Black Friday CTV Ads for Small Businesses: How to Stand Out on the Biggest Screen in 2026

Quick answer: Black Friday CTV ads are streaming TV ads that put your offer in front of holiday shoppers on the biggest screen at home. For small businesses, the playbook is simple: get live as early as you can (ideally you already are!), lead with one clear offer, target shoppers near you, and track results with a pixel. Then keep running through Black Friday (Nov. 27) so shoppers know your brand before they buy, and still see it the day they do.

Black Friday is November 27, and the shopping starts well before it. Paramount’s 2026 holiday research finds that 43% of shoppers plan to start by Halloween, and by the time Black Friday rolls around, 83% will have already started¹. Buying still peaks around Thanksgiving weekend, with 64% likely to wait until then to do most of their holiday shopping², which is why the frequency you build beforehand matters. Adobe forecasts $12.9 billion in online spending on Black Friday alone, up 9.2% from last year³.

Ideally, you’re already live. Advertisers who plan CTV campaigns 3+ months out are 46% more likely to hit their goals⁴, and our team recommends being live at least 30 days ahead of BFCM⁵. If you’re planning your holiday CTV campaign now, the sooner your ads are running, the better. You want shoppers to meet your brand well before the day they’re buying, and you want to still be on screen that day too.

Every brand is shouting “SALE” at once, and shoppers are watching: 61% pay closer attention to holiday ads than ads at any other time of year¹. Here’s why and how you should be running Black Friday CTV ads that cut through, even if you start this week.

Why Black Friday CTV Ads Work for Small Businesses

Black Friday kicks off the biggest shopping week of the year, with online spending from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday forecast at $47.5 billion³. 56% of shoppers say sales and discounts are the top factor in choosing where to shop².

• Shoppers are watching: 47% of consumers watch more TV and streaming during the holiday season¹, and 46% of gift-givers say they stream more with CTV during the holidays⁶.

• Ads shape decisions: 87% of holiday shoppers say ads influenced their research and purchases⁶, and consumers rank TV ads as the most influential format for holiday gift purchases, ahead of social, print, email and radio¹.

• Paramount viewers act: 69% of consumers have learned about a new product through a holiday ad, and Paramount viewers are 61% more likely than non-viewers to have made a purchase after watching a holiday TV ad¹.

• No skips, no scrolls: Paramount Ads Manager runs full-screen, unskippable ads on premium CTV, from Paramount+ to Pluto TV.

Black Friday Marketing Ideas: 5 Steps to Launch CTV Ads

Step 1: Pick one offer and one goal

Shoppers expect deals: Adobe forecasts discounts of up to 30% during BFCM Week³. Budgets are tighter this year, with the average American planning to spend $100 less than last¹, so a clear, valuable offer matters even more. Lead with one hero offer and one action: buy online, visit your store or book. Only 53% of holiday shoppers plan to shop online, the lowest share since 20152, so in-store visits still matter. Match it to a campaign goal such as Sales, Site Traffic or Foot Traffic.

Step 2: Build creative for the big screen

Follow these CTV creative best practices: open with a bold visual, make your brand unmissable, use audio and motion, keep one message, and leave your CTA on screen long enough to act on. Add a QR code or short URL so viewers can act right away. A mix of 15-second and 30-second ads drives a 51% higher site visit rate than 30-second ads alone⁴. Warm and familiar works in a sales moment, too: nostalgia and tradition rank as the #1 quality consumers want in a holiday ad¹. Creative Express builds a TV-ready ad from your website URL in minutes, at no additional cost.

Step 3: Target ready-to-buy shoppers

Use Geotargeting (ZIP code, city, state or DMA) plus Interests & Behaviors audiences like Online Shoppers and Retail Shoppers, or let Peak Audience Targeting automatically find the viewers most likely to engage. If you sell gifts, add Parents, who are more than twice as likely as non-parents to say they’re spending more on gifts this year¹.

Step 4: Launch early and stay on

Launch as soon as your creative is ready. Pick a Streaming Bundle (Core, Expanded or Full) and keep running through Cyber Monday and beyond. Plan for a flight of at least 30 days to build frequency. Advertisers who run always-on and seasonal campaigns together are 87% more likely to meet or exceed their goals than those who only run seasonal pushes, and only 18% do both⁴.

Step 5: Install the pixel

Install the Paramount Ads Manager Pixel before launch to track website visits, leads and purchases, and to retarget visitors on the big screen. Running a Foot Traffic campaign? Store visit measurement needs no pixel or extra setup. In Paramount’s 2026 survey, advertisers using pixel-based measurement were 28% more likely to meet or exceed their CTV goals⁴.

Your Black Friday CTV Ad Timeline (2026)

When	What to do
Today	Lock your offer and goal. Sign up for Paramount Ads Manager (if you haven’t already!)
1-3 weeks before launch	Build creative. Match your landing page to your offer. Install the Pixel on your website
As soon as your creative is ready	Set up your campaign and launch.
Nov. 26-27	Thanksgiving and Black Friday: stay live and keep offers consistent everywhere.
Nov. 28	Small Business Saturday: add a “shop local” message.
Nov. 30	Cyber Monday: shift your CTA online and retarget visitors.
December	Keep running. Green Monday (Dec. 14) and Super Saturday (Dec. 19) are next.

Want the full two-week breakdown? See our workback calendar for prepping CTV ads ahead of holiday shopping weekend.

3 Black Friday CTV Ad Mistakes to Avoid

• Starting too late. By Black Friday, 83% of shoppers will have already started¹, so the earlier you’re live, the more familiar your brand is when they’re ready to buy. At our holiday webinar, Jessica Pelligra advised judging CTV after about two months, with early indicators showing around day 45⁵.
• Stacking offers. One message per ad lands better than three.
• Ignoring the landing page. Sale dates, promo codes and CTAs should match everywhere.

Ready to get going? Sign up for Paramount Ads Manager today, and be on TV tomorrow. Get more of the insights and resources you need to plan a successful holiday season on the Holiday Hub.

Sources

1. Paramount Advertising, 2026 Holiday Insights, August 2026, N=1,135
2. NRF, October 2026 survey (Prosper Insights & Analytics), published Oct. 28, 2026
3. Adobe Analytics, 2026 holiday forecast, Sept. 28, 2026
4. Paramount Ads Manager, How SMBs Can Win the Year with CTV report, 2026
5. Paramount Ads Manager webinar, The Holidays Start NOW: A Tactical Guide to CTV for Q4, Sept. 30, 2026
6. The Trade Desk Intelligence and Appinio, Winter Holiday Shopping Trends, n=400, January 2026, U.S.
7. LG Ad Solutions, “Season’s Streamings - Holiday Shopping & TV Viewing Trends in 2025”
8. AdMall AudienceSCAN (SalesFuel), Nov. 2, 2026
9. TVision Analytics, 4Q’25 vs. 3Q’25. Attention to Duration. Ad Time Only.