Your Christmas Shutdown Marketing Checklist for 2026
A customer finds your business on Google at 9pm on the 29th of December, taps the call button, and gets nothing. No message, no hint that you're closed, no idea when you'll be back. That customer rings the next business on the list. Christmas shutdown marketing is the small amount of preparation that stops this happening while you're at the beach, and most of it takes less than an afternoon.
Which dates does your Christmas shutdown marketing need to cover?
Start with the calendar. According to the NSW Government public holidays page (checked 12 October 2026), Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026, Boxing Day is Saturday 26 December, and an additional public holiday falls on Monday 28 December. New Year's Day is Friday 1 January 2027, with no extra day attached.
The Monday comes from a NSW rule: when a holiday lands on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday or Tuesday becomes a public holiday too. The Fair Work Ombudsman notes that all employees have a right to be absent from work on a public holiday, and that holidays differ by state or territory, so check your own dates if you trade across borders.
Your real closure is probably longer than the public holidays. Write down the exact day you close and the exact morning you reopen. Every step below depends on those two dates.
The Christmas shutdown marketing checklist, step by step
Work through these in order. Each one assumes the last is done.
Put a notice on your website. Add a short banner or a line on your contact page stating your closing date, your reopening date and what happens to enquiries in between. Say it plainly, for example: "We close at 3pm Friday 18 December and reopen Monday 11 January. Send a message and we'll reply from the 11th." If you take bookings or quotes through a form, change the confirmation message so people know to expect a delay.
Update your Google listing. Do this before you do anything fancy with social. Google Business Profile Help says special hours suit a business that temporarily adjusts hours or "remains closed for up to 6 days in a row", and that closures of 7 or more days, or an unknown period, are better marked as Temporarily closed. The same page recommends confirming your hours for official holidays even when they match your regular schedule, since it tells customers the hours are accurate. Special hours only show if your hours are set to "Open with main hours". Our listing checklist covers the rest of the profile.
Schedule your social posts. Post one closing announcement a few days out and one the day before you shut. Queue a reopening post for your first morning back, so the page doesn't sit silent for three weeks. Turn on any auto-reply for direct messages and make it match the website wording exactly.
Pause or adjust your ads. Leads that arrive when nobody can answer are money spent on frustration. If you can't respond for more than a few days, pause the campaigns or cut the budget to a level that fits your capacity. Our piece on ad budget sizing helps if you're unsure what to cut. Set a calendar reminder to switch everything back on, because forgetting to restart is the more common mistake.
Set email auto-replies. Write one for your main inbox and one for any enquiry address. Give the closing dates, the return date and an alternative for anything urgent, such as an emergency number or a trusted partner. Keep it short and put the return date in the first line.
How do you lock down your marketing logins before you leave?
Change nothing fancy; check three basics on every account that touches your marketing. The Australian Signals Directorate's ACSC, in its Cyber Security Awareness Month guidance published 1 October 2025, names three simple steps: keep software and devices updated, use a unique strong passphrase for every account, and set up multi-factor authentication on all accounts.
Apply that to your website admin, Google and Meta accounts, email platform and ad accounts. Remove anyone who no longer needs access, especially former contractors. The stakes are real: the ASD Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024-2025 puts the average self-reported cybercrime cost for small businesses at $56,571 in FY2024-25, up 14%. Read the full report if you want the detail. An account nobody watches for three weeks is exactly where trouble goes unnoticed.
What should you do on the last day before you close?
Run a ten-minute test. Visit your site on your phone and read the banner. Search your business name and check what Google shows. Send yourself a test email and confirm the auto-reply fires. Look at your ad dashboard and confirm what's paused. Then tell your team, in writing, who (if anyone) will check messages during the break and how often.
Pick your closing date, block out one afternoon this week and tick off the five steps above. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on the gaps, get in touch with us at Searchline.
Common questions
Do I need to mark my business closed on Google over Christmas?
It depends on the length. Google says special hours work for closures of up to 6 days in a row, while 7 or more days, or an unknown return date, should be set as Temporarily closed. Either way, confirm your holiday hours so customers aren't guessing.
Should I pause my ads during the shutdown?
If nobody can answer enquiries for several days, pausing or reducing spend is usually sensible. Leads you can't respond to cost money and leave a poor impression. Note the restart date in your calendar before you pause.
What should a holiday email auto-reply say?
State your closing dates, your return date and who to contact for anything urgent. Lead with the return date so it's visible in a preview. Keep the tone plain and friendly, with no promises you can't keep.
