The busiest shopping holiday season of the year is almost here, which can mean only one thing: It’s time to polish off your social channels and start promoting your Black Friday deals. In 2023, Shopify merchants reached a record $9.3 billion in sales during the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend. You too can earn big—if you’re prepared.
If you haven’t yet planned your BFCM social media campaigns, now’s the time to start. Your Black Friday marketing strategy is a great opportunity to reach new customers in your target audience, increase brand loyalty among your existing audience, and drive traffic to your best Black Friday deals.
Each year, across social media platforms, we see more brands getting creative with their Black Friday social media posts. Whether it’s on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, running a Black Friday social media campaign can help your business increase sales, reach a wider audience, and even help you gain new followers on your brand’s social platforms.
Get inspired by some of our favorite Black Friday social media posts from recent years.
15 viral Black Friday social media posts
- Old Navy’s giving back campaign
- Bath & Body Works’ ultimate BOGOFF offer
- Murad’s Black Friday free gift
- Nintendo’s limited edition Black Friday bundle
- White Fox’s Black Friday giveaway
- Billie’s persuasive Instagram Stories
- Kohl’s Black Friday sweepstakes
- Steve Madden’s early bird offer
- Entry 4Jeffree Star Cosmetics new Black Friday deals>Entry 5
- GoPro’s reminder to get outside
- ColourPop Cosmetics’ storewide price slash
- REI’s anti-BFCM campaign
- Verve Coffee Roasters Cyber Monday Sales
- Ruggable’s sitewide sale
- Hismile’s “DO NOT Buy HiSmile” campaign
1. Old Navy’s giving back campaign
Old Navy is renowned for spreading goodness on Black Friday, and this social media post is no different. The brand advertised the famous $1 sock deal it runs every year, but it also promised to donate $1 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for every pair of socks bought. The added incentive of donating to charity is a great way to help shoppers feel like they’re doing something good when spending their cash.
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 products? 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.
3. Murad’s Black Friday free gift
Cosmetic brand Murad incentivizes customers to shop with it on Black Friday by offering a free gift with every purchase, plus free shipping. The brand uses a bright image to capture attention, before highlighting all the key details about its Black Friday offer in the caption.
4. Nintendo’s limited edition Black Friday bundle
Nintendo took to X to promote its Black Friday deal—a limited edition bundle. By grouping together a selection of new and existing products, the brand took the opportunity to introduce customers to more of its product line. As well as sharing an unboxing video to go with the offer, the brand added strategic hashtags to make its social post more visible.
5. White Fox’s Black Friday giveaway
White Fox took a different approach to giveaways this past Black Friday. Instead of asking people to follow the brand on social media and tag friends, it did a mystery box giveaway in real life. The brand’s social team hit the streets to give out mystery boxes that offered vouchers to shop its Black Friday sale.
While this sounds great for those walking around town, what about potential customers online? They thought of that, too: If you came across the social media post, you could sign up for VIP access to White Fox’s global sale.
6. Billie’s persuasive Instagram Stories
Shaving brand Billie created a series of beautiful, minimalist Instagram Stories to promote its Black Friday offers. Customers could swipe up to get 50% off the brand’s bestselling razor. Note the brand’s use of a solid call to action (CTA) to encourage followers to redeem their offer.
7. Kohl’s Black Friday sweepstakes
Kohl’s took Black Friday as an opportunity to engage its X followers with a fun challenge. A sweepstakes contest encouraged customers to share their answers to a trivia question for the chance to win a $500 gift card. As a result, the brand generated lots of likes and shares, which increased the visibility of the social media campaign.
Tweet with both #BlackFriday and #KohlsSweeps for a chance to win a $500 gift card! (Hint: There’s no wrong answer!) pic.twitter.com/TnsFvbrPrS
— Kohl's (@Kohls) November 28, 2014
8. Steve Madden’s early bird offer
Steve Madden gave early birds the chance to cash in on its Black Friday deals before the holiday started. This is a great way to reward existing loyal customers and generate extra sales in the lead-up to the actual Black Friday shopping event. By directing X followers to sign up for its email list, Steve Madden grew its subscriber base and created a buzz around its upcoming offers.
Clear your schedule, Black Friday is around the corner 🙌 Sign up and be the first to find out about our Black Friday deals: https://t.co/1Y4EjAGWOc. T&Cs Apply. #SteveMaddenSA pic.twitter.com/rM0BFpeuYv
— Steve Madden SA (@SteveMaddenSA) November 17, 2017
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 dropped a number of deals all packed into one TikTok post.
Each section of the clip 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 out to a clip of a dog playing with Jeffree Star Pets toys, which are also on sale for the holiday.
10. GoPro’s reminder to get outside
For many brands, Black Friday presents the perfect opportunity to share their values around consumerism. GoPro is a staunch advocate of adventure and doesn’t back down on this sentiment during the most prolific consumer event of the year.
For Black Friday, it used an Instagram post to encourage customers to upgrade their equipment while also sharing an important reminder to get outside. The inspiring post was also an easy lift, making the most of user-generated content (UGC) by sharing a fan’s breathtaking image taken with one of GoPro’s cameras.
11. ColourPop’s storewide price slash
Cosmetics brand ColourPop announced its Black Friday sale to its 10 million Instagram followers with this short, punchy post. In an attention grabbing promotion, it reduced all its products to the same price. This Black Friday deal proved to be a huge hit with its customers, judging by the 82,000 likes on the post.
12. REI’s anti-BFCM campaign
When you think of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, do you think of over-enthusiastic crowds trampling their neighbors in big-box stores at 4 a.m.? Everyone knows BFCM has evolved beyond that, but the image still comes to mind for a lot of people.
Since 2015, outdoor clothing and gear brand REI has boycotted BFCM. Each year, it suspends all retail activity, including online Black Friday sales. On the most popular shopping day of the year? Unheard of.
The brand has even paid more than 12,000 employees to take the day off so they can enjoy the outdoors.
This campaign started as #OptOutside. Holding true to the brand, it encourages customers to skip the lines and get outside.
13. Verve Coffee Roasters Cyber Monday Sale
Verve Coffee Roasters Cyber Monday sale is a great example for sharing multiple discounts at different times. The brand uses a carousel to showcase different promo codes that viewers can use to get discounts (e.g., GIFT15, SUB25, CYBER20). The design is cohesive and easy to read for each slide.
Verve Coffee Roasters adds a sense of urgency in the caption, saying: “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 to take advantage of the various seasonal discounts available.
14. Ruggable’s sitewide sale
Ruggable’s 2023 Black Friday post was only five seconds long, but packed a lot of punch for TikTok users. The video immediately addresses a question from customers about the next sale.
The floating head speaks right to the camera, gasps, and says, “Oh my goodness I love this question!” which grabs your attention first. Then, the text showing “Our Black Friday sale is on! Up to 25% off sitewide!!” lets you know exactly what the deal is.
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 want to know what’s going on. That’s what Hismile was hoping for with its 2023 Black Friday post.
The first screen captures your attention, only to lead you into a description of the brand’s Black Friday deal. A floating head presenter walks you through the website to show you the brand’s sitewide sale, with a call to action encouraging viewers to shop before the sale is over.
Why social media is important for your Black Friday marketing strategy
Amplify your reach
Spread the word about your Black Friday deals by using social media hashtags, trending audio, and shareable graphics.
Engage existing followers
Social media is a great way to start and continue conversations with your followers. Use your social channels to ask questions, encourage shares, and open up a dialogue.
Attract new customers
Black Friday is a great time to attract and retain new customers—your social channels provide the perfect platform for reaching and converting more shoppers.
Build trust and loyalty
The social nature of social media lets you share your brand personality, promote your values and mission, and build brand 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. Some 80% of shoppers expect free shipping when ordering a certain amount, while 66% expect free shipping on all online orders.
Given that cross-border orders represented 15% of all global orders during last year’s BFCM, ensuring your shipping options are clear and attractive can help you tap into this lucrative segment.
Prepare for mobile buyers
Predictions show that by 2025, almost half of online orders will be made via mobile. Even though more people are turning to mobile when shopping online, mobile conversion rates continue to lag behind. Consider what might motivate or encourage shoppers to make purchases on mobile. More product reviews? Better images? Free shipping thresholds? Prepare your site now, so it’s ready for the shopping season.
Choose the right social networks
It’s super easy to get carried away and divide your time between too many social networks. 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
For BFCM marketing, don’t expect to swoop in at the last minute with a killer social media 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 are you going to 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, go ahead and create a dedicated landing page or two for the occasion. For example, here’s the BFCM landing page for Amazon, and here’s Home Depot’s dedicated landing page. Dedicated landing pages allow you to more closely match the message you send on social media to the message you send on your site. This can help to improve conversion rates. You might even have different BFCM landing pages for sales in different product categories.
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 around the holidays. 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 if you plan your social strategy in advance. Considering that more than 55,000 merchants had their highest-selling day ever on Shopify during the 2023 BFCM season, planning your social strategy in advance can set you up for similar success.
Take inspiration from these big brands doing great things on social media to create your own equally powerful Black Friday social posts.
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Black Friday social media posts FAQ
What should a brand post on social media on Black Friday?
For Black Friday, you should consider posting:
- 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 covers some of 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, as competition during Black Friday is high on Instagram.
How to announce Black Friday deals?
Some ways to announce Black Friday deals include:
- Start early: Promote Black Friday deals well in advance to build anticipation. Many brands start teasing their offers weeks before the actual event.
- Use multiple platforms: Announce deals across all your social media channels, like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X, to maximize reach.
- Incorporate hashtags: Add relevant hashtags to your posts like #BlackFriday or #BFCM to increase visibility.
- Consider a countdown: Send out a series of countdown messages to your email list to build excitement as Black Friday approaches.
- Be clear and concise: Create announcements that clearly state the discount amount, products included, and any terms or conditions.
- Showcase any additional perks: Mention things like free shipping, free gifts with purchase, or extended return policies to make offers more attractive.
