Black Friday Meta Ads 2026: Best Examples, Rising CPMs and a Budget Plan for Brands

Black Friday Meta ads are unlikely to get cheaper between now and 27 November. Every week from here, more brands pile into the same auction. The good news from last season is that dearer impressions did not automatically mean dearer sales. Brands that did well had offers, creative and tracking ready before the price rise, then judged results on cost per purchase and profit, not CPM.

Black Friday lands on Friday 27 November 2026, with Cyber Monday on 30 November, so you have three weeks. This is day five of our Black Friday series. Start with the Black Friday marketing strategy for the offer and calendar, then use this post for the Meta side. It sits alongside our guides to Black Friday social media strategy, Black Friday email marketing and Black Friday Google Ads strategy.

What happened to Black Friday Meta ad costs in 2025

Four independent datasets, four ways of measuring. The direction agrees. The size does not, so your own account baseline matters more than any benchmark.

A few things worth taking from this:

• Black Friday was the peak, Cyber Monday a close second. Lebesgue saw CPMs 71% above September on Cyber Monday, then still 20% above on 3 December.
• Better conversion paid for the dearer reach. Lebesgue's median brand converted 48% better in Black Friday week and Meta-reported ROAS rose 19%. Lebesgue calls CPM "the price of reach, not the measure of profit".
• The spread is huge. In Lebesgue's data, brands ranged from a 51% fall to a 172% rise in Black Friday week CPM. Home and decor brands saw a median rise of 116%, against 42% for beauty, health and supplements.
• More advertisers means scarcer inventory. Backbone Media found Meta CPMs moving above 2024 levels from the Saturday through Cyber Monday, with more advertisers on Meta than the year before.
• Starting costs are already higher. Supermetrics reports typical CPMs up in every retail sector in the five weeks to 4 October 2026 against 2025, by 3% to 17% on average.

These are platform-reported figures from different samples, mostly in US dollars. They are not UK benchmarks and not a forecast for your account.

When Meta CPMs start climbing, and what to do each week

The start date moves. Lebesgue found the first clear rise in the week of 10 November in 2025, but mid-October in 2024. Biddyco saw costs climb from 17 November, and Supermetrics found apparel costs rising from 3 November while home and kitchen stayed flat until 17 November. Olifant Digital's seven ecommerce accounts paid 1.72 times a normal October day in the week before Black Friday for only 1.20 times the returns. That is a small sample, but a useful warning about the run-up week.

Treat that as a range, not a date. Here is how we would pace the next four weeks.

Supermetrics found Cyber Monday week kept 56% to 79% of Black Friday week spend, so budget the two weeks separately. Our guide on how to scale paid ads without doubling budget covers the stepping logic.

Best Black Friday Meta ad examples from 2025

These are real Black Friday Facebook ad examples from last season, collected from the Meta Ad Library by Adspo and Shopify. We can see what the brands ran, not what the ads returned, so treat them as patterns to test, not proven winners.

Teaser and early access ads

• Gymshark ran a teaser a week before its sale opened: a gym video with the discount (up to 50% off), the date and a "build your baskets now" line. A November 2025 ad also put the exact start time on the creative. Sell the date before the sale exists.
• Mejuri told members they could shop first, spelled out the tiers in the copy and set a public sale date of 24 November. Early access gives your best customers a reason to act before the auction peaks.
• Liquid I.V. called its sale "Beat the Holiday Rush" and gave early buyers their own code.

Stack the offer without muddying it

• Kylie Cosmetics led with 40% off sitewide, then added a free limited-edition gift.
• Huel paired 15% off sitewide with a free T-shirt and shaker for first-time customers only, rewarding new buyers without a deeper discount for everyone.
• Emma Bridgewater ran 30% off selected lines with daily specials, a UK example of giving people a reason to come back.

Creator and founder video

• Liquid I.V. also ran vertical, phone-shot creator videos that look like normal Reels, with a clear 30% offer.
• Tropeaka put its founder on camera in the warehouse with one bestseller and one offer.
• Hollow Alpaca Socks opened with a cold-feet problem, then framed buy 3 get 3 free around it.

Ads that sell more than a discount

• The Ordinary ran a calm month-long "Slowvember" offer of 23% off from 3 November to 7 December instead of a weekend shout.
• Buoy opened by naming its audience, then made the offer scarce with a real stock number.

Of the 20 ads Adspo reviewed, 15 were video, 14 started before 21 November, the median run was 11 days and 7 of the 15 videos put a creator, athlete or founder on camera. That is a sample of 20 US ads picked by ad count, not an industry statistic, but it fits the cost data: start early, run short bursts and put a person in the first second.

Black Friday ad ideas and creative to produce this week

Creative is the one lever that survives a rising CPM. These are the best Black Friday video ads and static formats to have ready.

• A teaser, a live ad and a last-chance ad. The teaser carries the date, the live ad the offer, the last-chance ad the deadline.
• One offer, stated in the first second. Adspo's set put the discount in the headline or on screen in 16 of 20 ads. Do not make people hunt for it.
• Vertical video for Reels and Stories. Triple Whale's 2025 data showed Facebook and Instagram Reels with CPMs 30% to 40% lower than Feed placements. Test it in your own account before naming a winner.
• Separate ads for separate audiences. Past buyers, cart abandoners and cold prospects need different messages. Match them to the segments in your Black Friday email marketing plan.
• Creator-style content that looks native. Our social media management and UGC and creator content services cover this. For budgets, see UGC creator rates in the UK.
• Weekend and Cyber Monday variants, approved now, not built on the day.

Our posts on Meta Advantage+ creative automation, Meta removing placement controls and the Meta ads creative breakdown explain what you can control in Ads Manager. For how Meta sits next to search, see Meta Ads vs Google Ads.

Measure Black Friday Meta ads on profit, not CPM

A higher CPM is a prompt to check the rest of the funnel, not a reason to switch off. Lebesgue's rule of thumb works: if CPM rises but cost per purchase holds, keep scaling within margin and stock. If CPM and CPC rise while click-through rate falls, refresh the creative. If CPM is stable but conversion rate falls, check the offer, landing page and checkout.

Before you spend a pound, set the most you can pay for a customer after the discount, and the lowest ROAS you can accept. Meta-reported ROAS only shows what Meta claims, so compare it with total revenue against total ad spend. Sold-out hero products are the other quiet drain: a static ad keeps sending paid traffic to something shoppers cannot buy.

Keep Black Friday savings claims honest

Meta ads are not exempt from UK pricing rules. In May 2026 the ASA upheld a complaint about a John Lewis paid Facebook ad, seen on 13 November 2025, that said a MacBook Air "from £699" included a "£150 saving". The ASA found it misleading because the retailer could not show £849 was the genuine usual selling price, and said it would expect at least three months of pricing history for a second ad. The ASA ruling was part of a wider group of Black Friday price promotion investigations. Keep price history for every "was" price, and match the ad to the landing page. This is not legal advice.

How BlackFire approaches Black Friday paid social

We treat Black Friday Meta ads as a profit and lead-quality problem: clean tracking first, creative built in phases, budgets paced across the whole BFCM window and results read against margin, not a screenshot ROAS. We will not quote a client ROAS here. Where we have proof, it sits on the case study pages. If you want a second pair of eyes on structure, creative and pacing before 27 November, that is what our paid media work is for.

Black Friday Meta ads FAQs

How much do Meta CPMs rise on Black Friday?

It depends on the sample. In Lebesgue's 2025 data the median brand paid 59% more than in September across Black Friday week and 84% more on the day. Biddyco saw +57% against October on Black Friday. Compare against your own baseline.

When should I start Black Friday Meta ads?

Have creative and tracking ready now, then run teasers and tests next week. Costs started climbing in the week of 10 November in 2025 but mid-October in 2024, so there is no fixed date. Raise budgets in steps from 16 November.

Are Black Friday Meta ads worth it if CPMs are higher?

Often yes, but judge on cost per purchase and profit. Lebesgue's median brand saw cost per purchase fall 20% in Black Friday week, though Biddyco found 8 to 14 December was the least efficient week of the season. Your margin and stock decide.

What makes the best Black Friday Meta ads?

A clear offer in the first second, a person on camera, a date or deadline, and variants for each phase. The best 2025 examples teased early, stacked a gift or first-order bonus on the discount and often used vertical creator video.

Should I use Advantage+ sales campaigns for Black Friday?

They can simplify structure, but you still decide the offer, the target cost per customer and the creative. Check your conversion events first.

Can I show a was price and a now price in Meta ads?

Only if the higher price is the genuine usual selling price. The ASA's May 2026 John Lewis ruling shows it will ask for pricing history. Keep records and match the ad to the landing page. This is not legal advice.

Next step

Black Friday Meta ads reward the brands that finish creative and tracking early, pace budgets across the whole BFCM window and judge results on profit. Three weeks is enough if you start this week.

If you want a straight read on your Meta account before costs climb, book a call and we will tell you what we would change first.