Good Black Friday SMS templates are short, open with your brand name, carry one offer and one link, and end with an opt-out line, all inside a single 160-character segment. Below are 30 templates you can adapt for Black Friday on Friday 27 November 2026 and Cyber Monday on 30 November, with character counts, timing and compliance checks.
Everything here works with the SMS marketing features in SMS.to, including scheduling, personalisation and tracked short links. The templates avoid emoji and curly quotes, which would switch a message to Unicode and cut the limit to 70 characters.
When should you send Black Friday texts in 2026?
Many retailers now run Black Friday offers across the whole week up to Cyber Monday, and inboxes are most crowded on the Friday itself. A typical plan:
| Date | What to send | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 16 to Fri 20 Nov | One teaser: dates, early access, wishlist prompt | All subscribers |
| Mon 23 to Thu 26 Nov | Early access or VIP code | Recent buyers, loyalty members |
| Fri 27 Nov, morning | Launch message | All subscribers |
| Fri 27 Nov, afternoon or evening | Basket reminders, last-hours message | Cart abandoners, people who clicked but did not buy |
| Sat 28 and Sun 29 Nov | Nothing, or one weekend offer | Engaged non-buyers only |
| Mon 30 Nov | Cyber Monday launch and final call | All subscribers, then non-buyers |
| Tue 1 Dec onwards | Extension, thank-you or next-offer message | Buyers and engaged contacts |
Three to five marketing texts across the week is plenty for most lists. Opt-outs climb quickly when people get a message every few hours, and each one costs you a contact for Christmas too.
Send in the recipient’s time zone and keep to daytime hours. In the United States, federal rules restrict telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the recipient’s location (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1)), so schedule US campaigns inside that window. Other countries have their own quiet hours.
Volume is the other timing issue. On Black Friday morning many brands push large batches at exactly 9:00, and networks queue the spike. Starting at 9:07, or releasing a large list in batches a few minutes apart, usually lands faster. Check the delivery reports for your first batch before releasing the rest.
How long should a Black Friday SMS be?
Aim for one segment. A standard GSM-7 message holds 160 characters. Go over that and the message is split into parts of 153 characters each, so a 170-character text is billed as two SMS. One emoji, curly apostrophe or non-Latin character switches the whole message to UCS-2, where the limit is 70 characters, or 67 per part in a longer message. The euro sign and square brackets count as two characters each even in GSM-7.
A template that drifts to two segments doubles the cost of that send. Paste every final template, with realistic names and links filled in, into the SMS length calculator before you schedule it. Our guide to SMS character limits explains the rules in detail.
What must every promotional text include?
Black Friday messages are direct marketing, so the usual rules apply in full. In the UK, the ICO’s guidance on electronic mail marketing covers text messages and requires three things:
- Consent. You need specific consent to send marketing texts, unless the soft opt-in applies: the person is an existing customer, the offer is for similar products, and they were given a simple way to opt out when you collected their number and in every message since.
- A clear sender. You must not hide who you are. Starting every message with your brand name does this and also helps recognition.
- An opt-out. Every marketing text must give a working way to unsubscribe, and you must act on it.
There is one technical catch. If you send from an alphanumeric sender ID such as your brand name, recipients cannot reply to it, so “Reply STOP” only works when you send from a number that accepts replies. With an alphanumeric sender, use a one-click opt-out link instead. SMS.to generates one when you add the opt-out tag to your message. Swap it in for “Reply STOP to opt out” in the templates below if your sender cannot receive replies. For more on consent records and automated opt-outs, see our SMS marketing compliance guide.
Only use scarcity or countdown lines when they are true. If stock is not limited or the offer does not end at midnight, do not say it does.
30 Black Friday SMS templates
Words in square brackets are placeholders. Counts assume a 12-character brand name, a 10-character first name, a 12-character store name, an 8-character order number and a 23-character short link, and every template stays inside one GSM-7 segment on those assumptions. Remember that square brackets are themselves two-character GSM-7 symbols, so make sure every placeholder is replaced before you send. If your real brand name or links are longer, recount before sending.
Teasers and early access
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Brand]: Black Friday starts Fri 27 Nov. Text subscribers get first access from 8am on Thursday. Watch this space. Reply STOP to opt out | 141 | 1 |
| 2 | [Brand]: Early access is live for SMS subscribers. Up to 40% off, a day before the public sale: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 146 | 1 |
| 3 | [Brand]: [Name], your VIP code BF26VIP takes 25% off everything before anyone else. Ends Thu 23:59. [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 154 | 1 |
| 4 | [Brand]: Build your wishlist before 27 Nov and we’ll text you when your saved items are reduced: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 147 | 1 |
| 5 | [Brand]: Sneak peek. Our 5 biggest Black Friday deals, revealed 24 hours early for text subscribers: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 151 | 1 |
| 6 | [Brand]: Doors open at 7am on Fri 27 Nov at [Store]. The first 100 customers get a free gift. Reply STOP to opt out | 125 | 1 |
Black Friday launch day
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | [Brand]: Black Friday is here. 30% off everything, today only, plus free delivery over £50: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 142 | 1 |
| 8 | [Brand]: [Name], the sale is live. Your favourites are up to 50% off while stock lasts: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 142 | 1 |
| 9 | [Brand]: Buy 2, get 1 free across the store until midnight. Cheapest item free at checkout: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 142 | 1 |
| 10 | [Brand]: Spend £100, save £25. Spend £150, save £40. Black Friday only, online and in store: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 143 | 1 |
| 11 | [Brand]: Free gift with every order over £60 today, no code needed, while stocks last: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 137 | 1 |
| 12 | [Brand]: Our bestsellers are going fast. See what’s still in stock at Black Friday prices: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 141 | 1 |
Flash sales and countdowns
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | [Brand]: Flash deal. Next 2 hours only: an extra 15% off sale items with code FLASH15. Ends 2pm. [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 147 | 1 |
| 14 | [Brand]: 6 hours left. 30% off everything ends at midnight tonight: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 118 | 1 |
| 15 | [Brand]: A new deal drops every hour until 9pm. See this hour’s pick before it changes: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 138 | 1 |
| 16 | [Brand]: The item you asked about is back in stock and 35% off for Black Friday: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 131 | 1 |
| 17 | [Brand]: Last call. Black Friday prices end in 60 minutes and your basket is saved: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 134 | 1 |
Abandoned basket and browse reminders
Send these one to three hours after the basket was left, only to contacts who agreed to marketing texts, and suppress them if the order completes.
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | [Brand]: [Name], you left something in your basket. It’s 30% off until midnight: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 135 | 1 |
| 19 | [Brand]: Still thinking it over? Your basket is saved at the Black Friday price until 11pm: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 142 | 1 |
| 20 | [Brand]: Your basket qualifies for free delivery. Check out today to keep the Black Friday price: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 148 | 1 |
| 21 | [Brand]: Items you looked at are now reduced for Black Friday. Take another look: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 132 | 1 |
Cyber Monday
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | [Brand]: Cyber Monday is on. 30 Nov only: 25% off online with code CYBER25: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 126 | 1 |
| 23 | [Brand]: Missed Black Friday? Cyber Monday is your second chance. Up to 40% off, today only: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 143 | 1 |
| 24 | [Brand]: Cyber Monday for text subscribers: free next-day delivery on every order until midnight. [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 148 | 1 |
| 25 | [Brand]: Online only, today only. Our Cyber Monday tech deals are live: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 122 | 1 |
| 26 | [Brand]: Cyber Monday ends at midnight. Final hours to save up to 40%: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 121 | 1 |
Extensions, order updates and thank-you messages
Templates 28 and 29 are service messages about an order the customer placed, so they carry no opt-out line. Keep them free of promotional content; if you add an offer, treat the message as marketing.
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | [Brand]: We’ve extended the sale. Black Friday prices now run until midnight on Tue 1 Dec: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 141 | 1 |
| 28 | [Brand]: Thanks for your order [Order]. It’s confirmed and we’ll text you when it ships. Track it here: [Link] | 133 | 1 |
| 29 | [Brand]: It’s our busiest week, so Black Friday orders may take 1-2 extra days to arrive. Track order [Order]: [Link] | 140 | 1 |
| 30 | [Brand]: Thanks for shopping our Black Friday sale, [Name]. Take 10% off in December with THANKS10: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 154 | 1 |
How do you personalise and segment without extra cost?
Personalisation changes message length. If a template is close to 160 characters, recipients with long names tip into a second segment, so test with the longest value in your list, not the average.
Segmenting matters more than wording. Most lists split into four groups:
- Recent buyers and loyalty members: early access and VIP codes.
- Engaged non-buyers: the launch message and one reminder.
- Basket abandoners: a single, timely basket reminder.
- Dormant contacts: one launch message at most, or none.
Use a separate tracked short link per segment or template to compare click-through rates.
How SMS.to handles Black Friday campaigns
The SMS.to platform features most useful for Black Friday are:
- Scheduling: build your whole week in advance from the web platform, or pass
scheduled_forandtimezoneto the SMS API so each message goes out at the right local time. - Personalisation: up to 5 dynamic tags per message, such as first name and custom fields.
- Short links with click tracking: see click-through rates per campaign, run A/B tests, and keep links short enough to protect your character budget.
- Opt-out handling: a one-click opt-out link on the nosmsto.me domain, plus opt-out lists that are applied to future sends.
- Two-way numbers: rent a virtual number as your sender if you want customers to reply STOP, ask questions or answer a quick poll.
- Cost estimates: the estimate endpoint prices a message before you send it, a quick check that a template has not grown into two segments.
Next up: our Christmas SMS templates.
FAQs
How many texts should I send over Black Friday week?
Three to five marketing messages across the week suits most lists: a teaser, early access for loyal customers, a launch message, one last-chance message and a Cyber Monday message. Basket reminders go only to people who left a basket.
Can I use emoji in Black Friday SMS?
You can, but one emoji switches the whole message to Unicode and cuts the single-SMS limit from 160 to 70 characters. Most promotional texts then need two or three segments.
Do I need consent to text past customers about Black Friday?
In the UK you need consent, or the soft opt-in for existing customers buying similar products, with an opt-out offered at collection and in every message. Other countries have their own rules, so check each market you send to.
What time should I send a Black Friday text?
Mid-morning in the recipient’s time zone works well for launch messages, with a second message in the late afternoon or evening. Avoid sending exactly on the hour, when network queues are longest, and never send outside local quiet hours.
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