--- title: "Black Friday on Instagram: how to get your business ready" description: "The 2026 dates, a week-by-week campaign, how to answer hundreds of messages on time and how to advertise real discounts without getting into trouble." url: https://socialmaker.ai/blog/black-friday-instagram language: en --- # Black Friday on Instagram: how to get your business ready to sell more (without missing messages) The 2026 dates, a week-by-week campaign, how to answer hundreds of messages on time and how to advertise real discounts without getting into trouble. Published on October 8, 2026 · 10 min read ![The owner of a streetwear and sneaker shop, with glasses and graying hair, checks his messages on his phone behind the counter at dusk, with shipping boxes next to him](https://socialmaker.ai/blog/black-friday-instagram/portada.webp) On Thursday night you post your deal. By midnight the comments start rolling in: “price,” “do you have it in a medium?,” “do you ship to Dallas?”. You answer the first twenty, go to bed and, when you check your phone in the morning, many of those people have already bought somewhere else. During the holidays, a lot of people shop by chatting. According to a survey Meta commissioned in 18 countries, 59% of people who use social media for holiday shopping messaged a business directly, on Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp ([Meta, 2026](https://www.facebook.com/business/2026-meta-holiday-insights-center/customer-insights)). And in a Sprout Social survey in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, almost 3 in 4 social media users say they'd buy from a competitor if a brand doesn't respond ([Sprout Social, 2025](https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-customer-service-statistics/)). In this guide, you'll find the 2026 dates, a week-by-week Instagram campaign, what to do with the flood of messages and how to advertise real discounts. ## The 2026 dates - **United States:** Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26 ([OPM](https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/)), so **Black Friday is Friday, November 27** and **Cyber Monday is Monday, November 30**. - **The biggest days:** in 2025, Cyber Week brought in $44.2 billion online in the US; Cyber Monday was the biggest day ($14.25 billion) and Black Friday grew faster (+9.1%) as shoppers jumped on earlier deals ([Adobe, 2026](https://news.adobe.com/news/downloads/pdfs/2026/01/010726-2025-holiday-shopping-season.pdf)). - **Canada:** no authority sets the date: Black Friday is simply the Friday after US Thanksgiving. - **Shopping starts earlier:** 42% of US shoppers planned to start their holiday shopping before November ([NRF, 2025](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/consumers-to-spend-second-highest-amount-on-record-according-to-nrf-holiday-survey)). - **If you sell to Mexico:** El Buen Fin 2026 runs from Friday, November 13 to Tuesday, November 17 ([El Buen Fin](https://www.elbuenfin.org/preguntas-frecuentes)). **Tip** From Black Friday (November 27) to Christmas, there are 28 days: less than a month. Whatever you don't prepare in October and early November, you won't have time to put together later. ## Why this year is won in the DMs People don't just browse deals: they ask questions. In the same Meta survey, messaging shows up across the whole purchase journey, to discover products (33%), add them to the cart (27%) and pay (26%), and the top reason to message a business is convenience (35%), followed by getting a faster answer than through other channels (20%) ([Meta, 2026](https://www.facebook.com/business/2026-meta-holiday-insights-center/customer-insights)). About three-quarters of consumers expect a reply within 24 hours or sooner ([Sprout Social, 2025](https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-customer-service-statistics/)). And phones rule: in the 2025 US holiday season, more than half of online transactions (56.4%) happened on a smartphone, and the share of those sales that came from social media rose from 3.3% to 4.6% in one year ([Adobe, 2026](https://news.adobe.com/news/downloads/pdfs/2026/01/010726-2025-holiday-shopping-season.pdf)). A record 202.9 million people shopped over the Thanksgiving-to-Cyber-Monday weekend ([NRF, 2025](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/thanksgiving-holiday-weekend-draws-a-record-203-million-shoppers)). ![A woman with curly hair, in a sweater and holding a cup of tea, compares deals on her phone on the couch at night, with shopping bags next to her](https://socialmaker.ai/blog/black-friday-instagram/sofa.webp) A lot of holiday shopping starts at night, on the couch, with a question by DM. ## Your campaign, week by week A Black Friday campaign on Instagram has five moments. In each one, what the person receives is different: Animation: a sweater shop's Black Friday campaign in five stages. Three weeks before, people who comment NOTIFY tap a button to sign up and leave their email. The day before, the shop emails that list. On Black Friday, people who comment WANT tap a button and get the products. On Cyber Monday, people who comment COUPON get a code and, hours later, a reminder. Afterward, people who mention the shop in their story get a thank-you. 3 weeks before Post a teaser: “Comment NOTIFY and I'll tell you first” **North Thread** norththread *Instagram* NOTIFY Hi! Our Black Friday is coming. Tap the button and I'll add you to the list. Automated reply Sign me up Sign me up Could you share your email? That way I'll let you know the moment it starts. On Pro and Max, if you add the “Ask for a detail” step, the automation asks for the email and saves it to your Contacts list. Tap each stage to see what the person receives. 1. Three weeks before: gather the people who want in · Post a teaser (“something's coming on the 27th”) and use the **Launch waitlist** template in [SocialMaker's auto-replies](https://socialmaker.ai/automations): people who comment NOTIFY get the link to sign up. On the Pro and Max plans you can add the **Ask for a detail** step: the automation asks for their email or WhatsApp number (with a button to skip it) and saves it to your **Contacts** list, which you can download. 2. One week before: get everything ready · Set up the automation for the big day with the **Show your products** template: people who comment WANT get a message with a button and, when they tap it, a carousel with the products you pick from your link in bio, each with its photo, its price and a “View product” button (make sure those prices are the sale prices). In the trigger, choose **My next post**: it attaches to the first post you publish after turning it on, so turn it on right after your last post before Black Friday. If you want, [schedule the sale post](https://socialmaker.ai/schedule-posts) so it goes out at the exact time. 3. The day before: tell your list · Email or text the people who signed up with the date, the time and the terms of the deal. You can't message all of them at once through Instagram, which is why it pays to collect that info ahead of time. 4. The day: reply within the same minute · Everyone who comments WANT gets your message in seconds, even if 300 people comment, and your products as soon as they tap the button; the reply to their comment rotates between several versions so it doesn't repeat the same text every time. If someone comments five times, they get a single message. 5. Cyber Monday and after: close and say thanks · With the **Discount coupon** template, people who comment COUPON get a code and, if they don't open your link, a reminder hours later. The template sends it at 20 hours: if your coupon expires that same day, change it to 2 or 4 hours and adjust the “expires today” text (reminders are included starting with the Starter plan). Afterward, with **Thanks for the mention**, people who mention you in their story get a thank-you with a discount on their next order. **Good to know** What you can't do: send the same message to all your followers at once. Auto-replies can only message someone after they messaged you or commented, and Meta bans contacting people who didn't ask for it ([Meta](https://developers.facebook.com/devpolicy/)). SocialMaker's automatic reminders only go to people who talked to you in the last day. ## Real discounts (and why inflated “was” prices cost you) The oldest Black Friday trick is raising the price a few weeks before so you can advertise a big discount later. Regulators know it well. The Federal Trade Commission explains it with an example: raising a pen from $7.50 to $10 for a few days and then advertising “Were $10, Now Only $7.50!” is, in its words, “obviously a false claim” ([FTC](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-233/section-233.1)). This is what regulators watch: - **United States:** the “was” price has to be one you actually offered the product at, regularly and for a reasonably substantial period; if you inflated it to discount it, it's a fictitious bargain ([FTC](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-233/section-233.1)). - **Canada:** you can only advertise a “regular price” if more than 50% of your sales in the last 12 months were at that price or higher, or if you offered it at that price more than 50% of the time in the last 6 months ([Competition Bureau](https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/how-we-foster-competition/education-and-outreach/ordinary-price-claims)). - **Canada, before Black Friday 2025:** the Competition Bureau reminded businesses that they can't advertise “$100, now $50” if the item never actually sold at $100, and recommended keeping detailed records of dates, discounts and regular prices ([Competition Bureau, 2025](https://www.canada.ca/en/competition-bureau/news/2025/11/businesses-make-sure-your-black-friday-deals-are-real.html)). - **Quebec:** no merchant may falsely claim a price reduction or falsely state a regular or reference price, by any means ([Consumer Protection Act, section 225](https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/document/lc/P-40.1)). - **Shoppers are wary:** shopping scams were the most reported type of social media scam in the US in 2025, and more than 40% of people who lost money that way ordered something they saw in a social media ad ([FTC, 2026](https://www.ftc.gov/node/331303)). An honest discount is what sets you apart. Animation: two charts of a sweater's price from October 1 to Black Friday. In the first, the price goes up from $60 to $120 two weeks before and the ad says “50% off,” but it drops back to $60: the real discount is 0%. In the second, the price stays at $60 and drops to $45 on Black Friday: a real 25% discount. Same sweater, two stories: always compare with your lowest price in the last 30 days. Calculate your real discount Lowest price in the last 30 days · Not the list price: the lowest price you sold it for in the last month. · Your sale price · What people will pay on Black Friday. · Discount you planned to advertise · **%** · Optional. We compare it with the real discount. Your real discount 25% off You planned to advertise 50%, but the real discount is 25%. Advertise the real one: an inflated discount can cost you a fine and your customers' trust. Ready to post: Was $60, now $45 (−25%). Valid [date] to [date]. In the European Union, the “was” price of a sale has to be the lowest price of the last 30 days, and it's a good benchmark anywhere. But it isn't enough if you raised the price before those 30 days: in the US and Canada, regulators look at whether you really sold it at that price for a good while. Not legal advice. Enter your lowest price from the last month and your sale price: we'll tell you the real discount and give you the text to post. ## Get your link in bio and your shop ready for the rush - **Your deals at the very top** of your [SocialMaker link in bio](https://socialmaker.ai/link-in-bio), with the date they end. - **Your return policy in plain sight:** 60% of the consumers Google surveyed in 14 countries check the return policy before buying from a brand that's new to them ([Google, 2023](https://business.google.com/us/think/consumer-insights/connect-with-early-holiday-shoppers/)). - **Only what you have:** say up front how many units there are, and post it as soon as something sells out. - **Realistic shipping times:** list the last day to order so it arrives before Christmas. - **Your holiday hours** on your profile, as Meta recommends to small businesses ([Meta, 2026](https://www.facebook.com/business/news/2026-holiday-small-business)). ![An older woman with gray hair in a bun wraps a knit sweater in tissue paper while a young man tapes a box shut, smiling, in the back room of a knitwear shop](https://socialmaker.ai/blog/black-friday-instagram/empaques.webp) Only advertise what you can pack and ship on time: late deliveries and canceled orders are among the most common complaints. ## Mistakes that cost you Black Friday sales - **Promising “I'll DM you the deal” to everyone.** Meta's rules don't allow it; collect emails or phone numbers ahead of time. - **Raising the price a few weeks before** to advertise a bigger discount. - **Not saying when the deal ends** or how many units there are. - **Selling what you don't have** and canceling later. - **Turning on your auto-replies Friday morning:** if your deal starts at midnight, your replies should too. - **Only replying in private:** half of people who reach out publicly expect a public reply first ([Sprout Social](https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-customer-service-statistics/)). **Good to know** This campaign uses several automations active at the same time. The free plan lets you try one; starting with the Starter plan you can have up to 20 and add reminders. Details are on [Pricing](https://socialmaker.ai/pricing). ## Frequently asked questions ### When is Black Friday 2026? Friday, November 27, and Cyber Monday is Monday, November 30. ### Can I DM the deal to all my followers? No. Auto-replies can only message someone after they messaged you or commented, and sending the same message to people who didn't ask for it is against Meta's rules. That's why it pays to collect emails or phone numbers weeks ahead and auto-reply to everyone who comments on the day of the sale. ### How big should my discount be? There's no magic number: it depends on your margin. For reference, in the 2025 season, the biggest discounts at large US online retailers were 25.1% on apparel and 30.9% on electronics ([Adobe, 2026](https://news.adobe.com/news/downloads/pdfs/2026/01/010726-2025-holiday-shopping-season.pdf)). A real, sustainable discount beats an inflated one. ### Are the rules different in Canada? Yes. To advertise a “regular price,” more than half of your sales in the last 12 months must have been at that price or higher, or you must have offered it at that price more than half the time in the last 6 months. Keep records of your prices and dates. ### How early should I start? Three weeks is enough to build your list. In the US, 42% of shoppers planned to start their holiday shopping before November ([NRF, 2025](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/consumers-to-spend-second-highest-amount-on-record-according-to-nrf-holiday-survey)). ### What if something sells out? Say so as soon as it happens, on your post and in your link in bio, and say up front how many units there are. Canceling orders that were already paid is one of the most common complaints this season. Black Friday isn't won on Friday: it's won in the weeks you spend building your list and getting everything ready to reply. If you want ideas for those messages, check out [40 auto-reply examples you can copy](https://socialmaker.ai/blog/instagram-auto-reply-examples). 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