Here’s a number to make you sit up. There are only 35 days between Black Friday and New Year’s Day.
For lots of small businesses, that stretch decides how the year ends and how the next one starts. And the ones who sail through it aren’t working harder. They’ve just made their decisions early.
So here’s our seasonal marketing checklist. It follows the season in order, so you can tick things off as you go. It’s written for shops, trades and professional services alike.
The dates to put in your diary
- Black Friday: Friday 27 November
- Cyber Monday: Monday 30 November
- Small Business Saturday: Saturday 5 December
- Christmas Day: Friday 25 December
- Boxing Day: Saturday 26 December
- New Year’s Day: Friday 1 January 2027
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
First, a bit of good news. You don’t have to discount. The real mistake is making up a discount at the last minute and wishing you hadn’t.
If you sell products
Decide now whether you’re joining in. If you are, protect your margin with an offer that isn’t just money off:
- A bundle. Two services for the price of one and a half, say.
- A bonus. A freebie with orders over a certain value.
- Early access. Give your email list a 24-hour head start.
- A gift card. It gets people back through your door in January.
Then do the groundwork. Build a landing page for your offer and test it on your phone. Write two emails, one to announce it and one last call for Cyber Monday evening. Schedule your social posts for Friday, Saturday and Monday, and add the offer to your Google Business Profile. Finally, set an end date and stick to it.
Not joining in? That’s fine too. A short post saying you keep your prices fair all year round can go down really well.
If you’re a trade or professional service
You don’t need a sale. Customers are in buying mode, so give them a reason to book with you:
- Book before 30 November and keep this year’s prices for next year’s work.
- Offer a free survey, quote or review to anyone who books a January slot.
- Sell gift vouchers for things people buy for others, like a valet, a deep clean or a garden tidy-up.
- Email past clients to remind them their annual service, check or review is due.
Christmas
In December, customers want three quick answers. Are you open? Can I still order? Will it arrive in time? Answer those before they ask and you’ll save yourself a lot of messages.
If you sell products
- Google Business Profile. Add special hours for every day you’re closed or different, from Christmas Eve to 2 January. Post a festive update with your cut-off dates, and add some fresh photos.
- Your website. Put your last order date and holiday hours at the top of the homepage. Set your posting dates a day or two before the courier’s deadlines. Do a full test order on your phone, and update your contact page and auto-reply emails.
- Emails. Write and schedule three now. An early December gift guide or offer, a last-order reminder just before your cut-off, and a thank-you between Christmas and New Year.
- Social and ads. Batch your posts so you’re not writing captions at 11pm. If you run ads, turn them up in the week before your cut-off, when a deadline gets people moving.
- Signage. A window graphic, poster or counter card with your holiday hours and last order date works wonders. Keep the dates and offer the same as your website, so nobody gets mixed messages. Our signage team can help with that.
If you’re a trade or professional service
- Publish a last booking date for pre-Christmas work on your website and Google profile.
- Say clearly whether you’ll cover emergency call-outs over the holiday, and show the number to ring.
- Set an out-of-office reply with your reopening date and an alternative contact.
- Send clients a printed Christmas card with your holiday hours and phone number. It’ll sit on their mantelpiece until January.
New Year
Plan January before December starts. New Year’s Day is a Friday this time, so people get a long weekend to think, plan and book.
If you sell products
- Decide your January offer. It could be a fresh-start package, a loyalty reward for December customers, or a reason to spend those gift cards.
- Schedule a New Year email for 1 or 2 January, when inboxes are quiet.
- Update your Google Business Profile with your reopening date.
- If you take appointments, open your January and February calendar before you close.
- Prepare your social posts for the first week back, and book in any website updates for January.
If you’re a trade or professional service
- Set up a “book your spring project” page with a simple enquiry form, and get it live before you break up.
- Accountants and bookkeepers have an easy email to write, because the Self Assessment deadline is 31 January.
- Remind past clients that their annual services, reviews and renewals are due.
- Ask December’s happy customers for a Google review while the job is still fresh.
Your ten-job checklist
If you do nothing else, do these this week:
- Decide whether you’re running a Black Friday offer, and whether it’s a sale or a booking offer.
- Build and test your offer landing page.
- Write your Cyber weekend emails.
- Set special hours on Google from Christmas Eve to 2 January.
- Add your last order or last booking date to your homepage.
- Write and schedule your three December emails.
- Order your window graphics, posters or client Christmas cards, showing your hours and cut-off.
- Decide your January offer.
- Schedule your New Year email.
- Book your January website updates into the diary.
Get these done now and December becomes a month of looking after customers, not a month of scrambling.
Want a hand?
That list can look long when you’re busy running a business. We’re a real studio on Blake Street, and we can help with website updates, social media, ads and window signage.
Pop in by appointment, give us a call on 01904 501 524, or get in touch online. The sooner you book in, the easier it is to get everything ready before the rush.