Black Friday and Cyber Monday, often referred to as BFCM, are among the highest revenue grossing days each year for retail businesses. Last year in the U.S. alone, Black Friday online sales reached $10.8 billion, an increase of 10.2% from 2023. This makes BFCM the Super Bowl for many B2C marketers and business owners.
Marketers everywhere are looking for better ways to set themselves apart and ensure customers take action on their promotional messages. Enter SMS marketing: a direct and owned channel that gets results.
This blog dives into everything SMS marketers need to know about Black Friday texting, including best practices for 2025 and 11 Black Friday SMS campaign ideas to help you crush your BFCM marketing goals.
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Why SMS Marketing Works for Black Friday
Here’s a breakdown of why SMS marketing works for BFCM:
- The shopping world has gone mobile. 69% of Black Friday purchases were made on mobile devices in 2024. This compares to just 7% in 2018. This transition to mobile shopping means that it’s more important than ever for businesses to invest in mobile-first channels like SMS marketing.
- Owned marketing channels are more important than ever. Owned marketing channels, such as SMS, give you direct access to customers on your terms. You decide how and when you communicate with your target audience, instead of relying on third-party platforms like Meta or X to serve your advertisement.
- Promotional messages get read. With an average open rate of 98%, SMS remains a powerful channel to ensure your message is seen. For context, the average open rate of email is 21%.
- SMS is instant. Black Friday is one giant limited-time sale, making messages very time sensitive. The reality is that most texts are read within 3 minutes of receipt, making them great for these notifications.
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Those are just a few of the ways that texting can help you surpass your Black Friday revenue targets. By the way, if you’re looking for a platform to help you send BFCM texts to your customers, Textedly is a go-to with its affordable plans and easy to use platform. Check out our pricing plans.
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11 Black Friday SMS Marketing Campaign Ideas
Are you ready to start texting customers for Black Friday? Here are 11 SMS marketing campaign ideas to help you kickstart your campaign planning.
1. Early Bird Access
You can give your SMS subscribers early access to Black Friday deals so they can browse your website or shop the sale before everyone else.
Black Friday access starts early (but only for you). Use code 2410 at checkout for 40% off. Shop now, early bird → [link]
2. Classic Flash Sale
The goal of any flash sale is to generate sales quickly. This strategy works by fostering a fear that the sale will pass, and customers will miss out.
24 HOURS ONLY: Our best-selling speakers are 40% off with FREE SHIPPING. Get yours now: [link]
3. Countdown Sale
A great way to create hype for your BFCM campaigns is to create a countdown sale. You can showcase a few of the products that will be on sale, or encourage customers to sign up for a waitlist.
Just one more day: All electronics 40% off. AirPods. iPhones. Laptops. *Adds everything to cart and waits* Get a sneak peak at our sale → [link]
4. Extended Sale
Drive more revenue by extending your Black Friday sale to customers who have yet to make a purchase. Give them one more day to get the largest deal of the year.
We’re giving you one more day 🖤 Extended Black Friday deals end tonight at midnight. Don’t miss out on 40% off. Shop now: [link]
5. Drive Foot Traffic
Use a promotional text message to drive foot traffic to your store. This is great for stores that have a physical presence and want to increase foot traffic on Black Friday.
Your East Village Wild Dove store is ready for you! Doors open at 7am tomorrow — first 50 customers get a free gift and 50% off 2 items.
6. Exclusive VIP Offers
Give your SMS marketing list the VIP treatment with some exclusive text-only offerings. This not only encourages sales, but also fosters a sense of loyalty and encourages customers to stay subscribed to your SMS marketing program.
Hi [Name]. You’re part of our texting family, which means you get exclusive access to 50% off savings for Black Friday (20% more than everyone else). Your text code is WERJS-789.
7. Abandoned Cart Offer
Cart abandonment is common, with upwards of 84% of mobile shoppers leaving behind an online cart in recent years. This makes cart abandonment offers a great opportunity for retailers to capture revenue, especially on Black Friday.
Still want this Black Friday deal? 👀 Complete your order now and get an extra 10% off: [link]
8. Skip the Line Offer
No one wants to stand in line hours to get a sale. Use an SMS text message to encourage customers to put an item on hold or pre-pay for it at the BFCM discount without the need to visit the store on Black Friday. You can ask them to text back and come pick it up in stores the next day.
Skip the line: Text back to reserve your item at [Shop] at our Black Friday sale before it sells out. Just reply with your name and desired pickup time! We’ll only hold it until [Date].
9. Mystery Deal
Create a campaign that entices customers to go to an SMS landing page that offers an exclusive deal or code that changes. This creates a fun game for your SMS subscribers.
Your Black Friday deal is waiting! Reveal your mystery discount and code here: [link]
10. Interactive Choose Your Own Adventure
Use a text message that encourages your SMS subscribers to choose their own adventure or discount. This interactive campaign style is a fresh idea for 2025, where customers expect two-way engagement with brands.
What do you want this Black Friday?
1️⃣ 30% Off
2️⃣ Free Gift
3️⃣ Surprise Me
11. Conversational Gift Suggestions
Many shoppers use Black Friday to start their shopping for others. Use this to your advantage by asking customers what they want to see the most, and providing them a relevant deal based on their response.
Looking for gifts? Text me what you need (home goods, fashion, tech) and I’ll send the perfect Black Friday deal
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Best Practices for Black Friday SMS Marketing
A well planned Black Friday campaign will generate the most ROI for your business. Below are five marketing tips for Black Friday SMS to help you get the most out of your text message marketing strategy.
1. Build Your Black Friday Contact List Early
Encourage people to join your subscriber list in exchange for exclusive offers, like early access to Black Friday deals. The bigger your contact list, the more people you can reach on Black Friday or Cyber Monday with your promotional SMS messages.
Make sure that your customers have consented to receive promotional SMS text messages from your business, and you’ll have the best list.
2. Start Campaign Planning Now
The best time to create your Black Friday SMS marketing strategy is as early as possible! You should carefully craft text messages, understand the best frequency, and have tailored lists ready to go.
3. Build Excitement
Build the excitement for your customers by starting your SMS campaigns as early as possible. Promote early Black Friday deals in October (yes, even before Halloween) to capture as many prospective customers as you can.
A good rule of thumb is to generate excitement about the jaw-dropping sale approaching. You can schedule a series of texts to send enticing customers to sign up for waitlists for early BFCM deal access to encourage more sales.
4. Utilize Drip Campaigns
With an SMS marketing platform like Textedly, you can easily set up drip campaigns to automatically send a series of time-delayed text messages to your subscribers. With an automated drip campaign, you can regularly connect with your customers and update them about Black Friday sales. Because drip campaigns run in the background without requiring extra attention, you can save time and effort while continuously driving your conversion rate.
5. Use Visuals
There’s a reason why visual media has exploded in recent years – it captures attention. Images can be beneficial on Black Friday to showcase your product, discounts, or just provide additional information without the extra text.
6. Make Your Deals Exclusive to Texting
While Black Friday and Cyber Monday are tremendous opportunities for sales, you must still be mindful that your SMS program feels exclusive.
You want customers to stay subscribed to your SMS program even beyond Black Friday, which makes it crucial to use the channel appropriately.
7. Create a Sense of Urgency
SMS marketing’s true power is its ability to quickly drive sales. Because SMS text messages reach people right away — rather than sitting buried in an email inbox — your customers are very likely to open and read your text messages as soon as they receive them.
When it comes to BFCM, adding a time limit to your special offers can create a sense of urgency for your audience. Whether it’s a 24-hour period to use a discount code or an additional BFCM discount after a customer’s previous purchase, restricting your sales will push customers to act sooner rather than later.
8. Personalize Your Communications
While text messages are the easiest way to reach your customers directly, it’s not all about speed and convenience. Consumers are looking for a personalized shopping experience; in fact, 91% say they are more likely to shop with brands that offer personalized offers and recommendations.
Include personal information fields in your text message sign-up form to collect data like a subscriber’s name, ZIP code and product preferences so that you can build profiles about each person. With an SMS marketing platform, you can easily add this information to your marketing messages to create more personalized customer communications.
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Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Here’s a look at some of the top challenges to Black Friday SMS marketing, and how to overcome them.
1. SMS Compliance
Compliance issues are a top concern in SMS marketing. To navigate these effectively, ensure you obtain explicit opt-ins from recipients and adhere strictly to TCPA guidelines. Always provide clear opt-out options in your messages to maintain transparency and trust. By staying informed about regulations and implementing robust compliance practices, you can safeguard your campaign from legal complications and build a positive relationship with your audience.
2. Timing & Frequency
Timing your SMS messages correctly is essential to maximizing their impact. Avoid sending messages too early, which might catch recipients off guard, or too late, which could result in missed opportunities. Aim to schedule your texts during peak engagement times when your audience is most likely to read and act on them. By fine-tuning your timing strategy, you can enhance the effectiveness of your campaigns and better connect with your recipients.
3. Over-Saturation
Over-saturation is a significant challenge in SMS marketing, where excessive messaging can lead to customer fatigue. To avoid this, strike a balance in your message frequency, ensuring you communicate value without overwhelming your audience. Carefully monitor engagement metrics and adjust your messaging schedule based on customer responses. By maintaining a thoughtful approach, you can keep your audience engaged and responsive while preventing message burnout.
4. Measuring ROI
Measuring ROI in SMS marketing can be challenging, but it’s crucial for assessing campaign success. Implement tracking tools to monitor key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Analyze these metrics to gauge the effectiveness of your messages and make data-driven adjustments. By effectively tracking and evaluating your campaign performance, you can optimize your strategies and ensure your SMS marketing delivers measurable results.
Crush Your Black Friday SMS Goals With Textedly
Ready to hit your Black Friday sales out of the park? Textedly’s easy-to-use SMS marketing platform helps businesses tee up effective Black Friday text marketing campaigns in minutes.
With powerful features like mass messaging, photo attachments, two-way SMS, and automated SMS, Textedly gives retailers the tools they need to crush their Black Friday campaigns. Plus, Textedly’s customer service is top-notch, so if you ever run into an issue or need help with your campaign, we’re just a call or text away.
From scheduling pre- and post-BFCM sales texts to following up with abandoned carts, you can harness the power of text marketing to grow your business. Get started with a free trial of Textedly today.
