Should your marketing take a break over Christmas?

The lead up to Christmas is usually one of the busiest times of year. You're rushing to finish jobs and get everything sorted before you knock off.

Then everything stops. Jobs go on hold, your team goes on leave and you start looking at where you can cut costs. And often, marketing is one of the first things to go.

But should it be?

Over the last couple of years, we've noticed that the businesses that kept their marketing going over Christmas didn't see the drop in engagement we might have expected. People might not be working, but they're still online.

That doesn't mean you can't pull things back. Depending on your business and who you're trying to reach, that can make sense. But we wouldn't stop altogether.

Start planning your social media now

When it comes to social media, start planning ahead now rather than waiting until December gets away from you.

Ideally, by the time you knock off for Christmas, you want your social media planned and scheduled through to the end of January. That way, your content keeps going while you're away and, when you come back, you've got a couple of weeks to settle back into work before you need to start creating again.

We've put together a simple three-month content planner to help with that. Download the Google Sheet here, make a copy and use it to map out your November, December and January social media content.

But how often you post over Christmas really depends on who you're trying to reach.

If you're a builder marketing to homeowners, we'd probably keep your normal posting schedule. People have more time over Christmas to look at projects, research builders and finally start thinking properly about the renovation or new home they've been talking about all year.

If you're a trade business marketing mainly to builders, it's a little different. They're likely taking a break too, so you could pull things back a bit. If you normally post three times a week, maybe you drop to two.

And there's another reason we'd keep some content going. Last Christmas, we noticed fewer construction and trade businesses posting on social media. There was simply less content competing for attention.

Now, that might be completely different this year. But people don't stop scrolling just because they've stopped working. If anything, some of them have more time to do it.

So, what do you actually post?

Well, you don't need to pretend you're on site when you're not. And you definitely don't need to spend your Christmas break creating content.

Start with what you've already got. Maybe there's a finished project you haven't shared yet, some progress photos from earlier in the year or a bunch of footage sitting in your camera roll that you've never used.

You can also create a few things specifically for Christmas. If you want to do something with the team, film it before everyone heads off. The same goes for a Christmas message or anything you want to share around New Year's.

And because the lead-up to Christmas is usually so busy on site, use that to your advantage. Capture plenty while things are happening, even if you don't need the content straight away. You'll be glad you've got it when everything goes quiet.

And what about the rest of your marketing?

Social media is only one part of the picture, so have a look at what else you normally do to market your business.

If you send emails, think about whether there's anything you want to send before Christmas or while you're away. If there is, write it and schedule it beforehand.

Then have a look at your website. Does anything need to change while you're closed? Do you need to add your Christmas closure dates or let people know when you're coming back?

And don't forget your Google Business Profile. Update your holiday hours so anyone who finds you through Google knows whether you're open.

They're all small jobs, but they're also exactly the kind of things that get forgotten when you're trying to get everything else done before Christmas.

Make sure people know when you're coming back

On that note, don't just tell people you're closed. Tell them when you're coming back.

We see this all the time. A business will say it's closed over Christmas but won't actually say when it reopens. So if someone gets in touch, they've got no idea whether they'll hear back in a week or a month.

Set an out-of-office on your email and include your return date. And if you get enquiries through your website or social media, make sure you've thought about those too.

You don't need to be answering enquiries while you're away. People just need to know when they can expect to hear from you.

What about your ads?

This is one area where we wouldn't just leave everything running and hope for the best.

If you're running Google or Meta Ads to generate calls, quotes or enquiries, think about what happens when someone actually gets in touch. If nobody is there to respond, we'd probably pause those ads while you're closed.

But that doesn't mean every ad has to stop.

If you're using ads to keep your business in front of the right people or show more people what you do, there may still be a good reason to keep them running.

So have a look at what you're paying for, what you're asking people to do and whether it still makes sense while you're away.

Get it sorted before you knock off

At the end of the day, none of this means you need to work over Christmas. That's exactly what we're trying to avoid.

The idea is to get it sorted beforehand so you can actually take the break. Get your social media scheduled, make sure your closure information is up to date, sort out any emails you want to send and decide what you're doing with your ads.

And if you can get January's social media sorted at the same time, even better. It'll be one less thing waiting for you when you get back.

If you haven't started planning yet, download our free three-month content planner. It's a simple Google Sheet to help you map out your November, December and January social media content before Christmas rolls around.