Holiday Advertising Ideas: Boost Sales During the Top Shopping Seasons

Are you ready for the holidays? If you’re a business owner or marketer, that means being prepared with the best holiday advertising campaigns that bring results.

Regardless of your location or niche, the holidays are the busiest season for consumers and businesses alike.

In 2023, holiday sales in the US reached over $960 billion (that’s inching towards $1 trillion!), reflecting an increase of 3.8% in spending compared to the previous year.

What will the upcoming holiday season be like? If past years are anything to go by, every business needs to come up with out-of-the-box holiday advertising ideas to boost conversions and enjoy some of that potential revenue.

Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar store or e-commerce business, let’s explore the popular US holiday shopping days of the calendar year (not just Black Friday…), and dive into some holiday advertising strategies and tips to make your holiday season a happy one (from a sales POV).

Popular US Holiday Shopping Days

The seasonal marketing calendar highlights plenty of opportunities during the year to leverage increased interest in shopping and gift-giving. Take note that some holidays and dates vary according to region. Use these dates as a guide to promoting holiday advertising campaigns at the right time, with the right themes.

Here are the most popular shopping days specific to the US holiday calendar that marketers should take note of:

Halloween (10/31)

For some spooky Halloween campaign ideas, dress up your website in a scary theme and don’t forget to change up your profile photo to something Halloween-related.

Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday of November)

One of the most sacred national holidays originating from the harvest festival. A day of getting together, food, and giving thanks, so make sure your promotions and campaigns are aligned with these themes.

Black Friday (Friday after Thanksgiving)

The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday was birthed from the holiday shopping high, becoming the most marketable day of the year. Plan your campaigns and discounts months early and send your email blast weeks ahead so that your customers can prepare for what you will be offering. 

Cyber Monday (Monday after Black Friday)

The Monday after Thanksgiving, and perhaps the biggest sales opportunity of the year. Together with Black Friday, it’s come to be known as Cyber Weekend. For e-comm store owners, prepare your website for the increased traffic on the day. Be active on social media to engage your target audiences, and drive interest with contests, one-day promos, or free trials.

Hannukah (dates vary in December)

The eight-day Jewish holiday, also known as the Festival of Lights, celebrates victory over the Greeks two thousand years ago. This is a great time for social media promotions and to team up with a Jewish community to sponsor a cause.

Christmas (12/25)

The festive season for every family. Plan as early as August, redesign your website closer to the season, and start posting shareable Christmas-related content on social media early. Organize giveaways, challenges, and promotions that will get people talking and sharing.

New Year’s Eve (12/31)

In celebration of the coming year, it’s the time for countdowns, downloadable calendars, and new hashtags. Check out these tips for New Year campaigns that will kick off your new sales year with a bang.

Martin Luther King Day (third Monday of January)

Celebrate the legacy of the most revered leader in the civil rights movement. Leverage the moment to promote your brand’s commitment to social awareness and community values, all hot topics, especially for the younger millennial and Gen Z audience.

St. Patrick’s Day (03/17)

A holiday that celebrates the Irish heritage and culture, St Patrick’s Day marketing is a great time to pull out everything Irish, from green-themed promotions to Guinness beer and shamrock shakes.

Easter (date varies in April)

This is the perfect spring holiday for engaging children and families. Whether it’s an Easter egg hunt or an online Easter egg design contest, there’s a treasure box of ideas you can develop for your Easter marketing campaigns, for kids and grown-ups alike.

Mother’s Day (05/10)

The day to celebrate motherhood with an appreciative vibe. Harness user-generated content to create brand awareness through social media hashtags. Invite people to post photos of themselves with mom for a chance to win prizes.

Memorial Day (second Sunday in May)

This day is for all the military personnel who sacrificed in the service of country. Celebrate patriotism by giving away vouchers and discounts, expressing gratitude to those who serve.

Father’s Day (third Sunday in June)

From emails to cards, make everything dad-centric and design promotional materials that are highly shareable. Tickle their funny bones with dad jokes or tug their heartstrings with relatable dad stories.

Fourth of July

Independence Day is a time to go all out in your campaigns because everybody’s celebrating. This is the time for fireworks, food, and decorating your digital assets with the American flag!

Tax-Free Weekends

Prepare and schedule early so people can save money this weekend and remember to bundle tax-free items together. See the tax-free weekend dates for various states here.

Labor Day (first Monday of September)

Celebrate the achievement of workers by offering raffles and giveaways or holding contests whether online or in-store.

Columbus Day (second Monday in October)

Commemorating the landing of Christopher Columbus in America, it’s a great time to promote interactive and educational content, like quizzes, infographics, and emails. Be creative with your tags and captions and offer short-term discounts for the holiday.

What’s the Biggest Shopping Day of the Year?

Between online and in-store sales, this is not a simple question to answer. However, the overall Thanksgiving sales season takes the lead as the busiest shopping days of the year. In 2023, 68% of US consumers planned to shop online during Black Friday while under a third planned to shop in-store. Certainly, people are shopping and spending, but as in previous years, the online shopping trend appears to have the most momentum.

And while it’s not exactly a ‘holiday’, the top spending event in the US is back-to-college season. During this time, the expected average spend per shopper is over $1300.

Source 

You can have all the data from different sources presented to you, but be sure to study your own metrics and not just rely on the hype. Every business is different and what works for one may not work for the other.

Looking for inspo for your holiday marketing campaigns?

Watch our webinar “How to maximize your holiday campaigns performance.”

Holiday Advertising Ideas to Attract Consumer Interest 

Here are some holiday advertising strategies and hacks to get you geared up for the holiday season:

Reviewing past data is everything

Come holiday season, the first thing you need to do – whether you’re a B2B, B2C, e-commerce, or brick-and-mortar business – is review what you did in previous years, what your competitors did, and what the trends were. Take note of how much your holiday advertising spend was and, of course, the ROAS of those campaigns.

Review your products and offerings

If you are offering new services or products, this is a great time to promote awareness and build anticipation before launch. For existing products, plan advertising campaigns to boost interest and sales.

Tip: Implement a creative discount strategy. For example, if you’re selling sunglasses, make the first pair full price and then the subsequent set 30 percent off.

Brainstorm possible promotions and offers

This is the part where you apply all your findings from #1. Now it’s time to incorporate all your learnings in brainstorming your campaign ideas for the season.

Here are some ideas for holiday promotions to excite and engage shoppers during the holiday season:

• Early bird discounts: Offer special discounts for shoppers who buy in advance of the holiday.
• Flash sales: Limited-time offers on specific days. These are great at creating a sense of urgency and exciting your potential customers.
• Bundle deals: Discounts when customers buy certain related products together.
• Free gift: Give a free gift with purchases over a certain amount.
• Free shipping:  On all orders before the holidays, or orders over a certain amount.
• Exclusive online deals: Special promotions for online shoppers.
• Holiday rewards: Loyalty program members earn extra points or discounts for pre-holiday purchases.
• Daily deals: Different deals for each day of the holiday season.
• Email subscriber discounts: Special offers for email subscribers.
• Buy One, Get One Free: BOGO deals on select items.
• Extended return policy: Longer return periods for holiday purchases.
• Personalized promotions: Targeted discounts based on customer purchase history.
• Holiday countdown: Special deals counting down to a major holiday (ie. Black Friday).
• Customer appreciation sales: Special sales as a thank you to customers for their support throughout the year.

Devise your advertising strategy

• Set SMART goals: Just because you feel that you know the business like the back of your hand doesn’t mean there’s nothing new to achieve. Switch or come up with new goals, but make sure they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.
• Set the budget: After outlining all your holiday campaigns, estimate your budget based on how much you spent last year, and what you hope to achieve differently this season. Take into account your ROI to determine what amount is appropriate for this year’s holiday marketing project.

Schedule your calendar

Plan ahead and plan early. This will help you avoid unnecessary costs. What’s ‘early’? Your holiday ad campaign should be good to go by October so those early-bird shoppers can catch your products.

Update your website

Your website may be expecting much heavier traffic during the holidays. Aside from making sure your load speed is at optimal performance, here are some more tips on how to prepare your website for the season:

• Prep your website with SEO. Simple as it may seem, prepping a website to make sure it’s visible and dominating on the SERPs is most often overlooked but make sure you check it twice come holiday season!
• Create a tantalizing holiday landing page with these tips.
• Publish blog content for Black Friday or Cyber Monday a month early. This will remind your clients of what’s coming and also promote awareness for your brand.
• Have a timer on your website that counts down to the promo in your store. Put the date and link all over your social media posts.

Try native advertising

Native advertising is a form of paid advertising where you promote your ads and content on premium publisher sites on the open web. This means breaking out from social media advertising and reaching consumers on news, sports, and other websites where they like to spend their time.

In fact, ads on the open web perform significantly better than social media. They are 24% more likely to lead to purchases. One of the top holiday advertising strategies you can try is to add native to your paid advertising mix. Make sure to start early so you give your target audience plenty of time to warm up to your campaigns. Check out this starter guide to creating high-converting content for your native campaigns.

Make the most out of social media

While you should expand your paid advertising channels with native ads, social media is still crucial for your holiday advertising strategy. Update all your social media profiles with your holiday offers and pair them with visuals that visitors won’t be able to resist. Don’t forget to set up your goals and measure your social media performance using tools like Hootsuite or Semrush Social.

Email new and old clients

Emails are advertisements too! The immediate lead-up to Cyber Weekend is the best time to send email blasts and draw attention to your newsletter. This is when people are scrolling their inboxes for those deals they might have missed a day or a week before. Don’t forget to reach out to new prospects and also reconnect with past customers. There’s no harm in doing this during the holidays when they are probably bargain-hunting like everyone else. Give an update about your latest offerings, or simply remind them of the perks of doing business with you.

Your Holiday Advertising Plan Doesn’t End with the Holidays

There’s a ton of things you have to prepare for if you want to ensure a successful holiday advertising campaign. As the holiday season comes to a halt, your work carries on, with measuring and analyzing the performance of your holiday campaigns, so you learn what worked and what didn’t, and take note for next year –  all part of the overall excitement of the season.

With proper planning and the right holiday advertising strategies, you’ll be able to take control of your business come the holidays and beyond. So, put the fun in your holiday campaigns and shine the entire season!