How to Plan Your Christmas Content Before November Ends
Every year it's the same story.
December arrives, the diary fills up, the shop or restaurant gets busier than ever, and somewhere in the middle of it all comes that thought:
"We really should be posting some Christmas content."
So the festive posts end up being a quick phone photo of the tree, taken at 4pm when the light has already gone.
Here's the thing. The businesses whose Christmas content looks effortless didn't create it in December. They planned it in November.
And there's still time for you to do the same.
Why November is your real Christmas deadline
Your customers start thinking about Christmas long before you do. They're booking parties, browsing gift ideas and planning where to eat from early November. If your festive content only appears in mid-December, you've missed most of the moment.
There are practical reasons too. December is usually your busiest month, so there's no time to shoot. And here in the UK the light disappears fast. By mid-December it's practically dark by 4pm, which makes taking good photos much harder.
Plan in November, shoot in November, and December becomes the easy part.
Step 1: Mark your key dates
Before you think about photos, grab a calendar and write down the moments that matter.
For example:
Black Friday: 27th of November
Small Business Saturday: 5th of December
Your own dates: when your Christmas menu launches, last order dates for gifts, festive opening hours, gift vouchers, New Year's Eve
These dates become the backbone of your plan. Everything else fits around them.
Step 2: Plan with the four types of content
In my playbook I talk about the four types of content that growing brands rotate between. They work beautifully at Christmas too:
Trust: the team putting up the decorations, behind the scenes of your festive menu, the people who make it all happen.
Educational: a gift guide, how to book a Christmas party, your festive opening hours.
Inspirational: the candlelit table, the beautifully wrapped gift, the cosy corner by the window.
Conversion: "Book your Christmas table", "Last orders for delivery". Roughly one in four posts, not every single one.
The mix matters. If every December post is a hard sell, people scroll past. If none of them are, nobody books.
Want the full framework? My free guide, The One Day Content Playbook, includes the exact four-week plan and planners I use with clients. It works just as well for your Christmas month. Download your free copy here.
Step 3: Turn your plan into a shot list
Aim for around three posts a week through December. That's about twelve posts, enough to stay visible without burning out.
Then turn each post idea into a specific shot. Not "something festive", but "Christmas menu dish on the window table with candles" or "hands wrapping a gift with our ribbon". The more specific your list, the faster your shoot runs and the less time you spend staring at a blank caption box later.
Step 4: Shoot it all in one day
This is my favourite part. Pick one day in mid-November and treat it like an important client booking.
A few tips from my own shoots:
Bring Christmas forward. Put the decorations up early, even just in one corner, just for the shoot. Nobody will know.
Shoot while the light is good. Mornings and early afternoon are best in winter. Find the window seat and work around it.
Style with intention. Think about the surfaces, props and seasonal touches that feel like your brand. Greenery, candles, linen, your own packaging.
Think in assets, not posts. One great image can become a grid post, a reel, a Story, a Google Business Profile update and an email header. Shoot a mix of wide shots, details and short video clips so you have everything you need.
Step 5: Schedule it and enjoy December
Once your content is shot, edited and organised, schedule as much as you can. Leave a little space for spontaneous moments, like a busy Friday night or the first frost, but let the plan do the heavy lifting.
Imagine walking into December knowing your content is already done. No 10pm captions. No dark phone photos. Just a beautiful, consistent feed while you focus on your customers.
Ready to plan your Christmas content?
That's exactly why I created The One Day Content Playbook. It's the simple process I use to plan, shoot and organise a month's worth of content in just one day, with a monthly planner, a weekly planner and a shoot-day checklist inside.
And if you'd rather leave it to someone else this year, I'd love to help you capture your Christmas content. Just get in touch at hello@medicreation.co :)
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