The holiday season is just around the corner, and while you may be excited about festive gatherings, your e-commerce brand faces a critical challenge—preparing for the busiest shopping period of the year.

The pressure is on—this season can define your annual success, and without a solid plan, you risk losing valuable sales opportunities to competitors.

To help you navigate this crucial time, we’ve created the Holiday Promotion Checklist for e-commerce Brands.

This guide is designed to equip you with the steps you need to take, ensuring that you don’t just survive the holiday rush but thrive during it. Just download it and you’re good to go!
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What Is A Holiday Promotion Checklist?

This guide is your roadmap to executing successful holiday promotions. We’ve organized the process into six different phases, each with pointers to help you stay on track. Whether you’re an established brand or just starting out, this checklist provides a structured approach to help you achieve your holiday goals.

Here are the six phases covered in this checklist:

1. Strategic Planning
2. Preparation and Setup
3. Content Creation and Campaign Setup
4. Operational Readiness
5. Launch and Monitoring
6. Post-Promotion Analysis and Follow-Up

By following these phases, you’ll ensure that you are always moving forward with clarity and purpose. You’ll complete the holiday season feeling confident in your strategy and execution.

Why Have We Created This Holiday Promotion Checklist?

Every year people go wild during shopping season but this also gives you as an e-commerce brand to monetize on this opportunity. But we understand how overwhelming it can be, with numerous tasks to complete and strategies to implement.

This is why we’ve developed this checklist—to give you a direction and help you check things off your list before people slice that turkey. But as you go through this holiday promotion checklist please remember that this is completely customizable to meet your specific needs.

Whether you're launching new products, a sale or new holiday offers, this holiday promotion checklist can help you with initial direction.

How Can You Use This Holiday Promotion Checklist?

Using this checklist is easy-peasy!

Start by reviewing each of the six phases outlined in the guide. We recommend beginning the planning process 3-4 months before your main holiday promotions kick-off.

This timeline gives you enough time to thoroughly plan, create, and test every aspect of your campaigns.

Here’s how you can effectively use this holiday promotion checklist:

1. Strategic Planning (3-4 Months Before)‍

In this first phase, define your holiday campaign goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). Analyze performance data from last year to understand what strategies worked and what didn’t. Identifying your target audience and setting a budget for advertising will also be crucial.

Don’t forget to create a holiday marketing calendar and brainstorm unique promotion ideas that resonate with your audience!

2. Preparation and Setup (2-3 Months Before)

In this phase, prioritize website optimization. Ensure your site loads quickly, is fully mobile-responsive, and features updated product descriptions. With 56% of all online sales in 2023 coming from mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly site is critical. Without it, you risk losing over half of your potential holiday sales.

Set up tracking for promotional campaigns and test your checkout process. Effective inventory management is non-negotiable here—identify your top-selling products and prepare your stock levels accordingly.

To make tracking your marketing efforts easier, use vidyo.ai’s free UTM builder. It allows you to generate custom UTM parameters, helping you monitor campaign performance with ease.

3. Content Creation and Campaign Setup (1-2 Months Before)

Now things start to get fun here! By this time you should be thinking about what content you want to share with your audience across all channels. When we say all channels, that doesn’t mean you must have a presence across every social media channel.

Prioritize the social media channels as per the goals and audience’s preferences.Design holiday-themed landing pages, set up a series of pre-holiday emails, and plan your social media content. It’s also essential to ensure that your content looks its best.

Each platform has its own specific image and video dimensions, so make sure to optimize your visuals accordingly. Check out our Social Media Size Guide to easily navigate these requirements and ensure that your holiday content shines across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), and more.

Don’t forget to create your paid advertising campaigns and ensure that everything is scheduled for launch. So even you can have fun with your family and won’t have to be worried about last-minute collateral. You can also simplify your workflow with vidyo.ai's social media post scheduler, which allows you to automate and schedule posts across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X formerly Twitter, ensuring consistent and timely content delivery without the hassle.

4. Operational Preparation (2-4 Weeks Before)

As the holidays come closer and you can feel the wind getting colder, make sure your customer service team is well-trained on holiday policies. Update your FAQ pages with relevant information and coordinate with your shipping partners to prepare for high demand. If needed, extend your customer service hours to accommodate inquiries and support.

5. Launch and Monitoring (1 Week Before and During Promotion)

Before launching, double-check all scheduled content and campaigns. We don’t want any yikes moment the time content goes live. Monitor your website performance and actively engage with customers on social media. Answer their questions quickly and reply to their DMs as soon as possible so you don’t end up with abandoned carts.Keep a close eye on your competitors’ activities and adjust your strategies as needed.

6. Post-Promotion Analysis and Follow-Up (1-2 Weeks After)

Once the holiday season wraps up, analyze your campaign performance against your KPIs. Sending post-purchase surveys will help you gather valuable feedback. Effortless return and exchange processes ensure a positive customer experience. Use this time to conduct a team debrief and document the key pointers for next year’s holiday season.

By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to a successful holiday season. This holiday promotion checklist will help streamline your efforts, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

Get Your Holiday Promotion Checklist!

The holiday shopping season offers an incredible opportunity for e-commerce brands to shine. With our Holiday Promotion Checklist for E-Commerce Brands, you’ll be equipped to navigate this busy period with confidence. Don’t let the season catch you off guard; prepare your brand for success!

Are you ready to take the next step? Download your Holiday Promotion Checklist now and start planning for your most successful holiday season yet!Use this guide to ensure that every phase of your holiday promotions is well thought out and executed flawlessly. Get ready to maximize your sales and connect with your customers like never before! Happy holidays!