The Top 9 Christmas Marketing Campaign Ideas

Believe it or not, Christmas is just around the corner, and with it comes one of the most lucrative opportunities for businesses to capture the holiday spirit. But marketing for Christmas doesn’t wait until December—it’s time to start preparing your strategy to make the most of the season's rush.

Effective festive marketing can bring a substantial boost to your business, tapping into the emotions, excitement, and spending power that come with the holidays. According to Statista, retail sales in the U.S. surged by 31% between 2020 and 2023, marking the strongest growth in over three decades. That means if your Christmas marketing campaigns are planned and executed well, you could see a significant uptick in your sales this year.

Not sure where to start? Don’t worry! We’ve gathered some standout Christmas marketing campaign ideas to help you spread holiday cheer and make the most of this festive season.

Nothing gives people happy holidays quite like a special offer. Consider following in the footsteps of brands like Amazon, Sony, and Samsung, who offer special deals based on how much time is left before Christmas.

Everyone knows the famous “12 days of Christmas,” so consider a Christmas email marketing campaign where you offer 25% off discount codes for the 12 days leading up to the big holiday.

With a simple, catchy Christmas subject line, creative copy, and playful visuals, you have an effective Christmas marketing campaign.

Example: StyleCampaign shares some examples of lead-in to festive season campaign ideas, including a Christmas campaign that started all the way back in September!

Send holiday thank you emails

Your customers are spending their hard-earned money to purchase from your business. Thanking them will go a long way toward building a relationship between you and your customers. You can use ActiveCampaign’s holiday marketing automation to thank your customers for their respective purchases without lifting a finger.

Holiday thank you email automation

Here's how this automation works:

1. The contact enters the automation when they make a purchase during the time frame in the segment condition.
2. The contact is sent a thank you email in line with your other festive marketing.
3. The automation waits for 5 hours.
4. The contact is sent an email showing your top deals from your sale.

This automation allows you to offer other products that customers may be interested in, as well. Consider promoting additional products in your marketing campaign using the thank you email. Christmastime is not only a time of celebrating but also a time of spending. Customers will appreciate your reaching out to thank them, which may increase sales.

Example: Shopify provides 44 examples of how to thank your customers for purchasing during the festive season.

Hosting a social media contest is an excellent way to generate excitement and engagement for your brand during the holiday season. By tapping into the festive spirit, you can encourage your audience to participate while spreading holiday cheer and driving brand awareness across your social media platforms.

One simple yet effective contest idea is to organize a holiday-themed giveaway. Invite your followers to share photos of their favorite holiday decorations, Christmas setups, or festive moments using a specific hashtag tied to your brand. Offering a holiday prize, such as a curated gift bundle or exclusive discounts, gives your audience an extra incentive to participate. The more they share and tag their friends, the more visibility your contest and brand receive.

User-generated content (UGC) campaigns also work particularly well during the holidays. You can ask your followers to submit photos or videos featuring your product in a holiday theme and highlight the best submissions on your social media channels. There’s a good chance you will boost engagement and create a sense of community and authenticity around your brand—two essential components for fostering long-term customer loyalty.

For a more interactive twist, consider hosting an event where your audience votes on holiday-themed content, like the best Christmas tree or funniest holiday sweater. This approach encourages your followers to get involved and share the contest with their networks, giving your brand more exposure.

Example: T.H. Baker, a luxury jeweler, runs many contests and giveaways throughout the year. In fact, they start their Christmas giveaway in September!

Christmas is the season of giving and receiving gifts. This also makes it the perfect time for you to make it the season of profit, so why not make it your products that people are giving and receiving by laying out the options for your customers? Create a festive gift ideas guide filled with plenty of opportunities to purchase and fun visuals to make them pop. A sale or 2twowill help emphasize the ones you seek to promote the most.

This also gives you the opportunity to create a landing page that will encourage future sales or subscriptions. Simply put, your gift guide is your way of getting customers excited about what you offer and putting them in your sales funnel.

Example: John Lewis presented a gift guide for the 2021 festive season, including many of their products. This gave customers a chance to browse through their products.

A personal favorite, gamification lends itself to Christmastime. Gamification is “an enhanced marketing technique that borrows game design elements to attract and retain customers. In gamified marketing, consumers are driven to perform an action because it offers elements of competition or reward.”

Using this tactic during Christmastime is brilliant because there are many ways to gamify the holiday. It’s the perfect time to hold a Christmas-themed contest (it can be about anything from a design to the most interesting use of your product) to attract customers and positive attention and increase incoming user-generated content.

It’s a win-win. You get content directly from your users, and your users win prizes of your choosing just for participating.

Example: While not Christmas-themed, Whole30 gamified the new year with their competition that started on January 3rd.

The holiday season presents a golden opportunity to engage your customers with promotions that embody the festive spirit and drive more sales. By tailoring your promotions to the unique excitement of the holidays, you can create memorable experiences that resonate with your audience.

Here are some seasonal promotion ideas that can take your Christmas marketing campaign to the next level:

1. Advent calendar promotions: Bring the fun of advent calendars to your digital marketing strategy! Consider offering an online advent calendar where customers can unlock a new deal, discount, or product reveal every day leading up to Christmas. This builds excitement and gives customers a reason to return to your website or social media daily, creating a sense of anticipation and urgency.
2. 12 Days of Christmas offers: Like advent calendars, you can spread holiday cheer by running a “12 Days of Christmas” promotion. Each day, feature exclusive discounts, gifts, or limited-time offers to keep your audience engaged. This strategy helps build momentum leading into the holiday season while encouraging repeat visits to your social media, store, or website.
3. Holiday-themed bundles: Holiday gift bundles are an effective way to showcase products while providing value to customers looking for the perfect gift. Group together complementary items, package them with festive themes, and offer them at a discounted price.
4. Flash sales & time-limited discounts: Capitalize on the holiday rush by hosting flash sales or one-day-only offers during the peak shopping season. Whether it’s a last-minute discount before Christmas or a special deal on key days like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, these promotions create a sense of urgency, pushing customers to act quickly and increasing online sales.

Example: Author Sarah Addison Allen does an annual advent calendar event on her Instagram. Last year, she released a tiny story every day for 24 days to promote her writing.

Let’s be honest. While plenty of purchases are made around Christmastime, even more carts are abandoned in the process. All these abandoned purchases add up, and there is always an opportunity to try and recoup some of those sales. Abandoned cart emails are sent year-round, but the festive season is a special time for the marketing practice.

During the holiday season, you can time your abandoned cart emails, so the potential customer has to go through with their purchase by a specific date. You can even offer a percentage off to entice them to purchase. If they do, they get a certain percentage off the purchase for following through.

Consider a fun line in your email about how Santa wouldn’t leave any items in his sleigh. There, we’ve even gotten the email started for you!

Example: Take a look through this blog post to see some creative abandoned cart emails!

In the crowded holiday marketplace, creating engaging, interactive experiences can set your brand apart from the competition. Inviting your customers to interact with your brand in fun and meaningful ways can boost engagement and drive sales.

A great way to get started is by offering interactive features on your website or social media platforms. Consider creating a “virtual holiday gift finder” that helps users discover the perfect gift based on their preferences or the interests of their loved ones. This type of tool adds a layer of personalization and guides potential customers toward specific products they may not have considered, ultimately increasing the likelihood of conversions.

Another interactive idea is hosting live product demonstrations or virtual shopping events. Whether through live streams on social media or virtual pop-up shops, these events allow your customers to experience your products in real time, ask questions, and get a first hand look at what you have to offer. This can foster a sense of trust and urgency, encouraging customers to make quick purchase decisions, especially if you include limited-time promotions or exclusive discounts during the event.

Enticing your customers with interactive experiences can create memorable moments that go beyond the traditional shopping experience. You’ll not only increase engagement and strengthen customer loyalty but also boost holiday sales at the same time.

Example: Scavitfy, a company that helps create memorable scavenger hunt experiences for individuals and companies, has a great guide on the perfect holiday scavenger hunt.

We’ve all been there before. It’s the last minute, and you forgot to get your sister-in-law a Christmas gift. Or maybe you’re rethinking giving your cousin socks for the 4th year in a row. In scenarios like this, the customer needs a good gift quickly. That’s where your work begins. Whether it’s a last-minute sale or preparing marketing materials to send some last-minute email campaigns, being ready for your customers at all times is key. That means even (and especially) up to the last minute.

There are also ways to avoid the major pitfalls last-minute shoppers face. Consider a digital gift card campaign to replace physical gift cards, so you don’t have to worry about sending out products. Additionally, they can be purchased until the last minute, thanks to not needing to be shipped.

Example: Check out what Target did to help last-minute shoppers complete their Christmas lists.

As the Christmas season approaches, now is the time to fine-tune your marketing strategies and capitalize on the festive spirit. The opportunities to connect with your audience and boost sales are endless, from creating personalized promotions and hosting social media contests to enhancing customer engagement with interactive experiences.

The key to success lies in planning early, understanding your customers, and delivering memorable experiences that resonate during the holidays. Don’t miss out on the chance to spread holiday cheer while driving business growth and fostering customer loyalty.Ready to get started with your holiday marketing? Activate your 14-day free trial of ActiveCampaign and see how automation and personalization can take your campaigns to the next level this festive season.