If your Black Friday samples aren't out yet, your Black Friday videos won't be l
By Paul Harvey · October 31, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
If your Black Friday samples aren't out yet, your Black Friday videos won't be live in time.
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TikTok Shop's Black Friday and Cyber Monday runs 11 to 30 November this year.
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Here's the maths most brands skip.
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A sample ships. It takes a few days to arrive. The creator sits on it for a week, maybe two. They film, edit, post. Then the video needs a few days to find its feet.
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That's 2 to 4 weeks from shipping to a video that sells.
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So anything you send in November lands after the sale.
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That's why every Q4 plan I've built this year has the same shape.
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October is the samples month. Send hundreds. Brief every creator. Accept that the ad numbers look ugly for a while, because you're paying to find out which videos work.
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November is the ads month. Take the videos that already sell on their own and put the money behind those. Only those.
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The brands that win Black Friday build the content first, then scale it.
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The ones that lose do it the other way round. Big budgets switched on the day the sale opens, with nothing worth showing.
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If you're behind, it's not over. Send samples to creators who've already posted for you. They know your product and they're the fastest to turn round.
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What does your sample count for October look like?
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#TikTokShop #BlackFriday #Ecommerce