Christmas is big business.
The holiday season is the busiest shopping time of the year, and your company deserves to share in its riches, no matter your industry or preferred holiday — Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or New Year’s. Here’s how to market your company during Christmas.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) noted that retail sales for the 2023 holiday season hit a record $964.4 billion despite continued inflation and high interest rates. Sales for the full year grew 3.6% over 2022 to a record $5.13 trillion.
Every business type, not just retail or online stores, can profit from increased holiday spending by using a little creativity, some preplanning, and one or more of the Christmas marketing ideas below.
Included in each idea are specific examples by industry including restaurants, salons, services, and business to business (B2B). These are proven ways to promote your company that are budget-friendly and doable, too. These holiday campaigns can delight your customers and turn browsers into shoppers.
Let’s get busy making merry and making cash with a successful Christmas campaign!
What is Christmas marketing?
Traditionally, Christmas marketing has been considered advertising campaigns focused on standard Christmas purchases such as toys and gifts. Today, Christmas marketing has dramatically expanded in all ways, including themes, time frames, holidays, and holiday marketing campaigns.
The six months of September to February of the following year encompass holidays including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, year-end tax savings, school break, and New Year’s.
Promotional themes have gone way beyond standard family gift-giving to include treat-yourself gifts, community relationship building, public relations, charitable causes, and year-end tax savings.
Why launch Christmas marketing campaigns?
The most important reason to create your own Christmas marketing campaigns is to profit from consumers’ and businesses’ increased spending habits during the holidays.
People are out spending a lot of money, so you want to present your company’s products and services attractively to boost Christmas sales.
Consumers are expressing their love for family members with gifts, traveling to relatives, entertaining friends, decorating their homes, and buying new fashions for holiday parties.
Businesses are taking advantage of holiday deals to outfit their offices and stores, while many firms are planning end-of-year purchases to take advantage of tax savings.
In addition to the sales opportunities, Christmas marketing offers customer relations-building options. This is a time of year when you can strengthen existing client relationships, create new customer connections, and support employee and vendor associations.
Also, there are great ways to publicize your company to get free media coverage for your charitable endeavors and creative marketing programs.
Plan your Christmas marketing strategy
Planning a Christmas marketing strategy is crucial to making the most of the holiday season. It’s essential to set clear and achievable goals, understand your target audience, and create a cohesive plan that aligns with your brand’s identity and values.
Set clear and achievable goals for the holiday season
Before diving into your Christmas marketing strategy, it’s essential to set clear and achievable goals for the holiday season. Whether you aim to increase sales, boost website traffic, or enhance brand awareness, having specific targets will help you create a focused and effective marketing plan.
For instance, you might set goals like:
- Increasing sales by 20% compared to the previous year
- Boosting website traffic by 30% during the holiday season
- Enhancing brand awareness by 25% through social media engagement
By setting these specific goals, you can tailor your marketing efforts to drive the desired results and make the most of the festive season.
Focus on understanding your target audience for Christmas shopping
Understanding your target audience is the cornerstone of any successful Christmas marketing strategy. Knowing who your customers are, what they like, and what they’re looking for during the holiday season will help you create campaigns that resonate with them.
To get a clear picture of your audience, consider:
- Conducting market research to identify demographics and interests
- Analyzing customer data to understand shopping habits and preferences
- Creating detailed buyer personas to guide your marketing efforts
By focusing on your target audience, you can craft personalized and effective marketing messages that drive engagement and sales during the Christmas shopping frenzy.
Holiday Design Contests
Every year, Starbucks asks their customers to submit designs for their holiday coffee cups. It’s a big success and gets customers interested in their holiday menu.
You could ask customers to help design some of your holiday items, including seasonal logos, window displays, Christmas cards, limited edition Christmas tree ornaments, packaging, slogans, ads, holiday menus, and Christmas decorations.
Have some fun, and use your social media accounts and website to solicit contest entries and create brand engagements. Award the winner some cash or gift certificates, then publicize their name and design.
Christmas Giveaways
Everyone loves giveaways, and they’re a key part of effective Christmas promotion ideas. You can give all sorts of things — discounts, information, upgrades, exposure, warranties, promotional items (pens, pads, etc.), accessories, special access, future bundle packages, and prizes! Use the number 12 — as in 12 days of Christmas — for a series of 12 days of giveaway items to both new and existing customers.
Giveaway Ideas for Your Industry:
- Restaurants: Give free dessert with dinner.
- Retailers: A fashion styling session with a designer and coupons for the whole year on the 12th of each month!
- Services: Upgrade a service to include additional items such as expanded coverage or quicker response.
Use social media and email marketing to contact your customers and promote the campaign on your website.
Gift Guides
Using a comprehensive gift guide, you can help your customers answer the age-old holiday question, “What gift should I give to them?”
Create interesting gift guides on your website and share them on your social media, website, email marketing, and texts.
Focus your guides on categories of people, such as gift guides for husbands, wives, bosses, employees, service providers, neighbors, teachers, mail carriers, house cleaners, and significant others.
Service providers, you also can create gift lists that include gift certificates, special services for mom and dad, and perhaps a subscription service for your boss.
Don’t forget stocking stuffers. People love to buy inexpensive and fun items like these. Create a list or display in your store and include small items.
Last-Minute Holiday Deals and Flash Sales
The majority of holiday shoppers procrastinate until the last minute to buy Christmas gifts. Help those shoppers finish their buying needs by offering last-minute holiday deals, discounts, coupons, personal shopper services, and quick shipping schedules.
Launch a flash sale — a previously unannounced and super attractive deal for a limited time (days or hours). Notify your customers via text message, email, website pop-up, and social media.
Holiday Decorations
Festive holiday decorations are not just whimsical; they can be money-making, especially when paired with the right Christmas gifts!
One of my clients, a dental clinic, always wins the local town Christmas tree contest with their original and beautiful decorations. This is a huge boost for their community relations and brand awareness, and it gets lots of local publicity in the newspaper and on the radio.
New patients have booked appointments saying that they learned of the dental office while reading the newspaper article about the holiday decoration contest. They were impressed with the dentist’s community spirit.
So be sure to decorate your business place, even if it’s only an office. Examples of tasteful decorations include simple Christmas trees, white lighting, and interior decor. One of my business consulting clients does a nice job in their office entry by switching out the area rug to a solid red one and adding masses of red poinsettia plants. It’s simple but effective and elegant.
Decorate your website
While you’re busy decorating your physical business, don’t forget your digital real estate.
The same dental office I described above also decorates their website. During the Christmas season, they update their website with a flurry of snowflakes and playful elves to make their pediatric dental patients smile.
Social Media
Have fun on social media by seasonally decorating your profile accounts and sharing helpful holiday tips.
This is the best time of year to share interesting winter visuals, heartwarming stories, and holiday tips that directly relate to your business and customer needs. For a restaurant, examples would be sharing tips on how to cook for large groups, easy recipes for holiday entertaining, resource guides on how to buy hard-to-find ingredients (like roasted chestnuts), and a small number of coupons for announcements and sales promotions.
Use your social media platforms for contests, coupons, surveys, giveaways, and just plain old fun. Post your ugliest Christmas sweater and worst singing of Christmas music.
Here are some more social media marketing tips for the holiday season from the experts at Sendible:
Buying for Yourself: One for Me, One for You
A large majority of Christmas shoppers buy gifts for themselves while shopping for others.
Use this buying habit by offering two-for-one deals — one is a gift for someone else, and the other is a gift for the shopper to keep for themselves. This can quickly double your sales by appealing to your buyers’ personal desires.
My fashion boutique clients sell many double gift sets — two scarves, two handbags, and two sweaters bundled as one product — one to give and one to keep.
Decorate your fleet for the holidays
While you’re decorating your store and restaurant, don’t forget about your trucks, vans, and company cars.
Vehicles (boats and planes, too!) can be decorated with holiday greetings on magnetic signs, seasonal lights, or a festive wreath. These make your vehicle stand out and bring attention to your company, brand, goods, and services.
Holiday Food Creations
How about asking your customers to create a special holiday dish for your restaurant menu?
If you own a pizzeria, how about asking your patrons to submit ideas on Uncle Nick’s favorite pizza pie? The winner could win local fame, his photo on the wall, and a few pizza pies.
Another idea is to create special holiday-themed dishes, such as all-red, all-green, or traditional holiday fare. Mexican restaurants could serve red chili and green chili dishes or Santa’s favorite chili.
Charity Fundraising
Showcase your philanthropic side by staging promotions that help raise funds for charities.
These could be local charities or your customers’ favorite charities. Consider staging an event such as a Christmas tree decorating contest where people submit design ideas for your company tree. The winner gets to pick their favorite charity for your corporate annual donation.
Commemorative Ornaments
Your attractive, limited-edition holiday ornaments can be appreciated and displayed in your customers’ homes.
Consider designing your own ornament as a customer gift, which would include your (tasteful) branding. Everyone likes to receive free gifts, and this one could be retained and used annually.
Holiday Edition Products and Packaging
Use the holidays as inspiration for special edition products and packaging. One of the most successful holiday-only products is Yankee Candle’s seasonal fragrant candles, evergreen, cinnamon, and snowflake. Being in limited supply increases consumer demand and buying urgency.
Consider different packaging colors and designs as limited-time options. Photographers could offer holiday family portrait sessions with seasonal backgrounds and props. Coffee shops can debut special edition menu items such as pumpkin-spiced baked goods. Fitness studios can offer a series of “New Year, New You” workout classes.
Use online notification messages and banner bars
Let technology be Santa’s helper. Use online devices on your website, such as push notifications. These little messages pop up when people visit your website and remind them of your special Christmas promotions. Use them to give special coupons, introduce flash sales, or extend holiday shopping hours.
Another tech marketing tip is to use a brightly colored bar across the top of your website with a rotating set of holiday promotions.
Holiday Mobile App
Perhaps your business type is well suited to the creation of a helpful mobile app. Help your customers keep track of their holiday information shopping list, recipe collection, gift budget, and holiday card contact information.
The goal is to make it a fun, easy-to-use app that your customers will find truly useful. Your brand messaging and links to sale pages can appear in the footer and sidebar of the app.
You can make the holiday app available on your website for free download and promote it in your email marketing and text messaging campaigns.
Host a holiday community event
Support your community and local charities by hosting a breakfast or lunch fundraising event. Consider hosting the event at a senior center, school, or food bank to support their charitable efforts. If you own a restaurant, you could host the event at your place, which will give you extra brand promotion.
Partner with other businesses that can donate food and door prizes to share the work and community goodwill.
These types of heart-warming events often attract media attention, resulting in positive business publicity while spreading holiday joy to those in need.
Partner with other businesses
Double your Christmas marketing success by partnering with a complementary business to create innovative promotions. You can bundle deals and promote each other’s offers.
One of my fashion clients partners with a trendy nightclub that their customers frequent. The retailer promotes the nightclub concerts while the nightclub both displays fashion merchandise and distributes boutique discount coupons.
The best partner promotions are when you both share a similar customer demographic but are not directly competitive. Examples of good partners include Christmas decoration installers and caterers or hair salons and fitness gyms.
Small Business Saturday Program
In the U.S., Small Business Saturday is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The National Federation of Independent Businesses has hosted the event for the past decade. Check with your local chamber of commerce to find out how you can join and benefit from the “Shop Local, Shop Small” promotion.
Mail Christmas cards
At first glance, this may seem old-fashioned advice, but that is exactly why it is so effective. Because so many businesses have completely switched over to digital communication, people are receiving very few holiday cards, so your card wishing a Merry Christmas will stand out.
Times may have changed, but humans still enjoy receiving beautiful Christmas cards to display in their homes and appreciate that you thought of them during the holidays.
Today, email messages are often considered more of a burden than a joy. Also, most emails are viewed by only one person and then deleted instantly. Compare that to an attractive printed Christmas card that is displayed in the office for lots of people to enjoy.
Select cards that are self-referential for your business. This means that the cards communicate your selling points in addition to holiday greetings. I selected trendy, artistic cards from museums to communicate that our design agency was on the cutting edge of fashion. My cards stood out from other boring, more generic cards. Check out our guide to the best business Christmas cards.
Display impulse items near the register
Smart retailers always have low-priced items near their cash registers for quick impulse purchases, such as snacks and phone charging cords. Recently, when I was shopping at a luxury department store, they had mini boxes of Godiva chocolates near the register.
Use this time-tested technique for your business. Your restaurant could display gift cards near the register or at the bar, where there is lots of customer interaction. You could also have a rack of flyers with your holiday catering menu.
My cafe client gets lots of office breakfast catering jobs from her morning coffee customers who see her flyers when they pick up their drink orders. You may be surprised at how many of your restaurant customers are unaware that you offer catering (even though you have told them and advertised before).. Help them with their holiday celebrations, meetings, and home parties.
Gift Certificates
Every business should have gift cards or gift certificates available and prominently displayed throughout the holiday season (and all year long, too!).
People are looking for interesting gifts to give their family and work colleagues. Put up prominent signs inside your establishment and on your website about your gift-giving options.
Recently, I attended a wedding and purchased a gift certificate at the couple’s favorite local restaurant. I bought this gift because I knew that this couple — who had both been married before and had all the toasters they needed — would really enjoy spending time together having a romantic meal.
Send an email marketing series
Email marketing is a powerful tool for driving sales and engagement during the holiday season. By sending a series of targeted emails, you can keep your customers informed about promotions, new products, and exclusive offers.
To create an effective email marketing series:
- Segment your email list to target specific groups of customers
- Craft eye-catching subject lines and visually appealing email templates
- Offer exclusive discounts and promotions to entice your audience
A well-planned email marketing series can keep your brand top-of-mind and drive significant sales during the holiday season.
Remember the rule of four for email marketing success. For every one sales message (promotion, discount, or deal) that you send, be sure to send three (or more) high-value, information-based emails your customers will find truly useful.
Here are some examples for a fitness studio series of emails: ways to add exercise to a busy holiday season, how to avoid fattening holiday party fare, and healthier versions of seasonal dishes. On the fourth email, you mention your gift certificates and discounted New Year’s membership packages.
Text message reminders
Yes, you can use text messaging to send special deals, coupons, and gift-buying reminders.
But some of the more customer-appreciated (and thus more effective) texts are heartwarming holiday stories, inspiring quotes, suggested travel destinations, funny Christmas videos, beautiful seasonal photos, and fun holiday activities.
The very best way to sell is not to sell! I know that sounds weird, but it’s true.
Instead of always selling, give value to your customers and fill their needs by using your expertise. A good rule of thumb is three helpful info-only messages and one sales message.
Here are a couple of text message ideas for your industry:
Hair Salons
Text links to hair styling video tutorials for holiday parties. Then you could mention that you’re open for in-salon styles if they don’t want to do their own hair.
Fashion Retailer
Text tips on how to style outfits to look great at holiday parties.
Design festive visuals for your Christmas marketing campaign
Festive visuals are a crucial part of any Christmas marketing campaign. By incorporating seasonal imagery and design elements, you can create a cohesive and engaging brand identity that resonates with your target audience.
Here are some tips for designing festive visuals:
- Use seasonal colors and imagery, such as red and green, snowflakes, and Christmas trees
- Create custom graphics and illustrations that reflect your brand’s personality and style
- Incorporate festive typography and fonts to add a touch of holiday cheer
By designing festive visuals, you can capture the Christmas spirit and make your marketing campaigns more appealing and memorable.
Create a Santa wish list to encourage gift-giving
A Santa wish list is a fun and interactive way to encourage gift-giving during the holiday season. By creating a list of popular products or services, you can help your customers find the perfect gift for their loved ones.
To create an engaging Santa wish list:
- Identify popular products or services that make great gifts.
- Design a visually appealing list that showcases products in a fun and engaging way.
- Offer exclusive discounts and promotions to drive sales and encourage gift-giving.
A well-crafted Santa wish list can simplify the shopping experience for your customers and boost your holiday sales.
My fellow entrepreneurs, I encourage you to try at least one or more of the Christmas marketing ideas discussed above.
Don’t worry if you can’t implement or afford all of these holiday promotional ideas. Just pick a few that you think will be most meaningful to your customers, relevant to your industry, and showcase your business’s unique selling points best.
Restaurants can stage charity events showcasing their tasty dishes, consulting companies can send Christmas cards with industry-specific graphics, and fashion boutiques can email 12 days of fashion styling tips for holiday parties.
Use Christmas marketing to spread holiday cheer, make your customers smile, and make your bottom line sparkle.
Good luck with your holiday promotion campaigns.
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