Stop Waiting: Your Small Business Black Friday / Cyber Monday Checklist

Published under The Marketing Hat on HatStacked.com

The clock is ticking, and your customers are already being bombarded with “biggest sale ever” emails. The good news? You still have time to make this Black Friday your best revenue sprint of the year.

The Truth: You Don’t Need a Month to Prep for Black Friday

If you’ve been too busy running your business to think about your Black Friday or Cyber Monday campaigns, you’re not alone. Thousands of small business owners are right now Googling “last-minute Black Friday checklist” between customer calls. The difference between panic and profit is having a focused plan that only includes the essentials.

Let’s skip the long strategy decks and get straight to what actually moves the needle before Friday morning.

Step 1: Fix the Easy Revenue Leaks on Your Website

Start where most small businesses lose sales: the checkout. Run a quick test order on your site using a phone, not a laptop. Look for friction points like these:

• Buttons that don’t fit the screen or overlap text.
• Coupon boxes that reject valid codes.
• Confusing shipping cost displays.
• Missing trust signals (SSL badge, review count, etc.).

If you can fix three small problems tonight, you’ll likely increase conversions faster than any ad campaign.

Related: The Tools I Wish I Had Before My First IT Crisis

Step 2: Simplify Your Offer Strategy

Forget the 40-slide “holiday campaign strategy.” Pick one clear offer and stick to it. For most small businesses, the simplest path is:

• Black Friday: Sitewide percentage discount or bundle deal.
• Cyber Monday: Free shipping or bonus gift.

Stacking multiple promos confuses buyers. Consistency keeps messaging sharp across email, social, and ads.

Pro tip: Don’t forget to clearly state the end date and time for each offer. Urgency only works when the deadline feels real.

Step 3: Write One Perfect Email and One Text Message

You don’t need five emails. You need one great one.

• Subject line: “Black Friday starts NOW—don’t refresh, just click.”
• Body: Highlight 3–5 top products with direct links and clear discounts.
• CTA: “Shop Now” (not “Learn More”).

Then schedule one short SMS to your most loyal customers Friday morning. Keep it conversational, like:
“Hey [Name], early access just opened! Grab your favorites before the rush: [link].”

Step 4: Create a 60-Second Social Proof Blitz

Your audience trusts other buyers more than your own marketing. Between now and Friday, gather proof of happy customers.

• Screenshot recent 5-star reviews and turn them into story graphics.
• Repost user-generated photos of your products in action.
• Film a 15-second “thank you” video for your community.

This not only humanizes your brand, it pushes fence-sitters over the edge when they see real people enjoying what you sell.

Step 5: Run a Shipping and Inventory Check

Black Friday can expose operational cracks. Double-check your inventory counts and shipping labels right now.

• Confirm that low-stock items are marked “limited” online.
• Stock your packing station with tape, labels, and printer ink.
• Send a short message to your carrier or fulfillment partner confirming pickup schedules.

You’d be shocked how many businesses lose thousands in sales because no one printed enough labels.

Step 6: Plan for the Post-Weekend Retargeting Wave

Most small businesses stop marketing at midnight Monday. The smart ones clean up for another week of profit.

• Set up retargeting ads for “viewed but not purchased” audiences.
• Send a “missed it?” email Tuesday morning with a smaller follow-up offer.
• Use the data you collect to refine product bundles for the rest of Q4.

Your customers are still shopping, even after the discount banners disappear.

Final Step: Celebrate and Review What Worked

Before you collapse into a post-sale nap, jot down three things that worked well and three that didn’t.
Next year, this 5-minute debrief will save you 50 hours.

Your future self will thank you.