December is when your customers are busiest and your own time is shortest. Orders, bookings and staff holidays land together, and the October posting routine falls apart by the second week. The usual result is a burst on 1 December, a gap in the middle and a panicked "closed until January" post at the end.
A calendar fixes that: a short plan that decides the busy-week posts while you still have energy. Below are a setup routine, 31 dated post ideas for December 2026, a two-sitting batching method and a simple way to measure what to keep.
Why December needs its own plan
Most months you can post when you think of something. December punishes that habit for three reasons.
- Attention is crowded. A post needs a clear reason to exist: a deadline, a pick, an answer or a person.
- Deadlines are real. Last order dates and closing days change what customers need to hear.
- Your capacity drops. Staff are away and you are serving customers, not writing captions.
Our website checklist before the holidays covers the pages. This plan covers the posts that send people to them.
Set up before you write a single post
Spend twenty minutes on this and the rest gets easier.
- Write down your dates. Last order date for each delivery option, last booking date, closing days, reopening day. Put them in one note. Every post that mentions them will copy from it, so there is only one version of the truth.
- Pick one goal for the month. Orders, bookings, enquiries, gift card sales or email sign-ups. One goal. Everything else is a supporting post.
- Choose three themes. A good split is help (answers, guides, care tips), proof (customers, results, behind the scenes) and offer (gift picks, slots, deadlines). Aim for roughly two help posts and two proof posts for every offer post, so you are not shouting.
- Decide your formats. Pick two or three you can make quickly: a photo with a caption, a 30-second video or a plain text post.
- Check the destination. Each post should point somewhere useful: a gift page, a booking page, your hours, your contact page. If that page is slow or confusing, the best post in the world is wasted. Grade the page first.
The 31 post ideas for December 2026
The weekdays below are for 2026. Swap ideas between days to fit when you open, and replace anything that does not suit your business. Every proof post should use real customers, real photos and real numbers, with permission.
Week one: Tuesday 1 to Sunday 6 December
- Tue 1 Dec, Giving Tuesday: Share one cause or local group you support and what you actually do for it. Specific beats grand.
- Wed 2 Dec: Show the table, counter or desk where an order starts, and say who does what.
- Thu 3 Dec: Answer the question customers asked you most this year, in three short lines or 30 seconds of video.
- Fri 4 Dec: Gift pick of the week: one product or service, its price, who it suits and its last order date. Hanukkah begins this evening, so add a short greeting if it fits your community.
- Sat 5 Dec: Name a neighbouring business you would send customers to, and why. Tag them.
- Sun 6 Dec: A save-for-later guide: how to care for, use or choose what you sell.
Week two: Monday 7 to Sunday 13 December
- Mon 7 Dec: A gift guide in three price bands, with one pick in each.
- Tue 8 Dec: A customer story, with permission: what they bought, what they used it for, in their own words.
- Wed 9 Dec: The making of one item or service, shown in five photos from start to finish.
- Thu 10 Dec: Holiday hours and last order dates, in plain text. Pin it, and repeat it on your website.
- Fri 11 Dec: Staff picks: each person names one favourite and says why.
- Sat 12 Dec: Show the packaging or the finished wrap, so people know what will arrive.
- Sun 13 Dec: Three mistakes people make when choosing a size, plan or style, and how to avoid each one.
Week three: Monday 14 to Sunday 20 December
- Mon 14 Dec: Your December email: hours, three picks and one useful tip. Post a teaser that points to it.
- Tue 15 Dec: A before-and-after or result post, using real work and real permission.
- Wed 16 Dec: A plain-words answer on delivery and returns, linking to your returns page.
- Thu 17 Dec: How a gift card or voucher works: how to buy it, how it arrives and how it is used.
- Fri 18 Dec: Thank the suppliers, makers or partners behind your work, by name.
- Sat 19 Dec, the last Saturday before Christmas: Opening hours, parking or access notes, and what is still in stock or booked. Only claim what is true.
- Sun 20 Dec: A calm post that makes someone's week easier: a wrapping tip, a hosting list, a quick recipe or a checklist.
Week four: Monday 21 to Sunday 27 December
- Mon 21 Dec, the winter solstice: A short, warm post about the shortest day, tied honestly to something you sell or do.
- Tue 22 Dec: The final delivery or booking reminder, with what can still be done and how.
- Wed 23 Dec: A thank-you to customers, with one real thing you learned from them this year.
- Thu 24 Dec: Closing-time notice and a short greeting. No selling.
- Fri 25 Dec, Christmas Day: One greeting at most. Turn on your auto-reply and stay off the screen.
- Sat 26 Dec: Say when you reopen. If it suits you, add how exchanges work and link the returns page. Kwanzaa begins today, so a greeting may fit.
- Sun 27 Dec: A start-up or care guide for gifts people have just opened.
Week five: Monday 28 to Thursday 31 December
- Mon 28 Dec: A year in six photos, each with one honest line.
- Tue 29 Dec: What you learned this year and what you plan to change in January.
- Wed 30 Dec: Ask one question: what should you make, stock or offer next? Read every answer.
- Thu 31 Dec: A year-end thank-you and the date you reopen. One line, one photo.
Batch it in two sittings
Switching between writing, photographing and scheduling every day is the hard part. Batch the work.
Sitting one (late November or the first days of December, about 90 minutes): write captions for all 31 ideas in one document. Put the dates, hours and prices in once, copying from your dates note. Mark which posts need a photo, a video or a customer's permission.
Sitting two (about two hours): take the photos and videos in one go, in the same light, with the same backdrop. Edit them in a single pass, name the files by date, and schedule everything up to 20 December.
Keep the last ten days flexible. Leave days 21 to 31 as drafts, and check any post that mentions stock, slots or delivery against reality before it goes out.
Reuse one layout for gift picks so they are quick to make, and keep a checklist for closing week. Our Door Go checklist maker suits a shop-closing list: lights, alarm, auto-reply, parcels. For a printed planner by the till, see the holiday printables planning calendar.
Make the landing places ready
Each post is a signpost: a person taps and either finds what they need or gives up. Spend an hour before 1 December on the places your posts point to.
- Speed. Grade your homepage and your gift or booking page. Slow pages lose people before the first image loads. Our guide to website speed for small business covers the fixes that matter.
- Hours. Match your holiday hours on your website, your business listing and your posts.
- Link previews. Shared links show a picture and a title. Check yours with the link preview maker.
- Trust pages. Customers about to spend money look for who you are, how to reach you and what happens if something is wrong. We cover each in how to write an About page that earns trust, what to put on a contact page and how to write a returns and refunds page.
- Reviews. Recent, honest reviews beat any caption. Our reviews guide shows how to ask.
Measure three things, then keep what worked
At the end of the month, look at three:
- Which posts led to action: clicks to your site, messages, calls or orders you can tie to a post.
- Which themes got saved or shared: help posts often do better than offers.
- Which formats were quick to make. The best format is the one you will actually produce in a busy week.
Write three lines: keep, drop, try. That is your starting point for January.
Frequently asked questions
How many times should a small business post in December?
Three to five times a week is plenty for most small businesses. A steady rhythm that you can keep through closing week beats a daily schedule you abandon on 15 December. If daily posting suits you, shorten the posts rather than cutting your sleep.
Should every December post be about selling?
No. Aim for about one offer post for every four others. Help posts, customer stories and behind-the-scenes posts earn the attention that your offer posts need. Deadlines and last order dates count as useful information, not pressure.
How far ahead should I schedule December posts?
Schedule the first three weeks and leave the last ten days as drafts. Stock and hours change late in the month, so check closing-week posts on the day.
What if I only have time for ten posts?
Keep these: Tuesday 1 (cause), Thursday 3 (top question), Friday 4 (gift pick), Monday 7 (gift guide), Thursday 10 (hours and last order dates), Wednesday 16 (delivery and returns), Saturday 19 (last Saturday), Tuesday 22 (final reminder), Thursday 24 (closing notice) and Thursday 31 (year-end thank-you).
How do I know if my website is ready for the posts I plan?
Run a quick check on the page your posts link to. Grade it free and look at speed, mobile, search and security results. Fix the biggest issues first, then confirm that your hours, contact details and returns information match what your posts say.