Industry Insights

The 2026 Holiday Advertising Guide for Small Businesses: From Black Friday to New Year’s

Q: When should small businesses start holiday advertising?

Now. Almost half of shoppers (43%) plan to begin by Halloween 1 , and 2 in 5 start researching before Black Friday 2 . If your focus is Black Friday and Cyber Monday, get live as soon as your creative is ready and keep running through the season.

Q: How much should a small business spend on holiday ads?

Set your budget by goal and keep it sustainable through the season. A first CTV campaign can run on a modest budget: you can start at $500, and Jessica Pelligra recommends that paid social advertisers size their first CTV run at about half their social spend 8 .

Q: What are the best holiday advertising channels for small businesses?

A mix works best: CTV for reach and attention, plus search, social and email. Advertisers who saw cross-channel lift from CTV reported higher paid search (55%) and paid social (55%) performance 7 .

Q: Do TV ads work for small businesses during the holidays?

Shoppers say they do: 69% have discovered a new product through a holiday ad 1 . Self-serve CTV makes TV ads possible without a big production budget, since Creative Express creates an ad for you at no additional cost.

Q: Why Run Your Holiday Ads with Paramount Ads Manager?

* Reach : Paramount reaches 200 million+ ad-supported viewers across its streaming and linear networks 11 , and Paramount Ads Manager makes it easy to reach them. * Ease : Build your ad in minutes with Creative Express . Creative Plus managed services are available at minimum monthly spend thresholds. * Results : Track visits, leads and purchases with the Pixel.

Quick answer: A holiday advertising plan for small businesses has four parts: pick your key dates, set a goal and budget for each phase, build simple holiday creative, and measure results with a pixel. CTV ads help you reach shoppers early and often: 83% of shoppers will have already started by Black Friday¹, and 87% say ads influence their research and purchase decisions².

NRF expects U.S. retail sales in November and December to grow 4.2% to $1.013 trillion³, and Adobe forecasts a record $275.1 billion in online holiday spending, up 6.7%⁴. With 56% of holiday shoppers saying the economy will affect their spending plans³, value-first messaging matters. Paramount’s own research backs that up: the average American plans to spend $100 less this holiday season than last, and only 23% plan to buy a gift for themselves, down from 36% last year¹, as more of that budget goes toward loved ones.

Small businesses can win the holidays with a clear plan, simple creative, and ads on the biggest screen in the house. Here’s how.

Key Holiday Shopping Dates in 2026

Moment	Date	What to do
Thanksgiving	Thu, Nov. 26	Stay live for family viewing. Adobe forecasts $6.9B in online spend⁴.
Black Friday	Fri, Nov. 27	Lead with your biggest offer. Adobe forecasts $12.9B in online spend⁴.
Small Business Saturday	Sat, Nov. 28	Add a “shop local” message. 17% of U.S. adults shop local that day, and 48% of them respond to streaming TV ads⁵.
Cyber Monday	Mon, Nov. 30	Promote special discounts to drive online orders. Adobe forecasts consumers to spend $15.1B this year⁴.
Green Monday	Mon, Dec. 14	Re-engage visitors who haven’t bought yet.
Super Saturday	Sat, Dec. 19	Promote last-minute gifts. 52% of Super Saturday shoppers respond to streaming TV ads⁵.
Christmas Eve	Thu, Dec. 24	Last-minute shoppers: 17% of U.S. adults shop, and 51% respond to streaming TV ads⁵.
Post-Christmas	Dec. 26 to New Year’s	Keep running. 70% of shoppers are still buying between Christmas and New Year’s⁶.
New Year’s Eve	Thu, Dec. 31	Promote EOY sales (and last-minute New Year’s fits if you’re a retailer).

How to Build Your Holiday Ad Plan in 5 Steps

Step 1: Set a goal for each phase

Planning your holiday CTV campaign in phases keeps every stage focused. Early November is for awareness. Black Friday through Cyber Monday is for sales. December is for last-minute gifts and local availability. 53% of top-performing advertisers name brand awareness as their primary CTV goal⁷. Match each phase to a Paramount Ads Manager campaign goal: Brand Awareness, Site Traffic, Foot Traffic, Sales, Leads or Retargeting. Use the 2026 CTV Guide to line up each phase with Paramount’s biggest viewing moments.

Step 2: Set a budget you can sustain

56% of top-performing advertisers plan to increase CTV spend around the winter holidays, more than for any other Q4 moment⁷. You can run a campaign for as little as $500, with CPMs starting at $7. For brands already spending on paid social, Jessica Pelligra, CEO & Founder of The Marketing Sanctum, shared this guidance at our holiday webinar: “If someone was spending between 30 and 50k on paid social, cut it in half for a CTV [campaign]. Do 25 as your first run.” For brands starting from scratch, the floor is even lower: “You can launch your first CTV campaign at five. You don’t have to do $25,000. You can do a small run.”⁸

Step 3: Pick the right audience

Use Interests & Behaviors audiences like Online Shoppers, Parents and Retail Shoppers, narrow spend with Geotargeting, or let Peak Audience Targeting find the viewers most likely to engage. Spending intent runs higher among Paramount viewers, too: they’re 39% more likely than the average consumer to say they’ll spend more this year than last¹.

Step 4: Make creative that’s easy to act on

Open with a bold visual, keep one message, and leave your CTA (“Shop now” or “Scan to save”) on screen long enough to use. Start with a 30-second ad for your key message, then add 15-second cutdowns, as Paramount’s 2026 report recommends⁷. Tone matters, too. Consumers say the top qualities in a holiday ad are feeling nostalgic or reminding them of holiday traditions (42%), showing people enjoying the holidays (40%), and being humorous or heartfelt (36% each)¹. See more CTV creative best practices. Creative Express can turn your website into a TV-ready ad in minutes at no additional cost.

Step 5: Measure and adjust

Install the Paramount Ads Manager Pixel before launch to track site visits, leads and purchases, and retarget your own visitors on the big screen. Run two or three creative variations and A/B test them to see what works. Then give CTV time to prove itself. Jessica’s rule of thumb: “I usually tell clientele to give it 60 days, and then I usually have my early indicators at 45.”⁸

Holiday Ad Ideas by Business Type

Business	Holiday CTV ad idea
Restaurants & food	Holiday menus, catering orders and gift cards. 50% of consumers plan to prepare a special meal this season, and 44% plan to give food or beverage gifts¹.
Retail & e-commerce	Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, gift guides and last-order shipping dates. Apparel (63%), games & toys (54%) and electronics (44%) top this year’s gift lists¹.
Auto	Year-end sales events and holiday service specials.
Home services	Seasonal maintenance and “book before the new year” offers. 56% of consumers plan to decorate their homes this season¹, a natural hook for holiday-ready home offers.
Professional services	Year-end planning reminders and “start the new year right” messaging.

Why CTV Ads Are a Smart Holiday Ad Channel

46%: of gift-givers stream more with CTV once the holidays arrive².
87%: of holiday shoppers say ads influenced their research and purchases, and one-third say CTV ads helped steer their gift-giving plans^2,9.
#1: TV ads have the highest influence on holiday gift purchases of any media format, including social posts, email and radio¹.
3 in 4: consumers say holiday ads feel more relevant alongside holiday content, and 68% pay more attention to holiday ads when watching holiday-themed content¹.
11%: the lift in ad attention among Paramount streaming viewers from Q3 to Q4¹⁰.
Around half: 49% of Black Friday shoppers, 48% of Small Business Saturday shoppers and 52% of Super Saturday shoppers say they respond to streaming TV ads⁵.

Ready to put your holiday plan on the biggest screen? Sign up for Paramount Ads Manager today, and be on TV tomorrow. Explore the Holiday Hub for more holiday research, webinars and planning resources.

Sources

Paramount Advertising, 2026 Holiday Insights, August 2026, N=1,135
The Trade Desk Intelligence and Appinio, Winter Holiday Shopping Trends, n=400, January 2026, U.S.
NRF, 2026 Winter Holidays research, Oct. 15, 2026
Adobe Analytics, 2026 holiday forecast, Sept. 28, 2026
AdMall AudienceSCAN (SalesFuel), Nov. 2, 2026
NRF, 2025
Paramount Ads Manager, How SMBs Can Win the Year with CTV report, 2026
Paramount Ads Manager webinar, The Holidays Start NOW: A Tactical Guide to CTV for Q4, Sept. 30, 2026
LG Ad Solutions, “Season’s Streamings - Holiday Shopping & TV Viewing Trends in 2025”
TVision Analytics, 4Q’25 vs. 3Q’25. Attention to Duration. Ad Time Only.
Paramount Advertising, avg. monthly CY25. Linear TV Reach = Nielsen National Panel (Jan-Sept) & P+BD (Oct-Dec), 1-Minute Qualifier; Streaming Reach = Freewheel w/ co-viewing; Deduplication = Streaming Meter Panel; P2+, 1-Minute Reach Qualifier