Holiday magic is in the air, and brands have a real chance to capture attention in a crowded marketplace. The 2025 holiday season presents a golden opportunity for brands to shine, but with fiercer competition, it’s essential to have a well-planned and executed advertising strategy. This guide will help you unwrap the secrets to a successful holiday advertising campaign, ensuring you’re not just a part of the holiday buzz but leading it.
Start Early: The Early Bird Gets the Sale
In the world of holiday advertising, timing is everything. While it might feel like summer just ended, savvy marketers know that holiday campaigns must start early—much earlier than you might think. More than half of consumers begin their holiday shopping in October or earlier, and nearly a quarter start as early as August. This trend highlights the importance of getting your holiday campaigns up and running well before the first frost.
Key Strategy: Launch your holiday advertising campaigns by late summer or early fall. Early engagement captures eager shoppers and establishes your brand’s presence in the competitive holiday landscape.
Holiday Advertising Checklist: Your Blueprint for Success
As you prepare for the holiday rush, a strategic plan is essential. Here’s a checklist to guide your holiday advertising efforts:
- Understand Consumer Sentiment: Tailor your advertising to match the mood of your audience. Are they seeking luxury, or are they budget-conscious? Craft your messages to resonate with their current mindset.
- Omnichannel Approach: Implement an integrated advertising strategy across online and offline channels, including programmatic, search, social media, and in-store promotions.
- Consistent Messaging: Ensure your holiday message is consistent across all platforms, reinforcing your brand identity and offers.
- Personalization: Use diverse audience segmentation to deliver personalized ads that speak directly to different consumer groups.
- Retargeting: Focus on high-value targets like cart abandoners and previous holiday shoppers. Retargeting these groups can significantly boost conversion rates.
- Performance Measurement: Equip yourself with tools that allow you to measure the effectiveness of your ads in real-time. Adjust your strategy based on what’s working and what’s not.
This checklist isn’t just a one-time guide, it’s a dynamic plan that should evolve as the holiday season unfolds.
Retail Media Networks: The Star of Your Holiday Strategy
Retail media networks are becoming the cornerstone of effective holiday advertising. Partners like Target (Roundel) or Walmart Connect offer unparalleled access to first-party data, allowing for precise targeting of holiday shoppers.
Why Retail Media Should Be Your Focus:
- Unmatched Data Accuracy: Retail media networks utilize deterministic data, sourced from loyalty programs and purchase histories, ensuring your ads reach the most relevant audience.
- Long-Term Value: The wealth of historical customer data available through retail media networks provides insights into life stages and lifestyle segments, allowing for more accurate targeting.
- Scalability: Retail media enables you to scale your holiday campaigns efficiently, reaching a vast audience while maintaining targeting precision.
Pro Tip: Leverage first-party data from retail partners to refine your targeting. This approach will help you reach high-intent shoppers more effectively and maximize your return on ad spend.
The Power of Connected TV: Where Holiday Dreams Are Made
CTV continues to surge in influence during the holiday shopping season. Recent 2025 research from Advertising Week reports that 59% of CTV viewers find TV ads helpful for inspiring holiday purchases, and nearly nine in ten want those ads to offer clear deals or promotions. This makes CTV a powerful addition to any modern holiday campaign.
Why CTV Should Be on Your Nice List:
Deep emotional impact: TV remains one of the strongest storytelling environments, helping brands build emotional connections that influence gift-buying decisions.
Cross-device reinforcement: CTV audiences frequently browse on other devices while watching. Coordinated cross-device targeting can extend your holiday message across screens and increase the chances of conversion.
Interactive elements: Features such as QR codes give viewers a direct way to move from watching to shopping, creating a seamless holiday buying journey.
Adding CTV to your holiday strategy can deliver memorable, high-impact brand moments that stay with consumers well beyond the holiday season.
Social Media: The Holiday Mall of the Digital Age
New 2025 research from Sprout Social shows that social media has become a primary hub for holiday shopping, with Gen Z and Millennials now relying on it more than any other source for gift inspiration. The survey reveals that 80% of shoppers expect to use social platforms at least as much as last year to find holiday gifts, 73% plan to contact a brand on social this season, and consumers increasingly trust authentic, user-generated content over influencer posts, which reinforces social media as an essential channel for product discovery, customer care, and purchase decisions during peak retail moments.
Maximizing Social Media for Holiday Advertising:
- Engagement and Discovery: Use visually compelling and holiday-themed content to capture attention and inspire gift ideas.
- Influencer Marketing: Partner with influencers to showcase your products in an authentic, relatable way that resonates with their followers.
- Shoppable Posts: Utilize features like Instagram Shopping to enable direct purchases, shortening the customer journey from discovery to conversion.
Pro Tip: Focus on creating high-quality, engaging content that blends seamlessly into the social media experience. Holiday-themed campaigns that align with current trends can help your ads stand out in a crowded space.
E-Commerce Advertising: Sleighing the Holiday Season
According to Shopify, in the US, ecommerce sales grew 5.3% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2025, accounting for 16.3% of total retail sales. Worldwide, e-commerce sales are expected to reach $6.419 trillion and represent 20.5% of total retail sales. Despite concerns about consumer spending, e-commerce will play a critical role in driving holiday sales.
Key E-Commerce Advertising Strategies:
- Mobile Optimization: Ensure your e-commerce site is mobile-friendly, as mobile shopping will account for a significant portion of holiday sales.
- Speedy Shipping: Promote fast and free shipping options in your ads to meet consumer expectations and reduce cart abandonment.
- Personalized Ad Experiences: Use data-driven insights to create personalized ad experiences that resonate with individual shoppers.
Capitalizing on these e-commerce trends can capture a larger share of the holiday market and turn seasonal shoppers into loyal customers.
Amazon DSP: Your North Pole for Holiday Advertising
Advertising via Choozle’s partnership with Amazon DSP offers holiday advertisers a wealth of opportunities. With access to Amazon-owned streaming inventory such as Prime Video, Fire TV and Twitch, brands can maintain an ‘always-on’ presence throughout the holiday season. In 2025 Amazon DSP has broadened its reach and consolidated first-party placements, making it a compelling channel for performance and brand campaigns alike.
Leveraging Amazon DSP for Holiday Success:
- Precision Targeting: Amazon’s proprietary data lets you target shoppers based on real-time behaviors, interests, and lifestyle segments.
- Exclusive Inventory: Gain access to premium ad placements on Amazon-owned properties, ensuring your brand is visible to millions of engaged holiday shoppers.
- Cross-Channel Consistency: Use Amazon DSP to integrate your advertising efforts across devices, creating a seamless experience for consumers as they move through the holiday shopping journey.
Incorporating Amazon DSP into your holiday advertising strategy will help you reach the right audience at the right time, driving conversions when it matters most.
Conclusion: Wrap Up Your Holiday Advertising with a Bow
The holiday season offers boundless opportunities for brands that are prepared to innovate and adapt. By starting your campaigns early, leveraging retail media networks, embracing CTV, and making the most of social media and e-commerce, you can create a holiday advertising strategy that stands out in a crowded marketplace.
Remember, the key to holiday advertising success lies in an omnichannel approach that keeps the consumer journey at the forefront. As the season progresses, stay agile, measure your results, and refine your strategy to ensure you are not just participating in the holiday season, you are leading it.
Here’s to a season of successful holiday advertising and record-breaking sales. If you’re ready to make your holiday campaigns shine, connect with our team and get started.
