The holiday season - from Black Friday and Cyber Monday through the end of December - is the most competitive and potentially the most profitable time of year. Winning it requires proactive planning, full-funnel readiness, and omnichannel cohesion across media, content, and commerce. This blog summarizes our 90-day roadmap to help brands convert high-intent shoppers, maximize momentum, and carry growth into the new year. Want the full guide? Download it here!
Why Start 90 Days Out?
Launch timing varies by category (e.g., beauty often begins in early October; fashion in early November; DIY can start even earlier), but the common thread is planning well before Black Friday. Use past competitive analysis and tools like Google Trends and platform insights to identify ideal launch windows and rising search interest. A brief lead-in before Black Friday/Cyber Monday is critical, since shoppers enter a buying mindset weeks ahead.
The Roadmap to Peak Season
90 Days Out: Strategy, Budgets, and Inventory
- Analyze macro trends, category demand, and shopper behavior shifts using marketplace and search data to identify breakout keywords and align promo timing.:contentReference
- Align business goals, choose deal products, set discount structures, and build a promo calendar informed by historical Q4 and tentpole learnings. Test any new initiatives in September.
- Plan inventory for peak demand and note Retail Media Network deal deadlines (often mid-to-late October) to maintain eligibility.
- Map audience strategy, budget models, and flighting across pre-event, event-day, and post-event phases; keep a slush fund for agile deployment.
- Draft storefront and landing page versions (pre-holiday, BFCM live, and post-event) and coordinate the social calendar; set up measurement (e.g., attribution and AMC) to capture off-platform performance.
60 Days Out: SEO, Content, and Creative
- Optimize website copy and Amazon PDPs for clarity, seasonal relevance, and high-impact keywords; leverage review insights and maintain clean variations.
- Refresh A+ content, Brand Story, Stores, and DTC navigation with gift guides and SEO-friendly links.:contentReference
- Develop paid and organic creative (video, image, carousel) for Sponsored Brands, DSP, paid social, and PMAX; prepare backup asset sets for potential stockouts; include influencer-style video.
- Kick off creator briefings, test hooks via early social posts, add PDP links to bio tools, and apply UTM tagging for ROI tracking; lock in podcast placements.
45–30 Days Out: Paid Media Activation & Top-of-Funnel Launch
- Finalize keyword strategy using learnings from last Q4 and recent tentpoles; build campaign shells with placeholder budgets to enable agile pivots.
- Launch awareness: video DSP and social teaser campaigns; coordinate influencer content (unboxings, countdowns, early-access gift guides).
- Build AMC audiences from past engagers and social clickers to power nuanced retargeting via DSP and Sponsored Display.
- Activate audio to seed recall ahead of BFCM.
14–21 Days Out: Final Prep, Publishing, and Scheduling
- Publish storefront versions and creative at least two weeks pre-launch; confirm compliance and approvals.
- Shift from “coming soon” to “live now” messaging; schedule day-of reminders and last-chance countdowns across paid search and organic social.
- Prep operating cadence: shared budget trackers and pacing dashboards; clear roles and checkpoints; escalation protocols for rapid budget, creative, or keyword changes.
Holiday Sale Days (BFCM & Beyond): Execute and Optimize in Real Time
- Flight budgets intelligently (front-load Day 1 mornings; reserve a surge for Day 2 evenings; extend spend if promos run longer).
- Monitor performance by the hour, capture competitor insights, and redirect slush funds to top performers and high-return conquesting.
- Track content and inventory issues (e.g., Buy Box losses, variation breaks, PDP suppressions) and shorten retargeting windows to 3–7 days to capture high intent.
Post-Holiday: Retarget, Learn, and Launch Into the Future
- Retarget shoppers who viewed but didn’t buy and those who engaged socially without converting; maintain visibility in January when CPCs dip and gift-card spending rises.
- Analyze wins across SKUs, creatives, channels, and audiences; repurpose top-performing content and apply insights to Q1 moments (New Year, Valentine’s Day, Spring).
- Use Q4 momentum to refine always-on strategy, strengthen DTC and Amazon storefronts, and build loyalty and cross-sell experiences.
Holiday Readiness Isn’t a Moment, It’s a Movement
Brands that succeed treat social, SEO, media, and content as an integrated machine: spark interest early, capture demand with high-impact PDPs, and sustain growth with targeted retargeting and CRM. Done right, the holiday season becomes a springboard for the year ahead.
Key Dates
- August 30 — 90 days from BFCM
- September 29 — 60 days from BFCM
- October 29 — 30 days from BFCM
- November 27 — Thanksgiving
- November 28 — Black Friday
- November 29 — Small Business Saturday
- December 1 — Cyber Monday
- December 14–22 — Hanukkah
- December 24 — Christmas Eve
- December 25 — Christmas Day
- December 26 — Boxing Day
Download the Full 90-Day Holiday Planning Guide
Get the complete 90-day playbook with timelines, templates, and pro tips to execute your best holiday season yet.