10 Black Friday campaigns to inspire your 2026 sale

Black Friday campaigns can drive sales, reward loyal customers, or reinforce what a brand stands for. These ten examples show approaches ranging from early access and gifts with purchase to entertainment, trade-ins, and campaigns built around brand values.

Use the comparison table to find an approach that fits your audience, budget, and margins, then explore the examples for ideas you can adapt.

10 best Black Friday campaigns to learn from

Understanding what other brands do well is a great starting point for creating your own Black Friday marketing campaigns. We’ve rounded up 10 examples below that offer a masterclass in BFCM content creation, packed with practical tips for ecommerce store owners.

These campaigns come from different years and markets. Use their creative approaches as inspiration for 2026; the original offers and campaign conditions may no longer apply.

• The anti-consumerism stand: Patagonia
• The closed-store statement: REI
• The satirical prank: Cards Against Humanity
• The buy-back scheme: IKEA
• The advertainment series: Walmart
• The in-store game: Macy’s
• The month-long campaign: Rachel Riley
• Waffles instead of a discount: Amundsen
• The gift with purchase: To’ak Chocolate
• The bold flash sale: B*WEAR

1. The anti-consumerism stand: Patagonia

Over a decade ago, in 2011, Patagonia made headlines with a full-page advertisement in the New York Times telling people: “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” The brand actively encouraged shoppers not to spend money in a protest against overconsumption.

How to adapt it: Choose a position your business already supports through its products or operations, such as repair, reuse, or durability. Build the campaign around a concrete action customers can take, then connect the message to a relevant service or product page.

2. The closed-store statement: REI

REI turned one of the most profitable events in ecommerce into a major statement. Instead of running a site-wide sale, REI launched #OptOutside and closed all its stores. The entire campaign took a completely different turn, inviting customers to share their outdoor adventure moments.

Now, not every business can afford to close down, much less during Black Friday. But the key lesson from REI’s example is to pick a single theme, topic, or value your audience can relate to. Then use an appropriate hashtag and encourage communication with a signup form to grow your lists while building goodwill. 

3. The satirical prank: Cards Against Humanity

One year, the brand launched a promotion called “Give us $5”. Fans of the brand followed through, only to receive absolutely nothing in return. A bold move for sure, but expected given Cards Against Humanity’s reputation. 

How to adapt it: Use an unexpected message that fits your established brand voice, then make the offer unmistakably clear. Test the concept with a small customer group before a wider launch. The lesson is the consistency between the stunt and the brand—not that every business should ask customers to pay for nothing.t

4. The buy-back scheme: IKEA

Building on the sustainability focus seen in campaigns from REI and Patagonia, IKEA launched a genius marketing campaign called #Buyback Friday. The goal of this campaign was to increase sales and incentivize customers to return unused furniture in exchange for credits, which could be used to buy new items. 

This campaign is great and can be used by many brands to take a more eco-conscious approach without losing valuable revenue opportunities. Plus, it can also work great as an early-bird offer for the people who act first. 

5. The advertainment series: Walmart

Walmart’s Black Friday campaign combined two elements – entertainment and seasonal deals. This allowed the company to create a comedy-driven scripted ad series with the cast of Mean Girls. Walmart combined recognizable characters with a series of Black Friday deal announcements.

While this type of campaign can require a larger budget, smaller brands can use this example to combine a popular contemporary subject, like memes, to relate to and connect with the audience before introducing their Black Friday deals. 

6. The in-store game: Macy’s

Macy’s delivered tons of exciting early access BFCM content across channels to pique consumers’ interest. The brand’s “Walk in and Win” initiative involved a mobile giveaway game that targeted customers in stores prior to the big weekend. 

Adding gamified elements like a Wheel of Fortune popup with clear messaging revolving around benefits can incentivize customers to proceed.

7. The month-long campaign: Rachel Riley

Rachel Riley turned the standard Black Friday sale into a month-long campaign. The brand opened the campaign by offering 24 hours of early access to active subscribers to build urgency through the weekend, followed by other relevant communications, and ending the campaign with a last-chance email attached below. 

If this sounds like something that could be applicable for your brand, focus on sending your lists an early access announcement before you launch the public sale. Include signup forms to enrich your lists or add an early-access BF popup, and end your Black Friday campaign with a last-chance SMS. 

8. Waffles instead of a discount: Amundsen

Black Friday sales typically follow a straightforward strategy where there’s a massive discount announcement. Amundsen opens with an email about waffles, something that gives a nod to the brand’s familiar outdoors concept. And while the email does have a CTA button, it simply says “Shop Amundsen”, actively choosing not to follow discount pricing strategies. 

Amundsen shows that brands built on a genuine story can approach Black Friday and other campaigns from a brand-story perspective. It’s particularly useful for luxury brands who want to retain their premium status. 

9. The gift with purchase: To’ak Chocolate

To’ak is a premium chocolate brand that uses the hype around Black Friday to engage with its subscribers. But instead of announcing discounts, the brand offers complimentary tasting kits to chocolate collections to add value, maintain a premium brand status, and protect margins. 

How to adapt it: Choose a complementary gift, define the qualifying products or minimum spend, and show the gift before checkout. Include its product and fulfillment costs when checking the offer’s margin. Use a separate post-purchase campaign if the goal is to encourage a second order.

10. The bold flash sale: B*WEAR

B*WEAR’s Black Friday email is one of the best examples of a brand running a sale announcement using minimal copy with fixed price points. The strategy builds on an already existing brand reputation, so the email’s bold discounting strategy communicates exactly what customers are expecting. 

If you decide to follow a similar email layout, emphasize creating a clean, mobile-friendly email that focuses on price points without relying on text to carry the messaging. Pair this with SMS marketing and frame it as a real limited-time offer.

What makes a Black Friday campaign work?

The most successful Black Friday campaigns start preparing early and then turn the Black Friday hype into new customer acquisition and retention. A useful starting point is a clear objective, an offer or message suited to your audience, and consistent execution across the channels you use. Judge the campaign against that objective, whether it is sales, repeat purchases, participation, or awareness.

Here’s a brief rundown of the five main elements shared by the most successful Black Friday campaigns: 

1. One clear idea that fits the brand: A single strategy and messaging helps brands stand out and generate more revenue throughout Cyber Week
2. Value before discounts: The strongest campaigns balance discount pricing strategies with value-first communication. For Black Friday dropshipping, this is especially important when competing stores may sell similar products, so bundles, gifts, or other added value can help your offer stand out.
3. Actionable urgency: Offering deals and major discounts attract attention, but customers need the right time indicators (“limited-time offer”, “available for the next 24 hours only”, etc.) to move towards a purchase decision
4. Early access to inform and attract: Warm up your email address lists with an early-bird offer to educate and create exclusivity
5. Unified offers across social, email, and SMS: Distribute your main communication via emails and Black Friday SMS marketing to send reminders as a way to support the overall communication rather than appear spammy

In other words, treat these five actions as a single Black Friday marketing plan rather than five separate tactics to get the best results. 

Wrap up

The brands that see the highest ROI on their Black Friday campaigns and generate the most revenue build strategies around creativity, authenticity, and email segmentation. 

In practice, this looks like running a campaign based on a single, clear idea communicated throughout the Black Friday period and supporting it with timely and fitting offers, not generic one-size-fits-all discounts. 

Pick the approach that matches your brand and margins, then run it from one place. Use Omnisend to coordinate the email, SMS, signup forms, and automation supporting your own Black Friday campaign.