Marketing Ideas for Christmas

Christmas…the most wonderful time of year….

Well, it is if you’re completely organised, have bought presents for everyone, and as a business, you’re maximising the feeling of joy and goodwill to your advantage.

Not quite there yet?

We hear you!

With reports showing that a whopping 38% of people (the uber organised) start their Christmas shopping in October, with this number increasing to 49% in November, it is never too early to get your Christmas marketing strategy ready for action.

We’re here to help you…

• Maximise your marketing ideas and strategy from now until 2026 and beyond.
• Stand out from the marketing noise during the hectic Christmas period.
• Use the tools and marketing elements your target audience wants and engages with.

We’ve broken this down into broad categories covering a range of marketing ideas and strategies you can implement and build into your planning.

Stuck for ideas?  Try our 30 FREE Social Media Ideas, we’ll drop them straight into your inbox.

Plan Your Christmas Marketing Ideas

Before you get started…

…know your goals!

Before you jump headfirst into redesigning your website for Christmas or pulling together your festive gift guide, make sure you know what your goals are and communicate these to the rest of the business.

Do you want to:

• Increase online conversions
• Boost your social media activity and engagement
• Increase sales
• Generate leads
• Improve website traffic
• Build brand awareness
• More?

Knowing your goals, strategically planning for them, and then communicating them clearly helps to keep everyone on the same page. Your marketing then supports this consistency in messaging, building momentum, and driving results.

Strategic planning also allows you to track your campaigns’ effectiveness, making slight adjustments and tweaks as you go.

Key dates to know

While the last 3 months of the year are often a shopping frenzy, there are some key marketing dates to get in your diary.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

As part of your Christmas marketing, the most important dates to be aware of in the run-up to Christmas are Black Friday and Cyber Monday – taking place on Friday 28th November and Monday 1st December this year.

While the hype has been watered down slightly since Black Friday turned into a two-week-plus affair, they’re still some of the largest and most advertised dates for consumers to maximise their shopping spend during the festive period.

In the UK alone, Black Friday saw an estimated spend of £1.12 billion in 2024 (68% of which was from online sales).

During this time, we know that you need to stand out from the noise and for your target audience to connect with you.

The best way you can achieve this is by trying something new – and always adding value.

Ways you can do this include:

• Offering a unique discount to those that sign up to a waitlist.
• Giving something (small) for free to loyal customers.
• Providing free postage/returns – not a new concept, but if this isn’t something you offer, it could be enticing.
• Extending guarantees to give customers peace of mind that even if it has been an impulse sale because they’ve been drawn into the Black Friday hype, they still have options.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend is also an excellent opportunity to grow your email marketing list, asking people to register their details in advance so you can contact them with great offers and products they might be interested in.

For more support with your Black Friday Marketing, check out our blog https://pieceofcakemarketing.co.uk/black-friday-marketing-ideas-to-boost-sales-and-engagement/

Small Business Saturday

Taking place on 6th December this year, Small Business Saturday promotes shopping locally and supporting local businesses and communities.

Small businesses can get involved by hosting specific events, running discounts on this date, and creating content to tell their story. It’s a great opportunity to engage with your target audience, connect with them and convert them into customers.

Halloween

Don’t forget those that bought from you at Halloween.

Take the opportunity to let previous customers know of any special offers you have coming up, reminding them that Christmas is fast approaching and that you can help them be prepared.

The overall aim is to keep them engaged.

January sales

We must also be mindful that Santa may not have delivered everything people expected.

Some people also like to wait for the January sales or want to treat themselves in the New Year, and you should look to maximise this opportunity.

In fact, statistics show that the second week in January is the best time to draw people back in and engage them in further promotions. 

You’ll also find lots more dates in our November and December blogs.

Implement Your Marketing Ideas for Christmas

No marketing strategy is complete without an idea of what you’re selling and how you’re positioning it to customers.  

Here are a few steps to consider before you dive headfirst into your creative planning.

Decide on your products

Explore some of these ideas to make your products more appealing this Christmas.

• Do you have a Christmas product you can introduce alongside your regular products? For example, maybe you could offer a Christmas family photoshoot alongside a typical shoot. Or perhaps you sell cakes, and for every box of 12 sold, one special cupcake will be decorated as a reindeer. It doesn’t always have to be about inventing new products but slightly changing what you have to match your campaign.

• Can you create Christmas product bundles? This is especially useful if you can show clearly on your site what products complement each other and how people can save by purchasing products together rather than individually.

• How about introducing Christmas-themed product names? Get creative and draw your audience in to truly make them smile. Again, this strategy focuses on engagement and building your target audience numbers.

• Can you create a gift guide? Give gravitas to your top products this Christmas and make your guide digital or even a dedicated landing page. Ultimately, gift guides help make people’s lives easier, and if you can view a range of top products in one easy-to-navigate guide, your audience will remain engaged.

• Is it possible to customise your packaging? Consider if you have the potential to offer a gift-wrapping service on and offline, promoting a seamless customer experience no matter how your customer chooses to shop.

• Have you thought about running a countdown to Christmas with digital advent calendars? Engage your target audience by promoting particular products and discounts on certain days and keep users active with you and your site/products.

Update your website

• Does your website look ready for Christmas?
• Do images show any Christmas promotions?
• Does your social media reflect the same imagery and colour consistency?

Colours and animation play a big part in how you can make small festive changes to your website. For example, adding hints of red, green, and gold, the colours associated with Christmas, can all help to spread the festive cheer.

As well as updating imagery and adding a fresh hint of colour or Christmas décor to your site, you must also ensure that shopping on your site is convenient and intuitive.

For example, if someone makes a purchase, what could they add to this to make their lives easier – batteries, wrapping paper, Christmas cards, etc.? Or do you have any products on special offer that you could push as an impulse buy? (This can be a great sales tool as we know 84% of all shoppers are known to make an impulse buy at the point of checkout. This means product placement on your site is vital.)

Introducing and highlighting ‘other people also bought’ is also a great way to play FOMO (fear of missing out) to your advantage.

Prepare your content

The festive season is the best way to play with your content and bring in some real emotion.

Why?

Because we know that Christmas is a time that families come together, watching films with hot chocolate, buying scented candles that remind us of frosty winter mornings, and sourcing endless decorations that weigh down the tree.

These familiarities are what you need to draw on with your content, telling a story and engaging with your target audience.

Ideas to try:

1. Email announcements. Let customers (new and loyal) know what you have to offer. Think about how you’ll get them into the Christmas spirit, enticing them to click on links embedded in the email. Also choose a powerful hook for your subject line – think of a cliffhanger that makes them just have to know more.

• Remember to consider all forms of content. While we strongly recommend you always think video first for social media, don’t forget the power of content like blog posts, carousels, infographics, and more. Build a strong content framework – where each piece contains your keywords (yes, we can’t forget those all-important SEO keywords) – alongside a robust editorial calendar to help keep everything on track and consistent.

• Jump on trends. One of the simplest ideas to create great video content that connects with new audiences is to jump on relevant trends. Check what is trending this festive season and (where appropriate) join in with your own take. Trial and error may be needed here, but it’s a great way to find out what appeals to your target customers.

• Engage your team. If you can, get the team involved in your content. Customers love to buy from businesses they can connect with, and genuine faces really appeal to an audience. Consider sharing videos capturing your staff’s favourite childhood Christmas memory, what they love most about this time of year, or their top present idea for 2025.

• Repurpose outdated content. This not only saves you money and considerable time, but not everyone sees your first posts. Adapting images or copy slightly and repurposing content could help you to reach a whole new audience. This also applies to using snippets of your blog content in your social media schedule – you absolutely don’t have to reinvent the wheel if you already have great content at your disposal!

The aim of your Christmas content is to engage and convert.

So, focus on creating a seamless customer experience – from your offline marketing and online visuals to sales promotion, social media, email signatures, and more. It should never be underestimated that consistency in messaging is vital.

Christmas Social Media Ideas

Your social media strategy should not stray away from your Christmas marketing plan – it should support and strengthen it.

While we’ve said it before, it’s worth reemphasising that video should be your leading content as it drives the most engagement across the key platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. If you’re not sure where to get started, check out our blog post on nailing your social media videos.

Other marketing ideas on social media can include:

• Tips and tricks –being helpful on social media is a great way to connect with your audience and build trust… which ultimately leads to loyalty. How to’s, insider information,and step-by-step guides to making the most out of your products or services is also how you can establish yourself as an expert in your field.

• Competitions – these can be very popular at Christmas, especially if you have a great gift to give away. Use competitions as an excellent way to generate leads and build your email marketing lists.

• Behind-the-scenes – everyone loves a snoop into the inner workings of a business, and your customers won’t be the exception.Sharing the Christmas mania in behind-the-scenes footage helps to keep you relatable and allows people to feel part of the process – making them more likely to engage with your products or services.

• Instagram stories –For your existing audience, use Stories to let them in to your inner workings. Similar to behind-the-scenes content, Stories allow your audience to feel as though they’re part of your brand – especially if you talk directly on camera. It’s also a great place to share if you have a well-thought-out campaign message or a specific Christmas advert to promote.

• User-generated content – let your audience create the content for you, engaging them with your brand. Ask them to share pictures, videos, or reviews of your products or services, and share or repost them. This helps establish you as trustworthy and can perpetuate FOMO, encouraging others to get involved.

Remember, social media is 24/7. There is no off switch.

That’s why you must plan ahead, schedule your posts, and align with your overall marketing strategy, ensuring everything works together like a well-oiled machine.

There are a lot of marketing opportunities in the run-up to Christmas and it’s easy to get carried away. But remember to keep things simple, aligned with your goals, and consistent across all channels.

Oh, and research shows us that higher sales and levels of engagement can be achieved when you fully embrace the Christmas spirit. So, lean into the festive season, and have fun with your marketing!

If you don’t have time to create your festive content, don’t worry! Let us be the Rudolph to your sleigh and help guide you in the right direction.

Simply drop an email to hello@pieceofcakemarketing.co.uk and let us know your marketing objectives.