The busiest shopping season of the year is almost here, and you know what that means: It’s time to polish up your social channels and start promoting your Black Friday deals. In 2024, Shopify merchants made a record $11.5 billion in sales during the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend. With thoughtful preparation, your store can attract more shoppers too.
If you haven’t planned your BFCM social media campaigns yet, now’s the time. Social media can help you reach new customers, increase brand loyalty among your existing audience, and drive traffic to your best Black Friday deals.
Each year, we see more brands getting creative with their Black Friday posts across social media platforms. Whether it’s on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, top performers increase sales, reach a wider audience, and even gain new followers.
Here are some of the most creative Black Friday social media posts from recent years.
20 viral Black Friday social media posts and campaigns
- Fashion Nova’s pre-Black Friday warm-up
- Bath & Body Works’ ultimate BOGOFF offer
- Murad’s Black Friday free gift
- Glossier’s customer campaign
- White Fox’s Black Friday giveaway
- Billie’s persuasive Instagram Stories
- L’Occitane’s influencer-inspired roundups
- Oodie’s $1 Black Friday sale
- Jeffree Star Cosmetics’ new Black Friday deals
- GoPro’s mega Black Friday event
- ColourPop’s storewide price slash
- REI’s anti-BFCM campaign
- Verve Coffee Roasters Cyber Monday sale
- Ruggable’s sitewide sale
- Hismile’s “DO NOT Buy HiSmile” campaign
- Everlane’s Black Friday Fun partnership
- Gymshark’s influencer campaign
- Babygold’s multichannel campaign
- It’s Blume’s employee favorites campaign
- Typo’s members-only early access sale
Social media strategy and planning templates
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1. Fashion Nova’s pre-Black Friday warm-up
Fashion Nova kicked off its Black Friday buzz early with a high-energy Instagram Reel teasing its massive upcoming sale.
The post features a well-dressed woman loaded with shopping bags, with a talking-head overlay in the corner sharing a trending audio clip.
2. Bath & Body Works’ ultimate BOGOFF offer
Everyone loves a good buy one, get one free offer, but what about buying three and getting three free? That’s exactly what Bath & Body Works did with this Black Friday campaign. Using a scroll-stopping picture of its colorful product line, the brand reminded shoppers of the excellent deal they could nab during the biggest shopping holiday of the year.
Last year’s simple post to advertise the BOGOFF event racked up more than 18,000 likes.
3. Murad’s Black Friday free gift
Cosmetic brand Murad encourages bigger Black Friday purchases with a free gift on orders of more than $150. The brand uses a fun, viral Reel template to advertise the offer with full details in the caption.
4. Glossier’s customer campaign
Glossier uses an Instagram carousel to share customer excitement about its upcoming Black Friday sale. As viewers swipe through the post, they can see funny memes and social media posts from shoppers eagerly awaiting the big day.
This kind of social listening builds excitement and creates community around Black Friday.
5. White Fox’s Black Friday giveaway
White Fox took a different approach to giveaways. Instead of asking people to follow the brand and tag friends, it hosted a mystery box giveaway in real life. The brand’s social team hit the streets handing out mystery boxes with vouchers for its Black Friday sale.
While this sounds great for those walking around town, what about potential customers online? The brand covered that, too: If you saw the social media post, you could sign up for VIP access to White Fox’s global sale.
The post showing the campaign in action has over 1,000 likes.
6. Billie’s persuasive Instagram Stories
Shaving brand Billie created a series of minimalist Instagram Stories to promote its Black Friday offers. Customers could get 10% off the brand’s bestselling razor. The brand included a clear call to action (CTA) to encourage followers to claim the discount.
7. L’Occitane’s influencer inspired roundups
L’Occitane elevated its Black Friday campaign with curated gift roundups inspired by influencers and beauty creators. In this Instagram Reel, UK influencer Robin James shares his personal L’Occitane gift picks. His relaxed, conversational style combined with luxe visuals makes the brand feel both aspirational and accessible.
8. Oodie’s $1 Black Friday sale
Oodie launched its Black Friday excitement with a viral Instagram Reel showcasing its signature hooded blanket for just $1 (or £/€1), a deal that sold out in less than 30 seconds the year before. The video is a fast-paced series of cuts showing two team members wearing Oodies while preparing for the big sale.
9. Jeffree Star Cosmetics new Black Friday deals
Jeffree Star Cosmetics is a high energy brand with a social media strategy to match. For Black Friday, it packed multiple deals into a single TikTok post.
Each scene shows the products on discount with exhilarating music in the background to get you in the mood to shop. Right at the end, when you least expect it, the post cuts to a clip of a dog playing with Jeffree Star Pets toys, which are also on sale.
10. GoPro’s mega Black Friday event
GoPro lays out its Black Friday in the caption of a Reel showing a dog in a hat driving a car. The brand promotes its limited-time deal on the latest GoPro camera, plus discounts on subscriptions, bundles, and shipping.
Listing it out in one post gives viewers a clear look at everything up for grabs. And it worked—more than 27,000 people liked the post.
11. ColourPop’s storewide price slash
Cosmetics brand ColourPop announced its Black Friday sale to its nine million Instagram followers with a quick, punchy post. In an attention grabbing promotion, it reduced all products to the same price. Customers loved the straightforward approach, giving it more than 2,000 likes.
12. REI’s anti-BFCM campaign
When you think of Black Friday, do you picture over-enthusiastic crowds trampling each other in big-box stores at 4 a.m.? BFCM has evolved, but the image still sticks.
Since 2015, outdoor clothing and gear brand REI has boycotted BFCM by shutting down all retail activity, including online sales—unheard of on the most popular shopping day of the year.
The brand has even paid more than 12,000 employees to skip work and spend the day outdoors.
This campaign started as #OptOutside. Holding true to the brand, it encourages customers to head outdoors too.
This post proved to be a huge hit with the brand’s followers, judging by the 14,200 likes.
13. Verve Coffee Roasters Cyber Monday Sale
Verve Coffee Roasters Cyber Monday sale is a strong example of how to share multiple discounts at once. The brand uses a carousel to showcase different promo codes (e.g., GIFT15, SUB25, CYBER20). The design is cohesive and easy to read.
Verve Coffee Roasters adds a sense of urgency in the caption: “There is limited supply! Don’t miss out on this once a year sale! Offer ends today, 11/27 at 11:59pm PST.” This encourages viewers to act fast and snag deals before they’re gone.
14. Ruggable’s sitewide sale
Ruggable’s 2024 Black Friday campaign piqued viewer curiosity with a high‑energy promo. The TikTok clip features bold on-screen text that says, “Our Black Friday Sale just got sweeter,” alongside stylish room shots showcasing its most popular washable rugs. A sweeping visual montage introduces the deal: Save up to 30% off your favorites.
The short clip has over 11,500 likes and has been saved more than 700 times.
15. Hismile’s “DO NOT Buy HiSmile” campaign
If you’re scrolling through TikTok and see a woman with a blue tooth and text saying “DO NOT Buy Hismile,” chances are, you’re going to wonder what’s going on. That’s exactly the reaction Hismile was hoping for with its Black Friday post.
The first screen captures your attention, then quickly leads you into a description of the brand’s Black Friday deal. A floating head presenter walks you through the website to show you the sitewide sale, with a call to action encouraging viewers to shop before the sale is over. It seems to have been a hit, with more than 15,000 likes.
16. Everlane’s Black Friday Fund partnership
As part of its Black Friday event, sustainable clothing brand Everlane visited farms where its products are made. The aim was to show viewers the benefits of climate-conscious agriculture.
This narrative ran alongside Everlane’s yearly Black Friday sale, which offered shoppers up to 70% off all products.
17. Gymshark’s influencer campaign
Gymshark teamed up with popular fitness influencers for its Black Friday 2024 sale, including Kelsie Faith Thomas. The series of influencer marketing Reels show influencers wearing Gymshark gear and promoting the brand’s 70%-off site-wide sale.
Shoppers could get an extra 10% off by using the influencer’s affiliate code at checkout. You don’t need huge follower counts to copy Gymshark’s approach—sometimes smaller, niche influencers (micro-influencers) deliver even better results.
This post by Kelsie has over 12,000 likes.
18. Babygold’s multichannel campaign
Jewelry brand Babygold shared its campaigns across channels, including an Instagram Reel of someone packaging the products and an email featuring a countdown for the brand’s Black Friday campaign.
Notice how the brand offers 25% off to its social media followers, but its email list gets 35% off. The brand clearly wants to reward its biggest fans.
19. It’s Blume’s employee favorites campaign
Gut health and wellness brand It’s Blume took a heartfelt, human approach to Black Friday 2024 with its employee favorites campaign. Instead of focusing on flashy discounts, the brand spotlighted the real people behind the products.
In an Instagram carousel post, team members shared their favorite Blume products, like the Beetroot Latte Blend or SuperBelly probiotic powder, and explained why they love them.
20. Typo’s members-only early access sale
Australian brand Typo gave its most loyal fans a head start on Black Friday with an exclusive members-only early access sale. Teased via a playful Instagram post featuring bold text and festive visuals, the campaign invited Typo Perks members to “get in early” before the crowds.
The caption hyped limited stock and deep discounts on its signature quirky stationery, gifts, and homeware. By rewarding their email and loyalty list with first dibs, Typo built anticipation and drove early conversions.
Black Friday social media post types that convert
If you want your Black Friday posts to stand out (and actually drive sales), you need more than a generic “20% off!” graphic. Instead, tap into emotion, urgency, and community.
Here are some post types that consistently perform well, driving engagement and conversions.
Countdown and urgency posts
People often need a little nudge to act quickly, and a well-timed countdown does just that. Countdowns build anticipation (“Only 3 days to go … 👀”) and ramp up the pressure once your offer is live (“Only 5 hours left to shop!”). Bonus points if you use a timer sticker on Stories or a pinned post drive the point home.
Urgency works because it tackles decision fatigue head-on. You’re helping followers make a quick yes/no decision by reminding them that time’s running out.
Step-by-step guide:
- Plan your countdown window. Map out your content calendar to kick off countdown posts three to seven days before Black Friday, increasing urgency as the day gets closer.
- Create visuals with countdown messaging. Use bold text like “3 days to go” or “Ends in 4 hours!” Add visual timers or Story countdown stickers to reinforce urgency.
- Highlight what’s at stake. Call out specific deals, low stock alerts, or limited-time bundles to push followers to act.
- Use the Countdown Timer Bar by Hextom. Add a live timer on product or homepage banners.
- Use Stories, Reels, and pins. Post urgency content across multiple formats, especially Stories (with countdown stickers) and pinned posts to keep the message top-of-feed.
- Update regularly. Post reminders leading up to and throughout Black Friday to catch people at different times.
User-generated content campaigns
A good way to get people to spark interest in your products is to show real people using them. User-generated content (UGC) builds trust, feels authentic, and adds social proof that can tip an on-the-fence shopper over the edge. For Black Friday, consider creating a unique hashtag, encouraging unboxings and reviews, or simply resharing customer photos.
Step-by-step guide:
- Create a branded hashtag. Make it simple and memorable like #MyBrandHaul or #BlackFridayWith[BrandName].
- Invite customers to post. Ask followers in a post or Story to share using your hashtag. Offer a reward such as a feature on your feed, giveaway entry, or discount code).
- Collect and curate content. Save tagged posts and Stories to repost throughout the campaign.
- Reshare with context. When reposting, include the customer’s name, a quick quote from their caption, and a CTA like “Shop their pick here!”
- Tag products in UGC posts. Use Shopify Collabs or Instagram Shopping to tag products directly in feed posts or Stories to streamline purchasing.
- Keep the campaign going post-BF. UGC is evergreen. Keep repurposing top-performing posts during Cyber Week and into December.
Exclusive early access offers
There’s something about being first that just feels good. Use that to your advantage by teasing early access to your Black Friday deals, especially to email subscribers, loyal customers, or social followers.
Early access also helps manage the shopping rush and lets your biggest fans shop before items sell out.
Step-by-step guide:
- Choose your VIP group. Email list? Loyalty program? Instagram followers only? Decide who gets early access, then use Shopify Email or Klaviyo integration to create a VIP list.
- Create a teaser campaign. A few days before early access starts, tease the upcoming deals with behind-the-scenes glimpses or hints about discounts.
- Post a clear early access CTA. Include the date/time, what’s included, and how to get in (e.g., “Check your inbox” or “Use this code”).
- Use urgency alongside exclusivity. Make it clear this is a limited-time head start before the general sale opens.
- Follow up with reminders. Post again when the offer is live, and again right before it ends to drive last-minute clicks.
Bundle and gift guide posts
At its core, Black Friday is about easy wins, and bundles or curated gift guides are a great way to achieve them. They help people feel like they’re making smart, stress-free purchases. You’re basically doing the thinking for them.
Try creating carousel posts highlighting products together or filming a quick video walkthrough showing off a bundle.
Step-by-step guide:
- Curate bundles or themed sets. Think “For the skin care lover” or “Your cosy night-in kit.” Include two to five products at a discounted bundle price. Use the Bundler - Product Bundles app or Shopify’s native combined product feature to group products and offer bundle pricing.
- Design gift guide visuals. Create a clean, scroll-stopping carousel, Reel, or Story walkthrough. Label each item and highlight the value.
- Add easy-to-skim captions. Writeshort, benefit-driven descriptions and prices.
- Post with gifting language. Use language like “gift made easy,” “they’ll love this,” or “no wrapping stress required.”
- Pin and reshare often. Keep guides accessible by pinning them prominently in your feed or Stories.
Why social media is important for your Black Friday marketing strategy
Amplify your reach
Spread the word about your Black Friday deals with social media hashtags, trending audio, and shareable graphics.
Engage followers
Social media keeps conversations flowing with your audience. Use your channels to ask questions, encourage shares, and spark discussion.
Attract new customers
Black Friday is the perfect opportunity to attract and retain new customers—your social channels provide the perfect platform for reaching and converting more shoppers.
Build trust and loyalty
Social media helps you share your brand personality, promote your values and mission, and build credibility.
Black Friday marketing tips
There are a few things to keep in mind as you navigate the busy season and try to cut through the holiday noise. While these Black Friday campaigns are all from popular brands, you don’t need thousands of followers to see success this holiday season.
Follow these marketing tips for a successful BFCM social media campaign.
Have (and promote) reliable, inexpensive shipping
Timeliness matters more than ever this time of year. In fact, 66% expect free shipping on every order.
Given that cross-border orders represented 16% of all global orders last year, clearly promoting attractive shipping options can help you tap into this lucrative segment.
Prepare for mobile buyers
By 2025 almost half of online orders will be made via mobile. Even though mobile shopping keeps growing, mobile conversion rates still lag. Consider what might motivate shoppers to buy on mobile. More product reviews? Better images? Free shipping thresholds? Prepare your site now to get it mobile-ready for the shopping season.
Choose the right social networks
Don’t spread yourself too thin across every social network. Focus on one to two social platforms that generate the most revenue and have the most engaged communities. You don’t have to be everywhere.
Start preparing and executing early
Don’t wait until the last minute to launch your BFCM social campaign. Stop procrastinating and put in the work ahead of time to plan your campaigns. What’s your goal? What’s your success metric? How will you reach the right audience? For many brands, BFCM extends to the weeks before and after, so come prepared for the whole season.
Create dedicated landing pages
If you’re promoting BFCM sales on social media, create a dedicated landing page for the occasion. These pages closely match your social media messaging and site content, boosting conversions. This can help to improve conversion rates. You might even have different BFCM landing pages for different product categories.
Measure and optimize campaign performance
Look at the data: Which posts drive the most clicks? Are people dropping off at checkout? Did one product unexpectedly take off while another flopped? Use insights from your email platform, website analytics, and social platforms to guide your next move.
If you notice certain content performing well (like a countdown post or a product demo video), double down on it. You could reuse the format, boost the post, or turn it into a social media ad.
Black Friday is fast-paced, so agility is your best friend. The brands that come out on top often treat their campaigns like living, breathing things.
Once the rush is over, review your campaign as a whole. What could you do differently next time? What crushed it?
Make your Black Friday social media posts a hit
Go beyond starting a hashtag or tweeting about your biggest sales this Black Friday Cyber Monday. Social media is ripe with promotional opportunities this holiday season. Start with powerful Black Friday email campaigns and our top Black Friday apps to get the best results.
You don’t need a huge social following to have a successful BFCM, but it helps to have a strong, well-planned social strategy. With more than 67,000 merchants breaking sales records during the 2024 BFCM season, early planning can help you join them.
Take inspiration from these big brands crushing it on socials and create your own standout Black Friday posts.
Free Social Media Toolkit
Boost your engagement and grow your audience with this free toolkit. Get templates, best practices, and tips to help you create compelling content that engages and converts.
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Black Friday social media posts FAQ
How to market your Black Friday sale on social media?
Here are several types of posts you can share for promoting your Black Friday sale:
- Promotions of your best deals and discounts
- Limited-time offers to create urgency
- Giveaways or contests
- Behind-the-scenes content of your team preparing for Black Friday
- User-generated content showcasing your products
- Countdown posts leading up to your sale launch
- Reminders about shipping deadlines
What do you say in a Black Friday post?
Make sure your Black Friday post includes the following elements:
- Clearly state your offer (e.g., “25% off sitewide”)
- Include a strong call to action (e.g., “Shop now”)
- Mention the duration of the sale
- Highlight any free gifts or additional perks
- Use compelling language (e.g., “Biggest sale of the year”)
- Include relevant hashtags like #BlackFriday or #BFCM
- Consider adding a touch of your brand personality or values
Is Black Friday a good day to post on Instagram?
Yes, Black Friday is a good day to post on Instagram. Shoppers use Instagram to find deals and discover new brands. Plus, Instagram’s visual nature makes it perfect for showcasing your products. Make sure your posts stand out with catchy visuals and clear offers, since competition is intense.
How do you announce Black Friday deals?
Announce your Black Friday deals by:
- Starting early: Promote deals well in advance to build anticipation. Many brands start teasing their offers weeks before Black Friday.
- Using multiple social media tools and platforms: Announce deals everywhere—Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X—to maximize reach.
- Adding hashtags: Add relevant hashtags to your posts like #BlackFriday or #BFCM to increase visibility.
- Creating a countdown: Send out a series of countdown messages to your email list to build excitement.
- Being clear and concise: Create announcements that clearly state the discount amount, products included, and any terms or conditions.
- Showcasing any additional perks: Mention things like free shipping, free gifts with purchase, or extended return policies for added appeal.
When to post on social media on Black Friday?
The best time to post on social media on Black Friday is early in the morning when shoppers are actively hunting for deals. But don’t stop there—use social media management tools to schedule follow-up posts throughout the day (especially around lunchtime and early evening) to catch different time zones and keep the momentum going.
