50 Holiday Content Ideas for Brands: Christmas & New Year Marketing Ideas

Holiday content calendars tend to fill up fast. By early December most brands have a gift guide, a discount announcement, a “Merry Christmas” graphic and a New Year post scheduled, and on paper the season looks covered.

But more posts don’t automatically add up to a stronger holiday campaign. A feed full of seasonal greetings can still leave customers unsure what to buy, when to order, or why they should choose you over the ten other brands wishing them happy holidays.

The holiday content ideas that work each do a specific job. Some help people discover you while they’re still planning. Some help them choose between options. Others remove last-minute doubts, bring past customers back, or set up demand for January.

Product brands and service businesses also need different things from the season: a skincare shop and a business coach can both use a gift guide, but they’ll build it in very different ways.

This guide collects 50 holiday content ideas and Christmas marketing ideas, organized by the job each one does. For every idea you’ll see who it suits, what it’s meant to achieve, which format fits it best and what you should ask people to do next.

The list doesn’t stop on December 25. It carries through the quiet week after Christmas and into New Year content, because that week is where many brands miss easy sales.

You don’t need all 50. The last part of the article shows how to pick the right handful and build them from a few source materials instead of inventing every post from scratch.

What makes a good holiday content idea?

A good holiday content idea connects five things: a seasonal moment, a specific audience, a business goal, a format that suits the channel, and a clear next step.

When one of those is missing, the post usually turns into decoration. It looks festive, it gets a few polite likes, and it doesn’t move anyone closer to buying, booking or remembering you in January.

The holiday gives you a context. It doesn’t give you an idea.

“It’s December, so we should post something Christmassy” is a reason to publish, but it isn’t a reason for anyone to pay attention.

Compare that with “our customers keep asking which gift set works for someone with sensitive skin, so we’ll make a comparison post and pin it.” The second version has a person, a problem, a format and an obvious call to action, and the season gives it urgency.

A generic greeting rarely creates much value on its own. The holiday posts people stop scrolling for usually give them a concrete reason to: a seasonal product, a deadline they need to know about, a useful idea, or a point of view that sounds like the brand and nobody else.

A greeting can still have a place in your calendar, but it works best when it carries something real, such as a genuine thank-you, a note about the year or a practical update.

Before adding any idea to your holiday content strategy, it helps to ask what job it does. Does it help someone discover you, choose, decide, feel reassured, come back, or start the new year with you?

Every idea in this article is tagged with one of those jobs, so you can build a season where each post has a reason to exist.

Key holiday marketing dates for 2026

For US audiences, these are the dates most brands plan around this season. Shipping and booking deadlines should be set backwards from them.

Don’t stop on December 25: what Q5 means

Q5 is the marketing term for the stretch between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when the gift rush is over but people are still shopping, spending gift cards and planning the year ahead. Pinterest reports that 55% of its weekly users keep buying online during December 26–31, and it describes that week as one of the most active periods of the year on the platform.

The mindset changes, though. Pinterest describes the shift as moving from gifting to self-purchase and from celebration to planning. So after the 25th, change the direction of your content and keep publishing. Several of the ideas below are built specifically for that week.

“Q5 isn’t the moment to pack away every last trace of Christmas.”

Pinterest Business, How to refresh your creative for Q5

All 50 holiday content ideas at a glance

Use this table to shortlist ideas before reading the details. “Both” means the idea works for product brands and service businesses, with different execution explained in each section.

Early holiday content ideas: build interest before the peak

The first wave of holiday content is about discovery and anticipation. People start saving gift ideas, recipes and outfits long before they buy, and Pinterest advises brands to go live between September and November rather than waiting for the December rush.

Early content also gives your later posts something to build on, because people who already know what you’re planning are easier to convert in December.

1. Holiday season preview

Give your audience a look at what’s coming: a seasonal collection, a gift set, holiday services, special workshops, or simply the themes you’ll be talking about in December. A preview gives people something to look forward to, so your campaign doesn’t just appear in their feed one morning.

For a product brand, that might be a carousel of three upcoming gift sets with the launch date. A photographer could preview winter mini-session locations and open a waitlist.

• Best for: product brands and service businesses
• Goal: awareness and early interest
• Format: carousel, short video, Pinterest static Pin
• CTA: “Join the list,” “Save this,” or “See what’s coming”
• Visual direction: a cohesive set of images that establishes your holiday palette, so every later post feels like part of the same campaign

2. Behind-the-scenes holiday preparation

People like seeing how things are made, especially when the season makes it feel special. Product brands can show packaging being designed, a holiday photo shoot, gift wrapping, or the moment new stock arrives.

Service businesses can show the planning behind their seasonal offers: mapping out a December workshop, preparing client gift boxes or setting up a winter studio. It builds trust because people can see the work and the people behind it.

• Best for: both
• Goal: trust and brand personality
• Format: Instagram Stories, short-form video, a short email section
• CTA: “Want to be first to see it? Join the list”
• Visual direction: natural, unpolished footage with one or two strong holiday details, like ribbon, paper, candles or seasonal greenery

3. “What we’re doing differently this holiday season”

This idea is especially useful for brands that have nothing new to launch. Explain a decision you made for this season and why: no Black Friday sale because you’d rather keep prices fair all year, plastic-free packaging, extended booking hours for clients who work late, or a smaller holiday menu so quality stays high.

It gives people a reason to remember you that has nothing to do with price, and it often sparks real conversation.

• Best for: both, especially brands that don’t run heavy promotions
• Goal: differentiation
• Format: feed post, LinkedIn post, email
• CTA: “Here’s what that means for your order / booking”
• Visual direction: a clean typographic graphic or a founder photo, with the holiday palette as a subtle accent

4. Holiday mood and visual direction

Share the aesthetic of your season: colors, textures, styling ideas, table settings, outfit combinations or interiors that match your brand. Mood content doesn’t sell directly, but it attracts people at the inspiration stage, which is exactly when they’re most open to new brands.

It performs particularly well on Pinterest, where people actively search for holiday aesthetics like “neutral Christmas decor” or “silver New Year’s Eve party.”

• Best for: both, especially beauty, fashion, home, food and creative services
• Goal: discovery
• Format: Pinterest Pins and boards, Instagram carousel
• CTA: “Save for inspiration”
• Visual direction: atmospheric, editorial images with room to breathe; avoid heavy text overlays here

5. Early planning checklist

A checklist published in November helps people get ahead of the season, and checklists are exactly the kind of content people save to come back to.

The topic depends on your expertise: a holiday hosting timeline for a home brand, a gift planning checklist for a gift shop, a December self-care plan for a wellness practitioner, or a year-end business checklist for a consultant or accountant. It also makes you the brand that helped them plan, which people remember when they’re ready to buy.

• Best for: both; a natural fit for service businesses
• Goal: saves, email signups
• Format: Pinterest Pin, carousel, downloadable PDF
• CTA: “Save this checklist” or “Download the printable version”
• Visual direction: a clear, readable layout on a seasonal background with plenty of copy space

6. Seasonal FAQ preview

Answer the questions you know are coming before they arrive in your inbox. Shipping cutoffs, holiday hours, whether gift cards can be sent digitally, booking deadlines, how long custom orders take, whether you’ll be open between Christmas and New Year.

If customers are already asking whether an order placed on December 18 will arrive before Christmas, turn that question into a clear post now rather than answering it a hundred times in DMs. Publish the same answers on a holiday FAQ page on your website and link to it from everything else.

• Best for: both
• Goal: reassurance and fewer support questions
• Format: website FAQ page, carousel, email
• CTA: “Read the full holiday FAQ”
• Visual direction: simple, branded graphics; clarity matters more than decoration

Holiday content that helps people choose

By late November, many of your followers already want to buy something. What they need now is help deciding. Most Christmas content ideas for brands begin and end with a single gift guide, but there are several ways to reduce decision fatigue, and each suits a different kind of buyer.

7. Gift guide by recipient

Gift guides work best when they describe the people your customers shop for. “For her” and “for him” are so broad that they don’t help anyone choose.

Try segments such as “for the minimalist,” “for someone who just moved into their first home,” “for the person who has everything,” “for the friend who’s always tired,” or “for a busy founder.” Service businesses can do this too: a stylist might publish “gifts for the friend who hates shopping,” with a styling session at the top of the list.

• Best for: product brands; service businesses with giftable offers
• Goal: consideration
• Format: blog article, Pinterest Pins (one per recipient), Instagram carousel
• CTA: “Shop the guide” or “See all gift ideas”
• Visual direction: one hero image per recipient type, styled to that person’s world rather than a generic product-on-white

8. Gift guide by budget

Price is one of the first filters people use, so make it easy. Group products into tiers such as under $25, under $50 and under $100, and add a “splurge” tier if you have one.

Budget guides are also practical for office gift exchanges and stocking stuffers, which gives you a second angle to promote the same content. Keep the tiers honest; a gift at $54.99 doesn’t belong under $50.

• Best for: product brands
• Goal: consideration
• Format: article, Pins with the price in the title, email
• CTA: “Shop gifts under $50”
• Visual direction: a consistent layout across tiers so the guide reads as a series

9. “Which one is right for you?”

Comparison content helps people who are stuck between two or three options. A candle brand might compare its three holiday scents by mood and room. A skincare brand might explain which gift set suits dry, oily or sensitive skin.

Service businesses benefit even more, because their options are harder to compare at a glance: “Strategy Session vs. Monthly Support,” or “Mini Session vs. Full Family Shoot.” A clear comparison often converts better than another promotional post because it answers the question that was holding someone back.

• Best for: both
• Goal: decision
• Format: carousel, comparison table on a landing page, short video
• CTA: “Find your match” or “Book the one that fits”
• Visual direction: side-by-side layouts with consistent backgrounds so the difference between options is obvious

10. Most-loved selection

If certain products sell well every December, say so. A “most-loved holiday gifts” collection uses real customer behavior as social proof and helps undecided shoppers. Only use this when it’s true. If a product isn’t a best seller, call it something else, such as “our team’s favorite” or “new this season.”

• Best for: product brands
• Goal: social proof
• Format: carousel, email, website collection
• CTA: “Shop the favorites”
• Visual direction: product photography with a subtle seasonal setting, plus a short review quote where you have one

11. Founder or staff picks

Personal recommendations add a human layer to your catalog. Ask your founder or team members to choose one product or service they’d give as a gift and explain why in a sentence or two.

A short video of someone holding their pick and talking about it often feels more trustworthy than a polished product shot. For solo service providers, “what I’d gift a client” or “what I’d recommend to a friend starting out” works the same way.

• Best for: both
• Goal: trust
• Format: short video, email feature, carousel
• CTA: “Shop [name]’s pick”
• Visual direction: real people, natural light, simple holiday props

12. Customer favorites

This is close to the most-loved selection, but the source is different: reviews, comments and customer photos instead of sales data. Pull together what customers have said about specific products or services, or reshare photos they’ve posted with permission. For service businesses, a short collection of client testimonials framed as “what clients said after their December session” works well.

• Best for: both
• Goal: social proof
• Format: carousel, Stories highlight, email
• CTA: “See why people love it”
• Visual direction: customer photos or quote cards on a consistent seasonal background

13. Last-minute gift ideas

Every year a large group of people shops in the final week. Show them options they can still get in time: digital products, gift cards, local pickup, express shipping items, bookable experiences or anything that can be delivered by email.

Be precise about what “in time” means. A post that says “order by Dec 20 for delivery before Christmas, or choose a digital gift card any time” is far more useful than “last-minute gifts are here!”

• Best for: both
• Goal: conversion
• Format: email, Instagram Stories, Pinterest Pin
• CTA: “Get it in time”
• Visual direction: high-contrast graphics with the deadline visible at a glance

Holiday content that drives sales without posting discounts every day

Discounts have their place, especially around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But if every December post is a percentage off, you train your audience to wait for the next sale and you lose margin you may need in January. These Christmas promotion ideas give people a reason to buy that’s built on value, timing or convenience instead of price alone.

14. Seasonal bundle

Bundle products that naturally belong together and explain why the combination makes sense: a complete evening skincare routine, a cozy reading night kit, a hosting set with candles and napkins.

Talk about why the set makes a good gift or solves a problem. “Save 15%” can be a footnote. Bundles also make gift shopping easier, since the buyer doesn’t have to assemble anything themselves.

• Best for: product brands
• Goal: higher order value
• Format: product page, carousel, email feature
• CTA: “Shop the set”
• Visual direction: a styled flat lay or a scene that shows the bundle in use, not three products floating on white

15. Limited seasonal edition

A holiday-only scent, flavor, colorway or packaging creates natural urgency without a discount. It also gives you a launch moment, which is worth several posts: the teaser, the reveal, the story behind it and the “almost gone” reminder. If you only made 300, say so. If stock isn’t limited, don’t pretend it is.

• Best for: product brands
• Goal: sales and excitement
• Format: launch post, email, short video
• CTA: “Get the holiday edition”
• Visual direction: a distinctive look that sets the edition apart from your regular range

16. Gift cards and gift certificates

Gift cards are one of the most underused offers in holiday marketing, especially for service businesses. A salon, therapist, coach, photographer or fitness studio can’t wrap a service, but a well-designed gift certificate solves that problem.

Promote gift cards throughout December, then push them hard in the final days when shipping is no longer an option. Make sure the post explains how delivery works, whether by email, printable PDF or physical card.

• Best for: both; essential for services
• Goal: sales, including last-minute sales
• Format: email, site banner, Instagram Stories
• CTA: “Send a gift card in minutes”
• Visual direction: a beautiful mockup of the actual card or certificate in a holiday setting

17. “Gift an experience”

This is the service-business version of a gift guide. Instead of listing objects, present your services as experiences someone would love to receive: a spa afternoon, a styling session, a family photo shoot, a cooking class, a coaching intensive, a wellness consultation.

Describe the experience from the recipient’s point of view: what they’ll feel, what they’ll walk away with, how booking works after the holidays.

• Best for: service businesses
• Goal: sales
• Format: landing page, carousel, Pinterest Pin
• CTA: “Gift this experience”
• Visual direction: lifestyle imagery that shows the experience, paired with the gift certificate

18. Holiday bonus instead of a discount

Add something rather than taking something off. That could be free gift wrapping, a bonus mini product, a handwritten card, an extra session, a free upgrade to a longer appointment or a bonus resource for clients who book before December 31. Bonuses protect your pricing and often feel more generous than a small percentage discount.

• Best for: both
• Goal: sales while protecting margin
• Format: email, feed post, checkout banner
• CTA: “Order by [date] to get the bonus”
• Visual direction: show the bonus clearly next to the main product or service

19. Deadline content

Deadlines are some of the most useful posts you’ll publish in December: the last day to order for Christmas delivery, the last day to book a session before the holidays, the cutoff for personalized items, the date digital gift cards stop being emailed before Christmas morning.

Publish deadlines more than once, because people miss posts. A countdown in Stories, a banner on your website and a short email two days before the cutoff all work together.

• Best for: both
• Goal: urgency and fewer disappointed customers
• Format: Stories, email, website banner
• CTA: “Order by Dec 18” (with your real date)
• Visual direction: one dominant date, high contrast, readable at phone size

20. “What you get” breakdown

Show exactly what’s inside. For a product, that’s an unboxing or a labeled flat lay of every item in a gift set. For a service, it’s a step-by-step look at the experience: what happens in the session, how long it takes, what the client receives afterward. People hesitate when they can’t picture what they’re buying, and this format removes that hesitation.

• Best for: both
• Goal: decision
• Format: carousel, short video, product or service page
• CTA: “Get yours” or “Book your session”
• Visual direction: clear, well-lit, no clutter; label each element

Educational holiday content

Educational content is where experts and service businesses have the clearest advantage. When most feeds are full of offers, a useful post stands out, gets saved and keeps working long after December.

It also attracts search traffic, because people type practical holiday questions into Google and Pinterest all season. Each idea below includes an example for a product brand and for an expert or service business.

21. Holiday how-to

Teach something people need to do this season, connected to what you sell or know. Keep the scope narrow enough that someone can follow the steps the same day.

• Product brand example: a home brand publishes “How to set a holiday table for eight in 30 minutes,” using its own linens and candles.
• Service business example: a professional organizer shares “How to store holiday decorations so next year takes half the time.”
• Goal: authority and search traffic
• Format: blog article, short video, Pinterest Pin
• CTA: “Read the full guide” or “Save for later”

22. Seasonal mistakes to avoid

Mistake-focused content works because it addresses a fear people already have. Make the mistakes specific and the fixes practical.

• Product brand example: a skincare brand covers “Five winter skincare mistakes that make dry skin worse.”
• Service business example: a marketing consultant writes “The year-end marketing mistakes that make January harder.”
• Goal: authority
• Format: carousel, LinkedIn post, article
• CTA: “Save this” or “Book a review call”

23. Use-it-now holiday checklist

Unlike the early planning checklist in idea 5, this one is meant to be used in the moment, during the busiest weeks. It turns your expertise into a short list someone can follow on a specific day.

• Product brand example: a food brand shares a “Christmas morning brunch checklist” with timings.
• Service business example: a therapist or coach shares “A 10-minute reset for stressful family gatherings.”
• Goal: saves and goodwill
• Format: Pinterest Pin, printable PDF, carousel
• CTA: “Save it for the day you need it”

24. Myth vs. reality

Every industry has seasonal myths. Correcting them shows confidence and expertise without sounding like a sales pitch. Keep the tone calm rather than smug.

• Product brand example: a candle brand addresses “Myth: soy candles can’t throw scent in a large room.”
• Service business example: a fitness coach tackles “Myth: there’s no point training in December.”
• Goal: authority
• Format: carousel, short video
• CTA: “Follow for more” or “Learn how we do it”

25. Expert recommendation for the season

Give a clear, opinionated recommendation tied to the time of year. Experts are paid for judgment, so show yours.

• Product brand example: a jewelry brand’s founder explains which pieces are worth buying as a first fine-jewelry gift and which are better skipped.
• Service business example: a financial educator explains what to review before the year ends, staying educational rather than giving individual advice.
• Goal: trust
• Format: short video, article, email
• CTA: “Ask us a question” or “Book a consultation”

26. Answer the question clients keep asking in December

Most service businesses hear the same question every December. “Should I start now or wait until January?” “Can I book a session as a gift?” “How do I keep going over the holidays?” Write the answer once, properly, and publish it everywhere.

It saves you time, and it reaches people who have the same question but haven’t asked it yet. Product brands can do the same with recurring customer questions about sizing, gifting or care.

• Product brand example: a fashion brand answers “What if the size is wrong?” with a clear holiday exchange policy.
• Service business example: a coach answers “Is December a bad time to start coaching?”
• Goal: leads and fewer repeated questions
• Format: article, Pinterest Pin, email, carousel
• CTA: “Book a call” or “Read the full answer”

Human and community holiday content

The holidays are one of the few times a year when audiences expect brands to sound a little more personal. Use that, but only when you have something to say. These ideas strengthen the relationship with people who already know you, which matters as much for repeat sales and referrals as any promotion.

27. Founder holiday note

A founder note works when it contains an observation from your own year. Share something you noticed this year: what customers taught you, a decision that turned out well, a hard moment and how the team got through it, or what you’re looking forward to.

Two or three honest paragraphs are better than a page of warm generalities. Send it by email, where it feels like a letter, and adapt a shorter version for LinkedIn or Instagram.

• Best for: both, especially founder-led brands and personal brands
• Goal: relationship
• Format: email, LinkedIn post
• CTA: “Hit reply and tell me about your year”
• Visual direction: a real photo of the founder or workspace, not a stock holiday scene

28. Team traditions

Show how your team marks the season: a gift exchange, a December lunch, the playlist that runs in the studio, the way you pack orders together in the last week. For solo businesses, your own small traditions count too. This content gives your brand a face, and it’s easy to produce from what’s already happening.

• Best for: both
• Goal: brand personality
• Format: Stories, short video
• CTA: “What’s your holiday tradition?”
• Visual direction: candid photos and short clips with minimal editing

29. Customer appreciation

Thank customers in a way that feels specific. Mention how many orders you packed, how many clients you worked with, or one thing customers did this year that surprised you. Pair it with something tangible if you can: a small thank-you code for existing customers, an early-access link or a free resource. Appreciation that comes with a real gesture is remembered.

• Best for: both
• Goal: retention
• Format: email to existing customers, feed post
• CTA: “Here’s a little something from us”
• Visual direction: warm, simple graphics or a photo of handwritten notes

30. Customer story or holiday use case

Show how a real customer used your product or service during the holidays. A customer who gifted your candle set to her entire team. A client who booked a session before a family reunion.

A small business that used your service to prepare for its busiest month. With permission, real stories are among the most persuasive content you can publish. If you don’t have one yet, describe a typical use case and make it clear that it’s an example.

• Best for: both
• Goal: proof
• Format: carousel, short article, email
• CTA: “See how it works for you”
• Visual direction: the customer’s own photos where possible

31. Community or giving initiative

If your business supports a cause during the season, share it with facts: who you’re supporting, how much you’re contributing, and how customers can participate.

Avoid performative charity, such as vague promises to “give back” with no details. If you donate a portion of sales, say what portion and to whom. If you volunteer as a team, show the work rather than just the photo opportunity.

• Best for: both
• Goal: values and community
• Format: feed post, email, website page
• CTA: “Here’s how to join in”
• Visual direction: documentary-style photos from the initiative itself

Holiday content designed for engagement

Engagement content is useful when it tells you something about your audience or helps them make a choice. It’s wasted when it’s just bait, like “Comment YES if you love Christmas!” Every question below should relate to your brand, your products or your audience’s real situation, and ideally the answers should inform something you do next.

32. This or that

Offer two options and ask people to choose. Keep both options inside your world: two gift sets, two wrapping styles, two holiday looks, two ways to spend a December weekend. It takes a second to answer, which makes it ideal for Stories, and the results tell you which products or styles to push harder.

• Best for: both
• Goal: engagement and quick audience insight
• Format: Instagram Stories poll, carousel
• CTA: “Vote in Stories”
• Visual direction: two images with matched lighting and framing so the choice feels fair

33. Poll that shapes a decision

Ask your audience to weigh in on a decision you’ll act on: which day you should hold a holiday workshop, whether you should extend opening hours, what topic your January webinar should cover. People engage more when they know their answer matters, and you get useful planning data. Close the loop afterward by sharing the result and what you decided.

• Best for: both, especially service businesses
• Goal: insight and involvement
• Format: Stories poll, LinkedIn poll
• CTA: “Help us decide”
• Visual direction: simple branded poll background

34. Vote for a favorite

This works well for product brands planning ahead. Let followers vote on the next limited edition, a returning seasonal scent or the packaging design for next year. It builds anticipation and gives you a ready-made launch audience, since people who voted will want to see the winner.

• Best for: product brands
• Goal: engagement and demand validation
• Format: carousel, Stories
• CTA: “Vote for the one we should bring back”
• Visual direction: consistent product shots numbered for easy voting

35. Holiday habits question

Ask an open question about how your audience handles the season, connected to your category. “When do you start your holiday shopping?” for a gift shop. “Do you keep training over the holidays or take a full break?” for a fitness coach.

“Do you take time off between Christmas and New Year?” for a business consultant. The comments become a source of real customer language you can reuse in future content.

• Best for: both
• Goal: insight and conversation
• Format: feed post, Stories question box
• CTA: “Tell us in the comments”
• Visual direction: a text-led graphic or a relevant lifestyle image

36. Saveable holiday list

Some content gets engagement in the form of saves rather than comments. A list of holiday movie-night snacks, a December reading list, ten low-stress hosting tips or a list of winter self-care rituals gives people something to come back to.

Saves tend to signal to platforms that a post is worth showing to more people, so this format can extend your reach.

• Best for: both
• Goal: saves and reach
• Format: carousel, Pinterest Pin
• CTA: “Save this for later”
• Visual direction: a clean list layout over a seasonal image, readable without zooming

Pinterest holiday content ideas

Pinterest deserves its own section because it behaves differently from other social platforms during the holidays. People don’t come to Pinterest to see what friends are doing.

They come to plan: gifts, menus, outfits, decor, parties and resolutions. That makes it a search and discovery engine as much as a social network, and holiday content there keeps getting found for weeks or even months after it’s published.

Pinterest reports that last holiday season, visual searches grew 2.3 times faster than text-based searches year over year. It also recommends planning holiday content early.

Use seasonal keywords in your Pin titles and descriptions too, so your Pins match the words people type into search. If Pinterest is part of your marketing, the ideas below are the ones most worth building for it. (We cover the full approach in our Pinterest growth strategy.)

Good holiday Pins share a few qualities. They’re visually clear at small sizes, useful enough to save, written with searchable words in the title, and connected to a relevant destination. A beautiful Christmas image that links to your homepage wastes the intent behind the click; the same image linking to a specific gift guide or article turns that intent into traffic.

37. Holiday inspiration Pin

Inspiration Pins capture people at the very top of the funnel, when they’re collecting ideas and haven’t chosen a brand yet.

Think “cozy neutral Christmas living room,” “minimal holiday table setting” or “winter glow makeup look,” styled with your products or around your expertise. Publish these early, ideally from September or October, so they have time to gain traction before December searches peak.

• Best for: both, especially home, beauty, fashion, food and lifestyle brands
• Goal: discovery
• Format: standard 2:3 Pin, idea board
• CTA: “Save for your holiday plans”
• Visual direction: editorial, atmospheric imagery with a short, searchable title overlay

38. Gift guide Pin

Create a separate Pin for each segment of your gift guide, such as “Gifts for new homeowners” or “Gifts under $50 for coworkers,” and link each one to the matching section or page. One gift guide article can support ten or more Pins this way, each targeting a different search.

• Best for: product brands; service businesses with giftable offers
• Goal: traffic
• Format: standard Pin, collage Pin
• CTA: “Shop the guide”
• Visual direction: a curated collage or a single styled scene with the guide title clearly visible

39. Seasonal checklist Pin

Checklists are a natural fit for Pinterest because people save them to use later. Turn the checklists from ideas 5 and 23 into Pins, keeping the most useful items visible on the Pin itself and the full version on your site.

A Pin titled “Holiday Hosting Checklist: 2 Weeks Out” is specific enough to be searched for and clear enough to be saved.

• Best for: both, especially service businesses
• Goal: saves and traffic
• Format: tall Pin, linked to an article or downloadable PDF
• CTA: “Get the full printable checklist”
• Visual direction: readable text on a calm seasonal background with copy space

40. Christmas background or visual resource Pin

People search Pinterest for Christmas backgrounds, holiday wallpapers, festive textures and New Year visuals they can use themselves.

If your brand creates visual assets, these Pins can attract a steady stream of people looking for exactly that, and they’re a natural route to a free resource or lead magnet. Even if visuals aren’t what you sell, a branded seasonal phone wallpaper can be a simple, memorable gift to your audience.

• Best for: both; essential for creative and design businesses
• Goal: discovery and email signups
• Format: standard Pin linking to a download page
• CTA: “Download the free pack”
• Visual direction: let the visuals speak; show several from the set in one Pin

41. Holiday idea Pin linked to an article

This is the Pin type that connects Pinterest to everything else. Take one idea from a longer article, design a Pin around it and link it to the full piece.

An article like this one can support Pins for “Christmas content ideas for small businesses,” “Holiday social media ideas,” “New Year content ideas” and more, each speaking to a different search. Because articles stay live, these Pins can keep sending traffic into January and come back to life next season.

• Best for: both
• Goal: traffic to owned content
• Format: standard Pin with a clear headline
• CTA: “Read the full list”
• Visual direction: a strong seasonal image with a bold, short headline

Christmas week content

In the final days before Christmas, post less and make every post easy to understand. Your audience is busy, distracted and often traveling, so content in this window should either solve a practical problem or say something worth hearing. Three ideas cover most of what a brand needs.

42. Practical final reminder

In the last days before Christmas, people want simple answers. Can I still order? Are you open on the 24th? Can I send a gift card tonight? When do you reopen?

Put all of it in one clear post, pin it to the top of your profile, add it to your website banner and send a short email. This kind of post rarely goes viral, but it prevents lost sales and frustrated customers.

• Best for: both
• Goal: reassurance and last-minute sales
• Format: pinned post, Stories, email, site banner
• CTA: “Send a digital gift card” or “See our holiday hours”
• Visual direction: clean and legible, with the key date or time as the largest element

43. Christmas message with an actual point of view

If you post on Christmas Day, make it sound like you. Instead of a stock “Merry Christmas from our team,” share a short reflection that only your brand could write. A bakery might talk about the 4 a.m. starts that made December possible.

A coach might share the one thing she hopes clients give themselves over the break. A sustainable fashion brand might say why it chose not to run a sale. Keep it short, warm and specific, and don’t attach a hard sell.

• Best for: both
• Goal: brand connection
• Format: feed post, short email
• CTA: none, or a gentle “Wishing you a restful break”
• Visual direction: a single beautiful image that matches your campaign, without heavy text

44. Thank-you content

Publish your thank-you between December 26 and 28, when inboxes are quieter and people are more relaxed. Show the relationship: the number of orders packed, a collage of customer photos, a few lines from client messages, or a short video from the team.

This is also a good moment to welcome people who discovered you during the season and explain what comes next.

• Best for: both
• Goal: retention
• Format: email, feed post
• CTA: “Here’s what’s coming in January”
• Visual direction: customer and community imagery rather than product shots

New Year content ideas

New Year content is not an afterthought to Christmas. It’s a separate moment with a different mood, and it starts earlier than most brands think. Once December 25 passes, people shift from buying for others to buying for themselves, from celebrating to planning, and from “what should I give” to “what do I want to change.”

Your New Year marketing ideas should follow that shift, both in message and in visuals: if your Christmas campaign was red and gold, a cooler, cleaner palette helps people notice that something new has started.

Pinterest’s own guidance for this period points the same way. Beauty content moves toward fresh-start routines, food moves from one last celebration toward healthier routines, and brands are encouraged to show how products fit the buyer’s own life rather than someone else’s wishlist.

45. Year in review

A year-in-review post works when it includes real substance: numbers, milestones, lessons or favorite moments. A product brand might share its best-selling launch, the number of orders shipped and the product customers asked about most.

A service business might share how many clients it worked with, a few anonymized results and the questions that came up most often. Only use numbers you can stand behind.

• Best for: both
• Goal: brand building and credibility
• Format: carousel, article, email
• CTA: “Here’s to next year” or “See what’s coming”
• Visual direction: a clean, slightly celebratory layout that marks the transition from Christmas to New Year

46. What we learned this year

This is especially strong for experts, consultants and agencies. Share three to five lessons from the year that your audience can apply to their own work. Be honest about what didn’t work as well as what did. Readers trust people who admit what went wrong, and reflective posts like this tend to travel well on LinkedIn.

• Best for: service businesses and personal brands
• Goal: authority
• Format: LinkedIn post, article, email
• CTA: “Which of these sounds familiar?” or “Let’s talk about your plans”
• Visual direction: a portrait or a simple typographic graphic

47. What’s changing next year

Tell your audience what’s new: product updates, a new service, a pricing change, new hours, a new direction for the business. Framing changes before they happen builds anticipation and reduces confusion later. If you’re raising prices in January, this is also the honest moment to say so and give people a chance to book at the current rate.

• Best for: both
• Goal: anticipation and pre-launch interest
• Format: email, feed post, short video
• CTA: “Join the waitlist” or “Book before [date]”
• Visual direction: a fresh visual style that hints at the new direction

48. Fresh-start content

Fresh-start content serves people who are planning changes. It suits wellness, fitness, education, organization, beauty, home and business services particularly well: a January reset routine, a home organization plan, a 30-day skill challenge, a new-year business planning template.

Brands related to money can join in too, as long as the content stays educational and doesn’t become individual financial advice. Publish these Pins and articles from late December, because people start searching before January 1.

• Best for: both
• Goal: discovery and new audience
• Format: Pinterest Pin, article, carousel
• CTA: “Save your reset plan” or “Start with us in January”
• Visual direction: bright, airy, minimal imagery that signals a clean slate

49. New Year offer

Keep your New Year offer separate from your Christmas promotion. A Christmas offer is usually about gifting; a New Year offer is about the buyer: a starter package, a January intensive, a refill subscription, a membership with a fresh-start bonus.

Give it its own name, its own landing page and its own visual identity so it doesn’t look like leftover holiday stock. This is also where gift-card holders often spend, so make it easy to redeem.

• Best for: both
• Goal: sales
• Format: email, landing page, Stories, Pinterest Pin
• CTA: “Start the year with [offer]”
• Visual direction: a clear visual break from the Christmas campaign

50. January bridge content

The last idea connects the holiday season to the rest of your marketing. Instead of going silent after New Year’s Day, publish content that leads people into your regular offer: “Start January with a 20-minute weekly planning habit,” “Your first-quarter skincare routine,” or “How to turn holiday clients into year-round clients.”

Bridge content keeps the audience you gained in December engaged, and it gives new subscribers a reason to stay.

• Best for: both
• Goal: retention and lead generation
• Format: email sequence, article, feed post
• CTA: “Join us for January” or “Get the next step”
• Visual direction: your regular brand look, with a light winter touch so the transition feels natural

How to choose the right holiday content ideas for your brand

No brand should use all 50 ideas. A small business with one person managing marketing can publish eight to twelve strong holiday pieces, and that’s enough if each one has a clear job. The five questions below will help you narrow the list to the ideas that fit your goals, your audience and the material you already have.

1. What is your business trying to achieve this season?

Start with one primary objective and, at most, one secondary one. Awareness, traffic, sales, engagement, retention and lead generation each point to different ideas. If you’re a new brand that mainly needs to be discovered, lean on inspiration Pins, mood content and saveable lists.

If you have a loyal audience and need December revenue, focus on bundles, gift cards, deadlines and customer appreciation. If your real goal is a strong January, prioritize educational content, lead magnets and bridge content.

2. What does your audience need at this point in the season?

Your audience’s needs change week by week. In November they want inspiration and early information. In early December they need help choosing. In the last week before Christmas they need urgency and reassurance.

After Christmas they want relationship and a fresh start. Matching the content to the moment matters as much as the idea itself: a gift guide published on December 23 is too late for most physical products, and a year-in-review published on December 5 feels premature.

3. What source material do you already have?

Look at what exists before planning anything new: product photos, customer reviews, recurring FAQs, voice notes, client questions, old articles, video clips, user-generated content and last year’s holiday posts.

Ideas that use existing material are faster to produce and usually more authentic. A brand with 200 reviews has a customer-favorites post waiting to be made. A consultant with the same three questions in every December discovery call has idea 26 already written in her head.

4. Which channel fits the idea?

Each idea has a natural home. Search and Pinterest reward useful, evergreen content such as how-tos, checklists and gift guides. Email is best for founder notes, deadlines and offers for existing customers. Instagram suits behind-the-scenes, polls and visual previews.

LinkedIn works for lessons, year-in-review and expert recommendations. Your website should hold anything people need to find again, such as the holiday FAQ and gift card page. You don’t need every channel; you need the right two or three.

5. What should happen next?

Decide the call to action before you create the content. Save, click, read, subscribe, book or buy are all valid, but each post should ask for one of them. A Pinterest inspiration Pin should earn a save or a click.

A deadline email should lead to a purchase. A founder note might simply invite a reply. When the next step is clear, it’s much easier to measure which ideas worked.

This is the same thinking behind a content system as opposed to a content calendar: instead of filling dates, you decide what each piece of content is for and how it connects to the next one.

Product brands vs. service businesses

Most lists of Christmas marketing ideas for small business are written with retail in mind. Service businesses can use nearly all of the same ideas, but the execution changes because there’s no physical product to photograph, ship or bundle. This table shows how the main holiday content types translate.

If you run a product brand, your holiday content usually needs more visual variety and more decision support, because shoppers compare many similar items. If you’re one of the experts and service businesses we work with, your advantage is knowledge and trust.

Your holiday content should make your services feel tangible and giftable, and it should answer the questions people have about timing, since many clients assume December is the wrong month to start.

How to create more holiday content without inventing 50 separate ideas

The biggest mistake in holiday content planning is treating every post as a separate creative project. That’s how a small team ends up exhausted by December 10. A better approach is to start with a few strong source materials and adapt each one into several formats for different channels.

This is the core of a repeatable content production system: you create less from scratch and get more out of everything you do create.

Example 1: a product brand

Imagine a small skincare brand with three source materials: one holiday product photo shoot, a collection of customer reviews and a list of questions customers asked last December. From those three sources, the brand can build:

• a gift guide by skin type (ideas 7 and 9), using the photos and the most common questions;
• a set of gift guide Pins, one per skin type, each linking to the matching section (idea 38);
• a customer-favorites carousel built from reviews (idea 12);
• a holiday FAQ page and post answering shipping and exchange questions (ideas 6 and 26);
• an email featuring the bestselling gift set with a review quote (idea 10);
• a “what’s inside” carousel using detail shots from the shoot (idea 20);
• a last-order reminder in Stories and on the website banner (idea 19).

That’s seven or more pieces of holiday content from one shoot, one review export and one list of questions.

Example 2: an expert or service business

Now imagine a business coach whose clients ask the same thing every December: “Should I wait until January to start?” That one question can become:

• a full article answering it properly, which can rank in search for months (idea 26);
• a Pinterest Pin linking to the article (idea 41);
• a LinkedIn or Instagram carousel summarizing the main argument (idea 24);
• an email to the list with a personal take and a story from a past client;
• a short video of the coach answering the question in her own words;
• a consultation CTA with a January start date and a December booking bonus (idea 18).

In both cases, the brand didn’t need 50 separate ideas. You need a handful of source materials, a clear idea of what each channel needs, and a plan for adapting one into many.

Plan the season as one connected campaign

The brands that get the most out of the holidays rarely publish the most.

They choose a clear objective, understand what their audience needs at each point in the season, and build content that moves people from inspiration to decision to the new year.

If you’re planning now, keep it simple. Pick one business objective for the season. Choose the audience needs that matter most between now and January. List the source materials you already have.

Select two or three channels where your audience spends time, and decide what you want people to do after each piece. Then pick the ideas from this list that fit those answers and build them as one connected campaign, with Christmas content that hands over naturally to Q5 and New Year content.

If you’d like help designing that kind of system for your brand, take a look at how GoBrand builds scalable content production and Pinterest marketing for product brands and service businesses.

Sources

• Pinterest Business, Q5 on Pinterest: Your bonus marketing moment
• Pinterest Business, How to refresh your creative for Q5
• Pinterest Business, Holiday 2026 starts now: A Pinterest guide to success
• Pinterest Business, Be where holiday decisions happen