‍Short answer: the reason most local businesses go quiet in December is not that they ran out of ideas. It is that December is the worst possible month to be deciding what to post. Write everything in October, schedule it, and spend December running your business.

Below is the full calendar with the copy drafted. Adjust the specifics to your business, swap in your own dates, and schedule it in one sitting.

The 2026 dates this calendar is built on

• Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 26
• Black Friday: Friday, November 27
• Small Business Saturday: Saturday, November 28
• Cyber Monday: Monday, November 30
• Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24
• Christmas Day: Friday, December 25
• New Year's Eve: Thursday, December 31

Christmas falling on a Friday compresses the final week, so the December 21 through 24 stretch carries more weight than usual. Also check the dates of any other holidays your customers observe and adjust, since a calendar built only around December 25 will miss part of your audience.

November: warm up, then thank, then push

Nov 2 to 6: The heads-up

Social post. A photo of your space or your product with the practical information people need. Caption: "Holiday season officially starts around here. A few things worth knowing: gift cards are available now, custom orders need to be in by [date], and our holiday hours are posted at [link]. More to come."

Why it works: it is useful, not salesy, and it plants your deadline early enough that people can act on it.

Nov 9 to 13: Gift cards, first push

Social post. Your gift card, bundled with something physical, shot in good light. Caption: "Stuck on the neighbor, the coworker, or the person who says they don't want anything? We've got you. Gift cards take about a minute at [link], and we'll wrap it in something that doesn't look like an IOU."

Email. Subject: "The easy answer for three people on your list" Body: Lead with the specific gift problem, one photo, one button. Keep it under 150 words.

The full argument for making gift cards a real priority is in how to sell more gift cards.

Nov 16 to 20: The gratitude email

Email. No offer. None. Subject: "Thank you. Really." Body: Two short paragraphs about a specific thing that happened this year and the people who made it possible. Name a customer or two if you have permission. Sign it with your actual name.

This will be your highest-open email of the year, and it is what buys you permission to sell in December. Do not put a promotion in it. The restraint is the point.

Social post. The team, in the space, being human.

Nov 23 to 25: Set expectations before the weekend

Social post. Plain text over a simple image, or a short video of you talking. Caption: "Our holiday hours, in one place: Thanksgiving [hours], Black Friday [hours], Small Business Saturday [hours]. And yes, we'll be here Saturday with [whatever you are doing]."

Nov 26, Thanksgiving: Post once, then stop

Caption: "Closed today. Grateful for a year of [specific thing]. See you Friday."

No offer, no link. Post it and put the phone down.

Nov 27, Black Friday: One offer, said once

Caption: "One deal, no doorbusters, no 6am line. [Your offer], today only. We'll have coffee going."

Do not try to out-shout national retail today. Say your thing once and save your energy for tomorrow.

Nov 28, Small Business Saturday: Your biggest day of posting

Post three or four times: morning open, midday with people in the shop, afternoon reminder, evening thank you. Morning caption: "We're open. It's Small Business Saturday, which is basically our Super Bowl. Come see us. [Address, hours, what's happening]."

The full plan for this day is in the Small Business Saturday playbook.

Nov 30, Cyber Monday: Gift cards, hard

Email. Subject: "Delivered in 60 seconds, no shipping required" Body: Gift cards are the one thing a local business can sell instantly online. Lead with that. One button.

December: sell, then remind, then close well

Dec 1 to 5: The main offer

Social post. Your best product or work, well photographed. Caption: "[Your holiday offer], running through [date]. Here's what people have been picking up most: [two or three specifics]."

Email. Subject: "What people are actually buying this year" Body: Three to five specific items or services with a sentence each. Specificity sells better than a general announcement.

Dec 7 to 11: The useful post

Social post. Answer a real question, no selling. Caption: "The question we get most this time of year: [question]. Honest answer: [answer]. Hope that helps whether you shop with us or not."

This is the post that gets saved and shared, and it keeps your feed from becoming a month-long commercial.

Dec 14 to 18: The deadline push

Social post, and post it more than once. Caption: "[Date] is the last day for [custom orders / delivery by Christmas / installations]. After that we're on gift cards. Setting a reminder for you: [date]."

Email. Subject: "Last day for [thing] is [date]" Body: Short. One deadline, one button. This is a service email as much as a sales email.

Dec 21 to 24: The last-minute window

This is where the money is and where almost everyone goes quiet.

Dec 22 email. Subject: "Still time (barely)" Body: Gift cards, delivered by email in a minute. One button. Nothing else.

Dec 23 social post. Caption: "Panic-shopping is a proud local tradition. Gift cards, one minute, sent straight to their inbox: [link]. We're open until [time] tomorrow."

Dec 24 morning email. Subject: "Open until [time] today" Body: Two sentences. Hours, gift card link, and a genuine happy holidays.

Dec 24 afternoon post. Caption: "Closing at [time]. Thank you for a great season. Gift cards are still live at [link] if you need one at 9pm, no judgment."

Dec 25: One post, no ask

Caption: "Merry Christmas from all of us. Closed today, back [date]."

Dec 26 to 30: The forgotten week

Almost nobody posts here, which is exactly why you should.

Social post. Caption: "We're open [hours] this week. Got a gift card? Come use it. It's quiet, which honestly makes it the best week to come in."

Email. Subject: "Open this week, and it's quiet in the best way"

Dec 31: Year in review

Email. Subject: "2026 at [Business], in nine photos" Body: Real photos, real numbers, real names. Warm, no selling.

Social post. The same photos as a carousel.

January: the follow-through

First week of January

Social post and email. Subject: "Got a gift card? Here's what's new." Body: Redemption reminder plus one thing that changed. January is slow for most local businesses and you are sitting on a list of people who already paid.

Also: pull your holiday special hours out of Google Business Profile so your normal hours display again.

How to actually get this done

Write it all in October. Block three hours. Draft everything above with your specifics filled in.

Shoot the photos in October too, while daylight lasts and before you are busy. The ten-shot approach works for seasonal content, just add your holiday products and decorated space.

Schedule what you can. Emails and social both. Leave two or three slots open for the real moments, which are always better than anything you planned.

Reply to everything within a day. Comments, DMs, and email replies. December generates more direct questions than any other month, and a fast human answer is often the whole sale.

If drafting is your bottleneck, use the prompt-and-edit AI workflow for first drafts, then rewrite them so they sound like you. Holiday copy that reads as generated is worse than no copy at all, because December is exactly when people are watching for warmth.

The ratio that keeps this from being annoying

Count the posts above. Roughly two thirds are useful, human, or grateful, and one third are direct asks. That ratio is why the asks land.

Businesses that spend all of December selling see their unsubscribes spike and their engagement collapse right when it matters. The gratitude email, the useful answer, the Thanksgiving post with no link: those are what make the December 22 gift card email work.

The rest of the year runs on the same principle, laid out in the 30-day local social media plan and the 12-month marketing calendar.

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Frequently asked questions

What should a small business post about during the holidays? Mix practical information such as hours, deadlines, and gift card availability with human content like team photos, gratitude posts, and answers to common customer questions. Aim for roughly two thirds useful or human content and one third direct offers.

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How often should I post during the holiday season? Four to five times a week on social, with extra posts on Small Business Saturday and in the final days before Christmas. Send four to six emails across November and December, including one gratitude email with no offer in it.

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When should I write my holiday content? October. December is the worst month to be deciding what to post, and content written under pressure reads that way. Draft and schedule everything in one October sitting.

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What is the best holiday email to send? The gratitude email in mid-November, with no offer attached, consistently gets the highest open rate for local businesses and earns the goodwill that makes December's sales emails work.

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Should I post on Christmas Day and Thanksgiving? Post once, briefly, with no offer and no link. A short note about being closed and being grateful is enough, and it performs better than silence or selling.

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What should I do the week after Christmas? Post and email about gift card redemption and your hours. Competition for attention is unusually low that week, customers have time off and gift cards to spend, and it sets up a stronger January.

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