The holidays are when your regulars are busiest and most reachable at the same time. They're booking parties, buying gifts, making plans with family and looking for a reason to get out of the house. A well-timed text puts you in those plans. A badly timed one gets you muted until spring.

Here's a calendar of the fall and winter dates worth planning around, what to send for each, and how to keep the season from turning into a flood of messages. At the end there's a short look at the rest of the year, so this works as your planning calendar all year round.

Before the season starts

  • Grow the list first. Put a keyword or QR code on table tents, receipts, front desks and social posts in October. Everyone who joins before Thanksgiving is someone you can reach in December. See list-growth tools.
  • Plan two to four messages per holiday, not per day. Most of the season's best results come from a few well-timed texts, not a countdown.
  • Schedule ahead. Build the season's campaigns in October and schedule them, so December doesn't depend on someone remembering to hit send during the rush.
  • Segment by location. A holiday schedule, a sold-out event or a location-specific special should only go to the people it applies to.

Halloween (October 31)

Start: one to two weeks before.

A natural fit for bars, venues and entertainment spots: costume nights, themed events and late-night specials. Studios can run themed classes. A picture message works well here, since the flyer does the selling.

Example: "Costume contest Saturday at 9. Best costume wins a $100 tab. Show this text at the door to skip the cover. Reply STOP to opt out."

Thanksgiving week (November 26, 2026)

Start: the week before.

The night before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest bar nights of the year, and the long weekend is when families look for something to do together. Restaurants can promote catering and pickup orders; studios can promote a turkey-burn class on Thanksgiving morning.

Thanksgiving is also a good moment for a thank-you message with no offer attached. It costs nothing and it's the message regulars remember.

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday (November 27–30, 2026)

Start: the week of Thanksgiving.

For most service businesses this weekend is about gift cards, not doorbusters. "Buy a $50 gift card, get a $10 bonus card for yourself" sells the gift and brings the buyer back in January. Small Business Saturday is a good fit for independent and locally owned locations: lead with what makes you local.

Give your text list early access. Subscribers who hear about the gift card offer a day before everyone else learn that the list is worth staying on.

December: parties, gifts and holiday schedules

Start: the first week of December, or mid-November for group bookings.

  • Holiday party bookings. Restaurants and venues fill private rooms and large tables early. A text in mid-November gets to the organizer before the rooms are gone.
  • Gift cards and memberships. Gift memberships and class packs make easy last-minute gifts. Remind customers in the last week before Christmas, when they're out of ideas.
  • Hours and closures. Holiday hours are the most useful text you'll send all month. Send them to each location's list separately.
  • Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Hanukkah's dates shift each year; in 2026 it begins the evening of December 4. Kwanzaa runs December 26 to January 1. If you recognize them, keep the message warm and genuine rather than promotional.

The week after Christmas (December 26 – January 5)

This is the most overlooked window of the year. Customers have gift cards in hand, time off and fewer plans. A short series that invites them to use their gift cards, book a class or come in for a quiet-week special lands when almost no one else is texting.

Keep it to a few messages over the period, not one a day. The point is to be the reminder they needed, not another notification to swipe away.

New Year's Eve and January

New Year's Eve: venues and restaurants should start promoting events and reservations right after Christmas, and send a final "a few spots left" message only if it's true.

January: the best month of the year for fitness and wellness studios. A "start the year with us" offer for lapsed members and new sign-ups fits the moment. For restaurants and bars, January is a slow month worth filling with a weeknight special for regulars.

Planning the rest of the year

The same approach works year-round. The dates worth a spot on the calendar for most of our customers:

  • Valentine's Day (February 14): reservations, prix fixe menus and couples' classes. Start two weeks out.
  • St. Patrick's Day (March 17): a big night for bars and venues.
  • Easter and Mother's Day (the second Sunday in May): brunch reservations and gift cards. Mother's Day bookings fill early, so start about two weeks before.
  • Graduation season (late April to June): private events and group dinners.
  • Summer and the Fourth of July: patio openings, outdoor events and summer schedules.
  • Back to school (August): schedule changes, family specials and fall class enrollment.

How to run a holiday campaign well

  • Make urgency real. "Ends Sunday at midnight" works; "last chance!" every week doesn't. If you set a deadline, keep it.
  • Use coupons you can track. A mobile coupon tied to each location shows you which holiday offer actually brought people in, and where.
  • Send pictures when the picture sells it. Event flyers, holiday menus and party packages work better as MMS.
  • Respect the hours. Federal rules restrict marketing texts before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and some states are stricter. The holiday rush isn't an exception.
  • Include opt-out language. Every message needs a way out, like "Reply STOP to opt out."
  • Review results in January. Note which messages drove redemptions, replies and bookings, and build next year's calendar from that.

Mobiniti makes the planning part easier: schedule the whole season in advance, segment by location and track every coupon redemption. Book a demo and we'll help you map out your holiday calendar.