30-Day Holiday Marketing Plan

Want to boost your holiday sales this year but don’t have a blueprint to do it? The following offers a sample 30-day holiday marketing plan you can adapt to your business to maximize your return on investment this holiday season. Not every idea will be right for your business; however, these ideas should help point you in the right direction for holiday marketing this year.

Day 1

Review last year’s holiday marketing and identify what worked, what didn’t work, and why.

Day 2

Determine what the theme and goals of this year’s holiday marketing will be.

Day 3

Decide what special offers you will incorporate into your marketing strategy, i.e. free shipping, discount coupons, Black Friday discounts, etc.

Day 4

Determine what marketing channels you will use: print/direct mail, social, online, email, TV, radio, ads, etc.

Day 5

Design your marketing materials and ensure they have the same theme and promotions across multiple channels.

Day 6

Print any marketing materials required; contact any advertising outlets to arrange marketing deals (newspapers, online publications, magazines, radio stations, television stations, marketing partners, etc.).

Day 7

Mail print catalogs to your target customer base.

Day 8

Make sure your holiday specials and deals are prominently displayed on your website.

Day 9

Launch an email marketing campaign with your holiday deals, and tell customers to keep an eye out for a postcard with an even better offer.

Day 10

Let your social media followers know about your holiday specials.

Day 11

Send a direct-mail postcard with your special offer to customers.

Day 12

Send another email to remind your customers to act fast to take advantage of your postcard offer.

Day 13

Advertise a holiday buying guide full of useful tips for getting the right gift. You could print a hardcopy booklet or publish a digital edition, or both.

Day 14

Place posters, flyers and banners around areas your target market frequents.

Day 15

Remind customers, via email and social media, of your holiday buying guide.

Day 16

Send a follow-up postcard to customers as a last-chance to redeem your special offer.

Day 17

Distribute calendars and calendar magnets to your best customers to help brand your company and promote direct sales next year.

Day 18

Time-permitting, engage in a door hanger marketing campaign. You might have to recruit volunteers and reward them with a cocktail or pizza party. Only distribute door hangers to target neighborhoods for best results.

Day 19

Send more email and social media reminders about your holiday specials.

Day 20

Take out television, newspaper, magazine and radio ads (you’ll have to schedule these in advance, but get them published as close to the big sales dates as possible).

Day 21

Take out online ads, mobile ads and any other digital promotions to help you get noticed by potential customers, especially those who by now have seen your specials in other marketing channels.

Day 22

Send holiday cards to your best customers, thanking them for their business. Include a special VIP offer.

Day 23

Send emails with VIP offers to those who didn’t receive your holiday cards.

Day 24

Make sure your holiday newspaper advertisement inserts are printed and distributed to newspapers for Black Friday marketing.

Day 25

Mail a mini-catalog, such as a brochure, booklet, or postcard, to customers with special last-minute offers and coupons.

Day 26

Use email, social media, your website and other online channels to promote your specials.

Day 27

Send a postcard that advertises your specials for Cyber Monday and beyond.

Day 28

Email last-minute gift ideas to your past customers.

Day 29

Make one final push via email and social media.

Day 30

Relax – you’ve done everything you can to effectively market your  company and holiday sales should be strong. Track your efforts and maintain your data so you can use it to make next year’s holiday marketing campaign even better! What are your favorite holiday marketing strategies?