15 December Marketing Ideas to Drive Revenue This Holiday Season

December is the North Star for D2C marketers aspiring to maximize sales during the holiday season. In the US, consumers spent an average of $1,778 on holidays in 2024, making it crucial to stir up new and updated December marketing ideas to capture the holiday demand. 

You get to invest the Q4’s leftover budget in attracting and engaging shoppers, driving them to make purchases or join the company’s loyalty program. However, the competition is massive. When every brand is competing for attention, you need your December marketing ideas to stand out. 

In this article, we’ll talk about unique December marketing ideas, helping you make the most of the holiday season. 

Why You Need Unique December Marketing Ideas

Holiday shoppers are emotionally engaged but overloaded. This is common when shoppers save their holiday purchases until the end of November or December. However, when they finally shop, they’re deal-hungry. Simply put, shoppers at this time have a high intent to purchase with high expectations. 

Holiday shopping is often budget-driven. Based on Deloitte’s analysis, around 80% of shoppers plan to make purchases during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday week, allocating a large share of their budgets. With limited time and dollars to drive, you need to be at the center of their focus. It makes it crucial for you to have a Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategy. 

You need to be highly targeted and creative in your approach, as shoppers are continuously getting bombarded by deals and discounts from all directions. If you’re engaging them early, it helps you stay top of mind. 

This way, there are high chances that shoppers come back to you when your sale is live rather than going to other brands for the same items.

15 Festive December Marketing Ideas to Turn Up Sales and Attract Customers

Below are some December marketing ideas to spur audience interest and motivate action when the competition is at its peak. 

1. Implement Holiday Countdown Campaigns

Use December marketing ideas where you run offers for a limited period of time or days. For example, if you’re targeting customers intending to shop for gifts a few days before Christmas, it makes sense to run a “5 Days of Deals” campaign or daily flash sales in the week before Christmas. It creates FOMO with urgency. 

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To execute this strategy effectively, you need to emphasize a short window to encourage quick action. For example, “The Sale Ends Tonight!” A customer engagement platform can help you automate such notifications at scale while making it personalized for shoppers. This allows you to pitch users about the sale at the perfect time, ensuring better engagement. 

2. Use Gift Guide + Shoppable Landing Pages

Curated gift guides are invaluable in the gift-giving season. Your December marketing ideas can create guides to help customers shop by recipient, budget, or type. For example, a “Gifts for Her” guide. Optimize the copy for search engines to drive traffic to these pages organically. 

Make these pages shoppable by adding a direct “Add to Cart” button or links to product pages. Goop does this perfectly well on its website, offering holiday gift guides for traveling enthusiasts.

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Such pages allow a shopper to convert their inspiration into purchases immediately. Moreover, the purchase path becomes shorter. Overall, there’s an increase in conversions from the page. To ensure high visibility, promote your guides via email and social media ahead of peak gifting season. 

3. Personalize Holiday Discounts

Rather than one-size-fits-all coupons, use behavioral data to customize discounts for shoppers. You can implement triggers for personalized offers in-app or via emails. For example, if someone adds a product to their wishlist, send out a message with a relevant holiday discount on the item. 

CleverTap’s event-based triggers make this easy. When a user hits your site or app, your system instantly responds with a holiday offer based on their actions so far. This level of personalization turns generic “20% off” blasts into compelling one-to-one deals.

Shoppers see that you’re on point with their actions and interests, making them more receptive when you reach out.

4. Create Giveaways to Increase Social Engagement

You can run a daily contest or freebie from December 13 to December 24. Plan out free gifts for every day, for example, on Day 1, people get chocolates as a gift with every purchase. On day 2, shoppers get a Santa Claus action figure. 

These gifts can be structured or given at random by introducing a gamified experience in the journey toward conversion. 

If you can make sure the gifts are relevant, it will create excitement among the shoppers to make their purchases with you. The gamified experience (like Spin The Wheel) will nudge their curiosity with people sharing what they won on social media. 

This can make the shopping experience trend on social, getting your campaign in front of more eyeballs than you originally expected.   

5. Strategize Abandoned Cart Recovery with Holiday Messaging

Cart abandonment creates a nightmare for D2C brand owners when it happens in volumes. You have invested dollars into bringing customers in through ads or other marketing channels, you need to ensure these cart abandonments respawn to cross the purchase line. 

But, how to make that happen?

This is where you need to automate messaging with personalized reminders in push and email with a festive flair. First off, if they’re happening at a scale, it’s good to dig deeper and understand the “why” behind it. There could be “n” number of reasons, for instance: 

• The buyer may not agree with the delivery fees or the delivery time.
• Some of your discount coupons don’t actually apply due to a technical inconsistency.
• Or, buyers are simply waiting for a more discounted price. 

Create the cart recovery messaging accordingly with holiday graphics and a friendly copy. See if you can add a small benefit in terms of free delivery over “$X,” or introduce a slightly larger discount than previously given while keeping your margins intact. 

This messaging will bring back the shopper to the app, encouraging them to purchase as soon as possible to make the most of the benefits.

Say no to cart abandonment. Learn from the best abandoned cart email examples and how to write click-worthy abandoned cart email subject lines.

6. Give Early Access for VIPs

Reward your loyal customers with early holiday deals or sale previews. This creates FOMO for others and makes VIPs feel special. For example, launch a “Black Friday Early Access” sale a day before the public announcement, or a “Members-only New Arrivals” preview in early December. 

Your VIP list could be loyalty members, subscribers, or high-frequency shoppers. These are the customers who spend more with the app. Giving them first dibs makes them feel valued, encouraging purchases even when they’re not actively planning to buy the products.

The FOMO that such campaigns create for the usual shoppers brings more customers into your loyalty program. Making it easier for you to woo them toward purchases sooner. 

7. Prepare Some Travel-Ready December Marketing Ideas

December is also known as the travel season to many. Focusing on travel can add diversity to the marketing you strategize for the month. If you’re a travel brand, it’s ideal to target travel-related campaigns while investing a significant part of your budget. However, if you’re not in travel and operate another line of business, you can still make use of such campaigns. 

You can plan your deals and discounts around travel perks and benefits. For example, buying an electronic device makes you a potential winner for “Free tickets to Disneyland, ” or maybe, “Hogwarts.”

Similarly, explore a partnership with a travel brand and set up bundles where you’re essentially cross-selling products with a value perceived to be higher than the standalone cost of each. CleverTap can fuel these efforts with its location-based geo targeting. It gets triggered near the airport or city-specific areas that travelers often visit.

8. UGC-Fueled Social Contests

Encourage customers to share their holiday photos or reviews for a chance to win. For example, ask shoppers to post a photo of their gift wrapped with your products and tag your brand (#YourBrandHoliday), then select daily winners. 

It creates authentic content that you can repost and build a community. Feature customer photos in a dedicated email or gallery, as it also gives social proof and encourages others to participate. Here’s an example of Starbucks’ #RedCupContest, a lot of UGC on Instagram. 

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Such campaigns can be paired with an incentive, for example, offering $10 as a discount on the next purchase for anyone who posts their photos with your product. This amplifies your brand’s credibility while ensuring you have repeat revenue from the same customer. 

9. Year-in-Review Campaign

Send a personalized year-end recap email or app message to each customer. Include metrics or highlights that relate to their activity: e.g., “You saved 15% on three orders this year,” “You’ve contributed 50 reviews,” or “You watched 20 comedy shows.” This recap should reflect your brand’s domain: for a travel app, “You traveled 5,000 miles with us”; for a fitness brand, “You completed 100 workouts.”

These nostalgic, personalized summaries feel special and can rekindle loyalty. Here’s an example of how Handy did its year-in-review campaign:

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CleverTap lets you automate this “Year in Review” experience seamlessly with their analytics. It maintains unified user profiles, making it easy to reflect on unique users’ experiences and interactions across the year. 

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

10. “Treat Yourself” Campaigns Post-Christmas

After the big gift-giving rush, many shoppers feel burned out. 

Turn this into an opportunity with self-care or “treat yourself” messaging around Dec 26–31. Push products that cater to personal indulgence, such as holiday-scented candles, spa kits, cozy loungewear, high-end chocolates, or New Year’s party supplies.

The copy can play on last-chance self-indulgence: e.g., “You’ve earned this!” or “Your gift to yourself.” This strategy is particularly effective for beauty, wellness, and D2C fashion. 

11. Gift Card Based December Marketing Ideas

Promote gift cards as a last-minute and practical gift option. According to the NRF, gift cards top the most-wanted gift list, based on opinions of 53% of consumers. Still, they are also one of the last-minute items to buy. Here’s an example gift card promotion from a spa services business:

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It’s best to incentivize purchases, for example, “Buy a $100 gift card, and get $10 extra,” or a bonus holiday credit to add more value. This encourages people to purchase the gift card now, rather than waiting for the last minute. 

12. Cross-Device Retargeting for Window Shoppers

Shoppers often research on one device and make a purchase on another. To capture these window shoppers, run retargeting campaigns across all channels. For example, if a user viewed products on your website but didn’t buy, retarget them with ads on social media or Google Display. Similarly, a customer who opens but doesn’t click your email may see a follow-up banner ad on their mobile device.

CleverTap facilitates this by coordinating messaging across touchpoints. Using Journey Orchestration, you can set up a campaign that, say, sends an email first, then follows up with an in-app message and an SMS reminder. 

Watch the complete video on designing customer journeys with CleverTap.

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.

13. Localized December Sales Promotion Ideas

Get hyper-local with offers tied to specific regions or stores. For retail or hybrid e-commerce brands, a “store-only” promotion lures foot traffic. For example, “Today only: 20% off in Midtown LA store, in-store pickup and delivery available.” 

You can promote local inventory through geofencing. Let’s say a user is near one of your shops, send a push message about a flash sale in that location. It can be managed easily with a customer engagement platform that specializes in location-based targeting. 

Explore location-based marketing in detail. 

14. Sustainable Holiday Messaging

Many consumers make purchasing choices based on sustainability. Highlight your eco-friendly initiatives this December. For example, advertise eco-friendly packaging, or offer a holiday donation match. Messages like “buy one, plant one” or tree-planting offsets are resonant.

Promoting products with a sustainable theme highlights responsible choice. Doing so builds trust with eco-conscious consumers. 

When you use it in communications, use hashtags like #SustainableHolidays or #GreenGifts to make it a broader moment. 

15. New Year’s Resolution Tie-In With December Marketing Ideas

Leverage the New Year’s resolution mindset before December ends. 

Many customers already plan their January goals by late December. Focus on products that align with common resolutions, such as fitness gear, workout clothes, health supplements, planners, and productivity tools, etc.

For example, you can run a “New Year Prep” campaign in late December. Informational content during this time helps too. You can send an email with tips, like “5 Ways to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution,” while linking to your related products.

Aligning with resolution themes makes your marketing timely. It reminds customers of upcoming goals and suggests your offerings as solutions. 

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

Tips for Making Your December Marketing Ideas Stand Out

Below are some useful tips for making your December campaigns unique and impactful. 

• Personalize Experiences. Customers crave brands that keep their interest at the highest regard. Concentrate on the data you have and use it strategically to contextualize the outreaches. 71% of customers expect personalized outreach from a brand. They want you to recognize their needs and interests rather than treating them as a generic face in the masses.
• Divide Audience by Behavior or Lifecycle: Recognize and categorize new vs. repeat customers, high spenders vs. occasional, to ensure your campaigns make sense for the target audience. Use these segmented outreaches to target different customer groups in your marketing messaging. 
• Test Subject Lines, Copy, and CTAs: Test variations on holiday phrases and calls-to-action. A/B testing the messaging helps to discover how different copy patterns engage different customer groups differently. Run these tests with small groups of customers early, iterate to optimize the copy and message as much as possible before going into the peak days.
• Leverage Multiple Channels: Modern buyers hop between devices and apps during their purchase journey. You need to create a seamless experience for shoppers across these channels so they feel constantly connected with the brand, without any bumps or friction. This requires you to build an omnichannel strategy and invest in technology that can ensure a cohesive sequence. 

How CleverTap Powers Your December Marketing Ideas

CleverTap gives you the technological support needed to hyperpersonalize marketing campaigns across different channels. Its behavioral segmentation lets you target a specific audience based on purchase history, engagement levels, or lifecycle stages. 

This way, you get to personalize messaging for specific customer behavior. The platform’s analytics reveal the segment that responds the best. Moreover, it allows you to automate real-time, cross-channel engagement based on users’ actions. For example, if a customer abandons a cart, it triggers a timed SMS reminder. Then, when the customers land  on the app, the platform nudges them with a “deal of the day coupon.” 

CleverTap has A/B testing and multivariate testing features that enable marketers to optimize their messaging for holiday creatives. It tests what resonates with the users the most, and then automatically rolls out the winner. 

When brands strategically make use of user signals, CleverTap’s data shows that the conversion impact rises exponentially, especially with high-level personalization. 

Explore CleverTap and leverage its customer engagement features to maximize your ROI this holiday season.