12 Days of Christmas sale is the perfect sales promotion for the holidays.

Because holiday marketing is all about meeting your customer where they are.

And they are looking for GIFTS.

Gift ideas. New gift shops. Inexpensive gifts. Ways to save money on gifts. Last minute gifts. YOU NAME IT, it’s all about the gifts.

A really fun way to get involved with all the hustle and bustle is to create a 12 Days of Christmas sale or giveaway.

There’s a few different ways you could plan this holiday marketing idea, so we’ll go into each with a step-by-step guide, but first let’s get three questions out of the way:

What is a 12 Days of Christmas sale?

A 12 day holiday marketing event where each day you unveil a surprise new sale item. It builds excitement and anticipation, plus gives customers a reason to visit your shop each day. And once they’re on your shop page, they may check out with that item – or more!

What is a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway?

A 12 day holiday marketing event where each day you announce the winner of a set giveaway item. Prior to the event, you would share what items are included, how many winners there will be each day, etc. Customers would sign up for a chance to win any of the daily giveaway prizes.

Should I Go Out On My Own or With Partners?

Each method can be done on your own or in partnership with other shops. I outlined each way below so you can pick an action plan and then follow just one set of steps. (Which is why this post looks like a monster).

Skip to the end if you want to see all the benefits / disadvantages of going alone or with others. But it basically comes down to either it’s all about you (yay!) with less traffic; or you share the spotlight and expand your total reach (yay!)

ps. Want to swipe my proven framework for Holiday promotions?

Imagine…

• Knowing what to say to get those coveted “how do I buy this?!” DMs *before* you even go live…
• Showing up on Instagram with confidence, kissing overwhelm goodbyyye…
• Getting more comments + responses than usual because your audience is fully engaged with your offer

An audience that’s excited to BUY from you… that’s what you want, right?   *cue all the champagne + cookie cheers*

1 | 12 Days of Christmas Sale – Your Shop Only

How to Prep:

1. Pick 12 specific items
2. Determine a one-day only sale price for each.
   • Choose a percent off or since its a singular item, I recommend picking a sharp price point.
   • Will you limit how many can sell at that discounted price?
3. Decide how you will share the sale each day — will you change the price in your system or generate coupon codes?
4. Create a landing page to promote event on your site to build excitement before it starts
5. On landing page, share information on what customers can expect:
   • Starting date / 12 day date range
   • When sale will “go live” each day (right at midnight? 6am?)
   • If your shop covers a broad range of products, give customers a hint of what to expect in terms of what categories will be featured. Or if very broad, let them know days 1-4 are for her, days 5-7 for him, etc.
   • Share the discount or savings they can expect (“Never seen before prices, get ready to save over 40%!”)
   • Include social media + shop links
   • Encourage them to share on social media; include graphics or pre-written tweets they can easily post.
6. Include an email sign up form on landing page
   • Optional: Create an incentive for customers to sign up to your email list by giving them a one-hour “early access” window to shop the daily item first with an exclusive discount code. This would work especially well for limited quantities / first come first served limited editions.
7. Create graphics to share on social media and Pinterest.
8. Begin to promote event 2-3 weeks in advance of start date:
   • Send an email to current subscribers announcing event
   • Begin to promote on social media
   • Include sign up or link to landing page on any gift guides you create or relevant blog posts
9. Gather any necessary information you’ll need each day: coupon codes, shop links, etc so you can begin to create your daily emails.
10. Schedule your daily emails to auto send each day.
11. Make a daily to-do list to keep yourself on track during the busy season.
    • Do you need to update pricing / activate a coupon code?
    • Create a consistent social media plan so you know what to share each day.

2 | 12 Days of Christmas Sale – With Partnerships

How to Prep:

1. Determine how many shops will participate / how the event will run.
   • Will 12 shops each take one day? Will you work with just 3 other shops and you each get 3 days for your items?
2. Partner with other shop owners to create a 12 Days of Christmas Sales event.
   • Start networking now to build those relationships, but also don’t be afraid just to ask! Here’s some networking tips to ease your worries.
   • For maximum impact (and to keep your customers happy) be sure to pick shops that truly make sense with your aesthetic or the types of product you carry. You don’t want to annoy your customers with a glam glitzy jewelry shop if your target customer is interested in your casual minimal clothing.
   • Complementary shops are also best as it reduces the direct competition between each of your brands and instead pulls together a total package for your customer.
3. Based on what you decide from step 1, pick your items based on the number you need.
4. Determine a one-day only sale price for each.
   • Choose a percent off or since its a singular item, I recommend picking a sharp price point.
   • Will you limit how many can sell at that discounted price?
5. Decide how you will share the sale each day — will you change the price in your system or generate coupon codes?
6. Create a landing page to promote event on your site to build excitement before it starts
7. On landing page, share information on what customers can expect:
   • Share all the shops that are participating with social media + shop links
   • Starting date / 12 day date range
   • When sale will “go live” each day (right at midnight? 6am?)
   • If your shop partnerships cover a good variety of products (they should all serve the same customer though!) give customers a hint of what to expect during the event.
   • Share the discount or savings they can expect (“Never seen before prices, get ready to save over 40%!”)
   • Encourage them to share on social media; include graphics or pre-written tweets they can post to make it easy on them which typically results in more shares.
8. Include an email sign up form on landing page
   • Optional: Create an incentive for customers to sign up to your email list by giving them a one-hour “early access” window to shop the daily item with an exclusive daily discount code.
9. Create graphics to share on social media and Pinterest.
   • Partner together to create one cohesive set of marketing materials. Your event will gain more traction if each shop promoting looks cohesive with the others so customers recognize it’s the same event.
10. Set a promotion schedule that each shop needs to minimally participate in. Be sure to cover expectations leading up to the event and during the event to ensure no one feels like the others didn’t pull their weight and everyone has a positive experience. For example:
    • Send 2 emails sharing the event and calling out each individual shop prior to start date.
    • During event, each shop owner to send daily emails to announce the next item or (optional) early access sale.
    • Share 3 Instagram posts about the event (either with your images or in the caption) before the event and tag each shop
    • Once event starts, share item or encourage audience to visit each other’s shop each day during the event on Instagram through the caption.
    • Share landing page image on Pinterest.
11. Begin to promote event 2-3 weeks in advance of start date:
    • Send an email to current subscribers announcing event
    • Begin to promote on social media
    • Include sign up or link to landing page on any gift guides you create or relevant blog posts
12. Gather any necessary information from each shop: coupon codes, shop links, confirm social media accounts, etc so you can begin to create your daily emails.
13. Schedule your daily emails to auto send each day.
14. Make a daily to-do list and share with all shop owners to help everyone out during the busy season.
    • Do you need to update pricing / activate a coupon code?
    • Share on social media based on pre-determined schedule

WHEW. BREAK TIME. 

Go grab a glass of wine… then let’s talk giveaways.

Don’t worry! A lot of information is repeat from above, but this way you can pick which way you want to go – a 12 Days of Christmas sale or giveaway – and just follow one set of action steps.

If you like what you’re reading… two things for you:

1 | Grab your free list of 60+ gift guide ideas!

2 | Get over 40 Holiday-related Instagram prompts so you can avoid the energy drain of wondering what to say

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3 | 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway – Your Shop Only

How to Prep:

1. Pick 12 specific items.
2. Determine how many of each you will give away
   • If you have a smaller audience, it’s totally okay to just give away one unit per item.
   • If your audience is larger, consider giving away a few of each.
3. Create a mock up image that shares all the “giveaway items”.
4. Create a landing page to promote event on your site and share your mock up image to build excitement before it starts
5. Determine how you will collect giveaway entrants
   • Will they sign up to a specific email list (create a new email list or tag subscribers) as an entry?
   • Or I recommend using a giveaway tool, like Gleam.
     • It makes entry easy, has built-in viral social sharing, and randomly picks winners to avoid any issues. The advantage of social sharing incentives is huge and can lead to a lot of extra traffic and customer leads for you, definitely worth checking out!
     • You can sign up month to month if you only want to use for the holiday season.
6. On landing page, share information on what customers can expect:
   • When will giveaway entries close? Closing entries before the 12 days starts allows you to figure out all the winners in advance, set up your social media announcements, etc.
   • Starting date / 12 day date range
   • Share which item you’re giving away each day / How many winners
   • When daily winners will be announced / How winners are chosen (Gleam makes it super easy and picks at random to avoid any potential issues)
   • Include social media + shop links
   • Encourage them to share on social media
7. Determine how you will notify the winner. I would advise directly and also share through email or social media to keep the daily excitement and energy going.
8. Decide if you will offer a coupon code each day for the “non-winners”
   • This can be a great way to drive extra sales! When you announce the winner of the giveaway item, you can also share a one day only code for everyone else to get that item at a discount.
9. Create graphics to share on social media and Pinterest
10. Set a promotion schedule so you know what to do each day. For example:
    • Send 2 emails sharing the event prior to start date.
    • During event, send daily emails to announce the winner and (optional) one-day coupon code to non-winners.
    • Share 3 Instagram posts about the event (either with your images or in the caption) before the event.
    • Once event starts, share item or announce winners each day on Instagram.
    • Share landing page image on Pinterest
11. Begin to promote event 2-3 weeks in advance of start date to start collecting entries:
    • Send an email to current subscribers announcing event
    • Begin to promote on social media
    • Include sign up or link to landing page on any gift guides you create or relevant blog posts
12. Gather any necessary information: coupon codes (optional), product links, etc so you can begin to create your daily emails.
13. Create your daily emails and leave space to insert the winner’s name.
14. Add daily to-do’s to your social media schedule to help keep yourself on track
    • Do you need to update pricing / activate the optional coupon code?
    • Share on social media based on pre-determined schedule

4 | 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway – With Partnerships

How to Prep:

1. Determine how many shops will participate / how the event will run.
   • Will 12 shops each take one day? Will you work with just 3 other shops and you each get 3 days for your items?
2. Partner with other shop owners to create a 12 Days of Christmas Sales event.
   • Start networking now to build those relationships, but also don’t be afraid just to ask! Here’s some networking tips to ease your worries.
   • For maximum impact (and to keep your customers happy) be sure to pick shops that truly make sense with your aesthetic or the types of product you carry. You don’t want to annoy your customers with a glam glitzy jewelry shop if your target customer is interested in your casual minimal clothing.
   • Complementary shops are best since the customers will be up to win any of the days, so ideally (theoretically) they should be happy winning any day – not just certain days.
3. Based on what you decide from step 1, pick your items based on the number you need.
4. Determine how many of each you will give away
   • If you have a smaller audience, it’s totally okay to just give away one unit per item. If your audience is a little larger or since you’re promoting with other shops, maybe giveaway a few of each.
5. Create a mock up image that shares all the “giveaway items”.
6. Create a landing page to promote event on your site and share your mock up image to build excitement before it starts
7. Determine how you will collect giveaway entrants
   • Will they sign up to a specific email list (create a new email list or tag subscribers) as an entry?
   • Or I recommend using a giveaway tool, like Gleam
     • It makes entry easy, has built-in viral social sharing, and randomly picks winners to avoid any issues. The advantage of social sharing incentives is huge and can lead to a lot of extra traffic and customer leads for you, definitely worth checking out!
     • You can sign up month to month if you only want to use for the holiday season.
8. On landing page, share information on what customers can expect:
   • Share all the shops that are participating with social media + shop links
   • When will giveaway entries close? Closing entries before the 12 days starts allows you to figure out all the winners in advance, set up your social media announcements, etc.
   • Starting date / 12 day date range
   • Share which item you’re giving away each day / How many winners
   • When daily winners will be announced / How winners are chosen (Gleam makes it super easy and picks at random to avoid any potential issues)
   • Encourage them to share on social media
9. Determine how you will notify the winner. I would advise directly and also share through email or social media to keep the daily excitement and energy going.
10. Decide if you will offer a coupon code each day for the “non-winners”
    • This can be a great way to drive extra sales! When you announce the winner of the giveaway item, you can also share a one day only code for everyone else to get that item at a discount.
11. Create graphics to share on social media and Pinterest.
    • Partner together to create one cohesive set of marketing materials. Your event will gain more traction if each shop promoting looks cohesive with the others so customers recognize it’s the same event.
12. Set a promotion schedule that each shop needs to minimally participate in. Be sure to cover expectations leading up to the event and during the event to ensure no one feels like the others didn’t pull their weight and everyone has a positive experience. For example:
    • Send 2 emails sharing the event and calling out each individual shop prior to start date.
    • During event, each shop owner to send daily emails to announce the winner and (optional) one-day coupon code to non-winners.
    • Share 3 Instagram posts about the event (either with your images or in the caption) before the event and tag each shop
    • Once event starts, share item or encourage audience to visit each other’s shop each day during the event on Instagram through the caption.
    • Share landing page image on Pinterest.
13. Begin to promote event 2-3 weeks in advance of start date to start collecting entries:
    • Send an email to current subscribers announcing event
    • Begin to promote on social media
    • Include sign up or link to landing page on any gift guides you create or relevant blog posts
14. Gather any necessary information from each shop: coupon codes (optional), shop links, confirm social media accounts, etc so you can begin to create your daily emails.
15. Create your daily emails and leave space to insert the winner’s name.
16. Make a daily to-do list and share with all shop owners to help everyone out during the busy season.
    • Do you need to update pricing / activate the optional coupon code?
    • Share on social media based on pre-determined schedule

Benefits of Doing Your Own Thing:

• Encourages email sign ups to be first to know and get “VIP access”
• Creates a lot of excitement for your shop and daily traffic to check out what the newest ‘sale’ item is which may result in additional sales on other items as well.
• All about your shop – keeps your customers focused on you.

Potential Disadvantage of Doing Your Own Thing:

• If you’re a new or smaller shop, traffic and sign ups may be less than expected. Click thru rates on email and social media are still relatively low as a percent to your total followers so keep that in mind.

Benefits of Having Shop Partners:

• Expands your reach as you’re all promoting to your own customer base and will be introduced to a lot of new customers.
• If you choose the right shops that are a good match, customers are targeted good customers (ie. “warm leads”) as they’re already active and loyal customers of a similar shop.
• Encourages email sign ups to be first to know and get “VIP access”
• Creates a lot of excitement for your shop and daily traffic to check out what the newest ‘sale’ item is which may result in additional sales on other items as well.
• With the right shops, you’re giving value and helping your customers find other amazing products they’ll love and want; which can build trust.

Potential Disadvantage of Having Shop Partners:

• Traffic is not necessarily coming to you each day, but you’ll still be an active presence in their inbox daily which could lead to some additional traffic.

Ohhh my santaaa. That was a LOT.

BUT I hope this was super helpful and lays out all the steps so you feel confident to tackle your own 12 Days of Christmas sale or giveaway if it sounds right for your shop!

These can be a super fun way to stay top of mind and relevant to your customers for 12 STRAIGHT DAYS. Woohooo!

Plus it’s fun to giveaway stuff or offer great limited deals.

What do you think? Will you try it?!