One day, seven texts

Black Friday SMS Templates From Opening to Close

On Black Friday a subscriber can get a dozen sale texts before lunch. Yours has to say what is on, how much and until when, in fewer words than the rest. These seven cover the day from the first legal send to the last.

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See all seven Edit a text

8am: the sale is live Black Friday text on an iPhone

8am: the sale is live Black Friday text on an Android phone

Doors open, previewed twiceRead →

Through the day

Black Friday SMS examples, hour by hour

One text the day before, the rest on the day itself. Every card gives the send time, two wordings with their character counts, and an iPhone preview; tap the second icon for Android.

No. 01 · Doors open

8am: the sale is live

MarketingFashion8am on Black Friday, the first legal send time

Black Friday texts compete with dozens of others in the same hour. A plain statement that it is live, the discount and one link is the fastest read in the pile.

Full SMS

MAREN: Black Friday is live. 30% off the entire site, coats and knitwear included, until midnight tonight: maren.co/bf Reply STOP to opt out

140 characters with sample values · GSM-7 · 1 segment

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The more in the bag, the bigger the saving Black Friday text on an iPhone

No. 02 · Spend tiers

The more in the bag, the bigger the saving

MarketingBeautyMid-morning on the day

Tiers lift the size of each order, and on Black Friday customers are already buying several things. Two tiers are easy to grasp in a text; three are not.

Full SMS

LUMA: Black Friday tiers: 20% off orders over $60, 30% off over $120. Applied at checkout, today only: luma.co/bf Reply STOP to opt out

135 characters with sample values · GSM-7 · 1 segment

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A gift instead of a deeper cut Black Friday text on an iPhone

No. 03 · Free gift

A gift instead of a deeper cut

MarketingSupplementsAround 11am on the day

Matching every competitor's percentage is a race to the bottom. A useful gift stands out among discount texts and protects the price of the products themselves.

Full SMS

NORTHWELL: Black Friday gift: any order over $50 gets a free matte steel shaker, on top of 15% off everything. Today only: nwl.co/bf Reply STOP to opt out

154 characters with sample values · GSM-7 · 1 segment

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Let them ask for the start alert Black Friday text on an iPhone

No. 04 · Reply YES

Let them ask for the start alert

MarketingHomeTwo days before Black Friday

Some subscribers only want one text from you on the day. Offering to send it when the sale opens makes a broadcast feel like a reminder they asked for.

Full SMS

ALDER & CO: Want a single text the moment our Black Friday sale opens? Reply YES and that's the only one we'll send you on the day. Reply STOP to opt out

153 characters with sample values · GSM-7 · 1 segment

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The deepest cut, on boots Black Friday text on an iPhone

No. 05 · One category

The deepest cut, on boots

MarketingFashionEarly afternoon, as the second text of the day

A second Black Friday text needs a new reason. Singling out one category with a bigger discount gives it one without repeating the morning message.

Full SMS

MAREN: For Black Friday afternoon, every pair of boots is 40% off, the biggest discount we run all year. Ends midnight: maren.co/bf-boots Reply STOP to opt out

159 characters with sample values · GSM-7 · 1 segment

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Requested: the start alert Black Friday text on an iPhone

No. 06 · It's on

Requested: the start alert

MarketingBeautyThe minute the sale opens, to YES replies only

This text was requested, so it can be very short. Confirm it is on, give the link and let the shopper go.

Full SMS

LUMA: You asked us to tell you, so here it is: our Black Friday sale has just opened. The serums are a good place to start: luma.co/bf Reply STOP to opt out

156 characters with sample values · GSM-7 · 1 segment

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Three hours before the day ends Black Friday text on an iPhone

No. 07 · Final hours

Three hours before the day ends

MarketingHomeLate afternoon, before the 9pm texting cut-off

A US marketing text cannot go after 9pm, so the last reminder has to leave early. Three hours of warning still feels urgent, and stays inside the rules.

Full SMS

ALDER & CO: Three hours of Black Friday left. Rugs and lounge chairs are still 30% off, until 9pm tonight: alder.co/bf Reply STOP to opt out

140 characters with sample values · GSM-7 · 1 segment

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Black Friday editor

Fit your Black Friday offer into 160 characters

Choose a text, swap in your own discount, tiers and link, and watch the count. On the busiest texting day of the year, a second segment doubles what you pay to reach your whole list.

Text to edit Black Friday text

0 / 160 characters1 segment

Brand comes first
Says Black Friday
STOP included
Stays in one segment

9:41

Text Message
Today 10:02

Text message

Tuesday 7 October9:41

Messages · now62418now

The Black Friday opening text as a notification on an iPhone lock screen

The same text as a notification on an Android lock screen

In a crowded inbox

Your text lands next to everyone else's

Black Friday previews stack up on the lock screen. The ones that get opened say the discount and the deadline first.

Discount in the first line

The number is what the shopper is comparing. Put it where the preview shows it.

A deadline you will keep

Midnight tonight, 9pm today: something specific and true.

Your name before the offer

Twelve stores are shouting the same thing. Your brand at the start is how they tell you apart.

Rules for the day

Five rules for Black Friday SMS marketing

Start at 8am, not midnightA sale can open at midnight, but a US marketing text cannot go out before 8am local time.
Two or three texts on the dayMore than that on Black Friday is the fastest way to lose subscribers you worked all year for.
Give each text a new reasonOpening, a category push, the final hours: each one should say something the last one did not.
Keep buyers out of remindersSomeone who ordered at 9am should not get the 6pm reminder.
Send early in the eveningThe last reminder has to leave before 9pm, so plan the final hours around that.

Send your Black Friday texts with Zefir

Zefir writes the day's texts with you, schedules them within quiet hours, answers reply keywords such as YES, and attributes each Black Friday order to the text that drove it.

Request access See how it works

1,000+stores trust Zefir with peak-season sending

$530M+WhatsApp revenue attributed by Zefir

Black Friday questions

Texting on Black Friday

When should the first Black Friday text go out?

At 8am local time at the earliest, even if the sale opened at midnight, because US rules only allow marketing texts from 8am until 9pm. Zefir schedules every send inside each subscriber's quiet hours.

How many texts should I send on Black Friday?

Two or three on the day, plus one beforehand, is a reasonable ceiling; more tends to raise opt-outs. Zefir drops anyone who has ordered from the later reminders.

Is a gift better than a bigger discount?

Often, because a useful gift stands out among discount texts and protects your prices. Zefir ties each sale to its text, which makes the two easy to compare.

Should Black Friday texts use a code?

An automatic discount removes a step at checkout, while a code is easier to track; either works if the text says which. Zefir supports both and tracks which text each order came from.

What makes a Black Friday text get opened?

Your brand name, the discount and the deadline in the first line, since the lock-screen preview shows little else. Zefir drafts every text with those three facts up front.