Most businesses still treat the Christmas season as the saving grace of the year. Everyone wants to make a big splash, everyone wants to „be present,” and every brand feels like if they don’t push it past December, they’re missing out on something.
Meanwhile, the reality is that in 2025, Christmas marketing it's getting more expensive, consumers are getting more tired, campaigns are getting more similar - and most importantly: are becoming increasingly ineffective.

It's not just a feeling. The numbers, behavioral trends, and marketing saturation all point in this direction.

Christmas marketing has run out of steam

Many people don't dare to say it because this is one of the most sacred times in the profession, but the Christmas marketing It has lost its charm today. The patterns are the same, the creatives are formulaic, and the audience is saturated long before the December peak.

In the consumer's mind, this sounds like this:
„The same ten gift ideas, the same promotion, the same lyrics, the same music.”
And if everything is the same, then in fact nothing stands out.

From a marketing perspective, this is the worst situation: when everyone spends more and more without any real difference.

All brands do the same thing

Christmas marketing is ineffective because it has almost completely lost its distinctiveness. Most campaigns:

• uses the same "magic" panels,

• attacks with the same stock photographer smile,

• shouts the same discount percentages,

• gives the same advice („surprise your loved ones…”).

The consumer now instantly recognizes the template.
The question is not whether he likes it – but whether he will get to it at all, or whether the advertising noise will automatically filter it out.

Creativity was replaced by routine.
Routine is replaced by reflex.
And the reflex is replaced by panic communication: "we need to advertise more because it's December.".

Christmas campaigns are getting more expensive

Seasonal bidding wars are driving up ad prices across all platforms. In most industries, December:

• CPC and CPM are much higher,

• ad impressions costs are breaking records,

• smaller businesses are simply pushed out of the market,

• and the big ones spend – but not necessarily efficiently.

Some of the campaigns clearly show:
if the same amount were spent in February, more customers, higher conversion and a better return would be the result.

For many businesses, the Christmas season is no longer an investment, but habitual money burning.

Consumers are tired too

One of the biggest problems with Christmas marketing is that Christmas itself has become busy.

The buyer in December:

• rush,

• organize,

• takes care of the family,

• solve year-end tasks at work,

• Meanwhile, you're faced with ads on every platform.

It's not that he's not paying attention, but he doesn't want to pay attention.
Due to stress and decision fatigue, most people automatically scroll on – and not because they don't care about what they see, but because they no longer have the capacity to absorb it.

At a time when people are already overwhelmed, marketing adds three more layers.

It's no coincidence that Christmas advertising avoidance is at a record high today.

Marketers are tired too

At Christmas, a significant portion of marketing teams are working with deadlines, rushing, and "just another quick campaign" type tasks.
Meanwhile, creative quality typically deteriorates, campaign structure falls apart, and there is an extra version of everything.

The Christmas Marketing is no longer a strategy in many places, but survival mode.

That's the bad news.
The good news is: that's exactly why you can stand out as someone who... that's not what he does.

The numbers don't add up either.

The performance of Christmas campaigns has been deteriorating for years.
The most visible problems:

Declining CTR

Because of the noise of advertising, click-through rates for many businesses are lower in December than any other month. People scroll past or don't even realize it's a new ad.

Weakening conversion

Decision fatigue reduces the willingness to buy.
No matter how many searches there are, no matter how many website visits there are: the conversion rate it is falling back in many places.

The long-term value of brands is damaged

Many sales and offers create the impression that the brand itself is „cheap.” Consumers easily get used to the fact that there will be a discount at Christmas anyway – and are less and less willing to buy at full price from January to November.

If a brand for years on the "price basis" "Christmas is coming", then it loses its premium identity.

Why don't companies see this?

For three simple reasons.

Very few dare to stand out.
Everyone follows the usual patterns.
And marketers can't always contradict managers.

Christmas marketing continues this way not because it works, but because "that's how we used to do it.".

The vast majority of companies celebrate Christmas out of reflex, not strategy.

What could be done – alternatives that really work

The solution is not to "not have a Christmas campaign".
The solution is to be smarter.

Fewer campaigns, but stronger focus

You don't have to go to every platform.
You don't have to communicate everything at once.
You don't need ten separate offers.

A single, crystal-clear message is often more effective than a flood of advertising.

Fewer promotions, but more real value

The consumer does not always react to price.

Much rather:

• for fast delivery,

• reliability,

• gifting convenience services,

• for more personal communication.

Honest, normal voice

The time for templated holiday texts is over.
People remember the natural, human voice – especially in an overly „plastic” era.

Content marketing at Christmas too

Instead of or alongside ads, you can educate, help, guide, and inspire. These types of content are much more likely to appear in AI summaries.

AI-friendly structure

This is especially important in December 2025.
Short blocks, logical structure, transparent offers, clear value.

AI doesn't adopt Christmas clichés.
AI highlights valuable, clean, concise content.

Silence as a strategic weapon

Sometimes in the greatest noise, silence is the loudest.
A brand can be very strong if it doesn't try to outshine its competitors, but rather comes up with a clean, focused, and clear message.

Christmas marketing doesn't work because there's a lot of it.
Christmas marketing works because good.
And good is often less, not more.

What to expect in 2026?

Next year, AI will filter out weak campaigns even more. SERPs will become more visual, content will need to be demonstrable, useful, and relevant. And consumers will become even less tolerant of noise.

2026 will benefit those who start transforming their Christmas communications now:

• more focused campaigns,

• for clear messages,

• to a human voice,

• AI-enabled content.

The following article will be about this:
AI optimization for 2026 - how to create campaigns that pass both the AI filter and the consumer?

It will be worth coming back!!