How Marketers Are Leveraging AI For The Holiday Season
AI has moved from nice-to-have to standard issue in marketing. Spend is projected to reach $47B in 2025 and push past $100B by 2028. The drivers are clear: Generative AI for content and automation for scale.
If you're planning for the holiday rush, AI can help you move faster, personalize at scale, and protect ROI. Here's what matters and how to use it.
Generative AI, in plain English
Generative AI creates new text, images, and video based on patterns learned from large datasets. Tools like ChatGPT and Claude can draft copy, brainstorm offers, and adapt your messaging to each segment in seconds.
The takeaway: you don't need a large creative team to produce variant-rich campaigns anymore. You need a sharp brief, solid prompts, and a review loop.
Automation is the multiplier
Marketing automation isn't new, but AI has made it far more effective. Platforms like GetResponse help you map workflows and generate content for different segments in a few clicks.
Beyond email, AI-driven automation now supports demand forecasting, predictive analytics, ad optimization, media spend control, dynamic pricing, voice assistants, gamified experiences, and faster support.
The holiday push: what's working right now
AI SEO (GEO/AIO/SEO by any name) is getting real attention. Shoppers are starting their research in AI-first experiences like Google's AI mode, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. If your brand shows up there, you get more qualified traffic and sales.
- Optimize product Q&A, FAQs, and comparison content that AI systems can summarize cleanly.
- Structure data (schema), keep answers concise, and focus on intent-rich queries.
- Track mentions and citations from AI answers to spot gaps and content opportunities.
Experimentation is easier too. Platforms like Shopify make A/B testing accessible so you can trial headlines, images, bundles, and social proof without slowing down.
Predictive analytics for smarter incentives
AI can score users by purchase likelihood, churn risk, and intent. Use that to set incentives with purpose:
- Dormant or low-likelihood users: stronger coupons or limited-time bundles.
- High-likelihood users: lighter nudges like free shipping or cashback.
- Window shoppers: on-site guides, comparison charts, and exit-intent offers.
Ad optimization is the biggest win
Meta and Google lean heavily on AI to manage creative rotation, placements, and budgets. Let the systems work, but set boundaries.
- Feed multiple creative angles and product sets so algorithms can find the winners.
- Use value-based bidding where possible and tighten audience signals.
- Pair ads with AI-built landing pages that match the message and reduce friction.
Reality check: AI still needs a human
AI cuts manual work and improves ROI, but it's not fire-and-forget. You still need oversight on brand voice, incentive costs, and edge cases.
Set weekly reviews, keep prompts and guardrails documented, and maintain a manual kill-switch for any campaign that drifts.
30-day holiday sprint checklist
- Clarify goals and constraints: revenue targets, CPA caps, inventory, and margins.
- Segment your list by intent and value; map offers by segment.
- Use GenAI to produce ad variants, subject lines, and on-site copy; review for voice and claims.
- Stand up 2-3 A/B tests on PDPs or landing pages (headline, image, social proof, offer).
- Enable AI-driven bidding on Meta/Google with clear budgets and guardrails.
- Launch an AI SEO quick pass: FAQs, comparisons, schema, and clean answers for common queries.
- Add alerts: sudden CPA spikes, ROAS drops, or inventory issues.
- Run mid-cycle creative refresh based on early winners.
Helpful resources
Level up your team
If you want practical, marketer-first AI training and certifications, explore our programs here:
AI won't run your entire program solo this season. But with the right prompts, workflows, and limits, it will help you move faster, reduce waste, and keep the cash register busy.
Your membership also unlocks:
