Black Friday Influencer Marketing 2026: Gifting Calendar
Black Friday 2026 is November 27, 40 days away. The ideal pitch window closed on October 16. You can still make it: pitch and ship in the same week, by October 30, and let creators pick the date. Cyber Monday and Hanukkah windows are still open.
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Work back from the day you want the post live. Build the list and send an opt-in pitch six to eight weeks before it, then ship to everyone who said yes four to six weeks before it. That is the seeding timeline from our product seeding guide, and the calendar below applies it to every 2026 holiday date, with each window’s status today.
2026 holiday calendar: when to pitch and ship
Each row works back from the day posts should be live. The last column is computed from today’s date.
| Posts live on | Pitch between | Ship between | Today |
|---|---|---|---|
| ThanksgivingThursday, November 26 | Oct 1 to Oct 15 | Oct 15 to Oct 29 | Late: pitch and ship by Oct 29 |
| Black FridayFriday, November 27 | Oct 2 to Oct 16 | Oct 16 to Oct 30 | Late: pitch and ship by Oct 30 |
| Small Business SaturdaySaturday, November 28 | Oct 3 to Oct 17 | Oct 17 to Oct 31 | Late: pitch and ship by Oct 31 |
| Cyber MondayMonday, November 30 | Oct 5 to Oct 19 | Oct 19 to Nov 2 | Pitch by Oct 19 |
| Giving TuesdayTuesday, December 1 | Oct 6 to Oct 20 | Oct 20 to Nov 3 | Pitch by Oct 20 |
| Hanukkahfrom the evening of Friday, December 4 | Oct 9 to Oct 23 | Oct 23 to Nov 6 | Open: pitch by Oct 23 |
| ChristmasFriday, December 25 | Oct 30 to Nov 13 | Nov 13 to Nov 27 | Pitching opens Oct 30 |
Late means the pitch window has closed but there is still time to ship four weeks out if the creator says yes this week.
Plan your own post date
Pick a holiday, or the date a specific post should go live, and get the pitch and ship dates back.
- Pitch between
- October 30 and November 13
- Ship between
- November 13 and November 27
- Today
- Pitching opens Oct 30
What creators post for each date
| Moment | Date | What creators post |
|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving | Thursday, November 26 | Hosting, recipes, gratitude posts; early deal roundups |
| Black Friday | Friday, November 27 | Deal roundups, hauls, discount codes |
| Small Business Saturday | Saturday, November 28 | Shop-small picks and independent brand features |
| Cyber Monday | Monday, November 30 | Online deal roundups and last-call codes |
| Giving Tuesday | Tuesday, December 1 | Causes, donations and give-back products |
| Hanukkah | From the evening of Friday, December 4 | Eight-nights gift ideas, table and hosting content |
| Christmas | Friday, December 25 | Stocking stuffers, unboxings, last-minute gifts |
Late for Black Friday? What still works
- Pitch and ship in the same week, and say so in the pitch so the creator knows the product is on its way.
- Let the creator choose the posting date. A post that misses Black Friday can still go up before Cyber Monday or Christmas.
- Move the push to Hanukkah or Christmas, whose windows open later.
- If you only want the box opened on the day, with no content ask, time it to land three to seven days before, as in our PR package guide.
Copy-paste holiday seeding pitch
Fill in the brackets. Keep it short, name one thing the creator made, and end on one yes or no question. Pitching a creator’s gift guide instead? Use the gift guide pitch.
Subject: [Product] before [holiday]?
Hi [first name], I loved your [specific post]. [One sentence on why it fits your product.] I’m [your name] from [brand]. We make [product, one line]. Would you like one to try before [holiday]? No obligation to post. If you do share it, we can set up a code for your audience: [discount] off through Cyber Monday. If you’re in, I’ll ship it by [date] so it arrives with time to spare. Want me to send one? [Your name]
Subject: Re: [Product] before [holiday]?
Hi [first name], just checking this reached you. Happy to send [product] whenever suits you, or to leave it if the timing is off this year. [Your name]
How to run it in Cheerful
- 1Describe who you want in plain English, for example “beauty creators in the US with 10k to 50k followers for a Black Friday post”, and Cheerful searches for them.
- 2It drafts the opt-in pitch and the follow-up for each creator. You can hold every message for approval before it sends.
- 3When a creator says yes, it collects the shipping address in the conversation.
- 4With Shopify connected, a confirmed yes becomes a draft order in your store with the right variant and the address filled in. You approve it in Cheerful or from Slack, and it is placed in your store.
- 5Each creator gets their own discount code, and their posts are detected and tracked automatically, including the ones that never tag you.
Posts typically appear two to six weeks after unboxing, so a report pulled on Cyber Monday will undercount. See how to measure gifting ROI.
Frequently asked questions
When is Black Friday 2026?
Friday, November 27, 2026. Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, Small Business Saturday is November 28, Cyber Monday is November 30 and Giving Tuesday is December 1.
When does Hanukkah 2026 start?
At sundown on Friday, December 4, 2026, with the first candle lit that evening.
When should I send influencers products for Black Friday?
Work back from the day you want posts live: pitch six to eight weeks before and ship four to six weeks before. For Black Friday 2026 that is a pitch window of October 2 to 16 and a ship window of October 16 to 30. After that, pitch and ship in the same week and let the creator choose the date.
Should holiday influencer gifting include a discount code?
For Black Friday and Cyber Monday posts, usually yes: deal posts tend to carry a code, and a code per creator is also how you see which posts drove orders.
Can Cheerful create the Shopify orders for gifted products?
Yes. With Shopify connected, a confirmed yes becomes a draft order in your store with the variant and address filled in. Nothing is placed until you approve it.
