Left it late? You can still make more Christmas sales in your handmade business

If this sounds like you, then your marketing isn’t doing enough of the work of selling.

It probably isnt:

• Frequent enough in the key buying weeks
• Direct enough about who it’s for, how to buy, and when
• Planned with sales as the main job of every post and email

The good news is, changing how you show up in the next few weeks can still bring in more Christmas orders.

Even if you’re starting now, there is still money on the table between Black Friday and your last order date.

Here’s how the Christmas Campaign Map helps you use the next 2-3 weeks to bring in more orders:

1. Cut overthinking so you can post and email when it matters most
You can and should show up a lot more in these last few weeks. It won’t be comfortable, but having a clear plan to follow makes it easier to keep going when you’d normally pull back.

2. Be more direct and sales-focused, without discounting
Christmas buyers are busy and distracted. They need you to spell out who your work is for, how to buy it and when they need to order. The more clearly and often you say it, the more chances you give yourself to make a sale, without discounting.

3. Stop posting just for vibes. Make stories and behind-the-scenes posts work towards a sale
“Here’s what I’m up to” posts feel comfortable and low risk to share, but they don’t give people reasons to buy. Posts that answer real questions, show your work in use and explain who it’s for, quietly do the sales job in the background. And that makes your direct offers more effective.

4. Skip the overwhelm of planning multiple weeks of content from scratch
Planning a few weeks of content usually leads to overwhelm or procrastination. A simple plan to show up as much as possible for the last few weeks of the season will keep you consistent enough to give people several chances to buy.

Why it’s not too late

As annoying as Black Friday can be, it wakes up even the most last-minute shoppers to the fact that Christmas is here. Even if you don’t discount, you benefit from the big spike in buying … as long as you’re showing up with clear offers while customers are in that mindset.

From Black Friday onwards, there are two big chances left to bring in more Christmas orders:

• The days after Black Friday – when Christmas shopping gathers real momentum and a big chunk of orders are placed.

   

• The build-up to your last shipping date – the best remaining opportunity to turn interest into orders, as natural urgency works in your favour, if you stay visible.

   

After your last shipping date, there’s a smaller top-up window for digital products, gift vouchers and highlighting your shows, events and stockists. It’s not a second Christmas, but you can still pick up a few extra orders you’d otherwise miss.

You can’t control the cost of living, or whether people feel “Christmassy.”
The only thing you can control now is how much you’re willing to push between today and Christmas.

The Christmas Campaign Map will help you push as much as you can with the capacity you’ve got. You’ll be able to send more clear, timely offers without getting overwhelmed or second guessing yourself. And you’ll still have time for your actual work, instead of feeling like a social media manager. 

If your average order value is £25-£35, two extra orders can easily cover the cost of the Christmas Campaign Map and next year you’ll be able to reuse it, instead of starting from zero.

What’s Included (and how to use it right now) 

A Full Christmas Season Marketing Campaign for Handmade Makers

What you get: A complete campaign calendar, spanning the four phases of Christmas (warm-up, product focus, urgency, last-minute).

How to use it right now: Jump straight to the phase you’re in (post–Black Friday, last shipping week or last-minute) and use it as your guide to the messages your customers need to hear to buy from you over the next couple of weeks.

15 email templates that move people towards buying

What you get: 15 plug-and-play Christmas emails you can adapt quickly, including gift guides, “order by this date” / “here’s what’s still available” reminders, and last-chance / final-days-to-order emails.

How to use it right now: Fill in the blanks and schedule your most important emails first -> last shipping date reminders and any other deadlines. Then work backwards and schedule as many of the rest as you can.

125+ Caption Prompts for Social Media

What you get: 125+ prompts written for handmade businesses to help you sell, not just “show up”.

How to use it right now: Start by scheduling one strong post per week from now until Christmas so the whole period is covered. Then, as you have capacity, stack a second, third and fourth post into each week so your busiest weeks aren’t left empty if you run out of time.

Weekly Planner

What you get: A one-page planner to map out 7-10 days of posts and emails.

How to use it right now: Drop your chosen emails and captions into it so each day you’re following a plan, not trying to think of something new on the spot.

Bonus: Holiday Messaging Guide

What you get: A bank of phrases and angles to add personality, urgency and “why now” to your posts and emails, without sounding pushy or weird.

How to use it right now: Use it to tweak your captions and emails when you need a bit of extra sparkle or a bit more of a sales push.

Bonus: Visual Prep Checklist

What you get: A short checklist of photos and video clips to capture.

How to use it right now: If you’ve got time, spend one short session getting a few great images, then reuse them across multiple posts and emails. If not, save this guide for next year.

The Christmas Campaign Map will help you turn “I’ve been posting regularly” into a concentrated sales push in the exact weeks people are buying, with more frequent, more direct messages designed to bring in orders before your cut-off date.

And once you’ve done that once, you’ve got a complete campaign you can pick up and reuse next Christmas instead of rebuilding everything from scratch.