Your 2026 D2C Calendar mapped day by day - Powered by real data from India’s biggest D2C shopping network
Your 2026 D2C Calendar mapped day by day - Powered by real data from India’s biggest D2C shopping network
Your 2026 D2C Calendar mapped day by day - Powered by real data from India’s biggest D2C shopping network
Your 2026 D2C Calendar mapped day by day - Powered by real data from India’s biggest D2C shopping network
Kwik Engage
WhatsApp Marketing For Holiday Season: A Step-by-step Guide
14 Mar 2026
09 Min Read
Suhag spearheads D2C growth strategies at GoKwik, focusing on e-commerce optimisation, conversion funnels, and sales enablement. Based in Bengaluru and an MICA alumnus, he excels in crafting GTM playbooks and marketing campaigns tailored for D2C brands.
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The holiday season is just around the corner! eCommerce brands have already begun preparations for marketing and promotions. A large number of brands are including WhatsApp in their holiday season marketing. That’s because it’s a direct, personal, and quick channel. In this blog, we share how you can set up and run effective WhatsApp marketing for the holiday season.
Let’s get started!
Benefits Of Using WhatsApp Marketing For Holiday Seasons
68% of brands say WhatsApp delivers a positive ROI. Given that the average response time on WhatsApp is 90 seconds and it has an open rate of 98%, there’s no doubt it’s one of the fastest and easiest channels for marketing, especially during the Holiday Season sales frenzy. Here’s why you must include WhatsApp marketing in your holiday season marketing plan.
1. High Open Rate
As mentioned earlier, WhatsApp has an open rate of 98%. This assures that most customers in your contact list will open your messages. When you send out promotional messages to promote holiday season sales, customers are likelier to open them compared to emails or ads.
2. Communicate Directly With Customers
WhatsApp is a personal and direct channel. You can directly interact with customers and hence personalize offers, etc. For instance, say a customer seems to be losing interest in your product while chatting with you. You can offer them a personalized offer to improve the probability of retaining them.
3. Leverage Global Reach
Globally, there are almost three billion WhatsApp users. This presents a massive opportunity for eCommerce brands. No matter where customers are, brands can reach them, interact with them, and engage them via WhatsApp.
4. Cost-effective channel
Compared to other marketing formats and channels, such as advertising, paid media and ads, WhatsApp is more cost-effective. WhatsApp messages cost a minimal amount and can be sent to bulk contacts in one go.
Also Read: How To Get WhatsApp Blue Tick Verification For Your Business (2026 Ultimate Guide)
Also Read: How To Get WhatsApp Blue Tick Verification For Your Business (2026 Ultimate Guide)
How To Get Started With WhatsApp Marketing For Holiday Season?
Setting up your WhatsApp account before the holiday season and running marketing campaigns is easy. Here’s a quick guide to get you started.
1. Set Up Your WhatsApp Business Account
Setting up your WhatsApp business account is easy. You need to download the app, install it and register your business phone number. Once your number gets verified, you must set up your business profile. You will require a business name, category and profile picture for starters. You will have to complete your WhatsApp business profile by adding an address, description, hours, email and website, etc.
2. Choose A Business API Solution
WhatsApp Business API helps with scaling, automation, security, and integration with CRM, among other advantages. One of the first steps is to choose a WhatsApp business solution provider. Then you will have to apply for access, set up your API environments, and set up use cases for automation for the holiday season. Once set up, you can automate your WhatsApp messages to scale your business.
3. Build Your Contact List
Next, you’ll have to build a contact list to ensure you reach your target audience for WhatsApp marketing for the holiday season. Here are some ways to build your contact list:
- Include a WhatsApp button on your website. You could include it in the homepage, product pages, contact pages, and checkout pages, among other pages. You could also show pop-ups with your WhatsApp button.
- Share your WhatsApp link or number in your social accounts, in the profile, in posts, etc. You could also engage in influencer collaboration and share your WhatsApp link to increase your contact list.
- Another way to increase your WhatsApp contact list is to run click-to-WhatsApp-ads. You could include Facebook and Instagram ads with a link to your WhatsApp business account, or you could also run Google ads.
- Email marketing is another way to grow your WhatsApp contact list—add your WhatsApp link in your signature or within your email campaigns.
- Last but not least, encourage people to opt-in. Offer incentives, show them a clear value proposition and make the opt-in process easy for them.
4. Plan Your Holiday Season WhatsApp Campaigns
Your holiday season WhatsApp campaigns should attract customers to click, engage, convert and keep coming back from more. For that, you will need to plan your campaigns well. Here are some steps to do so:
- Set a clear campaign goal—driving traffic to your website, boosting sales, higher engagement, etc.
- You must also identify key metrics, such as open rate, click-through rate, conversions, etc.
- Segment your WhatsApp contact list based on different parameters, so that you can send personalized messages to customers.
- Come up with unique and engaging holiday season WhatsApp campaigns.
- Schedule automated WhatsApp messages for your holiday season marketing campaigns
Leverage WhatsApp Features For Better Results
WhatsApp business has several features that you could use to enhance and support your holiday season marketing campaigns. For instance,
- Catalog to showcase your products and holiday season specials
- Broadcast lists for bulk messaging and personalization
- Quick replies for consistent messaging and easy communication
- Polls to engage customers with quizzes
- Segmentation for better personalization
- Send interactive messages with rich media feature
- Click-to-WhatsApp ads for cross-channel marketing
How To Use WhatsApp Marketing For The Holiday Season
The holiday and festive season can be a strategic time to run WhatsApp marketing message for the holiday season. When planned beforehand, you can implement effective strategies to boost engagement and sales. Here are WhatsApp marketing strategies you can use before, during, and after the holiday season.
Before The Holiday Season
1. Create A WhatsApp Holiday Season Catalogue
Prioritize your WhatsApp marketing for the holiday season by creating a dedicated holiday season catalogue. It can help promote your offers and deals. Customers can easily click on your catalogue link and browse through the offers and select their products before the sale begins.
2. Run Click-to-WhatsApp-ads
One of the best strategies for WhatsApp marketing for the holiday season is to run click-through WhatsApp ads. You could combine it with all your other channels, such as email, SMS, social media, web push, etc. Share holiday season deals prompting people to click on links that bring them to WhatsApp.
3. Run Polls And Quizzes
Quizzes and polls are a great way to generate a buzz around your holiday season offers. For example, create quizzes about your offers, products, etc. You could ask customers to click on your WhatsApp link to know the results.
4. Create Teasers About Your Offers
Before the holiday and festive sale begins, you could promote your products and collections via teasers on WhatsApp. The idea is to not give away too much information. Rather, share just about enough information to hook your WhatsApp contacts.
5. Take Pre-orders
There might be many irresistible offers and deals in your holiday season sale. You could promote it by creating pre-order campaigns. For instance, create a separate pre-order catalogue on WhatsApp, and allow customers to browse and pre-order them before your sale begins.
During The Holiday Season
1. Run Real-time Campaigns
Customers’ behaviour during the sale may be quite different. For instance, they may add many products to the cart but not buy. Monitor and track their behaviour and send real-time WhatsApp messages to encourage more sales and engagement.
2. Double Up On Live Deal Announcements
You might be running some live deals during the sale. Ensure you keep promoting them. When customers are reminded about the same deals over and over again, they might engage more and end up buying.
3. Create Urgency-based Campaigns
One of the best strategies for WhatsApp marketing for the holiday season is to create a sense of urgency. When products are fast selling out or many people are browsing the same product, send WhatsApp updates to customers telling them about their favourite products.
4. Personalise Holiday Season Sale Messages
Even though it’s sale time, you can still personalize promotional messages. You do not have to send all the messages to everyone. Consider sending promo messages based on customer segments. For instance, consider demographics, past purchases, engagement levels, etc. segments.
5. Send Abandoned Cart Recovery Messages
Customers may be shopping on multiple sites during the holiday season. They may add products to the cart but not buy them. Send them cart recovery messages on WhatsApp. You could personalize these messages by adding more discounts or giving another incentive.
After the holiday season
1. Collect Feedback And Review Via WhatsApp
Soon after the holiday season, you must run feedback and review collection campaigns on WhatsApp. As the purchases are fresh for customers, it’s a good time to ask them to share their thoughts and feedback.
2. Sale Extension Campaigns
Another effective strategy for WhatsApp marketing for the holiday season after the sale is over is to announce a sale extension. Customers who missed buying products during the sales will get another opportunity to purchase. You could also give more discounts to ensure your leftover stocks get sold out.
3. Run Retargeting Campaigns
Collect data about customers who did not buy products. Conversely, you could also run cross-selling campaigns after the festive season sale ends. This way, you can keep customers engaged as well as ensure there are some sales during the low period.
4. Run Inventory Refresh Campaigns
Once the sale is over, you will add new products and collections to your store. This is a good opportunity to bring customers back to check out what’s new in your store. For instance, your new collections may also be seasonal.
5. Cross-channel Campaigns
You might have added many new contacts during the holiday season sale—your first-time customers. Once the festive sale is over, run campaigns to encourage them to join your other channels, such as, social media, SMS, email, etc.
Ready For WhatsApp Marketing For The Holiday Season?
WhatsApp has a sea of features and opportunities to reach out to a vast customer segment. Moreover, with WhatsApp’s interactive and engaging feature, you can get as creative as you like, offering unique and innovative campaigns to hook customers.
To help you leverage WhatsApp’s real potential, you’ll need an eCommerce app for support. Meet GoKwik’s Kwik Engage, a smart solution designed for eCommerce businesses for success.
AUTHOR
Suhag Vamja
Head of Product Marketing @ GoKwik
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