How to get your UGC videos ready for Black Friday

Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday 27 November, and Meta itself points out, in the guide it published for this season, that this year leaves only 28 days between it and Christmas, about a week less than usual. For a brand that sells through ads, the deadline that counts comes well before the 27th, because the videos need to be live weeks earlier so the ads can learn who to show themselves to. This article brings together what the Portuguese numbers and Meta's and TikTok's own rules say, with every source listed at the end, and what that means for your UGC videos. UGC is short for user generated content: videos filmed by real people with your product in hand, for you to use in your brand's ads and social channels.

What the numbers say about Portugal

Data from SIBS, the company that processes card and MB WAY payments in Portugal, shows a Black Friday that moves further online every year. In 2025, the amount spent online on the day was 126% above the November daily average, and 30% of everything spent was online, up from 27% in 2024. A year earlier, on 29 November 2024, SIBS processed 20.4 million payments in a single day, the highest number ever.

The sectors that grew most in 2025 were fashion, with almost 184% more purchases than on a normal November day, sports, with 141% more, and beauty, cosmetics and perfume, with 140% more. If your brand is in one of these, this is the day with the most people ready to buy, and also the most brands competing for the same people's attention.

On the shoppers' side, DECO PROteste's October 2025 survey of 1,845 people found that 74% of people in Portugal planned to take advantage of Black Friday, 68% planned to check shops and websites before buying, and 75% believe some shops raise prices before the sales. It's an audience that compares and doubts, so a video of someone who actually uses the product and shows the real price is worth more now than at any other time. The Observador Cetelem study adds that 41% expected to use the discounts to bring Christmas shopping forward, which means the same campaign works for both dates.

The searching starts at the end of October

Google says online interest in Black Friday in Portugal is there from the start of October, and searches for black friday on Google Trends show the climb getting going in the last week of that month, right after Dia das Compras na Net, Portugal's online shopping day, which in 2026 is Friday 23 October. From then until 27 November interest keeps growing, and if you only switch your ads on in mid November you catch people halfway through deciding.

Why ads need weeks, not days

When you launch a new ad, Meta goes through a learning phase, the period when the system is still working out who to show it to. According to Meta, that phase usually ends after about 50 results in the week after the last significant edit, and a result is whatever you asked it to optimise for, such as a purchase. While it lasts, ads are less stable and each sale tends to cost more. There's one detail that matters a lot in November: swapping an ad's video, or adding a new ad, counts as a significant edit and starts the learning from scratch.

That's why Meta's 2026 holiday guide says to start ads by mid October so Meta can learn before the peak, recommends having campaigns live at least two weeks before the first big day, and asks you not to touch them on peak days, new videos included. On TikTok the logic is similar, and the volatility usually drops after about 25 results or 7 days. On both platforms most ads are reviewed within 24 hours, but it can take longer, and every new video goes back through review.

Prices go up too. In Meta's 2025 data, on Black Friday the CPM, the cost of showing an ad a thousand times, was 48% above its 1 October level for vertical videos with sound, and 61% above for other formats. But people also buy far more on that day, and in Meta's global data the conversion rate on Black Friday was 73% higher than in October and the cost per action 11% lower. If you reach the 27th with ads that have already learned, you ride that jump. If you reach it with ads you've just launched, you pay the most expensive day of the year for them to learn.

Put together, your Black Friday videos should be live by mid October, which makes now the best time to order them. With us they're ready about five working days after the creator receives the product, and before that the creators have to be chosen, the scripts written and the product shipped, which comes to close to two weeks from the first conversation. The last day to order and still make it for Black Friday is 13 November, but if you order that late you reach the 27th with very little time to test.

Several videos, and genuinely different ones

Meta explains that when several ads look alike, the system treats them as variations of the same creative and pools their learning, which means changing just the font colour or the background doesn't count as a new video. Meta's own example of a genuinely different ad is one made with a creator who speaks to a different audience. TikTok recommends three to five different creatives in each ad group, in a DIY, not overly polished style that blends in with everything else people see in the app, and with people on screen, whether creators, employees or customers.

Where videos differ most is the hook, the opening of the video, the first seconds that decide whether someone keeps watching or swipes past. TikTok advises putting your proposition in the first three seconds. For Black Friday it's better to have several versions of the same product with different openings than to bet everything on one video, because there's no way of knowing in advance which one will work and by November there's no time left to film again. These are a few openings you can pit against each other:

• Start with the problem the product solves, with the product already in hand.
• Say the offer straight away and how long it lasts.
• Open with the reaction of someone trying the product for the first time.
• Show the result first and explain how you got there afterwards.

Once the videos are live, Meta gives two signals for when to swap them. The first is frequency, the average number of times the same person has seen the ad, going above 3. The second is the cost per result reaching double what the ad used to cost, which Meta calls creative fatigue. Since adding new videos on peak days resets the learning again, it's best to have your backup versions ready from the start and swap them in before the final week.

The offer comes early, on screen and within the law

In November anyone watching an ad is comparing deals, and a video that saves the discount for the end loses them before it gets there. Say the offer early, with concrete numbers, and write it on screen as well, because Meta advises making videos that don't rely on sound to tell the story. Sound still counts, though: in Meta's Black Friday 2025 data, vertical videos with sound were the ones whose costs rose least, and in a study with Kantar 88% of TikTok users said sound is essential to the app. The right video works both ways, with sound and without it.

In Portugal there's a rule that applies to any advertised discount. Since 2022, Decree-Law 70/2007 requires a price reduction to be real against the lowest price charged in the previous 30 days, and requires the shop to show that price, the start date and how long the promotion lasts. In a European check published in March 2026, which Portugal took part in, the authorities looked at 314 online shops and found discounts shown incorrectly in 30% of them, and pressure tactics such as countdown timers in 18%, more than half of them misleading. For your video that means two things: everything said has to be true, including today only and last few units, and it's safer to put the exact percentage in the text over the video than in the creator's mouth, because if the price changes you swap the text without filming again. If in doubt, check with whoever handles the legal side of your brand.

Format and rights, sorted before filming

Videos are filmed vertically, in 9:16, the phone's full screen format, which is what TikTok recommends and, in Meta's data, what rose least in cost on Black Friday. Also confirm the usage rights, meaning permission to put the videos into paid ads and not just on your own profile, because it's a five minute conversation before filming that, halfway through a campaign, can stop your ads. If the creator agrees to the ad also running under their name, Meta calls it a partnership ad and says that, added to regular campaigns, these ads delivered a 19% lower cost per acquisition on average. With the videos we make, ad usage rights are included.

After the 27th

The campaign doesn't end on Friday. Cyber Monday, the online deals Monday that follows, falls on 30 November, but in Portugal it carries little weight: on Google Trends in 2025, peak interest in cyber monday reached 14 on a scale where Black Friday day is 100. What comes next with real force is Christmas, and many people will have brought their Christmas shopping forward on Black Friday. A video that worked on the 27th often only needs a new hook and a different offer to keep selling in December, so keep the results for each version, because they're what tells you where to go next.

If you'd like to do this with us

For this Black Friday we have a seasonal pack of ten videos of the same product, each with a different hook, at a special price, for orders placed by 13 November. If you're reading this in October, you're at the best moment to order. The details are on the UGC campaigns page, where you can also book a call before asking for a proposal.