There’s a lot going on during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Friends, family, and business obligations abound.

With everything happening, it’s often the case that things fall through the cracks or don’t get the attention they deserve.

Don’t let that happen to your marketing efforts.

Below, you’ll find a handy holiday marketing checklist to help guide you through the busiest retail season of the year.

Holiday Marketing Checklist 2022

Pre-holiday Checklist

Have the following items completed by mid to late October.

• Review and forecast your online store based on your historical data or the previous year’s performance.
  • If this is your first year in business, review industry trends and data from the year prior, so you have a sense of what to expect.
• Create the framework for your marketing plan.
• Decide on the holidays you want to focus on.
• Set your S.M.A.R.T. goals.
• Figure out what tactics you’ll use to support your overall strategy and goals.
• Optimize your online store for the holidays.
  • Fix broken links, optimize SEO, test your user experience, and add holiday elements where appropriate.
• Prepare and update your social media accounts.

As the Season Progresses…

• Keep tabs on your performance.
  • Actively monitoring your online performance helps you identify and resolve issues as they occur, instead of allowing them to become bigger problems.
• Communicate your “ship by” dates to your audience. And then remind them of it!
  • Create a sense of urgency, or FOMO (fear of missing out), so that your audience is incentivized to transact ASAP.

Post-Holiday Checklist

• Remove holiday content from your site in a timely manner.
• Review and analyze your metrics while they’re fresh.
  • If you haven’t kept great records, you might not remember what actions influenced your results come next year.
• Keep your customers and clients engaged!
  • You want them to do business with you all year long, not just the holidays. Stay in touch via email, and social media, and keep your site current.