchestrated a full-funnel CRM strategy spanning 30th October through early December, covering the pre-BF warm-up, the full Black Friday weekend, and Cyber Monday.
1. Flow optimisation ahead of peak
We rebuilt and refreshed key lifecycle flows well ahead of November to ensure they were:
- Fully aligned with the tiered and final offers
- Targeting users intelligently based on lifecycle stage
- Ready to convert new sign-ups entering the ecosystem during the sales period
- Structured to reinforce urgency without harming customer experience
Flows ultimately contributed to ~30% of all Black Friday revenue, demonstrating how critical they were to the campaign’s overall performance.
2. Consistent Black Friday messaging for new subscribers
To avoid disconnects between the sign-up incentive and the email experience, we:
- Updated all subject lines, preview text and email assets in real time
- Ensured the 30% off Black Friday messaging appeared throughout the welcome sequence
- Maintained urgency, clarity, and offer consistency across the funnel
This eliminated drop-off between sign-up and purchase, and ensured new subscribers immediately entered the Black Friday narrative.
3. Segmented campaign strategy to maximise conversions
Our approach combined several targeted actions to deliver a cohesive solution.
- The 60-day engaged segment received more frequent, value-driven communications to capitalise on high intent and recency.
- Highly engaged non-purchasers received product value emails (ingredients, reviews, UGC, hero product reminders) to tip them over the line.
- The wider database was engaged deliberately and selectively with key offer developments only, preserving deliverability and reducing fatigue.
- Campaigns were timed to maintain momentum, educate customers on value, and reinforce urgency at the right touchpoints.
4. Sign-up growth
Clear messaging on the website about subscription benefits and early access to deals supported continuous database growth throughout the period.
This resulted in a 6.7% increase in newsletter sign-ups, ensuring the top of the funnel remained active and primed for conversion.
The Results
The combined impact of strategic flows, smart segmentation, audience warming, and consistent messaging delivered one of REESON Beauty’s strongest peak seasons to date.
CRM-attributed revenue increased by 165.5% year-on-year (FY25 vs FY24), with the first Black Friday email alone generating 54% more revenue than its 2024 equivalent.
A well-prepared mix of flows and campaigns proved critical, contributing approximately 30% of total Black Friday revenue and underlining the value of pre-season planning.
Audience growth and engagement also strengthened throughout the campaign period. Newsletter sign-ups rose by 6.7%, while campaign-attributed revenue saw a 282.8% YoY uplift and flow-attributed revenue increased by 18% YoY.
Performance improvements extended beyond revenue. Campaign click rates improved by 47.2% YoY, and conversion rates from BFCM campaigns more than doubled, increasing by 101% year-on-year.
Crucially, these results were achieved without compromising list health, spam thresholds, or the overall subscriber experience.
Key Takeaway
REESON Beauty’s Black Friday 2025 performance shows the impact of getting the fundamentals right. With early preparation, clear and consistent messaging, and a thoughtful approach to segmentation and frequency, CRM became a key driver of revenue during the brand’s most important trading period.
