The Ultimate Christmas Guide to Holiday-Themed Marketing Strategies

While the holiday season is seen as a time for rest, festivities, and family time, businesses know it’s the busiest time of the year.

From personalized email campaigns to deciding the ad spend for your PPC, there are plenty of decisions to be made ahead of the end of year reports.

Don’t worry because we’ve put you on the nice list this year and are giving away our holiday themed strategies to maximize your businesses efforts this Christmas.

We’ll look at the best practices and tactics you can use like influencer marketing and UGC as well as optimizing your PPC during the holiday season for you to deck the halls of Google. 

Christmas is a hectic time for businesses and we want to guarantee your efforts are not only effective but productive.

We’ve outlined the top strategies and ideas for you to spread Christmas cheer and achieve your businesses goals. The best present to end the year. 

 

First off….

In the last few years, influencer marketing and UGC has exploded as an industry that will continue to dominate in 2025.

So how can you use it within your strategy?

2024 was a year where customers embraced authenticity and relatability more than polished images and videos discussing features.

UGC and Influencer marketing has the ability to connect with an audience on a much deeper level. 

This could include sponsored posts or providing products to be reviewed.

Christmas gift guides do extremely well on social media. Invest in influencers or UGC creators to create their own and showcase your product. 

After analyzing market trends, short form content still wins against long form content and investing time in this will go a long way this December. 

While Google is still the number one search engine, many shoppers will take to social media like Instagram or TikTok to find products to buy for their loved ones.

The introduction of Instagram and TikTok shop has made it easier for brands to sell directly to their customers through one video. 

With Black Friday looming and it being one of the busiest weeks for businesses, it’s important to produce content that’s engaging and creative to capture your audience’s attention.

We’ll discuss email marketing campaigns below but adding timers and countdowns to your campaign can add a sense of urgency.

That FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) will push your audience to take action. 

Paid Ads give you the opportunity to stand out and beat your competitors during the whirlwind of frenzied shopping.

Most businesses will review historical data for previous campaigns and set aside a budget. It’s always best to plan for a bigger budget as due to the competition, your budget can run out quicker than you’d like. 

Reviewing past campaigns of previous Christmases will give you a better insight into what worked and what could be improved. 

Those top performers you have?

Break them into smaller ad groups and smaller campaigns to have more control over specific budgets and the opportunity to adjust for the best return possible. 

Optimize your ad with holiday-themed copy and have your creative team create an eye-catching image that’ll grab your customers’ attention. 

Our last tip for PPC is to be realistic about your bidding tactics as it’s not just traffic you’re fighting for.

There’s going to be competition as CPC (Cost-Per-Clicks) will rise over the coming months for popular products and keywords. 

Budget and Bidding should be one of your biggest focuses this Christmas. 

Festive Email Marketing Campaigns

Creative and personalized email marketing campaigns can go a long way at Christmas.

With the email list you’ve built throughout the year, now is the best time to send special offers and discounts to those who have shown brand loyalty. 

Email is a permission-based channel meaning subscribers have opted-in to your email list because they want to hear from you and are more likely to buy. 

Offering exclusive deals and special offers to the nice surprise of 20% off puts a smile on anyone’s face.

As we mentioned, Christmas is a time of giving and customer loyalty deserves a reward. 

Planning your email campaigns ahead of time ensures an easy flow into the holiday season.

Make sure it’s aligned across all channels to ensure the message is received well and captures your customers attention. 

Divide your email lists by preferences and past purchase history to send out relevant content. 

Offer exclusive deals and create a sense of urgency with timers and countdowns.

The classic FOMO (fear of missing out) kicks in and prompts customers to take action. 

All I want for Christmas is…. ROI

Following holidays throughout the year is important for businesses but especially at Christmas.

Your content calendar should feel more festive and a bit more cheerful than your normal content calendar.

Investing in UGC content, product promotions, and behind-the-scenes of how your team is preparing for Christmas is a great way to build brand affinity. 

When creating content, think of the feeling you want to invoke.

Tap into those childhood memories of Santa Claus, giving gifts, and spending time with loved ones to invoke the emotional connection. 

Coca Cola is a signature brand that takes the crown of Christmas marketing because of the nostalgia surrounding its advertisements.

Once you see the Coca Cola ad appear on the TV, you know it’s Christmas. 

Another key thing to remember is optimizing your content for SEO.

We would hate to see you create fun and creative content only for no one to see it because it’s not properly optimized. 

The competition during the festive season is well… competitive so applying all tactics can make you stand out. 

Investing in software like SEMRUSH or Ahrefs to get a more detailed insight into the type of content to create based on people’s search intent. 

The Psychology Behind Christmas Buying 

If you ever wondered what the craze was behind gift-giving around Christmas time compared to other times of the year, we’re here to let you in on what goes on behind the scenes.

The psychology of spending and buying during the Christmas season is interesting to discuss because of the interplay between consumer behavior, emotional triggers, and societal influences. 

Many associate Christmas with positive emotions, triggering an emotional reaction like joy, nostalgia, togetherness during the holiday season.

Once Halloween is over in October, the pumpkins and trick ‘o’ treat sweets are replaced with mince pies and shiny Christmas decorations. 

Because of the positive associations surrounding Christmas, businesses and brands leverage this feeling during the busiest time of the year.

Brands and businesses using heartwarming scenes of a family sitting around a fire opening presents in advertisements gives you a sense of nostalgia and evokes an appreciation of those around you. 

Intentionality Behind Gift Giving 

Gift-giving is more sentimental around this time of the year compared to others because of intentionality.

We want to be intentional with what we buy for our loved ones to give them thanks for all they have done throughout the year.

The choice of buying a cheap bottle of wine compared to putting thought into buying your father’s favorite case of Jameson because he loves having a glass before bed feels more intentional and sentimental. 

The Reciprocity Effect

We all know the concept of “reciprocity” in marketing and the same applies at Christmas.

Gift giving is integral to the holiday season and people feel compelled to reciprocate gestures of reciprocity.

There isn’t anything more awkward than not getting someone a gift that bought you something. 

The power of reciprocity has a huge impact on social behavior and retailers tap into this psychological principle by promoting special holiday offers, discounts, and exclusive deals that encourage people to buy. 

Social Influence

Group bias always has an influence on us as when we see others purchase gifts, we also feel the need to participate.

We are social creatures and want to fit in.

On average, people spend over two hours and 24 minutes on their phone which we are exposed even more to the Christmas cheer.

Christmas guides, Santa check list, and now the implementation of Instagram and Tiktok shop amplifies excitement around Christmas purchasing. 

The FOMO behind Christmas 

Scarcity is a marketing strategy many businesses use throughout the year but it’s more prominent at Christmas because limited editions of products, exclusive holiday collections and time-limited promotions cause a sense of urgency for customers to buy. 

This psychological tactic rooted in Robert Cialdini’s work uses the fear of missing out (FOMO) and activates impulsive spending.

The use of scarcity drives sales and enhances the perceived value of products during this period. 

We love gift giving at GoViral but we encourage you to always take a breath before adding to cart. 

Christmas Rituals and Traditions 

Lastly, every individual has specific traditions and rituals they carry out as soon as they hear “all i want for Christmas is… YOUUU” on the radio.

Research shows that traditions and rituals create a sense of social connection, belonging and community. As soon as the Christmas lights turn on, our brain signals that this period of the year is significant. 

That nostalgia you feel around the cheery season isn’t unintentional.

The sensory  overload creates lasting recollections of those occasions and marks them in our memory as special events worth cherishing.

GoViral Conclusion

Even though it’s the busiest time of the year, don’t forget it’s also a time to rest before heading into the new year with a clearer focus and energy for the New Year.

By leveraging the marketing strategies in this blog, you can prepare yourself ahead of time before the frenzy of Christmas. 

If you need someone to help organize your Christmas campaigns next year, contact us!