Want gold in the Ecommerce Olympics? Your community is already telling you how.
With the Ecommerce Olympics kicking off in just over three weeks, now’s the time to make sure you’re getting everything you can out of Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Your budget’s set, ad costs are about to climb, and the temptation is to put every dollar into reaching new people. But some of your biggest opportunities are already sitting in front of you: the customers talking about your brand, the people posting about your products, and the videos in your drive that nobody’s seen yet.
More spend in November usually means paying peak prices for the same attention. Everything we published in October is about getting more out of what you’ve already got, so here are three places to start listening before the rush.
3 · From our blog
The reason people aren’t buying is probably already on Reddit
When sales stall, you’re usually guessing why, right? On Reddit, your customers are telling each other. For one of our drinkware brands, people kept posting that a lost straw made the whole bottle useless, when the brand already sold replacement parts nobody knew about. One thread like that can tell you what to fix and what to say in your Black Friday ads. See what to look for on Reddit →
Your best TikTok creators might already be your customers
Briefing creators who’ve never used your product is a gamble, because if they don’t believe in it, it shows. Some of your best potential affiliates are already your customers, posting about you simply because they love it. Search TikTok for your brand name this week, and you might find people already doing the hard work of selling for you. See how to bring them in →
Your next customers are on YouTube, and you’ve already paid for the videos
When you need to reach new people, the reflex is another shoot, but you probably already have the videos sitting in your channel doing nothing. YouTube Shorts put them in front of people who don’t follow you yet. For Sterling, we cut clips they already had into Shorts, and one cleared 21,000 views without a new shoot. Get the three-step plan →
2 · Two we’re watching
Lifestyle & Outdoor: Cotopaxi is building the buzz before the sale
Cotopaxi is dropping a limited-edition product every other day from November 1 to 11, so people are paying attention before its Black Friday sale even starts. I love this, because a teaser that says “something big is coming” warms people up in a way 20% off never does, and by the time the deal lands, they already know who you are. Read more on Modern Retail →
Food & Bev, CPG & Wellness: Fewer brands plan to sell through their own site this holiday
Glossy found only 46% of brands plan to use their own e-commerce site this holiday, down from 69% in 2025. If people buy your product again, that’s a risky trade, because Amazon keeps the customer and you can’t email them in January. To me, getting holiday buyers onto your list and into subscribe-and-save is the unlock. Read more on Glossy →
1 · Thank them before you sell to them
US Thanksgiving lands on November 26, Black Friday on the 27th, and Cyber Monday on the 30th, so for the next few weeks every brand in your customer’s inbox will be shouting about a discount. Your best customers don’t need the loudest offer, they need to feel like insiders.
So before the sales email goes out, send them a real thank-you, give them first access to the deal or a private code, and ask them what they’d tell a friend about you. People share the deals they feel part of, and a customer passing your offer to a friend is reach you don’t pay for, right when ad costs are at their highest.
Dove didn’t start a new conversation about its hair mask. It joined the one customers were already having on Reddit and published their first 50 reviews exactly as written. Our newest blog shows you how to find the customers already recommending you and make it easy for them to send their friends, with a 20-minute daily habit.
Before you spend more this month, use what you’ve already built.
Sources
- Waldow, J. (2026). “Cotopaxi Adopts a Drop Strategy to Build Buzz Ahead of BFCM”. modernretail.co
- Wolf, C. and Lu, L. (2026). “Glossy Research: Brands’ Focus on Owned Channels Wavers for the 2026 Holiday Season”. glossy.co
- Unilever (2026). “How Dove Turned Reddit’s Unfiltered Honesty Into Unmissable Marketing”. unilever.com
