Introduction to Holiday Season Insights
The 2025 holiday season was a significant year for brands, with online spending reaching record highs despite slower growth than the previous year. According to Adobe Analytics, online spending from November to December hit $258 billion, a 6.8% increase year-over-year. This growth indicates that consumers are increasingly turning to online platforms for their holiday shopping needs.
What People Searched for in December
December queries are shaped by the year people just lived through, sometimes signaling indulgence and other times restraint. Google’s Holiday 100 trends made a few patterns clear, with search interest clustering around practical gift categories such as movie projectors, weighted vests, kids’ scooters, and backpacks. This mix suggests steady demand for items that solve everyday needs and feel worth the spend.
Where Specificity Wins
Holiday SEO moved fast, with many Q4 search wins coming from specificity. Gift-giving phrases, problem-driven queries, and local intent tended to outperform broad holiday terms. Pages that spoke directly to last-minute or highly specific needs earned traction, while generic "Christmas" pages faced steeper competition and more mixed intent.
Building a Content Calendar That Works in January
If December reveals which content holds up under pressure, January is the time to translate those signals into structure. Use the month to reset your publishing rhythm around the pieces that consistently supported real decisions. A few best practices include publishing anchor content early, creating decision-support content, crafting audience-specific pieces, making space for short-cycle content, and focusing on low-friction formats.
Turning Holiday Insights Into Your Next Plan
The holiday season has passed, and what remains is the record: what people clicked, saved, returned to, and ignored when their attention was stretched thin. Start with what you already know. Pull the last two years of Q4 data and identify five things that consistently worked. Build around those wins. Add one new experiment to keep learning and to give yourself room to improve.
Conclusion
The key to a successful content strategy is to understand what works and what doesn’t. By analyzing post-holiday performance, identifying key metrics, and building a content calendar that works, marketers can create a strategy that drives results. Remember to prioritize clarity, focus on decision-support content, and leave room for flexibility in your calendar. By doing so, you can create a content strategy that pays dividends season after season.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
What’s the biggest lesson marketers should take from the 2025 holiday season?
That audiences reward clarity. Content that helps people compare options, feel confident, and move forward tends to outperform splashy, generic pieces — especially when budgets feel tight.
What metrics matter most when analyzing post-holiday performance?
Look beyond traffic. Prioritize assisted conversions, time on key decision pages, return visits, saves, and email sign-ups. These signals reveal which pieces reduced friction and moved people closer to a decision.
What should I prioritize in January when planning my calendar?
Build around what worked. Anchor evergreen guides early, schedule decision-support content around key moments, leave ~20% of your calendar open for flexibility, and use short-cycle formats when urgency spikes.