15 Proven Diwali Marketing Campaign Ideas to Drive Sales This Festive Season

Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated with great enthusiasm in India. This is a time of gift-giving, and the market is flooded with Diwali marketing deals and discounts, with brands employing various marketing tactics to attract shoppers. There’s an increase in ad spend of around 12% to 15% during Diwali, suggesting that brands are investing higher budgets to capture the increased demand. 

If you are doing the same as others, it becomes challenging to stand out, unless you creatively appeal to your target audience’s mindset and emotions. This blog aims to spark that creativity while providing inspiration for great Diwali marketing campaign ideas. 

Why Diwali Marketing Campaigns Matter 

Diwali’s economic impact has continued to increase steadily, with 36.18% of Indian households increasing their festive spending in 2024. 

The demand goes up. If your marketing stays the same, you risk losing the rising traction. You need to strategize both online and in-store experiences for shoppers looking for festive deals and discounts. With 85% millennials and Gen Z preferring to shop online, it’s sensible to prioritize Diwali digital marketing. 

This is where timing and creativity matter. Diwali marketing begins weeks in advance and reaches its peak around the festival itself. Often, it continues for 5-10 days post Diwali as Bhai Dooj immediately follows the festival of lights after a day or two. Bhai Dooj is a festival where brothers and sisters exchange gifts. If you can capture the audience’s interest early and engage shoppers effectively, there is a chance they’ll make repeat purchases throughout Diwali and other festivals celebrated during this time. 

The tradition and cultural significance of these festivals encourage shoppers to make purchases. It provides an opportunity to connect with buyers on an emotional and cultural level, making Diwali Marketing more than a common sale. 

15 Diwali Marketing Campaign Ideas With Examples

Different brands deploy diverse approaches to capture the audience’s interest. Take a look at what these 15 brands do differently and how you can make use of them to run your Diwali marketing campaigns.  

1. Emotional Storytelling for Diwali Marketing

Connect with the buyer on an emotional level. The same drives them toward purchases.  

Diwali is intrinsically emotional, a time of family reunions, nostalgia, and “homecomings.” Campaigns that target these feelings tend to stand out. 

For instance, Amazon India has run Diwali ads centered on heartwarming family stories. In 2023, its 100-second film “#DeliverTheLove” showed a daughter rushing home to spend Diwali with her family, with the tagline that real “deliveries” are love and togetherness. 

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The ad avoided hard-sell language, instead evoking the warmth of reunion and giving. 

This type of storytelling cuts through ad fatigue and resonates with the shopper’s nostalgia. This way, buyers feel connected with the brand. 

CleverTap helps you drive such campaigns. The platform segments users by demographics or past behavior to send personalized messaging. For example, triggering an in-app notification on cues like a gifting page view. 

2. Gamified Diwali Marketing Festive Campaigns

Festivals are fun, and your marketing should convey the same sense of fun in the brand’s messaging. Creating a game-like experience in your campaigns helps prolong engagement. There are different ways to do it. For example, “spin-the-wheel” and scratch-off contests. 

This transforms a salesy ad’s repulsion into attraction toward experiencing the game. Flipkart does this beautifully in their Big Billion Day sale, which coincides with Diwali (or is intelligently positioned to do so?). It shows daily jackpots and spin-to-win games on its app. 

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The gamification creates excitement, encouraging users to amplify your gamified promotions on social.

3. Influencer Collaborations

Influencers and celebs amplify festive campaigns to broader audiences. An example is boAt, the Indian audio brand, which collaborated with Bollywood star Ranveer Singh for its premium Nirvana headphone line. 

In its 2024 “Lost in Nirvana” campaign, Ranveer appears in print and film ads completely absorbed in music, highlighting the product’s immersive experience. While not explicitly Diwali-themed, timing such a campaign around the festive season taps into the celebratory mood.

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Similarly, lifestyle brands often feature influencers unboxing Diwali gift hampers on Instagram or conducting “get ready for Diwali” makeup tutorials. 

For Diwali marketing, collaborate with a local or niche influencer to create a tutorial featuring Diwali sweets that showcases your brand in a strategically positioned spot. It increases your regional relevance. Later, you can identify high-engagement user segments who follow influencers and send them tailored offers or invites. 

4. Limited-Time Festive Offers and Countdown Timers

Countdown timers and flash deals intensify the sense of urgency during Diwali. Many fashion and retail sites run “Festive Fashion Days” or “Diwali Super Sale” for a limited window, showing a ticking clock on the offer. 

These limited-time deals play on FOMO. During festival shopping, consumers feel the pressure to buy deals as soon as they appear. A countdown creates a visual cue that time is running out, pushing fence-sitters to act. 

Here’s an example of how Myntra uses a limited-time window to engage shoppers with attractive deals: 

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5. Local Customs and Celebrities for Diwali Marketing

India’s diversity makes regional targeting a powerful strategy. Advertisements in local languages, featuring local customs or stars, can outperform generic national campaigns.

Culturally tailored messages feel more authentic. With CleverTap, you can leverage geolocation and language data to create user segments. Marketers can tag these segments by preferred language and send localized notifications. 

6. Diwali Gift Guides and Curated Bundles

Bundling products into “Diwali gift boxes” or thematic collections simplifies shopping and upsells. Many brands create curated gift guides, such as gifts for mom, gifts for kids, or limited edition festival packs. 

Beauty retailer Nykaa, for instance, launched a dedicated “Diwali Gifting Store” and content guides to inspire its customers. Their blog post breaks gifts into categories, for example, “For the Romantics” and “For the Creatives”.

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During Diwali, many customers shop for multiple people. Engaging these customers early with relevant content allows you to engage the high-intent users effectively. When customers go through such content pieces, it gets tracked on their user profiles on CleverTap. 

Later, you can use this signal to send personalized notifications, such as “Last-minute gift boxes under Rs. 2000 for him.” 

7. CSR-Led Campaigns with a Purpose

Customers value it when brands contribute positively to society. A CSR-themed Diwali campaign might involve supporting artisans, environmental causes, or education. More on-point, some retailers launch “Buy one, give one” Diwali drives or donate part of the proceeds. 

Diwali, with its spirit of generosity, is an ideal occasion for making a positive impact. To feature a CSR angle in storytelling, you can design the campaign around showing an artisan handcrafting Diwali diyas while committing to fair wages. Cadbury set a good example of CSR-led campaigns with its #NotJustACadbury Ad. The campaign encouraged shoppers to purchase from local small businesses. 

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8. Festive AR Filters or Virtual Try-Ons

Augmented reality adds an interactive element of fun. For fashion and beauty brands, AR try-ons let users “test” products for Diwali parties. For example, Sugar Cosmetics offers Instagram filters that allow users to virtually try on lipstick shades. 

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Adding such interactive elements attracts people to try it out or create a new festive look. It drives more shoppers toward purchases. This has an added benefit. Since users have a feel of how the product would look on them, they’re less likely to return it .

9. WhatsApp or SMS Micro-Campaigns

Brands often run mini Diwali marketing campaigns via SMS or WhatsApp Business. These might be daily deal alerts, short festive stories, or flash sale reminders sent as texts. 

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For example, a travel agency could send a 5-day “Diwali Deals Countdown” via WhatsApp, each day highlighting a new vacation package. Daily SMS offers for mobile recharges or e-commerce deals also trigger quick responses.

CleverTap lets you automate such outreaches across WhatsApp and SMS contextually. It uses behavior-driven drips to engage users according to their interactions with the brand. It makes outreaches more personalized, leading to a higher open rate. 

10. User-Generated Content and Contest Campaigns

Encouraging customers to create Diwali-themed content amplifies reach and engagement. Brands run contests like “Light Up Your Diwali,” asking users to share festive photos or reels using a hashtag.  You can give the winners gift cards or festival hampers.

UGC delivers social proof necessary for brands to showcase their credibility in the market. After the contest, you can nurture participants by moving them into a special segment and then sending a personalized thank-you message or exclusive discount to keep them engaged. Send a notification when winners are announced, turning contest excitement into broader brand talk.

Here’s how Tempt did it to increase user engagement while offering their selfie stick as a gift for contestants with the best Diwali selfie. 

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11. Diwali Marketing Email Campaigns That Spark Festive FOMO

Well-crafted email sequences drive urgency and inspiration. Campaigns can include Diwali gift reminders, such as “Still haven’t found the perfect gift for Mom?”, limited-time coupons, or interactive elements like riddles, GIFs of fireworks, or embedded videos. Such emails receive unusually high engagement, especially during the holidays.  

Here’s an example of how an Indian brand sparks festive FOMO during Diwali: 

When you’re doing this at scale, Clevertap’s email personalization and automation help. It allows marketers to create segmented flows tailored for Diwali. 

Learn how to build email campaigns for events throughout the year. Get inspired by 4th of July email marketing, Halloween email marketing, Black Friday email marketing, Thanksgiving email marketing, Cyber Monday email marketing, Christmas email marketing, and December email newsletter examples from top brands.

12. Travel Deals with Flexible Policies

Diwali often means family travel. Travel and hospitality brands capitalize on the Diwali season by offering “Diwali getaway” deals with flexible booking options. For example, Go Air has run Diwali sales on flights and hotels, highlighting super saver fares in their flash sale. 

Travel brands can segment by past behavior (e.g., frequent flyers or past leavers) and target them with “Diwali trip bundle” offers. For abandoned searches, customer engagement platforms can help you encourage customers to return to their books with targeted emails, such as “Your Diwali trip to Mumbai is almost booked – claim 10% off by midnight!”

13. Loyalty Diwali Marketing Campaigns & VIP Exclusives

The holidays are a great time to activate loyalty members and high-value segments. Tactics include early access to Diwali sales, special “VIP-only” deals, or limited-edition freebies for members. In practice, brands like Sephora India or Amazon Prime run member-only flash sales during Diwali or send member gift coupons.

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Loyal customers tend to make more purchases and are more receptive to promotional offers. During Diwali, rewarding them with VIP treatment with early access deepens loyalty and prevents churn after the holiday rush.

14. Eco-Friendly Diwali Marketing Campaigns

With rising environmental awareness, campaigns emphasizing sustainability are on the rise. It’s your opportunity to promote eco-friendly decorations, such as earthen diyas, or green Diwali pledges. Many shoppers are now eco-conscious. 

One survey finds that 83% of Indians consider environmental impact when making a purchase, especially in the fashion and electronics sectors. For example, a home decor D2C might launch a “Reuse. Relove. Rangoli” campaign with colors made from natural materials. There are different ideas that you can try out to inspire an eco-friendly Diwali.  

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15. Flash Sales and Retargeting Ads

Flash sales and aggressive retargeting help maintain momentum, especially as Diwali approaches. E-commerce sites often launch surprise lightning sales. Meanwhile, remarketing ads on Facebook or Instagram recapture users who have browsed but didn’t make a purchase. 

For example, if someone adds a mixer grinder to the cart and leaves, a dynamic FB ad might later show “Still need this mixer? 10% off – Diwali Sale Ends Soon!” across their social feed.

Retargeting brings back high-intent shoppers. Given that festive sales pages get massive traffic, even a small retargeting lift yields considerable incremental revenue. 

CleverTap lets you retarget shoppers sitting on the fence contextually, encouraging them to take the offers before they go away. 

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Learn how to build great ad campaigns this festive season with our new and updated guide on Christmas advertisement examples. Get more Christmas related marketing inspiration in our Christmas marketing campaigns, Christmas marketing ideas, and Christmas promotion ideas guides.

Tips to Make Your Diwali Marketing Campaigns Stand Out

The usual won’t do the deal, unless the unique resonates with the user. The campaign you strategize needs to focus on this uniqueness while delivering to shoppers what they’re seeking on the market. Here are a few tips to run such campaigns:

• Connect Culture and Campaigns: Diwali campaigns should feel festive but not outdated. Combine classic motifs like diyas, rangoli, and family gatherings with the campaign’s messaging. For instance, a Gen Z-targeted app might use a trending Diwali meme, whereas a family brand might show grandparents teaching kids how to decorate. Use localized language when possible. A/B test between different localized versions to test the ones that are performing better in a specific region. 
• Optimize for Omnichannel: Tailor campaigns for mobile devices with concise copy and engaging visuals. Plan omnichannel messaging while coordinating across email, SMS, app push, and in-app banners. Ensure that users are tracked across channels to maintain consistent messaging throughout. 
• Count on CleverTap for Contextual Campaigns: Automate push and in-app campaigns based on user actions and timings. Schedule messages to hit at moments of peak engagement, such as evening festivities and weekend shopping. CleverTap’s Journeys lets you set up multi-step flows. 
• Personalize Perfectly: Segment your audience by behavior, purchase history, and demographics. High-intent shoppers deserve targeted deals, while lapsed users get reactivation offers. Contextualize every message you send for the needs and wants of the user. Make use of CleverTap’s segmentation to execute it at scale. 
• Test Thoroughly: Even festivity-themed campaigns benefit from testing. Try different subject lines for emails or notification titles. Swap emojis on and off, or compare “Happy Diwali” against “Diwali Dhamaka”. Choose the ones to scale based on campaign analytics and performance metrics. 

Utilize these tips, combined with data-driven execution, to make Diwali the brightest sales season for your brand. Ensure you have the right technological support to scale Diwali campaigns. 

Supplement Diwali Marketing Campaigns with CleverTap’s Technology

CleverTap ensures your campaigns are strategically aligned to engage customers at scale based on their preferences. It enables you to connect with shoppers on the right channels at the right time. 

This engagement is designed to consider a customer’s preferences, allowing for truly personalized messaging. You get to deliver a dash of festive spirits in your campaigns and light up the Diwali sales period. 

Stand out this festive season with CleverTap. Learn event-specific marketing strategies with our freshly curated guides on 4th of July marketing, December marketing, New Year marketing, Halloween marketing, Thanksgiving promotions, Black Friday marketing, and Cyber Monday marketing.