Black Friday 2026: Campaign Plan for an Online Store

In 2026, Black Friday falls on Friday, November 27, and Cyber Monday on Monday, November 30. For Polish e-commerce, this is not just a single day, but a multi-week period during which advertising costs rise, competition for attention reaches its highest point of the year, and customers compare offers more intensely than usual. Stores that start preparing a week in advance usually pay the most for the least impact. Below, we present the Black Friday campaign plan we use with AdVibes clients: from offer preparation and campaign scheduling to post-sale activities.

Why Black Friday Requires a Separate Strategy

In November, CPMs in Meta Ads and TikTok Ads can jump by 30–80% compared to October, and even more during the final week before Black Friday. CPC in Google Ads also increases, as more stores with larger budgets bid on the same keywords. At the same time, the conversion rate increases because customers are ready to buy. The game is therefore to ensure that the increase in conversions outweighs the rise in costs, which requires a plan rather than bumping budgets by 200% on Thursday evening.

Step 1: Offer and Margin

Before you launch your first campaign, calculate what discount you can afford. A 30% discount with a 50% margin means significantly less profit is left from each sale to cover advertising costs, so the target ROAS must be higher than usual. A simple example: if a ROAS of 4 is normally profitable for you, with a steep discount the break-even threshold might be 6–7.

Instead of discounting everything by the same percentage, consider promotional formats that protect your margin:

• Bundles and packages that increase the average order value. We describe more ways in our article on AOV and larger shopping carts.

• Discount tiers, for example 10% off over 200 PLN, 15% off over 350 PLN, and 20% off over 500 PLN.

• A free gift with purchase instead of a price discount.

• Discounts on selected categories with high margins or excess inventory.

Remember the rules stemming from the Omnibus Directive: when discounting, you must display the lowest price from the 30 days prior to the promotion. Raising prices in October just to "lower" them in November is easy to detect today and legally risky.

Step 2: Campaign Schedule

Build-up Phase, 4–2 Weeks Prior

Early November is the last good moment to build an audience base. Launch reach and traffic campaigns with content that warms up audiences: new arrivals, bestsellers, reviews, UGC. Collect sign-ups for an "Early Access to Black Friday" list in exchange for an earlier promotion launch. Every collected email address is a contact you can reach without paying for the ad auction during the most expensive week.

Teaser Phase, the Final Week

Communicate the launch date and the scale of the promotion. Increase budgets gradually, by 20–30% every few days, to avoid resetting the learning phase of Meta campaigns. Prepare and get all promotional creatives approved in advance, as ad review times can take longer than usual during this period.

Sales Phase, from Friday to Cyber Monday

Switch creatives to promotional ones featuring a clear offer and end date. Direct the largest budgets toward remarketing and warm audiences: people who visited the site, added a product to their cart, or joined the list. In Google Ads, increase budgets for Shopping and Performance Max campaigns and set seasonal adjustments to inform the algorithm of the expected spike in conversions. Monitor campaigns several times a day.

Cool-down Phase, the Week After

Don't shut everything down at midnight on Monday. For several days, some customers are still buying, and many of them are new customers who are worth transitioning straight into your holiday messaging.

How to Allocate Your November Advertising Budget

A practical rule we follow: allocate about 20–25% of the November budget to the build-up phase, 15–20% to the teaser week, 45–55% to the period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, and the remainder to the cool-down phase. The proportions depend on your margin and store history, but the rule remains constant: spend the most when customers are most likely to buy, not when auctions are at their priciest without a corresponding rise in conversions.

Also set daily control thresholds in advance. If the cost per purchase exceeds the break-even threshold for two days in a row, shift the budget into remarketing and email campaigns instead of continuing to bid on cold traffic. Making this decision in advance protects you from emotional bid increases at the peak of the rush.

Step 3: Channel Preparation

• Meta Ads. Check tracking—meaning the Meta pixel and Conversions API—before the promotion begins. Prepare a catalog with promotional prices and custom labels that allow you to create discounted product sets.

• Google Ads. Update the product feed in Merchant Center with promotional pricing (the sale_price attribute with effective dates) and add promotions so that special offer badges appear alongside your products.

• TikTok Ads. Plan native creatives and Spark Ads with creators, prepared well in advance.

• Email and SMS. Set up a sequence: teaser, early access for subscribers, launch, reminder, final hours. Launch abandoned cart automations, which we describe in our article on marketing automation for e-commerce.

Step 4: Website and Order Processing

Even the best campaign won't help if your store can't handle the traffic or the checkout process includes unnecessary steps. Before Black Friday, test mobile site speed, payment gateways, discount code functionality, and product stock levels for advertised items. Add a clear banner with the offer and a countdown timer to the homepage and category pages. You can find a list of changes that boost conversions in our article on how to increase an online store's conversion rate.

Also take care of logistics: pre-holiday delivery deadlines, clear return policies, and customer support prepared for an influx of questions. These elements influence the purchasing decision just as much as price.

Step 5: Post-Black Friday Analysis

After the promotion ends, compare not only revenue, but also post-ad-spend margin, the share of new customers, average order value, and customer acquisition cost across individual channels. Customers acquired during Black Friday often make repeat purchases less frequently than full-price buyers, which is why it is worth monitoring their behavior over the following months and using these insights to plan next year's campaign.

Summary

An effective Black Friday campaign begins several weeks in advance: from an offer that protects your margin, to building an audience base, to gradual budget scaling and refined remarketing. There isn't much time left until November 27, but still enough to prepare a plan and avoid the most costly mistakes. If you want us to craft a seasonal strategy for your store, explore our performance strategy service or contact us this week.