ReachleeBlack Friday in the DMs,
inside Meta's rules
Black Friday is Friday 27 November 2026 and Cyber Monday is 30 November. No tool on Meta's official API can DM every follower that morning. What you can do is make sure the people who want your offer have messaged you recently, reach each of them the moment the sale opens, and answer every comment on the launch post with the link.
Can you send a Black Friday DM to all your followers?
No. Instagram and Facebook let a business message someone only within 24 hours of that person's last message, and never first, so no official tool can DM every follower. A Black Friday campaign that works builds a VIP folder from comments two to three weeks early, schedules a campaign to it with Keep it open so anyone on it who messages you during the sale gets the offer, and answers every comment on the launch post with the link.
Who you can actually reach on Black Friday
Most Black Friday advice for Instagram assumes you can message your audience the way you'd email a list. You can't, and knowing exactly who is reachable on 27 November changes the plan. Reachlee gives every contact a status that answers one question: can you message this person right now? Active contacts messaged you in the last 24 hours and get a campaign the moment it sends. Inactive contacts wrote to you before that; with Keep it open, the campaign waits and reaches them the moment they message you again. Pending contacts commented but never messaged you, so a campaign can't reach them at all. Opted-out contacts are never messaged. That leaves three ways to reach people on the day, and a good plan uses all three.
- The campaign, for everyone on your VIP list who is Active when it sends, and for the rest as they come back while it stays open.
- Comment-to-DM on the launch post, which sends one private reply to every commenter, follower or not, within 7 days of the comment. It's how you reach people who have never messaged you.
- Story replies and keyword DMs, which make a person Active again for 24 hours. A story that invites replies the day before the sale is the simplest way to refresh your list.
The Black Friday 2026 sequence, day by day
6 to 13 November: open the VIP list
Post a teaser and ask people to comment EARLY for first access. On the canvas, the comment automation sends a private reply with an 'Add me' button, files whoever taps it (or types it) into a folder called Black Friday VIP, and confirms they're on it. On Instagram, a story-reply trigger can add people to the same folder. All of this works on Free, which keeps up to 3 contact folders.
Until the 26th: give the list a reason to write back
Share sneak peeks in stories with a reply prompt, and set a DM keyword such as SIZES that sends your size guide. Each reply makes that person Active again, and an Active contact gets the launch campaign the moment it sends. Reachlee won't message anyone outside the 24-hour window, so a short campaign question to whoever is Active right now is the most you need in between.
Thursday 26 November: build and schedule the launch
In Campaigns, start from the Announcement template: a message, a link to the sale, and a reminder for people who don't click. Set the audience to the Black Friday VIP folder, exclude a Customers folder if the offer is for new buyers, turn on Keep it open through Cyber Monday, preview it, send a real test to a second account, then use Schedule for later to set the minute the sale opens. Scheduling and Keep it open are on Pro.
Friday 27 November: launch post with comment-to-DM
Publish the launch post with a keyword such as DEAL. The automation replies publicly under each comment and sends a private reply with a product carousel of up to 10 cards, each with its own tracked link. It reaches every commenter, including people who have never messaged you and so can't receive the campaign. Carousels are on Pro.
Over the weekend: Retrigger and one follow-up
If the launch post collected comments before its automation was live, run Retrigger on it: it works through the comments from the last 7 days, skips anyone already messaged and paces the sends. Turn on the follow-up so people who didn't tap get one reminder, 30 minutes to 20 hours later, and never a second. Both are on Pro.
Monday 30 November: the last call
Send a short Cyber Monday campaign to the VIP folder. File Friday's clickers into a Clicked folder from the link step's Clicked exit, then exclude that folder so buyers aren't nagged. Skip recently reached leaves out anyone another campaign messaged within the hours you set, 72 by default; lower it if you want Friday's non-clickers to get this second message.
The pieces, and which plan each one needs
A VIP folder from comments (Free)
A comment automation built on the canvas files people into a contact folder when they tap or reply. Folders work on every plan: Free keeps up to 3, paid plans are unlimited, and the same folder is the audience for every campaign of the sale.
A scheduled launch with Keep it open (Pro)
Schedule for later sends the campaign at the minute you choose. Keep it open (7 days by default, up to 30) holds it for everyone in the audience who isn't Active yet and delivers it the moment they message you. Messages go out gradually over the first minutes, not all at once.
Product carousels (Pro)
Up to 10 product cards in one DM, each with its own button and tracked link, so you can see which products people tapped. Prices and stock stay on your store: update the cards before the sale and link each one to its live product page, because Reachlee doesn't read your catalogue.
Retrigger (Pro)
Runs the launch post's automation over the comments it collected in the last 7 days, the window Meta allows for private replies, skipping anyone who already got one and pacing the sends so a backlog never goes out in a burst (how Retrigger works).
One follow-up (Pro)
A single reminder for people who didn't tap, sent 30 minutes to 20 hours later and cancelled the moment they do. Inside a campaign, the link step's 'not clicked' exit does the same job for your VIP list.
Reachlee AI and Needs-you alerts (Growth)
Sale weekends bring the same questions about sizes, shipping times and returns. Reachlee AI answers them from your knowledge, and questions about a specific order, complaints and requests for a person arrive as Needs-you alerts by email or Telegram (the handoff).
Who your Black Friday campaign reaches, and how to reach everyone else
| Person | Gets the campaign? | How to reach them on the day |
|---|---|---|
| Messaged you in the last 24 hours (Active) | Yes, as soon as it sends | The campaign |
| Messaged you before that (Inactive) | Only when they next message you, if Keep it open is on | A story or post that invites a reply, after which the campaign reaches them |
| Commented but never messaged you (Pending) | No | Comment-to-DM on the launch post: one private reply per comment |
| Follows you but never interacted | No | Only a post, story or ad they see; no tool can DM them first |
| Opted out | Never | Nothing; they asked not to be messaged |
Statuses follow Meta's 24-hour rule and work the same way on Instagram and Facebook Pages.
Three Black Fridays, before and after
A fashion boutique
The sale went live at midnight with a post and a story. The DMs that followed were the same questions about sizes and shipping, answered by hand into the night, while the link sat in the bio.
The VIP folder opens three weeks out, the scheduled campaign lands at midnight for everyone Active, the launch post's DEAL keyword sends a carousel of the best sellers, and Reachlee AI answers size and shipping questions from the shop's knowledge.
A creator selling a course
The discount was announced in a Reel, commenters asking for the link got it hours later if at all, and people who had asked about the course in October never heard the sale was on.
October's askers went into a folder from a comment keyword, the launch campaign reached the ones who wrote back during sale week, and the Reel's comments were answered by comment-to-DM with one follow-up for non-clickers.
A local bakery on Facebook
The bakery's Facebook Page announced its holiday boxes, comments asked for prices and pickup times, and the owner answered between batches.
Comment-to-Messenger sends the order form to every commenter on the Page post, keyword replies answer pickup times, and Retrigger catches the comments that came in before the automation was switched on.
What Black Friday needs on each plan
Free covers the core: comment-to-DM on Instagram, story replies, 3 contact folders, and campaigns sent right away to Active contacts, within 1,000 DMs a month. Campaign messages count toward that limit, which a busy sale weekend can use up. Pro ($9/mo) adds Schedule for later, Keep it open for up to 30 days, product carousels, Retrigger, follow-ups, one automation on up to 10 posts, Facebook Pages and unlimited DMs. Growth ($14/mo) adds Reachlee AI with 1,000 credits a month, and Business ($29/mo) adds Google Sheets and 5 team seats.
Start freeBlack Friday DM campaigns, answered
Can I DM all my followers for Black Friday?
No, and a tool that says it can isn't using Meta's official API. A business may message someone only within 24 hours of their last message, and can never send the first message, so followers who have never written to you can't be reached by DM on any day. What you can reach is everyone who comments on your launch post, once each, and everyone who messages you. The sequence on this page is built to get the most out of both.
When should I start preparing?
Open the VIP list two to three weeks out, between 6 and 13 November for Black Friday 2026, so there's time for people to join it and for you to give them reasons to write back. Load your AI knowledge with sale prices, shipping cut-offs and return rules the week before, and build and test the campaign by Thursday 26 November. For 2027 the same plan runs from 5 to 12 November, with Black Friday on 26 November and Cyber Monday on 29 November.
Will a Black Friday campaign get my account restricted?
Not when it stays inside Meta's rules, which Reachlee enforces. Campaign messages go out gradually over the first minutes instead of all at once, Skip recently reached stops anyone getting two campaigns in a row, opted-out contacts are never messaged, and Reachlee pauses an account automatically when Meta asks it to slow down. The risky version of Black Friday is unofficial software that logs in as you to message strangers.
What happens to people on my VIP list who haven't messaged me in weeks?
They're Inactive, so the campaign can't reach them when it sends. With Keep it open on, it waits for them: the moment one of them messages you, replies to a story or taps a button, they get it, for as long as the campaign stays open (7 days by default, up to 30). Anyone still waiting when it closes is marked as never reachable in time. That's why the plan gives the list reasons to write back in the days before the sale.
Can Reachlee show live prices or stock in DMs?
No. A product carousel is a set of cards you write, each with an image, a title and a button to your store, and Reachlee doesn't read your catalogue. Update the cards before the sale starts and link each one to the live product page, so prices and stock come from your store. Each card's link is tracked, so after the weekend you can see which products people tapped.
Does this work on Facebook Pages?
Yes. Comment-to-Messenger, product carousels, follow-ups, Retrigger and campaigns all run on Facebook Pages, so a Page can follow the same sequence. Two Instagram-only parts don't apply: story-reply triggers, because Meta sends no story events for Pages, and checking that someone follows you. Facebook Pages are part of Pro, and one workspace can run Black Friday on Instagram and a Page side by side.
What does it cost to run this playbook?
You can run the core on Free: a VIP folder from comments, comment-to-DM on Instagram and a campaign sent to Active contacts, within 1,000 DMs a month. The full sequence uses Pro at $9/mo for scheduling, Keep it open, product carousels, Retrigger, follow-ups, Facebook Pages and unlimited DMs. Growth at $14/mo adds Reachlee AI for the sale-week questions. There's no per-contact pricing, so a big weekend doesn't move you up a tier.
When are Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2027?
Black Friday 2027 is Friday 26 November, the day after US Thanksgiving on Thursday 25 November, and Cyber Monday is Monday 29 November. The dates are the same in the UK, Brazil, Germany, Spain and India. We update this playbook each year; for every other 2027 date worth a campaign, from Lunar New Year to Boxing Day, see the 2027 calendar.
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