Did you know that 48% of businesses credit video content as the most effective element in their holiday ad campaigns? With short-form video driving the highest ROI, businesses that invest in holiday video content are positioned to increase engagement, boost sales, and strengthen brand awareness throughout the holiday season.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the strategies and ideas to help your business create compelling holiday video content Whether you're new to video marketing or looking to refine your approach, these tips and stats will set you up for success.
Ready to light up the holiday season with video? Let’s get started!
10 holiday marketing videos & templates
Below are ten unique videos and even more video templates to help make your holiday marketing easy this year. We'll begin with promotional videos but as you'll quickly discover, there are many ways to use video to reach customers this holiday season.
Check out all of the ideas below. Then, just click on the “USE THIS TEMPLATE” button to start creating in Animoto. After that, it’s as easy as adding your media, message, and your brand’s logo, colors, and font to make it your own. Let’s dive in!
1. Black Friday Promos
Black Friday is seen as the unofficial-official kick off to the holiday season. And although it may seem to be in the shadow of Cyber Monday, last year’s Black Friday retail sales rose 12%. So to start things off strong, promote your Black Friday doorbusters and exclusive offers with an eye-catching video!
Since the holiday shopping season seems to start earlier and earlier each year, you can use a teaser video like this one to create buzz.
If you have limited-time offers or exclusive deals, make sure you promote them with a video that stands out online.
Finally, continue promoting until the sale ends to get a head start on your holiday sales.
2. Cyber Monday Promos
Next up is Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday or Cyber Week is one of the biggest days of the year for online retailers, which means you’d better come ready to play!
Use video to share exclusive Cyber Monday deals, create a sense of urgency, and get shoppers. Just like the Black Friday teaser, you can make the most of your sale by creating an announcement or teaser video.
This promo is a great video to put some ad dollars behind to maximize your reach.
3. Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday is another shopping event that is growing in popularity, especially among those looking for unique and ethically-made gifts. And you can (and should) promote it like any other holiday!
Try using our SBS Promo template to increase awareness for your business as well as other small businesses in your local area. If you’re a brick-and-mortar shop, make sure to note your location, hours of operation, and incentives in your video.
4. Holiday Greeting
Now that the shopping holidays have come and gone, it’s time to celebrate the holidays. Because this sale period lasts for months on end, your content could easily get lost in all the noise, especially if it’s yet another promo.
You can use any of our holiday greeting templates to show appreciation for your customers and wish them a happy holiday season. Here are some of our favorites.
5. Holiday Promotion
Now for the holiday-specific sales. These types of videos work best when they’re run as an ad targeted at current customers or people interested in topics related to your product. But paid ads aren’t your only route! Consider including a punchy holiday promo video in your next email, on your product page, or organically on social media. You could even focus on freebies or add-ons like gift wrapping, free shipping, or other non-discount-related promos to help make the sale
Here’s a holiday-themed promo template to get you started. Notice how it focuses on how these products make great holiday gifts!
This modern promo video features a variety of products to position the seller as a one-stop-shop for everyone on your shopping list.
And finally, this vertical video is perfect for sharing on Instagram Stories, Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts to get in front of as many people as possible.
6. Gift guides
Gift guides are another creative way to subtly market your products. You can create your own gift guide and create different “personas” to match each product (like your shopaholic friend, your gamer, the guy who doesn’t need yet another tool, etc.) or partner with influencers. This route gives you a more organic and natural pitch as your product will likely be mentioned among other complementary brands.
7. Holiday Event Invitation
Throwing a holiday party or event for your customers and clients? Video can be a great way to let people know about it and to recap the festivities afterward. Use a video like this one to invite guests to your celebration.
8. Our Company’s Year
The end of the year is the perfect time to recap your achievements and look ahead to the new year. Share milestones, awards, and major company news from 2024 using the year in review template below. You can also use this as a way to plant seeds for gift ideas by mentioning top products.
9. New Years Greetings
You’ve made it to the New Year and it’s time to celebrate! Thank all your customers for sticking around and spending the year with you. The easiest and most effective way to do this is by sharing a simple Happy New Year video like the one below.
Just add a sincere message from yourself and your team to make it shine.
10. New Year, New promos
Last but not least, a new year means new opportunities and of course, another chance to make more sales. Consider how your products can help shoppers reach their resolutions. Then, to sweeten the deal, toss in a promo and, of course, promote it with a video.
Holiday video strategy cheat sheet
Now that your ideas are planned out, it’s time to think about how video plays into your overall holiday marketing strategy. Here are two key ways to track your video marketing success this season.
Setting Goals
We’ve talked about promoting your products as holiday gifts and sharing holiday cheer, but what are your other goals during the holidays? Here are a few ideas:
- Creating connections and engaging with new and existing customers
- Offering products that make great gifts
- Sharing your expertise
- Attracting new social media followers
- Driving new visitors to your website
Measuring Success
Before you begin, you’ll also want to make sure to record how you’ll measure your success. You may have goals for revenue for your business for the holiday season, but what will your goals be for video specifically? Here are some ideas:
- Post at least __ holiday videos
- Increase video views by __%
- Increase reactions by __%
- Increase shares by __%
Holiday video creation help
Having a little trouble getting started? We’ve put together some resources to help you out.
Text for your Holiday Videos
Writer’s block got you down? No problem. We’ve put together a list of 60 different ways to say “Happy Holidays” in your next video. From the basics, like
“Seasons Greetings” and “Merry Christmas” to heartwarming well-wishes for your customers, song-inspired greetings, quotes, and more, we’ve got you covered.
Your Holiday Color Palette
The traditional red and green for the holidays can start to feel a little stale, which is why our marketing design team put together a cheat sheet with four holiday color palettes to help you elevate the look of your holiday marketing videos. It comes complete with hex codes (the six-digit code that looks like #FFFFFF) so you can be sure to plug in exactly the right color to your own marketing.
Check out our holiday color palettes
We’re here to help
Last but not least, we’ve got a supportive community of Animoto customers, video marketers, and Animoto employees on Facebook. Join the Animoto Social Video Marketing Community for ideas, tips, inspiration, and feedback on videos you’re working on.
Merry video making!
