Holiday Marketing Strategy: Your Complete Guide For 2025

The holiday season isn’t just the busiest time of year—it’s the most competitive. Between Black Friday deals, Thanksgiving offers, Christmas promotions, and New Year campaigns, your audience is flooded with offers at every scroll.

But here’s the truth: successful brands don’t just show up in December. They start early, plan strategically, and connect every channel—from social ads to email—into one full-funnel system.

If you want to stand out and scale smart this year, here’s how to build a holiday marketing strategy that performs from October through January.

Start Early and Map Out the Full Season

Don’t wait until Thanksgiving week to launch your campaigns. Holiday marketing starts with planning in October and peaks across multiple stages:

Key phases to plan for:

• Halloween (Late October): Great for brand awareness and early gift teasers.
• Black Friday & Cyber Monday (Late November): The biggest sales days of the year. Prep creative, offers, and retargeting by early November.
• Christmas & Hanukkah (December): Focus on shipping deadlines, gift guides, and urgency messaging.
• New Year’s (Late December–Early January): Reposition offers around “fresh starts,” new goals, and post-holiday savings.

Start testing ad creatives, audiences, and messaging in October so you know what resonates before ad costs spike in late November. Use this early window to build remarketing lists, gather pixel data, and grow your email/SMS subscribers. Finalize your ad creative and holiday offers two weeks before Thanksgiving as last-minute changes can cost you conversions and higher CPMs.

Create Offers That Stand Out

Even the most beautiful ad won’t convert if your offer doesn’t resonate. Holiday shoppers are bombarded with discounts, so creativity and timing matter just as much as price.

Here are offer types that perform best during the holidays:

• Tiered Discounts: Encourage larger carts with scalable savings: “Spend $50, get 10% off. Spend $100, get 20% off.” 
• Limited-Time Flash Sales: Create short bursts of urgency throughout the week: “Two hours only: 40% off everything.” 
• Free Shipping & Gift Wrapping: Small perks can tip indecisive shoppers over the edge. Combine free shipping with deadlines to drive urgency before Christmas.
• Buy One, Get One (BOGO): A great strategy for compliant promotions on consumables, accessories, or lifestyle products—perfect for curated gift sets.
• Early Access or VIP Sales: Reward your loyal customers with exclusive access before the public sale goes live. Promote via email and SMS for best results.
• Mystery Deals or Surprise Gifts: Add a gamified element to your campaign: “Spin to Win” or “Unlock your mystery discount.” 
• Post-Holiday & New Year Sales: Keep momentum going with “New Year, New You” promotions. Use this time to clear inventory and re-engage customers from Cyber Week.

Don’t be afraid to layer your offers. A sitewide discount might grab attention, but exclusive perks—like an extra 5% off for VIP subscribers or referral bonuses—build loyalty and repeat sales. The best holiday campaigns reward both new and returning customers.

Optimize Your E-Commerce Experience for Holiday Shoppers

Your website is the heart of your holiday marketing. It’s where every ad, email, and post leads, and equally where customers either convert or drop-off.

During this season, shoppers move fast. If your site is slow or your offer isn’t clear, they’ll bounce and buy elsewhere.

Optimize for:

• Speed & Mobile Performance: Most holiday browsing happens on phones meaning your site must load in under 3 seconds. If it takes longer, you lose over 50% of mobile visits.
• Holiday Navigation: Create specific pages like “Black Friday Deals,” “Gifts Under $50,” “Best Sellers for Christmas,” or “Last-Minute Gifts.”
• Urgency: Add countdown timers for shipping cutoffs, such as “Order by Dec. 18 for Christmas delivery.”
• Trust: Display reviews, shipping details, and return policies prominently.

If you’re running both Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, consider using separate landing pages or banners to create a sense of exclusivity and anticipation.

Run Smarter Paid Ads Across Each Platform

Holiday CPMs rise sharply—sometimes by ~25% more during Cyber Week—so every dollar counts. The goal isn’t to outspend your competition, it’s to out-strategize them.

Here’s how to structure your paid campaigns across major holidays:

Platform Breakdown:

• Meta (Facebook & Instagram):
  – October–Early November: Focus on brand awareness and storytelling.
  – Black Friday–Christmas: Ramp up with dynamic product ads and retargeting.
  – Use Reels, carousel ads, and UGC to stand out in crowded feeds.
• TikTok & Snapchat:
  – Tap into trending sounds, creator collaborations, and gift inspiration videos.
  – Best for top and mid-funnel awareness leading into Cyber Week.
• Google Ads:
  – Use branded and product-specific keywords during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
  – Retarget site visitors into the Christmas season with remarketing lists.
  – Use Performance Max campaigns to capture high-intent shoppers.
• AppLovin or Programmatic Ads:
  – Great for top-of-funnel reach in early October and November before competition peaks.

Holiday timing tip: Push major spend 1–2 days before Black Friday. This is when people are primed to buy but costs are still manageable.

Own Your Audience with Email and SMS

While ad costs rise, your owned channels become your most profitable assets. Email and SMS marketing consistently deliver the highest ROI during the holidays — if you segment and personalize correctly.

Email Strategy by Holiday:

• Pre-Black Friday: Send “early access” and VIP sneak peek campaigns.
• Black Friday & Cyber Monday: Schedule multiple email reminders—early morning launch, midday reminder, and “ending soon” countdown.
• Christmas & Hanukkah: Send personalized gift guides, free shipping reminders, and “last day to order” emails.
• New Year: Offer post-holiday sales and re-engagement campaigns, such as “Start the year with savings.”

SMS Tips:

• Use SMS for short, time-sensitive updates like “50% off ends at midnight.”
• Send reminders around high-traffic times (Friday mornings, Cyber Monday afternoon).
• Keep your copy casual, clear, and consistent with your email tone.

Brands that use email + SMS together during Cyber Week convert ~92% better than those relying on scheduled SMS or email alone.

Retain Customers After the Holidays

After Christmas, don’t disappear. January is one of the most overlooked—but valuable—periods in your holiday strategy.

Post-Holiday Retention Plan:

• Send thank-you or review request emails in early January.
• Offer “New Year Refresh” bundles or limited-time loyalty discounts.
• Segment new holiday customers and retarget them for Valentine’s promotions.
• Share helpful content like product tips, new arrivals, or upcoming launches.

Your best-performing brands aren’t just chasing seasonal spikes—they’re turning holiday buyers into year-round advocates.

Be Strategic with Your Offers

While holiday promotions can drive quick wins, relying on constant discounts can train customers to wait for the next sale and weaken your brand value over time.

Instead, focus on building loyalty through value-driven experiences. Give customers reasons to come back—whether that’s early access to new products, personalized recommendations, or exclusive rewards.

A strong loyalty program can keep your customers engaged long after the holidays, helping you retain sales momentum without cutting into your margins.

Building Your Best Holiday Marketing Strategy

A strong holiday marketing strategy is all about momentum, not one-off campaigns. It starts by building awareness around Halloween, reaches its peak during Cyber Week, and carries that energy through Christmas, New Year’s, and beyond. 

When every channel—from Meta ads to email automations—works together under a consistent message, your brand tells a cohesive story that builds trust, drives conversions, and keeps customers coming back. Align your timing, creative, and audience data across each stage, and you won’t just win the holidays, you’ll enter the new year with lasting momentum and stronger customer relationships.

Ready to make this your best holiday season yet? Let’s build a full-funnel strategy that connects your paid ads, email, and e-commerce into one seamless plan. Book a free strategy call to get your holiday season off to a good start.