How To Use Gleam For Your Black Friday Promotions

Black Friday 2026 falls on 27 November, but for most shoppers it will not start there. Nearly three quarters plan to shop the sales this year, and early bird promotions are already common from late October, so a lot of buying decisions get made before the day itself arrives.

That is the real challenge. Every other business is running deals at the same time, so standing out means giving people a reason to pay attention to you specifically, not just another discount code in a crowded inbox.

Here is how to use Gleam to do that, from building an audience before the sale to converting the traffic once it lands.

One of the most reliable ways to make your Black Friday promotion stand out is to run a sweepstakes in the lead-up to the sale.

Starting early gets you noticed before the flood of Black Friday marketing begins, and with most shoppers now browsing weeks ahead of the day itself, a strong early presence matters more than ever.

Announcing your sweepstakes a couple of weeks before Black Friday and Cyber Monday builds momentum and grows your audience ahead of the sale.

With Gleam, setting this up is simple, customise the template below and you'll be ready to attract entries straight away.

A sweepstakes randomly selects a winner from participants who complete valuable actions such as subscribing to your mailing list, following your social channels, or sharing your campaign.

Every entry action fuels your wider Black Friday strategy. A bigger follower base and email list means more people see your offers the moment your sale goes live, not after it has already been buried by everyone else's.

Promote your sweepstakes across every platform you use so no potential shopper misses the chance to enter.

Another effective idea is encouraging customers to register their interest ahead of your sale.

This builds anticipation and gathers customer data that helps you plan future promotions more accurately.

Send everyone who registers early access to your sale a day before it goes live, creating genuine exclusivity rather than a generic countdown.

As an added incentive, one lucky participant can win a voucher or gift card to spend during the sale itself.

With Black November now the norm, a single day of promotion rarely cuts through. Running a 7 Days of Black Friday giveaway keeps you visible across the whole build-up, not just the day itself.

Give away a prize each day in the week leading up to Black Friday to keep your audience returning.

Gleam can draw a new winner automatically each day for 7 days, so your campaign stays visible while shoppers are being pulled in a dozen directions by everyone else's deals.

Adding actions like retweets or shares extends your reach further, driving more entries and more sales once your offers go live.

Partnering with another brand is one of the most effective ways to expand your reach during Black Friday, particularly if that brand has already committed marketing spend to promoting the campaign themselves.

Tapping into someone else's audience gets you exposure to new customers and makes your prize pool more appealing.

Reach out to complementary (not competing) brands and propose bundling products from both stores, with entrants asked to follow each brand's socials or join both mailing lists.

Joining forces increases excitement around the prize and expands your visibility across both customer bases, and it often leads to longer-term partnerships beyond the sales period itself.

Referral programmes are one of the most reliable ways to maximise engagement during Black Friday, and they matter more this year than in previous ones. Loyalty-driven shopping is now replacing impulse buying, 39% of shoppers say Black Friday offers genuine value this year, up from 30% last year, so rewarding people for bringing friends along tends to land better than a one-off flash discount.

Offer a discount code to anyone who buys through a referral link, and reward the friend who referred them with a bonus discount once the purchase completes.

Referral campaigns attract new customers while also driving repeat purchases, particularly during high-traffic events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when people are already comparing offers across multiple brands.

Tiered discounts reward bigger spending, the more someone buys, the bigger the discount they unlock, which helps you stand out against competing sales built around a single flat percentage off.

This works especially well during Black Friday, since buyers are already primed to spend more to hit the next threshold, and it tends to lift both order value and satisfaction at once, shoppers feel like they earned the better deal.

Cart abandonment is one of the biggest challenges during Black Friday, when shoppers are comparing tabs across half a dozen competing sales at once.

Targeted popups recover some of those lost sales by reminding customers what's still in their basket and sweetening the deal, a free gift, a discount code, or free shipping, if they finish checking out.

Free delivery is one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce cart abandonment. Shoppers complete orders far more readily when they know shipping is free, and many will spend more to make the most of it.

This works especially well on hesitant or first-time buyers. Positioning free shipping as an exclusive Black Friday deal can be enough to bring on-the-fence customers back over the line.

A scavenger hunt keeps customers engaged for longer than a single click. Asking participants to search your website, blog, or social channels for hidden codes increases time spent with your brand, not just a passing impression.

Offer early access to your sale as the prize, or let winners fill a basket up to a set value and check out for free. Combining gamification with a genuinely exclusive deal builds hype without feeling gimmicky.

Early access rewards your most engaged customers before the wider crowd arrives. Incentivise people to subscribe, follow, or share in exchange for getting into your sale before everyone else.

This helps your brand stand out by launching slightly ahead of competing Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers, and it builds a contact list of people who have already shown genuine interest, rather than cold traffic.

A photo contest is a low-cost way to collect user-generated content and build buzz ahead of Black Friday. Encouraging customers to share photos using your products gathers authentic content and social proof that influences other people's buying decisions.

Entries spread naturally as participants post to their own feeds, tag your business, or use a branded hashtag, so every entry has a chance to reach people you haven't marketed to directly.

Offering a valuable prize, exclusive discounts, a gift card, or a featured spot on your channels, encourages higher-quality entries and wider participation.

A popup is a simple, effective reminder about your promotion. It captures attention, drives traffic to your sale page, and reduces the chance of visitors clicking away before seeing your best deals.

A countdown timer builds urgency by making the deadline visible. When people can see time running out, they are more likely to act rather than come back later, and often not come back at all.

➡ Try the Limited Time Offer Countdown Template to launch yours quickly.

With most Black Friday browsing happening on mobile, your social bio is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate you have.

Instagram now lets you add up to five links directly in your bio rather than just one, so there's more room to point people towards your sale, your Linktree, or both, without forcing shoppers to choose.

You can run a giveaway straight from your bio to convert casual scrollers into new followers and customers.

Alternatively, use your Linktree to share exclusive Black Friday discount codes and send shoppers straight to your website.