How to Plan Seasonal Promotions That Actually Sell Out (Without Feeling Overwhelmed)

If you’re anything like most bakers, foodpreneurs, and small business owners I coach, seasonal promotions often feel CHAOTIC (and happen WAY too fast!)

One minute, you’re knee-deep in all things SUMMER, and the next you’re trying to get your life and business back on track with kids going back to school, getting into a new routine, and then you find yourself overwhelmed and falling behind trying to get into pumpkin spice, holiday mode.

And to be honest, most bakers and small businesses are winging it.

Friend, if you want your holiday sales to SKYROCKET and feel seamless, then you need to put in the GRUNT WORK in the beginning. That means setting an intentional time to plan, prepare, and get organized weeks before the holiday season officially hits.

The most successful business owners aren’t successful by luck; they’re successful because they’ve taken the time to do the work they hate, which is tedious and time-consuming, so that they can REAP the benefits down the road.

And today, I’m giving you a step-by-step strategy to plan seasonal promotions like a CEO - without burning out, losing sleep, or scrambling at the last minute, hoping and praying for sales.

Step 1: Start Planning 6–8 Weeks Ahead

If you’re waiting until October to plan your Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas menu, you’re already behind.

I know reading that might stress you out but this type of planning and organizing is CRUCIAL to having a successful holiday season.

By planning ahead, you’re able to market your offers more effectively and plan your content and products more efficiently.

Think of it like this… Costco, Target, Starbucks, Walmart, Bath & Body Works… these ‘BIG BUSINESSES’ have been rolling out Fall/Holiday content and products since July. That’s 6 MONTHS in advance, friend!

They do this because they are “conditioning” their customers to start to think about the holidays. So while it may piss you off that businesses are “skipping summer” and pushing the holiday season on you, they’re doing it with the intention of getting you to BUY whenever you are ready.

And you should be carrying this same MINDSET/STRATEGY when offering your own holiday menu, offers, and products.

Most successful seasonal launches happen six to eight weeks in advance. That means:

• November menus should be ready by mid-September.
• Valentine’s promos should be planned by December.
• Mother’s Day? Start brainstorming in March.

If you struggle to stay ahead and don’t know where to begin with planning and getting organized, my Social Celebrator will be your new best friend. It’s a year-long content calendar that helps you prep, post, and promote your offers without overthinking by giving you a complete list of EVERY SINGLE holiday you should be marketing in your business + promotion ideas to keep your customers engaged and new customers falling in love with your business.

Early bird gets the worm, friend, don’t wait til 2 weeks before to start announcing your holiday menu and offers, because that’s only going to leave you scrambling, overwhelmed, and stressed tf out.

Step 2: Build Hype Before You Launch

Your audience needs time to want what you’re selling. This is WHY customer conditioning, like I previously mentioned, is so IMPORTANT. Instead of dropping your menu the day before, start teasing your offers early:

• Post behind-the-scenes prep videos (“Sneak peek of the Valentine’s menu… 👀”)
• Share polls and quizzes (“Which flavor should make the cut?!”)
• Use countdown stickers and reminders on Instagram
• Send an email newsletter to keep your current customers in the know and in anticipation mode
• Go LIVE on social media and be EXCITED about what you’re creating and selling.
• Offer samples while you’re in “creation” mode to see what your customers are LOVING and what they aren’t. People LOVE to feel like they are a part of something bigger.

The more anticipation you create, the more hype and excitement your customers will have, which will result in HIGHER SALES.

Again, friend, you cannot launch your holiday menu/offers to a cold audience. Which means you need to be constantly PLANNING, ORGANIZING, and moving through your business with intention.

Step 3: Create Limited-Time Offers

Scarcity sells. Period.

When people know something is limited, they move faster.

Some ways you can create scarcity in your business are by offering LIMITED-TIME menus/products/offers. Which makes the HOLIDAYS the perfect time to capitalize on this marketing tactic.

Say things like:

• “Only 20 boxes available.”
• “Orders close Friday at 5 PM”
• “First 10 orders get a free cupcake.”

Exclusivity + urgency = higher conversions.

Step 4: Automate As Much As Possible

Your mental health and sanity matter just as much as your sales do.

One of the BIGGEST mistakes I made when I was knee-deep in running my business was putting my health (physically & mentally) on the back burner. Looking back now, I understand that a HUGE PART of me “falling out of love” with my business was due to the fact that I was constantly burnt out. And friend, I don’t want that for you.

I can’t emphasize this enough, but your to-do list will be there whether you take an hour break, 2 days, or leave for a week-long vacation. And no amount of sales is WORTH your health, period.

So I wanna encourage you to use tools to schedule your social media posts, batch create content, leverage processes and systems to collect orders/answer inquiries, and send email reminders so you’re not glued to your phone 24/7.

That’s why I created my Double Your Holiday Sales Workshop - to teach bakers and small business owners like you, exactly how to set up promotions, automate your marketing, and make holiday sales (and season) less stressful but more profitable.

(You can check out that 90-minute training here!)

Step 5: Repurpose Your Promotions Year-Round

You wanna know the GREAT thing about planning? Besides the increase in efficiency and clarity, you feel in your business? It’s that once you do it ONE TIME, you can essentially rinse and repeat every single year after that.

• Reuse last year’s best-selling menu!
• Refresh your captions, swap out dates, and relaunch what has already proven to work
• Keep a “promotion archive” so you’re never starting from scratch

Sounds easy enough, right? Yet, I see business owners continue to struggle every single holiday season because they don’t actually PLAN. And that is the key component to all of this working.

You say you want more TIME in your business, you want better balance, you want more sales, and more structure and organization… but if you don’t actually take the time to sit down and PLAN, and get organized around your business, then you’ll continue to feel like you’re constantly catching up.

Whether you’re tired of feeling constantly stressed out, like you’re doing all the things but can never catch a freaking breath during the holiday seasons or EVERY DAY in your business, then this is your sign to take a step back, grab a calendar, and start planning in your business with intention.

One way I would do this in my baking business is at the beginning of EVERY SINGLE MONTH, I would sit down with my calendar, pull out the social celebrator, and write down every single important date/ wacky holiday I could use to market my products and offers. By doing this at least a month in advance, I would be able to relay to my team exactly WHAT flavors and products we were going to do, when we would offer them, when we needed to photograph or create content for them, when we needed to purchase inventory and it made not only my team feel organized, equipped, and prepared BUT also alleviated so much stress off my plate.

The holidays are RIGHT around the corner, friend, now is the time to get planful if you aren’t already, so you can WIN this season.