Holiday Marketing for Small Business: An El Paso Five-Week Plan
Holiday marketing for small business does not need a giant budget or a post every day. It needs a plan that fits a small team. Most owners start on Black Friday and spend December catching up. So the hours on Google are wrong, nobody can buy a gift card online, and the holiday video never gets filmed. This guide turns the season into five weeks. Each week has one job. You fix one thing, finish it, and move on.
How Holiday Marketing for Small Business Works in Five Weeks
Why Holiday Marketing for Small Business Needs Five Weeks, Not Five Posts
A post is a single moment. By contrast, a plan is a season. Owners tell us the same story every January: they posted a few times, ran one sale, and still felt behind the whole month. So the problem was never effort. In fact, many of them say December was their hardest-working month. The problem was order. Basically, they did the urgent thing before the important thing.
So this plan puts the work in the order customers meet it. First, a shopper checks whether you are open. Then they look for a way to buy. Next, they see you on their phone. After that, they walk in, or they don't. Each week below matches one of those moments. As a result, nothing you build in week one gets wasted by week four.
The plan also respects the local calendar. El Paso has a busy stretch of its own, because WinterFest starts before Thanksgiving. That means the season opens a week early here. The outcome is simple: you start the busiest month already ready, not scrambling.
The 2026 Holiday Calendar at a Glance
These are the dates the plan is built around. Put them on the wall before you do anything else.
| Trait | What it means | Where it comes from | What you notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| WinterFest opens, Nov 21 | Downtown crowds start a week early | City of El Paso | Foot traffic before Thanksgiving |
| Thanksgiving, Nov 26 | Many shops close or cut hours | National holiday calendar | Customers check your hours first |
| Black Friday, Nov 27 | The big retail shopping day | National retail calendar | Search traffic for deals and gifts |
| Small Business Saturday, Nov 28 | A day for shopping local | National retail calendar | Shoppers looking for owner-run stores |
| Cyber Monday, Nov 30 | The online shopping day | National retail calendar | Gift card and online order demand |
| WinterFest ends, Jan 3 | The season closes downtown | City of El Paso | A last push, then a quiet week |
Week 1: Fix What Customers Check First
Before anyone buys, they check if you are open. So week one is about your Google Business Profile hours, your website hours, and the path from a search to a call. Set special hours for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day now, in one sitting. Google's Business Profile help center walks through special hours step by step.
Next, check that your website says the same thing. Then call your own number from a phone you don't use for work. Also fill out your own contact form and see if the message arrives. These checks take an hour. However, they are the ones owners skip most, and a broken form in a busy month quietly loses calls you never see. If your profile needs more than hours, start with Google Business Profile optimization.
Why does matching matter so much? Because a shopper who sees two different closing times trusts neither one. So they call, or they drive to the store that looked surer. Also check your holiday hours on any other listing you control. One correct answer everywhere is the whole goal of week one.
Outcome: every shopper who looks you up gets the right answer the first time.
Week 2: Make the Offer Easy to Buy
Next, week two turns interest into a sale. Start with a gift card customers can buy on your own website, not just at the counter. Gift cards suit last-minute buyers, and they bring a second visit in January. Then build one holiday page. It should list your hours, your offer and one clear next step, such as buy, book or call.
Also, keep it to one offer. In our experience, owners often stack five deals on one page, and shoppers leave without picking any. By contrast, one offer with an end date is easy to understand and easy to share. Also make sure the page loads fast on a phone, because that is where most holiday searches start in our experience. If the page needs more than a tweak, here is when a one-off website fix is enough.
What goes on the holiday page? Keep it short. First, your holiday hours. Next, the one offer, with its end date. Then the gift card link. Finally, a single button for the next step. That is enough. In fact, a short page is also easier to share in a text message.
Outcome: a shopper who wants to buy from you can do it in under a minute.
Week 3: Film Once, Post All Month
Most owners mean to post holiday videos and end up filming on a busy Saturday in December. So week three is a single filming session. Plan the clips first, then pick a wardrobe, then set up one corner of the shop or a studio. After that, shoot everything in one go: a welcome clip, a gift idea, a behind-the-scenes moment and a thank-you.
As a result, one session can fill a whole month of posts. In fact, in our studio the editing usually takes longer than the filming, which is why you start in November. Then you schedule the posts and stop thinking about them. Meanwhile, you run the store.
Not sure what to film? Start with four clips. First, a short welcome from the owner. Second, one gift idea you already sell. Third, a quick look behind the counter. Lastly, a thank-you for the year. Each one can be cut into a long and a short version, so four clips become eight posts.
Film your holiday clips at Sun City Podcast Studio →Outcome: December posts go out on time without a single extra shoot.
Week 4: Small Business Saturday and the WinterFest Crowd
Week four is the busy one, of course. WinterFest is already drawing people downtown, and Small Business Saturday lands on November 28. The U.S. Small Business Administration also shares Small Business Saturday guidance for owners. Use the week to remind people where you are and why they should stop in.
First, post your hours again. Also post your holiday offer, and pin it. If you are near downtown, mention WinterFest by name, so your post matches the event people are already heading to. The City of El Paso publishes the WinterFest dates and events. Then make the shop easy to find in person, too, with a sign that matches your online offer.
Also post one Business Profile update that week. Keep it simple: your Saturday hours, your offer and a photo of the shop. So a shopper searching on Saturday morning sees a fresh post, not one from last spring.
Outcome: the people already downtown find you, and they know what you are offering before they walk in.
Week 5: The Quiet Week That Sets Up January
The last week is calmer, and that is the point, in fact. First, ask your best customers for a Google review while the visit is fresh. Next, pull your best clips from the season into a short year-in-review video. Then sit down and sketch your 2027 plan around your own busy months, not around national days.
Overall, this week costs nothing but time. However, it is the one that makes next year easier. The reviews stay on your profile long after the season. Similarly, the video gives you a thank-you post for January. And the plan means you start 2027 with a list instead of a blank page.
Set up a review request system →Outcome: you finish the year with reviews, a video and a plan you can use right away.
What Not to Do in Holiday Marketing for Small Business
Three habits undo most of the plan above. We see them every year, and each one is easy to avoid once you name it.
- Discounting everything. In our experience, a month of markdowns teaches customers to wait for the next sale. So run one offer with an end date instead.
- Posting daily with no plan. We see daily posts with no theme burn out small teams by mid-December. Also, posting is not the goal; customers at the door are.
- Buying ads with no tracking. If you can't tell which ad brought a call, you can't tell which ad to keep. Therefore, set up tracking before you spend a dollar.
In short, a calm season beats a loud one. In our experience, fewer moves done in the right order usually win.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1 What does holiday marketing for small business include?
Q2 When should a small business start holiday marketing?
Q3 What are the key holiday shopping dates in 2026?
Q4 What is the cheapest holiday marketing that works?
Q5 Do I need to run discounts for the holidays?
Pick the One Piece You Are Missing: DM SITE or DM SHOOT
So look back at the five weeks and find the gap. If it is the website, the gift card or the holiday page, that is a SITE job. If it is the video, that is a SHOOT job. Either way, it is one build, not a retainer, and it keeps working in 2027. That is how holiday marketing for small business should feel: one fix, done well.
