Beyond Black Friday: How to Turn Holiday Traffic Into Year-Round Growth

The lights have dimmed on the holiday season. Sales are slowing and shoppers are budgeting after the seasonal splurge. But according to the experts we’ve consulted from Klaviyo, Recharge, and Maison MRKT, taking a post-holiday breather is a mistake. 

In our latest webinar, "Beyond Black Friday: How to Activate Your Customer Data for Ongoing Growth," we discuss how to turn one-time discount hunters into high-value, loyal customers.

This is our recap with core strategies to carry through Q1. Our full post–Black Friday webinar is available on demand any time.

1. Perform Segmentation Triage

Lizzie Chapman, AdRoll VP of Tech Partnerships & Channels, warns against “data amnesia,” which is treating your new seasonal customers exactly like your old ones. The week following Cyber Monday is time for segmentation triage. Categorize your data into functional buckets:

• Multi-buyers: Your new power users

• Gift-givers: Shoppers who bought for others and need different nurturing

• Zero-discount buyers: People who love your brand enough to pay full price during a sale (these are your unicorns!)

One of Lizzie’s pro tips is to use the first post-purchase email to validate the purchase. Don't hard-sell immediately. Instead, send a "thank-you" that tells your brand story or provides product education.

2. Tier Your Post-Purchase Flows

Dan Goldstein from Klaviyo suggests a tiered flow strategy to maximize second-purchase conversions. It goes like this:

• Tier 0 (table stakes): Automated thank-you notes and UGC requests

• Tier 1 and 2 (strategic pivot): Cross-sell flows that suggest complementary products. If they bought a mattress on Black Friday, stop showing them mattresses and start showing them nightstands or pillows.

• Predictive analytics: Data to find the median time to second purchase. If your average customer buys again at 90 days, trigger a mini-winback offer at day 75.

(As a sidenote, AdRoll integrates with Klaviyo to sync your Klaviyo lists and segments to dynamically target subscribers with hyper-relevant AdRoll web ads. Learn more about what you can do with Klaviyo + AdRoll!)

3. Leverage Subscriptions

Casey Murray from Recharge notes that a subscriber can be 4–6x more valuable than a one-time buyer. To move a holiday shopper to a subscriber without relying on a perpetual discount, focus on education rather than a hard sell.

For subscriptions, it’s important to proactively predict churn. If a new subscriber hasn't clicked an email or logged in, they’re a high churn risk. Reach out with educational "how-to" content rather than a sales pitch.

Keep subscriptions easy. Remind customers that your subscription isn't a gym membership trap. Make it clear they can skip, pause, or cancel anytime.

4. Move From Transactional to Generational

Lexi Nastos from Maison MRKT has this point: You cannot discount your way out of a Q1 slump. Instead, maintain interest by creating additional branded opportunities throughout the year. Use microholidays like International Women’s Day or local pop-ups to create excitement without slash-and-burn pricing. Or, use creators for creative diversification. This helps your ads feel less like sales pitches and more like community recommendations.

5. Scale With Performance-Driven CTV

Think connected TV is just for big-budget awareness? Think again. Lizzie explains how to use first-party data to power lookalike audiences on CTV. 

By taking your active recharge subscribers list and using it as a seed audience for AdRoll, you can find new customers on Paramount or Roku who share the same high-intent traits as your best loyalists. You can check our walkthrough for CTV lookalike targeting for more information.

The Bottom Line: Retention is the New Growth

To wrap it up, our panelists remind viewers that acquisition and retention feed each other. Don't let your holiday season data stay cluttered and unused. Start treating your customer data like the gold mine it is and you’ll find that seasonal growth can last all year long.

Ready to see the specific flow diagrams and tech stacks mentioned in the session? Watch the full on-demand webinar here.

Last updated on January 12th, 2026.