US shoppers spent a record $994.1 billion during the 2024 holiday season, the National Retail Federation reports.
To claim a piece of that pie in 2025—and beyond—a proactive seasonal marketing calendar can map every shopping event, so you can show up with the right offer at the right time.
From National Pet Day to Singles’ Day, high-intent shopping happens year-round. Use the guide below to grab key 2025 days and tips for turning them into campaigns that sell.
What is a holiday marketing calendar?
A holiday marketing calendar is a tool for planning and executing holiday marketing campaigns. Seasonal or holiday marketing involves deploying campaigns and using tactics and channels to promote a brand, product, or service around specific holidays, seasons, or events.
It is a curated list of holidays and occasions relevant to your business and your customers, mapped out on an annual marketing calendar. This tool can be used to plan each campaign’s promotions, content, channels, and duration.
Why build a holiday marketing calendar?
Beyond marketing during the end-of-year holiday season and other major annual spending events such as back-to-school, there are many other smaller holidays, events, and celebrations throughout the year. Star Wars Day, Clean Out Your Inbox Week, and National Pet Day are just a few examples of events that may provide valuable micro-marketing opportunities.
Consider your buyer personas and build a holiday marketing calendar around events that are meaningful to your customers and relevant to your business. This can help you create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns that can build brand awareness, increase sales, and strengthen customer relationships.
Dates to inspire your holiday marketing calendar
As your target audiences, marketing goals, and offerings differ, so will the holidays you choose to include on your marketing calendar.
There are likely many holidays, events, and celebrations that could be an excellent fit for your brand or business. But, here are some of the most notable dates to inspire your own marketing calendar template:
January
With a new calendar year and a busy holiday season wrapped up, January offers us a collective “restart” button. It’s also a great time to reconnect with customers who discovered your business or brand during the holiday shopping season.
- January 1: New Year’s Day
- January 2: Science Fiction Day
- January 15: National Hat Day
- January 28: Data Privacy Day
- 1st week of January: National Thank Your Customers Week
- 3rd week of January: Clean Out Your Inbox Week
- 3rd Monday of January: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Month-long:
- National Hobby Month
- Dry January
February
February brings two big single-day events—the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day—but it’s also a time to celebrate Black History Month.
- February 2: Groundhog Day
- February 9: National Pizza Day
- February 14: Valentine’s Day
- February 15: Singles Awareness Day
- February 17: Random Act of Kindness Day
- 3rd Monday in February: Family Day (Canada)
- 3rd Monday in February: Presidents’ Day (US)
- 1st Sunday in February: Super Bowl
- Beginning between January 21 and February 20: Lunar New Year
- Month-long:
- Black History Month
March
As the spirit of spring arrives, harness budding feelings of renewal to refresh your seasonal marketing campaigns.
- March 3: World Wildlife Day
- March 8: International Women’s Day
- March 14: National Pi Day
- 2nd week of March: National Sleep Awareness Week
- March 17: St. Patrick’s Day
- March 18: Global Recycling Day
- March 19, 20, or 21: Spring equinox (first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere)
- 4th week of March: National Cleaning Week
- March or April: Passover and Easter
- Month-long:
- Women’s History Month
April
With the season kicking into high gear, National Decorating Month may appeal to those in spring-cleaning mode, but April is also a month for celebrating Mother Earth and holidays like Easter and Passover.
- April 1: April Fool’s Day
- April 2: World Autism Awareness Day
- April 11: National Pet Day
- April 15: Tax Day
- April 22: Earth Day
- April 23: World Book Day
- April 29: International Dance Day
- April 30: National Honesty Day
- 3rd Thursday each quarter: Get to Know Your Customers Day
- March or April: Passover and Easter
- Month-long:
- Earth Month
- National Decorating Month
- National Autism Awareness Month
- Stress Awareness Month
May
May is a month with a retail holiday calendar representing a variety of target audiences. Mother’s Day in the US and Canada remains one of the biggest spending events of the year, but May is also a time to celebrate Star Wars fans, nurses, and firefighters.
- May 4: Star Wars Day
- May 4: International Firefighters’ Day
- May 5: Cinco de Mayo
- 1st Thursday in May: World Password Day
- May 6: National Nurses Day
- May 9: Europe Day
- 2nd Sunday in May: Mother’s Day (US and Canada)
- May 25: National Wine Day
- May 30: National Creativity Day
- Last Monday preceding May 25: Victoria Day (Canada)
- Last Monday in May: Memorial Day
- Month-long:
- Mental Health Awareness Month
- ALS Awareness Month
- Clean Air Month
- Lupus Awareness Month
June
June is a month to celebrate fathers, Juneteenth, Pride, and the official kickoff to summer.
- 3rd Sunday in June: Father’s Day (US and Canada)
- June 5: World Environment Day
- June 19: Juneteenth (US)
- June 20 or 21: Summer solstice (first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere)
- June 21: Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Canada)
- June 21: International Day of Yoga
- June 30: World Social Media Day
- June–August: Tour de France
- Month-long:
- Pride Month
- Men’s Health Month
July
July is a hot time for summer sales, vacation spending, and impulse purchases.
- July 1: National Postal Worker Day, International Joke Day, Canada Day
- July 2: World UFO Day
- July 4: Independence Day (US)
- July 5: National Bikini Day
- July 7: World Chocolate Day
- 3rd Sunday in July: National Ice Cream Day
- July 17: World Emoji Day
- July 20: National Moon Day
- 3rd Thursday each quarter: Get to Know Your Customers Day
- Month-long:
- National Grilling Month
- National Picnic Month
- National Independent Retailer Month
- National Blueberry Month
August
August always marks a notable shift as summer begins to fade and back-to-school season ramps up. Back-to-school spending has been growing annually for decades, from $18 billion in 2007 to more than $39 billion in 2023.
- Beginning the 1st Saturday in August: National Farmers Market Week
- 1st Friday in August: International Beer Day
- August 8: International Cat Day
- August 9: Book Lovers Day
- August 10: National Lazy Day
- August 12: International Youth Day
- August 19: World Photography Day, World Humanitarian Day
- August 26: International Dog Day
- Month-long:
- Back-to-School Month
September
There are plenty of fun holidays and events to leverage in September, like National Video Games Day or National Indoor Plant Week, but this is also a time when marketers roll up their sleeves for the big fall holiday season—which accounts for around 17% of annual revenue for many businesses.
- 1st Monday in September: Labor Day/Labour Day (US and Canada)
- 1st Sunday after Labor Day: Grandparents’ Day
- September 8: International Literacy Day
- September 12: National Video Games Day
- September 15–October 15: National Hispanic Heritage Month
- September 27: World Tourism Day
- September 22 or 23: Fall equinox (first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere)
- 3rd week in September: Pollution Prevention Week, National Indoor Plant Week, Oktoberfest
- A Tuesday in September: National Voter Registration Day
- September 30: International Podcast Day
October
Come October, fall has arrived, ushering in pumpkin spice latte season and sweater weather. The month ends with Halloween, marking the kickoff to the end-of-year marketing season.
- October 1: World Vegetarian Day, International Coffee Day
- October 4: National Taco Day (US)
- October 5: World Teachers’ Day
- October 10: World Mental Health Day
- 2nd Monday in October: Thanksgiving (Canada), Indigenous Peoples’ Day (US)
- October 16: World Food Day
- October 20: Diwali
- 4th Saturday in October: National Make a Difference Day
- October 31: Halloween
- Month-long:
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- National Bullying Awareness Month
- LGBTQ+ History Month
November
November brings a reason to celebrate your favorite vegan on World Vegan Day or your favorite single on Singles’ Day—a global shopping event. It’s also time for the US shopping trifecta, including Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, that routinely produces record spending levels.
- November 1: World Vegan Day
- November 8: National STEM Day
- November 11: Veterans Day (US), Remembrance Day (Canada)
- November 11: Singles’ Day
- November 13: World Kindness Day
- November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance
- 4th Thursday in November: Thanksgiving (US)
- Friday after Thanksgiving: Black Friday
- Saturday after Thanksgiving: Small Business Saturday
- Monday after Thanksgiving: Cyber Monday
- Tuesday after Thanksgiving: Giving Tuesday
- Month-long:
- Movember
- National Healthy Skin Month
- National Gratitude Month
- National Native American Heritage Month
December
The end of the year has arrived packed with time-honored holidays alongside newer marketing opportunities, such as National App Day and Free Shipping Day.
- Late November or December: Hanukkah
- December 11: National App Day
- December 12: 12.12. (Double 12) Mega Sale
- 2nd Monday in December: Green Monday
- Mid-December: National Free Shipping Day
- December 21 or 22: Winter solstice
- Saturday before Christmas: Super Saturday
- December 24: Christmas Eve
- December 25: Christmas Day
- December 26: Boxing Day
- December 26–January 1: Kwanzaa
- December 31: New Year’s Eve
- Month-long:
- National Human Rights Month
Trends shaping holiday marketing plans
Mobile-first shopping surges past 54% of holiday sales
Adobe’s full‐season recap shows that US consumers spent $241.4 billion online between November 1 and December 31, 2024.
Some 54.5% of that revenue came from smartphones, up from 51.1% the year before. On Christmas Day alone, mobile’s share spiked to 65%. For your upcoming holiday calendar, be sure you:
- Make your seasonal marketing calendar “thumb-first.” Prioritize SMS, shoppable social posts, and mobile-optimized landing pages for every campaign.
- Audit key checkout flows (Shop Pay, BNPL, wallet payments) to be sure they load in less than 3 seconds.
- Schedule mobile-exclusive flash deals during Christmas morning lulls and other “couch commerce” windows when phone usage peaks.
Earlier deal-seeking behavior
Nearly 45% of 2024 holiday shoppers told NRF they planned to begin buying gifts before November. Likewise, Shopify-Gallup polling found 4 in 10 consumers lock in budgets and begin shopping in September.
To capture these early birds:
- Shift awareness campaigns one quarter earlier. For example, launch gift-guide content in late August and tease BFCM promos during September.
- Use early-bird incentives like loyalty points and exclusive product bundles to capture shoppers before heavy discounting.
- Layer customer retention tactics (e.g., email reminders, retargeting ads) so pre-holiday browsers circle back when peak-season offers go live.
Campaign tactics by quarter
Q1: Data cleanup and list growth
January through March is a good time to audit who is inside your CRM before the year’s heavy-traffic sprints begin. Start by pruning your contact list of people who haven’t opened your emails in 180 days. Chances are, they don’t want to hear from your brand anymore.
If you haven’t already, import last year’s transactions, browsing, and loyalty records into Shopify. This will create a unified profile for each customer that routes all data into a single source of truth. You can then access real-time, accurate data like lifetime value (LTV), return history, and products viewed to plan out your campaigns.
Once your data is clean, grow your email list. Launch a Shopify Forms popup with a discount incentive and leave a static button or footer form for those who ignore popups. Then, feed your highest-LTV holiday buyers into Shopify Audiences to build lookalike segments on Meta and TikTok, so your Q1 prospecting dollars can chase shoppers more likely to convert.
Q2: User-generated content drives summer sales
Longer daylight and vacation vibes mean one thing: summer sales. With a tight data infrastructure and fresh email list, you’ll welcome in the hot deals with user-generated content (UGC).
Launch a “Show us your summer gear” contest to collect organic UGC and repost it on your profiles. Use Shopify Collabs to partner with creators on paid campaigns and get your products in front of the right audience.
Either way, shoppers will see your products in real-life situations, like beach trips and backyard barbeques, shot by creators they already trust. This collaboration between Olipop and @goofychuck_4 is a great example of a paid campaign in which Olipop promotes a giveaway for their new Peaches and Cream soda.
