5 Holiday Marketing Tips for Maximum Impact

Yay! It's that time of year when you can spend time with loved ones, shop for your home, go on vacation, and relax. But as marketers, we’re always thinking about our next campaign and how to make the most of every season to improve ROI. Don’t worry! we’ve got you covered. Learn how to maximize your holiday marketing campaigns with less effort through marketing automation and better planning.

#1 It all starts with planning

Plan smarter, market better. 

Good marketing planning prevents duplicated efforts and helps your team focus on actions that drive real results. Before starting any holiday campaign, it’s best to bring all stakeholders together—share ideas, align on goals, and allocate a budget across different activities like email marketing, social media campaigns, paid ads, and more.

For example: let’s say you run a furniture store. With Zoho Marketing Plus, you can create a solid plan by launching a campaign titled “Holiday Furniture Sale” and scheduling it for the dates you want to run it. From there, you can break down activities into individual tasks, such as:

• Social media posts to promote sofa sets
• Email campaigns for customers who purchased pillows

Assign these tasks to team members, collaborate and discuss, finalize a budget for giveaways, and execute everything seamlessly from one place.

A well-structured holiday marketing plan ensures:

• Clear visibility of tasks so nothing slips through the cracks.
• Better collaboration—everyone knows what their teammates are working on.
• Efficient resource management - Reuse creatives across channels, saving time and effort.
• Higher impact through well-coordinated campaigns.
• Work-life balance—your team can deliver results while still enjoying their holiday time stress-free.

Takeaway

Set clear objectives and plan your campaigns in advance. With the right tools and teamwork, you’ll maximize your holiday marketing impact—while keeping the season joyful for both your customers and your team.

#2 Delight your customers with festive rewards

Everyone loves incentives and gifts—they add to the joy of the holiday season. For brands, this is the perfect opportunity to reward loyal customers while also attracting new ones with thoughtful offers. Rewards not only boost sales but also build emotional connections with your audience.
Here are some ways to make rewards work for your holiday campaigns:

• Exclusive discounts for loyal customers – Offer special deals or early access to holiday sales as a “thank you” for their continued support.
• Festive gift cards – Send personalized digital gift cards that make customers feel appreciated and encourage repeat purchases.
• Bundled holiday deals – Create attractive packages, like a sofa and coffee table combo, or a skincare set, that feels like a ready-made festive treat.
• Limited-time offers – Add urgency with rewards that are available only for a short window to drive quicker decisions.
• Surprise-and-delight moments – Slip in small unexpected gifts, such as free samples or festive packaging, to create memorable brand experiences.
• Use ready-made templates and segmentation – With unified marketing platform like Zoho Marketing Plus, you can choose from 100+ holiday and rewards templates for your email campaigns. Segment your customers or prospects based on value or engagement to send targeted campaigns that can bring better results.

By weaving rewards into your holiday marketing strategy, you create more than just seasonal sales—you spark loyalty and strengthen relationships with customers who feel valued long after the holidays end.

Takeaway

Thoughtful holiday rewards—like exclusive offers, bundled deals, or personalized gifts—don’t just drive sales; they strengthen customer loyalty and create memorable brand experiences.

#3 Moment marketing on social media

Social media buzzes like never before during the holiday season. Brands that tap into trending conversations—intentionally or even unintentionally—can gain huge visibility. You don’t always need to create a trend from scratch; you can join popular hashtags, respond to ongoing conversations, or launch your own campaigns that resonate with the holiday mood.
For example:
Coca-Cola often associates itself with magic and happiness. In 2024, they rode the AI trend by creating a viral video using AI tools, blending their classic brand messaging with a current trend.

The Holiday Magic is Coming by Coca-Cola

Watch it here

Jet2 campaign

Jet2holidays leveraged humor and joy in their campaigns. One of their viral campaigns showed a plane “dancing” when it took off—perfectly capturing the playful, happy mood people want during the holidays.

Watch it here

Takeaway

Create a unique story for your brand that fits the social media wave. Align your content with what people are excited about, whether it’s humor, nostalgia, or a trending topic, and you’ll increase engagement and brand recall.

#4 Automate where you can

During the holiday season, marketing activities like email campaigns, social media posting, and responding to customer inquiries can go up. High volumes of engagement can overwhelm your team, especially when they want to enjoy the holidays too.

Automation in Zoho Marketing Plus helps you handle this efficiently. You can set up workflows that trigger actions based on customer behavior—for example:

• Sending a welcome email when someone signs up for your product.
• Automatically responding to common questions on social media or website chat.
• Triggering personalized messages or nudges when a visitor lands on your website.
• By automating these tasks, you can engage your audience at scale, maintain responsiveness, and free your team to focus on strategy—while ensuring your customers feel seen and valued.

#5 Be AI-ready for holiday searches

The way people search and make purchase decisions is rapidly shifting from traditional search engines to AI-powered platforms. To stay visible, your marketing content needs to be optimized for these AI engines.

Ways to do this:

• Optimize your marketing assets—webpages, landing pages, and campaign content—so AI can easily understand and rank them.
• Use FAQ formats to answer common customer questions in a structured way that AI can pull for responses.
• Leverage social platforms and forums like Reddit and Quora to create engagement and signal relevance.
• Spread your campaigns widely, ensuring your holiday messaging reaches multiple touchpoints across the web.

Takeaway

Make your content AI-friendly to maintain visibility, reach more customers, and stay ahead in the evolving digital landscape.

Thanks for reading! We hope you found one or two practical tips you can start implementing today to plan your holiday campaigns. Wishing you a joyful holiday season—may your business grow while you take the time to relax and unwind.
Start planning today with Zoho Marketing Plus, and make this holiday season your most successful yet.