How to Prep Your Holiday Social Media Now (So You’re Not Stressed in December)

I’m going to be brutally honest: If you’re planning on waiting until December to think about your holiday social media, you are signing yourself up for a festive panic attack. While everyone else is enjoying the lights and watching Christmas movies, you will be stressing to create a post that doesn’t look like it came from a middle-schooler. 

If you’re running a business, the holiday season is not the time to start letting loose. Social media competition is at an all time high and your audience has about five million brands fighting for their attention (and money). 

That’s why September is your time to get your life together. Here is exactly what to do right now to make sure your holiday social media strategy is smooth.

Planning Ahead Means Surviving the Season 

If you don’t start now, you are going to run out of time. Holiday campaigns aren’t just made up of purely aesthetic posts. They are made with visuals, blog posts, promos, contests, and actual engagement with your customers. 

The more you wait, the harder it gets. Think, do you really want to spend the week leading up to Christmas making a graphic about your gift card promotion while your competition is running a flawless “10 days of Christmas Giveaway”? Exactly. 

Let’s commit to making September your planning month. 

Audit Last Holiday Season 

Before you start working too hard, let’s look back in time. 

• What worked last year? Did your “Black Friday Flash Sale” crush it?

• Which platforms gave you the most engagement? Maybe Tiktok popped off, but Instagram felt like talking to a brick wall. 

• Which types of posts did best? (ex. Videos, memes, gift guides, customer testimonies)

This isn’t about creating something completely brand new, it’s about learning what works best for your brand and audience. Your future self will thank you for not wasting hours on an Instagram Reel that no one cares about. 

Create a Holiday Content Calendar 

If you are somehow still posting when “inspiration strikes”, how about we stop. During the holiday season, it definitely not going to cut it. You need a content calendar. 

Here is what you need to map out: 

• Key dates: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, New Year’s Eve

• Mix up your posts: Don’t only talk about your holiday deals. Balance promos with engaging community-centered content. 

• Campaign themes: Decide what you holiday plans are. Are you going all-in on a gift guide? Running a “12 Days” promo? 

And yes, you will actually have to write it down. Future you doesn’t need the stress of remembering a half-formed idea you thought of in the shower. 

Gather and Prep Your Festive Visuals 

Visuals sell during the holidays. 

• Photos & video: Get festive shots of your products today. Add cozy backgrounds, props, or fairy lights. 

• Brand update: Swap your cover photo, profile image, or bio graphics with a little holiday flair. Without ditching your brand aesthetic. 

• Reels/TikToks: Batch record festive videos. Think: “holiday staff picks”, “gift wrapping our products”, or “things we are looking for this holiday season”. 

Here’s the truth: posts with visuals perform better. Please don’t slap a wall of text on Instagram and call it done.

Schedule & Automate (You Deserve Holiday Relaxation)

The holiday season means chaos. People are traveling, online shopping is at its peak, and feeds are jam packed. The last thing you want to do is have to wake up at 5 AM on Black Friday to manually post. 

Use a tool like Later, Planoly, Notion, or whatever scheduling platform you prefer to batch schedule your content. Get those posts loaded so you can spend December engaging with customers instead of rushing to post. 

Tip: Schedule at least 2-3 weeks in advance. That way, when something goes wrong, you’ve got buffer room.

Plan for Engagement (Don’t Just Post & Leave)

Spoiler: The work doesn’t stop when you hit “schedule.”

Holiday campaigns mean more DMs, more comments, more questions. You need to be prepared. 

• Write templates for FAQs (“Yes, we ship internationally,” “Here’s our return/cancelation policy,”) 

• Prep responses for promo-related questions (“When does this discount end?”) 

• Actually be present, reply, comment, and share user-generated content. Nothing kills the holiday feeling like a brand that goes silent after posting. 

Businesses that continue to show up and interact will always stand out from brands who don’t connect with their audience. 

Final Thoughts

The holiday season can be your biggest sales driver, or your biggest stress. And the difference comes down to planning. 

September is your sweet spot. Audit what worked. Build your content calendar. Batch your visuals. Schedule posts. Prep for engagement. Then, when December comes around, you’ll be the business owner who’s stress free, watching Christmas movies, and sipping hot cocoa while scheduled posts up sales and engagement. 

Let’s be honest: you don’t need any more stress this year. You need a plan. So grab your coffee, open up that spreadsheet, and let’s make this holiday season your most organized and peaceful yet.