September may not feel like the holiday season yet, but for businesses running Google Ads, now is the time to start preparing.
Holiday shoppers often begin researching, comparing products, and looking for services well before Thanksgiving and Christmas arrive. If you wait until November to change your ads, you may already be competing in a crowded market for attention.
Preparing your Google Ads in September gives you time to update your messaging, create seasonal assets, review your campaigns, and make sure your website is ready before holiday searches really ramp up.
The goal isn’t to turn every ad into a holiday advertisement overnight. Instead, September is the time to start laying the groundwork so your campaigns can transition smoothly as the season approaches.
Why Your Google Ads Need a Holiday Refresh
Your everyday advertising may work well throughout the year, but holiday customers often have different priorities.
During the holiday season, people may be searching for:
- Holiday deals and promotions
- Gift ideas
- Seasonal products and services
- Holiday events
- Gift cards
- Limited-time offers
- Last-minute services
- Products or services they need before a specific holiday deadline
Your ads should reflect those changing needs.
Google recommends adapting keywords, ad text, and landing pages to match seasonal promotions and holiday-specific offers.
That doesn’t mean you need to completely rebuild your Google Ads account. Instead, think of it as giving your campaigns a seasonal update that makes your business more relevant to what customers are searching for.
September Is the Time to Start
Don’t wait until Black Friday to start preparing for Black Friday.
September is a great time to review your campaigns and begin developing the assets you’ll need for the holiday season. Google also recommends preparing seasonal campaigns in advance, and certain Performance Max seasonal asset groups should be uploaded at least two weeks before a promotion to allow time for approval and ramp-up.
Starting now gives you room to make changes without scrambling later.
Review Last Year’s Performance
Before creating new holiday ads, look at what happened last year.
Review your Google Ads data and identify:
- Which campaigns generated the most conversions
- Which products or services performed best
- Which keywords brought in qualified traffic
- Which ads had strong engagement
- Your cost per lead or purchase
- Which promotions performed well
- Where you may have wasted budget
Your previous holiday performance can give you a useful starting point for this year’s strategy.
You don’t need to repeat everything you did last year, but your historical data can help you make smarter decisions about where to put your time and budget.
Start Shifting Your Ad Copy
September is a good time to begin planning how your messaging will change throughout the season.
You may not want to put “Christmas Sale!” in every headline on September 1, but you can start preparing messaging that will become more seasonal as the holidays get closer.
For example, a general ad might say:
“Professional Holiday Lighting Installation”
As the season approaches, you could shift the messaging to:
“Book Your Holiday Lights Early”
Then, when your promotion is active:
“Holiday Lighting Special | Book Today”
The messaging becomes increasingly focused on urgency, promotions, and seasonal needs as customers get closer to making a decision.
Refresh Your Google Ads Assets
Your headlines and descriptions aren’t the only things that deserve attention.
If you’re running campaigns that use images, videos, sitelinks, callouts, or other assets, September is a good time to start creating your holiday versions.
Depending on your business, that could include:
Holiday Images:
Show your products, services, or business in a seasonal setting.
Promotional Assets:
Highlight discounts, special offers, or limited-time promotions.
Sitelinks:
Send customers directly to holiday collections, gift guides, special offers, booking pages, or other relevant sections of your website.
Callouts:
Highlight benefits such as free shipping, gift cards, holiday booking, limited availability, or other seasonal advantages.
Google recommends using a variety of relevant assets and keeping them aligned with the promotions or services being advertised.
For Performance Max campaigns, Google also recommends regularly refreshing creative assets and using new asset groups when promoting seasonal offers.
Give Your Visuals a Holiday Update
If your campaigns rely heavily on visual advertising, don’t wait until November to start looking for holiday creative.
Start thinking about what imagery will make sense for your business.
Depending on your industry, that could mean:
- Holiday-themed product photography
- Seasonal service images
- Gift-focused graphics
- Winter imagery
- Holiday events
- Before-and-after seasonal projects
- Short holiday videos
Your visuals don’t necessarily need to be covered in Christmas decorations. The goal is to make the creative feel timely and relevant while still representing your actual business.
And remember, good creative should support the message of the ad. If you’re promoting a holiday service, show the service. If you’re promoting a gift, show the product.
Make Sure Your Landing Pages Match
Imagine someone clicks an ad that says:
“20% Off Holiday Services”
Then they land on your generic homepage and have to search around to figure out where the offer is.
That’s a pretty easy way to lose a potential customer.
Your holiday ads should lead to landing pages that match the message of the advertisement whenever possible.
Before the holiday season gets busy, check that your landing pages:
- Clearly explain the offer
- Include accurate pricing and promotion details
- Have a clear call to action
- Work well on mobile devices
- Include relevant holiday information
- Make it easy to contact, purchase, schedule, or book
Google recommends using landing pages that are specific to the holiday or promotion being advertised.
Plan Your Holiday Budget
Holiday advertising can become more competitive as more businesses increase their advertising activity.
That doesn’t mean you should automatically increase your budget just because it’s the holiday season.
Instead, use your historical performance to determine where additional budget could make sense.
You may want to prioritize campaigns promoting your most profitable products or services, campaigns that consistently generate leads, or keywords with strong purchase intent.
It’s also important to monitor your campaigns closely once holiday demand increases. If a campaign is performing exceptionally well, you may want to shift more budget toward it. If another campaign isn’t producing results, you can make adjustments before wasting valuable holiday advertising dollars.
Build Your Holiday Strategy in Stages
One of the easiest ways to approach seasonal Google Ads is to gradually change your messaging instead of flipping a switch overnight.
September: Prepare
Review last year’s data, determine your holiday priorities, and start creating your seasonal copy and creative.
October: Start the Transition
Begin introducing seasonal messaging, holiday services, gift-focused products, or upcoming promotions depending on your industry and customer buying cycle.
November: Increase Holiday Focus
As holiday searches become more competitive, shift more of your messaging toward promotions, gift ideas, seasonal services, and other holiday-specific benefits.
December: Create Urgency
As deadlines approach, make your messaging more action-oriented. Highlight limited availability, final booking dates, order deadlines, gift cards, or last-minute options when applicable.
The exact timeline will vary by business. A company selling holiday gifts may need to shift its messaging earlier than a business offering a service that customers typically book in December.
Don’t Forget to Turn Off Expired Promotions
Holiday advertising doesn’t end when the promotion does.
Once a sale or seasonal offer ends, make sure your ads and assets are updated.
This is especially important for:
- Black Friday promotions
- Cyber Monday offers
- Christmas sales
- Limited-time discounts
- Holiday booking deadlines
- Seasonal services
- Expired coupon codes
Google Ads allows certain assets to be scheduled with specific start and end dates, which can help keep time-sensitive messaging current.
You don’t want someone clicking an ad for a holiday promotion only to discover that the offer ended two weeks ago.
Start Preparing Before the Holiday Rush
The holiday season rewards businesses that plan ahead.
By starting in September, you have time to review your data, develop seasonal messaging, create new creative assets, update landing pages, and make strategic decisions about your advertising budget.
More importantly, you can make those decisions before holiday competition and search volume reach their peak.
At Smart Marketing, we help businesses develop and manage digital advertising strategies that adapt to changing customer behavior and seasonal opportunities. From Google Ads campaigns and ad copy to creative assets and ongoing optimization, a thoughtful strategy can help your business stay competitive when it matters most.
The holiday season may still be a few months away, but your Google Ads shouldn’t wait. Start preparing now so your campaigns are ready when your customers are.
