The 2026 Black Friday calendar
Black Friday ads fail more often on timing than on design: rejected on Thursday night, edited mid-sale, or promising Christmas delivery after the post office's last date. These are the dates to plan backwards from.
| Date (2026) | What happens | What it means for your ads |
|---|---|---|
| By Fri, Nov 13 | Black Friday ads made, checked and uploaded to Meta with a scheduled start date | Meta reviews most ads within 24 hours, some take longer, and any change to an ad's creative starts a new review. Two weeks leaves room for a rejection and a fix. |
| Mon, Nov 16 to Sun, Nov 22 | The sale ads sit in the ad sets they will run in | An ad set leaves Meta's learning phase after about 50 results in the week after its last significant edit, and adding a new ad counts as one. Set the sale up now and leave it alone while it runs. |
| Thu, Nov 26 | Thanksgiving (US) | If the sale starts Friday, ads can say "starts Friday" until then. Never show a price that isn't live yet. |
| Fri, Nov 27 | Black Friday: the sale starts | Write the dates in the ad ("Fri Nov 27 to Mon Nov 30"). It does the job of a countdown and it stays true. |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Small Business Saturday (US) | If you're an independent shop, it's a fair reason to say so in a second ad. |
| Mon, Nov 30 | Cyber Monday: the last day of most sales | "Ends Monday, Nov 30" is true urgency. Swap the sale ads for gift and shipping ads the next morning. |
| Fri, Dec 4 to Sat, Dec 12 | Hanukkah | Gift ads for Hanukkah need an earlier order-by date than Christmas ones. |
| Wed, Dec 9 | USPS recommended send-by date for international mail (First-Class Package International, Priority Mail International) | Stop promising Christmas delivery abroad once your packing time runs past this date. |
| Thu, Dec 17 | USPS recommended send-by date for Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail (lower 48 states) | Your last "arrives by Christmas" ad for ground shipping ends this date minus your packing time. |
| Fri, Dec 18 and Sat, Dec 19 | USPS recommended send-by dates for Priority Mail (Dec 18) and Priority Mail Express (Dec 19) | After these, switch to gift cards, e-gift subscriptions or local pickup in your ads. |
Six Black Friday offers and the products they suit
The offer is the ad. Pick the one that fits how people buy your product, then let every ad in the batch say it a different way.
| Offer | Suits | The ad must show | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent off everything | Brands with a range people restock (skincare, apparel) | The percent, plus one hero product with its sale and usual price | The "usual" price has to be one you really charged for a reasonable time |
| Buy 2, get 1 free | Gifts bought in threes and fours (candles, soap, socks) | The total ("3 for $64") and what's included | "Get one free" alone hides the price people actually pay |
| Subscription discount | Things people reorder (coffee, supplements, pet food) | The per-delivery price, how long it lasts, skip or cancel terms | Say when the discount ends, or the first full-price charge feels like a trick |
| Multi-pack price | Heavy or low-priced items where shipping eats the margin (drinks, cleaning) | The pack price against your own regular price, plus free shipping if you offer it | Compare with your regular price, never a made-up one |
| Gift with purchase | Premium brands that don't want to discount | The gift and the spend needed to get it | Set the threshold just above your bestseller's price, so it's easy to reach |
| Free shipping | Low-priced items | The threshold, in the headline | Rarely enough on its own on Black Friday; pair it with a price |
Honest note: in the US, a "was" or "usually" price has to be the real price you offered the product at for a reasonably substantial period, not one set high to make the sale look bigger (FTC Guides Against Deceptive Pricing, 16 CFR 233.1).
Black Friday copy lines you can adapt
Short beats clever on a weekend when every feed is full of sales. Replace the brackets with your own numbers.
- [25%] off everything. Fri Nov 27 to Mon Nov 30.
- The [serum] you've been eyeing: [$28.50]. Usually [$38].
- [3] for [$64]. Usually [$96]. Mix any scents.
- Your first 3 months at [30%] off. Skip or cancel any time.
- Stock up: [2] packs for [$44]. Free shipping.
- Gift it now, wrap it free.
- Ends Monday, Nov 30.
- [4.9] stars from [938] reviews. One price this weekend.
Skip "almost gone", "last chance" and countdown timers unless your stock data backs them. The end date does the same job and stays true.
How to make Black Friday ads for Facebook and Instagram
- Write the offer out once, with exact numbers and dates, before anyone designs anything. Every ad uses that sentence.
- Make four to six ads with the same offer and different reasons to buy: the offer itself, a review, the product's best fact, a question or a comparison. Meta can then find the one that works for each shopper.
- Design at 4:5 (1440 x 1800) for Facebook and Instagram feeds and 9:16 (1440 x 2560) for Stories and Reels, with the words away from the top and bottom of the story frame.
- Upload by mid-November with a scheduled start date. Budget changes don't start a new review; creative changes do.
- When Cyber Monday ends, turn the sale ads off and switch to gift and shipping-deadline ads.
Exact sizes and safe zones: Meta ad sizes. For running a set of ads against each other: how to test ad creative.
Black Friday ideas by product
The same weekend needs a different ad for every kind of product. Each page below has the offer that suits the product, the dates that matter for it, lines that fit it and four sample ads:
- Black Friday skincare ads: Mira, a serum brand, with 25% off everything.
- Black Friday candle ads: Pip & Oak, with buy 2, get the 3rd free.
- Black Friday coffee ads: Halden, a roaster, with 30% off subscriptions.
- Black Friday drink ads: Sora, sparkling water, with 2 twelve-packs for $44.
Making Black Friday ads with StoreToAds
In Your brief, set the goal to "sale", the occasion to "Black Friday" and type the offer exactly as it runs, numbers and dates included. Every ad in the batch carries it, and the fact check accepts those numbers because you stated them. Prices, ratings and review quotes still come from your store and are checked as always.
Each ad comes in all five sizes, and on weekly plans you can send ads to Meta as paused ads, so nothing spends until you publish. See pricing, or make Black Friday sale ads with the flash sale angle.