A Simple 5-Minute Exercise to Plan Your Gift Occasion Marketing for the Year Ahead
- Eve Cale
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
As the year winds down and Christmas orders slow, it’s tempting to completely switch off from business planning. But this time is actually a brilliant opportunity to give your future self a head start, without spending hours on strategy.
All it takes is five minutes and a quick look back.
Look back before you plan ahead
Instead of asking “What products should I sell next year?”, start with a much more useful question:
When did people buy my product as a gift this year? Not just for Christmas.
Think about all the other moments your customers bought for someone else:
Birthdays
Thank you gifts
Celebrations
“Just because” surprises
Supportive or thoughtful gestures
These reasons are gold. They’re real, proven buying triggers — and they’re exactly what you want to build into your marketing going forward.
If someone has already bought your product as a gift for one of these occasions, it means:
Your product already works as a gift
Your audience already thinks of it that way
You’re not starting from scratch next year
Which gift occasions did your products get bought for this year?
Choose just one occasion to start with
Once you’ve spotted a few gifting patterns, don’t try to plan the entire year in one go. That’s overwhelming and unnecessary. Instead, ask yourself this simple question:
What will be the first gifting occasion I talk about next year?
To help you decide, here are a few prompts for the first part of 2026:
January birthday gifts
Galentine’s Day – 13th February
Valentine’s Day – 14th February
Random Acts of Kindness Day – 17th February
Mother’s Day – 15th March
Easter – early this year on 5th April, which means it really needs promoting in March
You don’t need a full campaign mapped out, just choose one occasion to focus on first. That single decision can make your marketing feel clearer and more intentional straight away.
Why this works so well
When you talk about gifting occasions:
You give people a reason to buy now
You help customers visualise who the product could be for
You make your product feel thoughtful, not transactional
And when you layer in how you package and wrap the product, that’s when your product really starts to stand out.
Want more inspiration?
If you’d like help spotting more gifting opportunities, you can download my free resource: 50 occasions & ideas for using gifts & wrapping in your business
It’s designed to help product-based businesses see just how many moments throughout the year gifting fits naturally.
A date for your diary
In the week commencing 19th January, I’ll be running a free online challenge: Unwrap the Potential.
We’ll be looking at how to use gifting and gift wrapping more strategically in your business, so you’re not scrambling at the last minute every time an occasion comes around.
If this post got you thinking differently about how people buy from you, the challenge will help you turn that thinking into action! Register for free to be the first to hear all the details
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