As you probably know, the holiday season brings a lot of consumer activity. If you get in the spirit with a little jingle bells and fa-la-la-la, your brand can capture people’s attention with a unique holiday marketing campaign.
In this post, we’ll go over the basics of holiday marketing, including the different types of campaigns, the top strategies, and examples of brands that are killing it this season.
What are holiday marketing campaigns?
Holiday marketing campaigns focus on seasonal events and holidays to reach customers with exclusive promotions, limited-time offers, and unique content. The traditional holiday season, which runs from November to January, includes days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas. During this time, businesses focus on increasing purchase intent and using festive, emotion-driven messaging.
A successful holiday marketing campaign is planned out carefully to tap into seasonal enthusiasm. It uses digital and physical channels to build urgency and foster emotional connections.
Why holiday marketing campaigns are essential for brands
Holiday campaigns offer unique benefits to brands, from heightened visibility to increased sales opportunities. Higher demand is key—spending intentions in 2024 are expected to grow by 8% this holiday season. For marketers, this is a time to capture customers in a joyful, nostalgic state that fosters emotional buying decisions.
Did you know that…
- 8 in 10 holiday shoppers are influenced by the internet before making a purchase. (Source: Wordstream)
- 52% of shoppers are more likely to buy a holiday product online if the website offers a discount code. (Source: Bazaar Voice)
- About 40% of shoppers look for both good and bad reviews before they decide to buy. They like to see a mix of honest, balanced feedback, which can be achieved through a UGC campaign.
Holiday campaigns are a great way to stand out in a crowded market. By using limited-time offers and creating engaging, cross-platform experiences, marketers can make sure their brand sticks in people’s minds even in a competitive space.
Ready to make an impact this holiday season?
Top strategies + examples for holiday marketing campaigns
For marketers, each holiday season is a great opportunity to connect with customers in new and creative ways. Here are some strategies that have been shown to work well:
Spotify Wrapped is an annual feature released on December 1st each year that transforms each user’s listening data from the past year into an eye-catching, personalised ‘year in review’. It showcases the user’s top songs, artists, genres, total listening minutes and even their “listening personality”. Wrapped packages these insights into striking graphics designed for sharing on social media.
Thanks to its timing and format, Spotify Wrapped has become a prime example of a modern festive marketing campaign. Arriving at the start of the festive season, when people are feeling nostalgic and reflective and eager to share personal highlights, it taps into the emotional tone of the holidays.
Other brands can replicate the Spotify Wrapped model by turning customer usage data into personalized, year-in-review summaries that highlight milestones or interesting insights.
👉 Related: Social Wall Statistics 2025, Walls.io Wrapped
Brands that start early have the advantage of building anticipation and sparking interest well before the holiday rush. Coco Wyo, for example, kicks off its campaign season with Instagram post teasers for early deals by pre-saving their holiday coloring book edition.
As you can see, Coco Wyo did this announcements mid-October 2024. It seems that there’s a bit of a split of opinion when it comes to the timing of holiday promotions. While 62% of holiday shoppers believe that October is too early, 26% say it’s never too early. This highlights the tricky balance that retailers have to get right.
Adopt multichannel marketing
Use a variety of channels to reach customers where they spend the most time, from email marketing to social media. For example, sustainable swimwear brand, Youswim, targets consumers for Black Friday promos via email and Instagram.
While your brand doesn’t have to follow the same multichannel approach, its important to maintain consistency across your most visited channels. That way your consumers will have the chance to purchase from your brand from their favorite touchpoint.
Leverage holiday audios on short-form videos
One effective holiday marketing strategy is tapping into trending festive audios on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. For example, the resurfacing sound “All I want for Christmas is… a pink Bentley” is perfect for brands to showcase their products. You can adapt the text on screen to your offer, such as:
“All I want for Christmas is… for you to discover my business 🎁✨” or “All I want for Christmas is… a feed full of your user-generated content 💖.”
These seasonal sounds instantly boost discoverability because audiences are already engaging with them. Using them early in the trend cycle increases your chances of going viral. Pair the audio with a festive aesthetic and make your content feel timely, and shareable.
Include UGC
62% of marketing experts found the natural and authentic visual style to be the most effective for marketing purposes. This style showcases genuine moments, real people, and authentic experiences, precisely what UGC is about.
For example, Cadbury, the British multinational confectionery company launched the #CadburyFestive hashtag campaign contest. During the winter season, Cadbury South Africa organized a campaign that involved user-generated content being shown on massive Walls.io social walls around the country.
Cadbury encouraged customers and fans to share a message of appreciation using the hashtag #CadburyFestive. The campaign was set up as a contest, and the best posts would be featured on social walls throughout the country every Friday.
💖 We’re thrilled to introduce a new update to Direct Posts—now, in addition to images and text, your community can upload videos (up to 3 minutes long) directly to your social wall!
Be consistent with branding
If you decide to feature UGC in your holiday marketing campaign, you should make sure all the submissions are somehow branded. Wether it’s by sharing instructions along with a brand package, or by making sure your products are included.
Truly the easiest way to ensure brand consistency, is by having participants submit their content to a social wall. You can offer a digital photo booth with festive stickers, frames and backgrounds, which will make selfies and loops much more colorful and consistent.
The Walls.io Lens digital photo booth offers a fun, interactive experience where users snap photos or record videos that instantly appear on a social wall.
Need an easy way to incorporate UGC into your holiday campaigns?
Invite influencers to your store
Influencer marketing is a whole other ballgame. Including them in seasonal campaigns is a great way to promote new products.
For instance, Lone Fox, an interior designer and YouTuber with 1.75 million subscribers, toured an Ikea store to show off every piece in Ikea’s 2024 holiday decor collection, giving his audience a complete look at what’s in store for the season.
This is one of the easiest ways to market your holiday campaign. The tricky part is finding the right influencer or micro-influencer for your audience. Once you’ve found the perfect match and everyone’s on board, you can let the campaign unfold naturally.
🌟 Related: The Role of Micro-Influencers in Building Social Proof
Building connections with customers through holiday campaigns
Holiday campaigns are more than just a promotional strategy. They’re also a chance to connect with customers on an emotional level. Brands can turn seasonal shoppers into loyal customers by creating memorable experiences. These campaigns are a great way to celebrate with your audience and spread some holiday cheer. They’re a great way to make your brand an unforgettable part of their holiday season.
Elevate your holiday marketing campaigns with Walls.io.