With 85% of Brits starting their Christmas shopping as early as October - and consumer spend rising up to 29% higher in December than a typical month - the festive season arrives sooner than many expect. For small businesses, this creates a golden opportunity to boost visibility, engage customers, and drive sales. Here’s how to make your business shine this Christmas with creative, effective advertising strategies.
Why Christmas campaigns matter for small businesses
Research shows that 48% of UK adults say Christmas ads inspire gift ideas, while 70% of young adults say festive campaigns help create the holiday mood. Beyond driving sales, Christmas campaigns allow small businesses to strengthen their local brand presence and foster customer loyalty.
A well-crafted Christmas campaign can:
Boost brand visibility: Stand out in a crowded market and stay top-of-mind with shoppers.
Drive urgency and sales: Limited-time offers and festive deals encourage prompt purchasing.
Create emotional connections: Holiday messaging taps into the festive spirit, helping customers form positive associations with your brand.
Make the most of the festive rush
The Christmas season sees a notable rise in people visiting shopping centres and hospitality venues, as people shop earlier and spend significantly more. According to ONS and Revolut, retail in-store spending peaks on December 23rd, highlighting the intensity of the holiday rush.
Shoppers are actively seeking gifts, festive experiences, and food, making them more receptive to marketing messages. This surge in footfall makes out-of-home (OOH) advertising especially effective, enabling small businesses to reach larger, engaged audiences in busy areas. Strategically placed OOH campaigns can boost both visibility and sales, helping businesses make the most of the festive season.
Choosing traditional vs. digital Christmas advertising
A successful Christmas campaign combines both traditional and digital channels to maximise reach and impact.
Traditional advertising
Billboards and bus shelters
With nearly two-thirds of Christmas purchases made in-store, billboard campaigns target shoppers actively looking for gift ideas. Studies show OOH advertising provides a 47% uplift in sales activation compared to non-OOH users.
In-store displays
Connect with consumers at the point of purchase. Use in-store displays to promote limited-time deals, highlight seasonal products, or focus on brand awareness. Consider advertising in pubs and bars as well to increase visibility in leisure and hospitality venues.
Flyers and local newspapers
Ideal for small, local businesses, these methods allow you to target a specific community, promote seasonal deals, special events, or new products directly to nearby audiences.
Digital advertising
Social media campaigns
People often browse social media for gift inspiration and festive ideas. Holiday-themed giveaways, promotions, and interactive content can drive engagement and grow your following.
Email marketing
Share in-depth festive content such as gift guides, recipes, or exclusive discounts. Email campaigns are effective for nurturing relationships and encouraging repeat visits.
Website pop-ups
Promote exclusive discounts, holiday specials, or limited-time offers through pop-ups to drive traffic to your website or physical store.
Creative Christmas marketing ideas for 2025
1. Festive billboard campaigns in local areas
In the UK, 83% of people recall seeing an out-of-home ad within the last 30 minutes before shopping. With everyone out and about during the holidays, out-of-home advertising provides significant brand exposure to drive your small business sales.
Why it works:
Effectively reaches people: By strategically placing your billboard using geo-targeting and programmatic ad buy-ins in less saturated local areas, you can effectively target your ideal customers.
Pinpoint exact locations: Out-of-home media owners with advertising locations across the UK can provide exclusive billboard locations in areas where your target audience regularly passes by.
Drives in-store traffic or further action: With digital displays featuring dynamic content, you can create a Christmas campaign that captivates and entices people to visit your store or website.
A local grocery store could use a digital billboard to showcase a ‘12-days of Christmas’ campaign. The dynamic content could adjust to show a new deal every day during the countdown to Christmas.
2. Christmas-themed discounts or loyalty offers
Limited Christmas discounts and festive specials can encourage higher foot traffic and online conversions, as customers look for deals during the holiday season.
Why it works:
Enhance customer loyalty: Rewards foster long-term relationships with customers and motivate them to return.
Create a sense of urgency: Limited holiday offers prompt customers to act quickly to avoid missing out on savings.
Attract new customers; Well-timed discounts can bring in new customers who may become regulars.
A local retailer could use a local billboard by their store to promote earning loyalty points with every purchase. This will help target shoppers in the area, making them more likely to buy multiple gifts from their store.
3. Run a holiday competition
Competitions are a great way to encourage consumers to interact with your brand through things like digital billboards, social media or online submissions.
Why it works:
Drive traffic: A desirable prize incentivises people to participate, bringing more traffic to your website or store.
Understand the data: Competitors provide an opportunity to gather valuable information which can be used for future campaigns.
Enhance brand loyalty; Festive-themed prizes create positive associations with brands, deepening customer loyalty and encouraging repeat business.
A store could use programmatic billboard ad buys and dynamic content to showcase great stocking-stuffers for different family members - and give shoppers the chance to win each gift with every in-store purchase.
4. Supporting a local charity
As Christmas is a time for giving, there’s no better time to support a charity. Supporting a local non-profit will help boost brand awareness and connect with your community.
Why it works:
Community engagement: Helps your business give back to the community, fostering goodwill and showcasing your commitment to local causes.
Customer trust: Demonstrates social responsibility and can help build trust and encourage repeat business.
Collaborative opportunities: Both your business and the charity can promote each other to new audiences.
A restaurant could donate food to local shelters when specific menu items are ordered during the holiday season. To amplify this initiative, the restaurant could utilise a nearby billboard location or their social media to promote the campaign to neighbourhood customers and encourage others to get involved.
How to make your Christmas advertising stand out
As Christmas is a busy time for advertisers vying for consumer attention, it’s crucial to make your Christmas campaign stand out from your competitor ads. Luckily, there are a few ways in which you can do this:
Use holiday imagery and colours: By using Christmas colours and imagery throughout your campaign, consumers will make an instant festive connection.
Personalise your messaging: By speaking directly to your local community, you’ll help emphasise the personal touch that consumers can relate to.
Incorporate seasonal trends: Last year saw a heavy focus on playful humour. Try to hone in on seasonal trends that might make your ad more relevant to consumers.
Plan early to maximise your reach this Christmas
Small business advertising can make a big difference, with the right campaign idea, channels and festive creative, you’ll boost brand exposure and increase sales to end 2025.
At Alight, we boost small business visibility and brand awareness through our UK network of out-of-home locations, including billboards, bus shelters and retail screens across the country.
Get in touch with our team today.
