The holiday season is a massive opportunity for businesses, with nearly 30% of annual retail sales happening between October and December. In 2024, U.S. holiday retail sales hit $1.05 trillion, including $380 billion in online shopping. To succeed, you need to plan early and execute campaigns that resonate with shoppers' habits and preferences. Here's what you need to know:
- Start Early: 48% of shoppers begin before Halloween; 86% start before September ends.
- Focus on Mobile: 54% of holiday eCommerce sales come from mobile devices.
- Leverage Discounts: 95% of shoppers are willing to try new brands if discounts are offered.
- Target Key Dates: Black Friday and Cyber Monday generate sales 4.5–5.5x higher than average days.
- Track Performance: Use KPIs like revenue, conversion rates, and engagement to optimize results.
This guide covers everything from setting goals and creating effective ad copy to tailoring campaigns for each platform and preparing your inventory and budget. Follow these steps to make the most of the holiday season.
Marketing Checklist to "Sleigh" Your Holiday Campaigns
Set Campaign Goals and Timeline
Having clear goals and a well-structured timeline is key to running a successful campaign.
Define Your Campaign Goals
Start by setting specific, measurable goals that tie directly to your business objectives. Whether you aim to boost revenue, attract new customers, or increase brand visibility, your targets should be clear and time-sensitive. For example, you might focus on increasing revenue, improving average order value, or enhancing engagement rates.
If your campaign requires significant upfront spending, such as for advertising or inventory, consider revenue-based financing options like Onramp Funds. These solutions can help you scale your holiday campaigns without giving up equity.
Once your goals are in place, synchronize your timeline with major holiday dates to ensure your efforts are well-timed.
Schedule Around Key Holiday Dates
Timing plays a pivotal role in holiday marketing. Did you know that 28% of shoppers begin their holiday shopping before Labor Day, and 57% plan to finish before December? This means early preparation is essential.
- August: Start planning your holiday offers, identify target audiences, and craft key messages.
- September: Create your content and schedule posts for the upcoming months.
- October: Build excitement with sneak peeks and early engagement strategies.
- November: Be ready to roll out full-scale campaigns for major shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Key U.S. dates to structure your campaign timeline include Halloween (October 31), Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November), Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving), Christmas (December 25), and New Year’s Day (January 1). Tailor your messaging and promotions to align with each occasion.
Choose KPIs to Track Success
To measure your campaign's effectiveness, select KPIs that match your goals. Metrics like revenue, conversion rates, average order value (AOV), website traffic, click-through rates, and social media engagement can provide valuable insights. Use regular reports and alerts to compare this year’s performance with previous holiday seasons.
These metrics will help you fine-tune your strategies as your campaign progresses.
Write Holiday Ad Copy and Create Visuals
Create holiday ad campaigns that capture the festive spirit and motivate your audience to take action.
Write Holiday-Focused Ad Copy
The best holiday ad copy connects with emotions. Research shows that emotional advertising outperforms rational messaging by a staggering 23 times. During the holidays, focus on feelings like joy, nostalgia, and excitement to make your message resonate.
Understand what holiday shoppers value most. A significant 72% of them prioritize affordability and value, while 45% are drawn to experiences and memories over material gifts. This means your copy should balance practical benefits with emotional appeal. For example, instead of simply stating, "Our jackets are waterproof", try, "Stay warm and dry during those last-minute gift runs." This approach speaks directly to real-life holiday needs.
Creating urgency is another powerful tool for holiday campaigns. Limited-time offers and countdowns encourage immediate action. Phrases like "Only 3 days left for Christmas delivery" or "Black Friday pricing ends at midnight" give shoppers a clear reason to act quickly.
Social proof is especially influential during the holiday season. According to Trustpilot, 87% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Including customer testimonials in your ad copy can help build trust and credibility.
Adding humor can also make your ads more memorable. A 2022 Sprout Social study found that brands incorporating humor in their holiday marketing saw a 17% boost in engagement. Just ensure the humor aligns with your brand and doesn’t distract from your main message.
Once your ad copy is ready to make an impact, turn your attention to creating visuals that complement it.
Create Holiday-Themed Images and Graphics
Visuals are just as important as words when it comes to standing out during the holidays. Your graphics should grab attention in crowded social feeds while staying true to your brand identity.
Colors play a big role in setting the holiday tone. Stick to your brand’s primary colors, but add seasonal highlights. For instance, if your brand’s main color is blue, consider using silver or white accents for a wintery look instead of defaulting to red and green.
Big brands like Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Hershey's excel at this by updating their signature designs with subtle festive touches while maintaining brand consistency. If you plan to add holiday elements to your logo, keep them simple - think a Santa hat, snowflake, or sprig of greenery. These small tweaks can evoke the holiday spirit without overwhelming your design.
Since most holiday shopping happens on mobile devices - 51% to 63% of purchases during the 2022 holiday season were made on mobile - make sure your visuals are optimized for smaller screens. Use clear, readable text and ensure images look sharp without requiring zooming.
Test Different Creative Options
Once your copy and visuals are set, the next step is testing. A/B testing is essential for understanding what resonates most with your audience and maximizing your campaign’s performance.
Try different emotional tones in your copy. Some audiences may respond better to nostalgia, while others might prefer messages focused on value. Similarly, test urgency tactics - some shoppers are driven by countdown timers, while others might respond to messaging about limited stock.
Experiment with various holiday themes in your visuals. Not everyone connects with traditional Christmas imagery. Some audiences might prefer winter or New Year motifs, or even general holiday-season visuals that don’t tie to a specific celebration.
Test different call-to-action (CTA) phrases too. Options like "Shop Holiday Deals" or "Get Yours Before Christmas" can impact conversion rates significantly - by as much as 37%.
Finally, tailor your creative testing to the platform. What works on Facebook might not perform as well on Instagram or TikTok. Each platform has its own visual style and audience expectations, so adjust accordingly.
Keep detailed records of your testing results. Knowing which combinations of copy, visuals, and CTAs work best for different segments will give you a head start on future campaigns. If you find a winning formula and need to scale up, consider flexible funding options like Onramp Funds (https://onrampfunds.com). They offer fast, equity-free financing that adjusts with your sales, helping you double down on what works during peak holiday shopping periods.
Adjust Campaigns for Each Platform
Every platform has its own quirks and audience preferences. What works on TikTok might flop on Amazon or Shopify. With holiday retail sales projected to hit $1.35 trillion this year - a 4.8% increase from last year - and eCommerce making up 22.3% of those sales, nailing your platform-specific strategy is key to grabbing your piece of the pie. Make sure your approach for each platform aligns with your overall holiday campaign goals to maximize results.
Follow Platform-Specific Guidelines
TikTok Shop demands a completely different playbook from traditional advertising. Authenticity is the name of the game here. As Savannah Sanchez puts it:
"People want to buy from people who are relatable to them and who are genuine. They don't want to listen to a TV commercial or just a boring photo with value propositions over it... TikTok is all about getting genuine feedback from the community and sharing products that people genuinely love. So that's how your ads have to come across, it can't look like an ad."
This means your TikTok holiday campaigns should focus on content like user-generated videos, honest reviews, and collaborations with creators. The platform’s algorithm tailors shopping experiences based on user behavior, so your ads need to feel like a natural part of the feed, not a hard sell.
Amazon, on the other hand, functions more like a search engine where shoppers already have purchase intent. Here, your holiday campaigns should center around keyword optimization, competitive pricing, and clear product benefits. Amazon rewards ads that are highly relevant and convert well, so make sure your content aligns perfectly with what shoppers are searching for.
Walmart Marketplace has seen success with video-first campaigns. For example, Walmart’s #IYWYK campaign on TikTok in 2022 used TopView ads and Branded Mission hashtag challenges, achieving a 20% engagement rate, a 6% lift in ad recall, and a 9.2% increase in awareness. This highlights how a well-executed cross-platform strategy can amplify results.
Here’s a quick rundown of which platforms excel at different goals:
| Platform | Strengths | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | Viral reach, younger audiences, UGC/video-friendly | Visual products like beauty, lifestyle, DIY; early-stage discovery campaigns |
| Meta | Precise targeting, retargeting, social proof | Retargeting, lookalike audiences, community engagement |
| Search intent, Shopping ads, strong ROI | High-intent purchases |
Once you’ve tailored your approach for each platform, adjust your budgets and bidding strategies to make the most of these opportunities.
Set Budgets and Bidding for Holiday Competition
The holiday season brings intense advertising competition, which drives up costs across all platforms. Smart budget planning can help you stay competitive without draining your resources. Start by reviewing past campaigns to identify your top-performing ads, audiences, and platforms. Allocate more budget to these proven winners while scaling back on less effective campaigns.
Dynamic bidding strategies are especially useful during peak shopping periods. Swap out fixed bids for automated bidding tools that adapt to increased competition, particularly as Christmas approaches. Keep in mind that 54% of shoppers are mostly or completely done with their holiday shopping by Cyber Monday. This means your budget should be front-loaded, with heavier spending in November and early December when shoppers are most active.
To improve efficiency, split-test your budget across different audience segments. For instance, create separate campaigns for early planners versus last-minute shoppers or bargain hunters versus premium buyers. Monitor performance throughout the season and adjust your bids and budgets as needed to stay competitive.
Once your budgets are in place, fine-tune your targeting to re-engage shoppers effectively.
Use Remarketing and Audience Targeting
Remarketing is especially powerful during the holidays since most shoppers need multiple touchpoints before making a purchase. Instead of repeating the same message, focus your remarketing campaigns on guiding shoppers through the buying journey.
TikTok Shop offers excellent remarketing potential. Notably, 68% of TikTok users start their holiday shopping weeks in advance, with 21% beginning one or more months early. Use this insight to segment your remarketing audiences - such as non-purchasers, cart abandoners, or past customers - and tailor your messaging to each group.
When it comes to audience segmentation, go beyond basic demographics. Consider shopping timelines - some people start as early as September, while others wait until December. By December, 59% of shoppers already know exactly what they’re looking for. Adjust your messaging accordingly, shifting from discovery-focused ads early in the season to conversion-focused campaigns closer to the holidays.
Brands like Grande Cosmetics and NEST New York have shown how effective targeted campaigns can be. Grande Cosmetics used Shop Ads and advanced targeting on TikTok Shop to achieve a 10X return on ad spend (ROAS), an 85% drop in cost per acquisition (CPA), and a 1,747% increase in orders. Meanwhile, NEST New York leveraged creator videos and Catalog Ads during peak shopping times, earning over 6 million impressions and a 0.97% click-through rate.
With 80% of TikTok users taking action after seeing holiday content on the platform and 3 in 4 users likely to buy from brands they’ve seen on TikTok Shop, this platform is a goldmine for both acquiring new customers and reconnecting with existing ones during the holiday season.
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Prepare Inventory, Shipping, and Budget
Getting your operations in order is just as important as crafting a strong creative and strategic plan when it comes to maximizing holiday sales. With November and December holiday sales accounting for nearly 20% of annual retail sales, there’s no room for inefficiency. Missteps in inventory management, shipping, or budgeting could derail your campaign. Here's how you can set the stage for success.
Plan and Stock Inventory
A successful ad campaign won’t mean much if you can’t meet the demand it generates. To avoid stock shortages, start by accurately forecasting demand. During the 2021 holiday season, 60% of shoppers encountered out-of-stock products, and 70% of them switched to competing brands. Don’t let that happen to you.
Review your historical holiday sales data to identify trends. Which products performed best? When did sales peak? How quickly did inventory turn over? Use this information to guide your ordering decisions, but don’t stop there - monitor trending products and adjust your orders to stay ahead.
Deborah Weinswig, Founder and CEO of Coresight Research, highlights the urgency of early planning:
"We are going to be incredibly challenged to get product to consumers this holiday season if we are on a traditional calendar... So, shopping in October is a good idea."
Reach out to suppliers early and plan your orders in stages - allocate 60% of your budget upfront, 20% midseason, and keep 20% flexible to adapt to changing demand. If you’re using an inventory management system, set automated reorder points and adjust them to account for holiday spikes.
Set Clear Shipping Deadlines
Clear shipping deadlines can drive urgency and reassure customers. When shoppers know exactly when they need to place an order for holiday delivery, it builds trust and encourages timely purchases. Portrait Coffee, for example, effectively communicates its holiday shipping cutoffs by linking to a detailed holiday guide.
Make these deadlines impossible to miss. Display them prominently on your homepage, product pages, and checkout screens. Use email campaigns and social media posts with countdown graphics to reinforce the message. Be specific - don’t just say, "Order by December 18th." Instead, phrase it as, "Order by December 18th for guaranteed Christmas delivery via standard shipping." This added detail helps customers make informed decisions. For even greater transparency, offer multiple delivery options with clear timelines, such as minimum, middle, and maximum estimates.
Katherine Cullen, VP of Industry and Consumer Insights at NRF, underscores the importance of meeting customer expectations during the holidays:
"The winter holidays are a treasured time for Americans, and they are prioritizing spending on family this holiday season. Despite the shorter window of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, retailers are prepared to meet the needs of consumers by providing holiday shoppers with earlier deals and sales and by ensuring inventory is available for the most in-demand items this year."
Get Funding for Campaigns and Inventory
Once your inventory and shipping plans are in place, make sure you have the funds to support your holiday efforts. Running holiday campaigns requires upfront spending on ads, inventory, and operations. Flexible financing can help you maintain momentum without cash flow hiccups.
With average consumer spending expected to hit $902 per person this holiday season, the potential rewards are huge - but so are the costs. Traditional funding methods, like bank loans, often take weeks to process, which could cause you to miss key ordering deadlines.
Onramp Funds offers a faster solution. By integrating with platforms like Amazon, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Walmart Marketplace, and TikTok Shop, they provide quick approvals - often within 24 hours - using real-time sales data. Repayment is tied to your sales, so payments adjust naturally with your revenue cycles.
To ensure you’re ready, apply for funding by September. This will give you the capital you need for inventory and ad campaigns, helping you make the most of the holiday season.
Track and Improve Campaign Performance
Keeping a close eye on your campaign performance is crucial during the fast-paced holiday season. Small tweaks can make a big difference, turning a campaign into a success or a costly misstep.
Set Up Performance Tracking
The key to avoiding wasted ad spend during the holidays is accurate, real-time tracking. With high budgets and intense competition, having immediate access to data is essential.
Use a real-time dashboard to monitor core metrics like impressions, clicks, conversions, ROI, CPC, CPI, CPS, and CPL. A performance marketing platform that tracks revenue-related events in real time can be a game changer. Build a KPI dashboard that pulls data from your website, ad networks, CRM, and even phone calls to centralize your insights.
For example, Airbnb used Google Analytics in 2021 to better understand user interactions and improve its platform experience. While tools like Google Analytics are free and beginner-friendly, they often offer limited depth. To gain more actionable insights, consider platforms that provide a richer understanding of traffic quality and user behavior.
Once your tracking system is in place, make it a habit to review the data frequently and adjust your strategies as needed.
Review Performance Regularly
Holiday trends shift quickly, so constant monitoring of your campaigns is essential. Pay close attention to metrics like return on ad spend (ROAS), click-through rate (CTR), and ad frequency. Warning signs include a ROAS below 1–1.5, a daily CTR drop of 0.3%, or ad frequency exceeding 3.5.
When performance dips, take immediate action - refresh your creative assets, tweak your call-to-action, or refine your audience targeting using first-party data and custom lookalikes. Shift budget from underperforming ads to those delivering strong results to maximize ROI. For instance, DOZ experienced a 283% increase in leads within a month by integrating HubSpot for enhanced tracking, while eBay leveraged SEMrush to analyze competitors and improve SEO performance.
Documenting these adjustments not only improves your current efforts but also lays the groundwork for future campaigns.
Save Lessons for Next Year
Holiday campaigns are full of insights - don’t let them slip away. As soon as the season ends, document what worked and what didn’t. Note your top-performing products, successful creatives, platform ROI, and any operational challenges you faced.
Create a detailed post-holiday analysis report. Include screenshots of high-performing ads, specifics about audience targeting, and the tweaks that boosted performance. These details will be invaluable when planning future campaigns.
To stay ahead, review this data quarterly throughout the year. As market conditions change, lessons from past holidays can help refine your strategy and guide your decisions for upcoming campaigns.
Conclusion: Get Ready for Holiday Success
The holiday season is a golden opportunity for eCommerce businesses, with U.S. holiday retail sales expected to surpass $960 billion by 2025. This checklist serves as your guide to tapping into that massive spending potential.
The key to success? Start early and stay consistent. Brands that thrive during the holidays are the ones that lay the groundwork months in advance, fine-tuning their strategies and execution well before the rush begins.
Beyond planning and creative efforts, keeping a close eye on your performance is crucial. Once you’ve checked off everything on this list, focus on thorough tracking and smart budget management to navigate the fierce holiday competition. Schedule regular reviews of your campaign’s performance - sometimes even the smallest tweaks during the season can make the difference between hitting your goals or falling short.
Cash flow can be a hurdle during this busy time, especially with the need for inventory, advertising, and operational expenses. Consider securing flexible financing to keep things running smoothly. Onramp Funds offers equity-free financing with repayment terms tied to your sales performance, so you can scale your holiday efforts without the stress of fixed monthly payments or giving up ownership.
Make it a priority to offer genuine value through exclusive deals, well-thought-out gift guides, and practical solutions. The customers you win over during this season can turn into loyal supporters long after the holidays are over.
As you track your results, document what works - your top-performing creatives, audience insights, and platform returns. These lessons will set you up for even greater success in future campaigns, helping each holiday season outperform the last.
FAQs
How can I plan my holiday ad campaign to align with major shopping dates?
To make sure your holiday ad campaign hits the mark with key shopping dates in the U.S., it’s smart to start planning as early as August. Many shoppers kick off their holiday shopping well in advance, and having your strategy ready early can give you a real advantage.
Zero in on major retail events like Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Cyber Monday, and the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year’s. Aim to launch your campaigns 4–6 weeks before these dates. This approach helps you build awareness and excitement, while also giving you enough time to test, tweak, and optimize ad performance.
Getting an early start not only positions your brand for these high-traffic periods but also ensures you’re ready to grab attention when shoppers are actively looking to buy.
How can I create ad copy and visuals that stand out to holiday shoppers?
To grab the attention of holiday shoppers, focus on crafting content that feels festive and emotionally resonant. Use phrases that create urgency and a sense of exclusivity, like "limited-time offer" or "only available this season." Incorporating holiday-specific themes can make your ads feel more timely and relatable.
Visuals play a big role, too. Think warm, inviting colors, holiday icons, and cheerful imagery that capture the season's vibe. Experiment with different creative elements and adjust your messaging to tap into nostalgia or urgency - both can be powerful in boosting click-through rates and driving conversions. The key is to align with your audience's holiday mood while encouraging them to take action.
How can I tailor my holiday marketing strategies for platforms like TikTok and Amazon?
To get the most out of holiday marketing on TikTok, focus on crafting fun, trend-inspired content that connects with your audience. Team up with influencers, jump into popular challenges, and time your posts for peak engagement periods to increase visibility.
On Amazon, highlight seasonal promotions, fine-tune your product listings with holiday-themed keywords, and use targeted ads to grab attention during busy shopping times.
Preparation is everything - sync your campaigns with major shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By playing to the strengths of each platform, you can expand your reach and boost sales during the holiday rush.
