When Should You Start Marketing for the Holidays?

You should start your holiday marketing by early to mid-October, ideally six to eight weeks before Black Friday. Launching your strategy early gives your brand time to build momentum, refine promotions, update your digital storefront, and engage shoppers before the peak buying season kicks off. Don't wait until the last minute; starting early ensures your campaigns cut through the holiday noise and convert.

Why Timing Matters

Starting early gives your campaign time to build momentum instead of launching cold. Shoppers begin planning holiday purchases, gift card buys, and reservations well before Thanksgiving, so a business that's only just setting up its holiday landing page and ads in mid-November is playing catch-up from day one. Starting in October means your offers, materials, and audience are already warmed up by the time the big shopping dates hit.

The Ideal Timeline

• Early October: Finalize offers, update your website with a holiday landing page, and prepare graphics and promotional materials.

• Mid-to-Late October: Launch email and social content to warm up your audience before pushing hard offers.

• Black Friday & Cyber Monday (Late November): Run your biggest paid social and email pushes, with lead capture fully active. 

• Small Business Saturday: Highlight gift cards and local promotions to drive in-person or direct support. 

• December through Christmas: Automate follow-up so gift card, reservation, and catering leads get an instant response before offers expire.

• New Year’s: Re-engage the leads you generated in November and December with a New Year’s promotion instead of starting over from zero.

What a Holiday Campaign Includes

A campaign that starts on time and converts usually needs:

• A Holiday Landing Page

• Promotional Graphics

• A Sequence of Emails (not one blast)

•  Paid Facebook/Instagram Ads

• Automated Lead Follow-up

This is the exact formula behind Skigital's holiday marketing services, combining text, social, and email marketing into one coordinated strategy rather than scattered efforts.

Missed or slow follow-up is one of the most common reasons campaigns underperform. Skigital's Client Flow automation captures leads the moment they respond, tags them by promotion, and follows up automatically by email or text, so no interested customer slips through during your busiest season.

Ready to Get Started?

If your holiday plan isn't in motion yet, now's the time. Skigital's holiday marketing bundle covers strategy, website updates, ad campaigns, and automated follow-up. Contact the team to get started.