A New Year promotion often starts on December 20 with the thought “everyone is already doing it”: a quick design, a “-30%” label, one post and some ads. The result: sales grow a little, but profit ends up lower than last month. Here is how to avoid that.
1. When to start
The promotion runs in December, but it is prepared in November:
- November: goal, offer, price calculation, creatives and videos. Black Friday at the end of November is a good chance to test the promotion.
- December 1–20: the main period. People plan gifts and year-end purchases.
- December 20–31: the “last chance” stage. Delivery times and gift wrapping make the difference here.
- January 1–10: a slow period in many industries. Don’t put a big budget on this time.
In December, competition for ads grows and impressions get more expensive. A business that comes in with ready creatives and a tested audience gets more for the same money.
2. Calculate first, then discount
The discount comes out of your profit, not your revenue. A simple example: a product costs 100 UZS, cost price and expenses are 70, profit is 30. With a 20% discount, the price is 80 and the profit is 10: three times less. To earn the same profit as before, you need to sell three times more.
So before you launch, answer one question: how much profit is left from one sale after the discount, and can your ads bring in that many sales?
3. Which offers work
A discount is just one option, and the most expensive one. These often work better:
- Bundles. Two or three products together, cheaper than buying them separately. The average order value grows, and less profit is eaten up.
- A gift with purchase. A gift instead of a lower price. High value for the client, low cost for you.
- Gift certificates. The easiest purchase for people who don’t know what to give. The money comes in December, and the service is delivered in January–February.
- Corporate gifts (B2B). Companies buy gifts for employees and partners. Come with a separate offer, wholesale pricing and branding.
- Time-limited offer. With a clear end date. The deadline must be real. A “last day” that continues after December 31 destroys trust.
4. How to split SMM and ads
One post about the promotion is not enough. A working routine:
- Start with a warm audience. Followers, website visitors, people who watched your videos, your Telegram base. They buy first, and ads cost less for them.
- A separate creative for each offer. Not “discounts on everything”, but a specific product, price and deadline.
- Reels and Stories. The product in someone’s hands, a gift in its wrapping, the delivery process. Real footage sells better than a designed poster.
- Response speed. In December, more people write in Direct and in comments. Every unanswered message is a client who went to another store.
Targeted ads bring the promotion to new people, and SMM gives them a reason to buy. One without the other works only halfway.
A real example: on the Irtem Stroy Market page, the post that brought the most new followers in the last 90 days was a promotion post. A promotion with a specific product and a clear offer works even in a “boring” niche like construction equipment.
5. Five mistakes that waste your money
- Fake discount. Raising the price first, then offering “-50%”. Clients remember prices and point it out in the comments.
- Discount without calculation. You sold a lot, but profit is lower than last month.
- Late start. A promotion launched on December 25 runs into expensive ads and a tired audience.
- Complicated conditions. “Tag 3 friends, follow 5 pages…” Giveaways like this bring bots and random followers, not clients.
- No measurement. If you don’t know how many requests and sales the promotion brought, next year you will start by guessing again.
Summary: 5 questions for your promotion plan
Before December 1, answer these in writing: What is the goal of the promotion (sales, new clients, clearing old stock)? What is the offer, and how much profit is left after it? When does it start and when does it end? Which channels and what budget? How will you measure the result?
If you want to build your promotion plan together, we’ll calculate the offer and the budget in a free consultation.