2022 Holiday Retail Marketing Checklist and Template

The holiday season is busy for all of us, but especially for those managing a retail business.

We get it — you want to make sure you take full advantage of holiday spending, which grows every year. In 2020 holiday spending reached $789 billion. In 2021 that number reached $886.7 billion. This year the National Retail Foundation (NRF) is forecasting retail sales to reach another record high at $4.86 trillion.

Whether you’re a seasoned online retailer, or this is your first holiday season selling online, we’ve got the holiday retail marketing advice you need.

We created our Holiday Retail Marketing Checklist to show you the online marketing steps that actually make a difference when it comes to taking advantage of holiday spending.

So click the button below to get our checklist to make the 2022 holiday season your most successful yet!

What you’ll learn from our Retail Holiday Marketing Checklist

Our holiday marketing checklist for retail guides you through your most important to-do’s in order to sell more this holiday season, including:

• Key dates to plan for, including Black Friday, Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and more.
• Creating holiday offers and getting the word out to shoppers
• Preparing to sell online and optimizing your online store and other channels for maximum sales
• Quick, effective actions you can take on your website, social media, email, and with paid advertising to ensure a successful holiday season

Download our free Holiday Retail Marketing Checklist

Click the image below to get your free copy of our holiday marketing checklist.

Planning for key retail holiday opportunities

Mark key dates on your calendar

• Thanksgiving – November 24, 2022
• Black Friday – November 25, 2022
• Small Business Saturday – November 26, 2022
• Artists Sunday – November 27, 2022
• Cyber Monday – November 28, 2022
• Hanukkah Begins – December 18, 2022
• Christmas – December 25, 2022
• Kwanzaa – December 26, 2022
• New Year’s Eve – December 31, 2022

Segment your email lists

Segment your list to send more targeted, relevant offers. Think about creating the following segments:

• Early-bird shoppers – send content and offers early in the season
• Deal seekers – focus on discounts and key shopping days (Black Friday & Cyber Monday)
• Last-minute shoppers – send last-chance offers and reminders
• Evergreen shoppers – engage throughout the season
• VIPs – create unique offers such as exclusive bundles

Create your holiday offers

• Determine your goal
• Who are you trying to reach?
• What do your best customers find valuable? 
• Create your offers

Get ready for online sales

• Add an online store
• Optimize your product descriptions
• Identify shipping and pick-up options — think about in-store or curbside pick up
• Connect your existing shopping cart or store to Constant Contact:
  • Shopify
  • WooCommerce
  • BigCommerce
  • Etsy
  • Ebay

Taking action on your holiday marketing plan

Update your website

• Decorate Your Website for the holidays
• Update your website with holiday hours
• Highlight holiday offers in your sign-up form to grow your list
• Create landing pages and/or a Shoppable Landing Page

Update listing & review sites

• Update your information on listing and review sites (holiday hours & your offers)
• Add holiday images
• Post a holiday greeting

Update & engage on social media

• Update profile information with your holiday hours
• Share helpful, valuable information to stay top of mind
• Encourage people to join your email list
• Schedule posts on social media to promote offers, use announcements, reminders, and last-chance reminders

Create & send your holiday offer via email

• Preschedule your holiday emails to save you time later
• Segment your email list to customize your offers to targeted audiences
• Use email automation to send a series of promotional offers — announce, remind, and give people a last chance to buy

Use paid advertising

• Use Facebook Lead Ads to grow your email list before the holiday season
• Use Facebook, Instagram, and/or Google Ads to drive traffic and sales

Preparing for ongoing success after the holiday season

• Review the results to understand what worked and what didn’t
• Further segment your email list based on purchase behavior
• Create an after-holiday offer to capitalize on gift cards/cash people receive

Don’t stop now. Get keep the momentum going into 2023 with these New Year Promotions to Start 2023 Off With a Bang!