Christmas is the busiest few weeks of the year for most of the brands we work with, and the most expensive time to advertise. Costs go up, inboxes fill up, and anything left to the last minute costs more and works less. The good news is that most of what makes a Christmas campaign work is done before December. This is the checklist we use for paid ads and email.
Key dates for 2026
- Black Friday: Friday 27 November
- Cyber Monday: Monday 30 November
- Last order dates for Christmas delivery: check Australia Post and your courier’s published cut-offs, and build your campaign around your own last day to order
- Christmas Day: Friday 25 December
- Boxing Day: Saturday 26 December
Paid ads checklist
1. Set the budget by week, not by month
More advertisers are bidding for the same people in November and December, so expect to pay more per click and per thousand impressions. Plan spend week by week so the money is there for the days that matter (Black Friday, your last order date, Boxing Day), rather than spread evenly across the month.
2. Build your audiences now
Prospecting is cheaper in October and early November. Use that time to bring new people to your site, then retarget them in December when they’re ready to buy. Upload your customer lists, refresh your lookalike audiences and check your retargeting windows are long enough to catch people who visited in November.
3. Get creative approved early
Ad review can be slower in peak season, and new ads need time to settle before they perform. Have your Christmas creative built, approved and live at least a week before your first key date. Prepare versions for each phase so you’re swapping ads in, not building them on the day.
4. Check your tracking before you spend
If tracking is broken, the platforms optimise towards the wrong thing and you can’t see what’s working. Test a purchase or enquiry end to end and confirm it shows up in Google Ads, Meta (Pixel and Conversions API) and GA4.
5. Don’t change too much at once
Big budget jumps or major edits during peak can send campaigns back into learning right when you need them stable. Make your changes before the rush, then increase budgets in steady steps.
6. Send ads to a page built for the offer
One offer, one landing page. The page should match the ad, load fast on a phone, show delivery cut-offs clearly and have one obvious next step. Sending Christmas traffic to your home page wastes the click.
7. Plan what happens after the last order date
Once delivery cut-offs pass, switch your ads to gift cards, click and collect or in-store, then to Boxing Day and January sales. Have those ads ready to go so there’s no gap.
Email checklist
1. Make sure your emails land
Gmail and Yahoo now expect bulk senders to authenticate their sending domain. Check SPF, DKIM and DMARC are set up, clean out bounced and long-inactive contacts, and warm up slowly if you haven’t emailed your list in a while.
2. Plan the send calendar and segment it
Map every send against your key dates. Not everyone needs every email: past buyers, VIPs, recent sign-ups and people who’ve never purchased all respond to different messages.
3. Make it easy
- Easy to buy: one clear call to action that goes straight to the product or offer.
- Easy to choose: gift guides by recipient or price point take the thinking out of it.
- Easy to see the deal: put the offer and the end date at the top.
- Easy to read: most people will open on a phone, so keep it short and mobile friendly.
4. Check your automations
Welcome, abandoned cart and post-purchase emails do a lot of work in December. Make sure they’re switched on, add seasonal messaging and delivery dates, and test every link.
5. Send a “last day to order” email
It’s usually one of the strongest sends of the season. Follow it with gift cards and click and collect for the late shoppers.
6. Stay on the right side of the Spam Act
Only email people who’ve given consent, identify who the email is from, and make unsubscribing easy. Busy season is no exception.
Three campaign ideas that work across ads and email
- 12 days of Christmas: a daily offer or tip, sent by email and backed by ads to the same audience. It gives people a reason to keep opening.
- Give back: tie a share of sales or a donation to a charity your customers care about, and report back on the result in January.
- Surprise and delight: a digital Christmas cracker on a landing page, sent by email or SMS, where every pull reveals a voucher or prize.
After Christmas
Review the results in January while they’re fresh: what each channel cost, what it returned and which dates mattered most. That’s the starting point for next year’s plan.
Want a hand with your Christmas campaign? Book a 30-minute growth call and we’ll look at where your budget will work hardest.
