It's the same scene every year: a week before Ramadan someone says "let's post something", on Black Friday morning a discount graphic is thrown together in a rush, and on 28 December people start looking for a New Year shoot. The result is usually late, ordinary content that gets lost in competitors' noise. Yet when a campaign-season content plan is put together at least 4-6 weeks in advance, the same budget delivers far more visibility and sales. In this post we share the planning method we use in practice for Ramadan, New Year and Black Friday.
Why does a campaign-season content plan start early?
There are three reasons. The first is production time: a professional shoot is planned at least 5-7 days in advance, editing takes about 5 business days, and once approval and the publishing calendar are added, a single video needs two weeks. The second is ad cost: because ad competition rises during campaign periods, impression costs usually go up; brands that start early and advertise to audiences warmed up in advance get results more cheaply. The third is customer behaviour: people don't leave their Ramadan iftar reservation or New Year gift to the last day; they start researching weeks ahead.
A shared planning framework: three phases
1. Warm-up (3-4 weeks before the campaign). Preparation content: behind the scenes, "coming soon" announcements, last year's most-loved moments, an early booking or pre-registration call. The goal in this phase isn't sales but getting the audience used to the topic and building a pool for retargeting.
2. Main period. Product/service-focused content, campaign announcements, limited-time messaging, customer shares and daily reminders in stories. Most of the ad budget is spent here.
3. Closing and after. Last-day reminders, thank-you content, a mini "for those who missed it" campaign for latecomers, and a results review. The closing phase is often skipped, yet the lowest-cost sales usually come right here.
Ramadan: tone and timing work differently
Viewer behaviour changes during Ramadan: mobile use peaks in the hours before iftar and around suhoor, and themes of family and sharing come to the fore. For restaurants and cafés, videos about iftar menus, reservations and the venue's atmosphere work well; for food and retail, table-setting and gift-themed content; and for service businesses, "Ramadan special" offers and pre-Eid preparation content. Eid week should be planned separately: a holiday greeting post alone isn't enough; last delivery dates before Eid and opening/closing information during the holiday are what customers look for most. Be careful with tone: be warm and respectful, and don't use the season merely as an excuse for discounts; viewers sense that immediately.
New Year: gift- and celebration-focused content
Your New Year plan should be live by early December. Gift-guide style content ("5 gifts by budget", "gift ideas for your team") is one of the strongest content types for e-commerce. For venues, the New Year's Eve program, menu and a reservation call to action stand out; for service businesses, a year-end review and offers tied to new-year goals. Since New Year visuals are crowded, keeping your brand's own colors and style, rather than falling into the red-and-green template everyone uses, makes a difference. Content themed "new year, new beginning" between January 1 and 7 also works as the tail end of the campaign.
Black Friday: standing out in the noise
The last week of November is one of the most competitive periods for advertising, and writing "50 percent" on a product photo no longer stops anyone. What works: announcing the campaign early and building an email and WhatsApp list, short Reels showing the product in use, exclusivity setups like "early access only for people on this list", and alternative offers such as bundles, gifts or free shipping instead of discounts. Keeping stock and shipping capacity in line with the plan is as important as the content; the review of an order you couldn't deliver outlives the campaign. Set a clear campaign period and don't keep extending it; that erodes trust.
Make the most of the shoot day
Instead of shooting separately for three campaigns, producing content for different periods together on a single shoot day cuts costs significantly. For example, a shoot in mid-October can cover both Black Friday and New Year content; by changing the set dressing and product setups, you build an archive for two periods on the same day. This requires preparing the shot list according to the campaign calendar before the shoot. We explain how to build a content calendar separately in this article.
Ad timing and budget
In the warm-up phase, low-budget video view ads to a broad audience; in the main period, conversion ads retargeting video viewers and site visitors; at the close, reminders to cart abandoners and on the last day. Rather than spreading the budget evenly, concentrating it in the main period and leaving a small share for the close is usually more efficient. After the campaign ends, compare results not with normal months but with the same period last year.
After the campaign: plan next year starting today
As soon as the campaign ends, gather the best and worst content, ad results and customer questions in a single document. Next year, at the same time, this document will have half your planning done.
At FG Production, in our social media management packages we mark campaign periods on the annual calendar in advance, plan shoot days to cover more than one period and manage the ad budget by phase. If you'd like to plan for an upcoming campaign period, check out our packages or write to us via the contact page; we send your quote within 24 hours.