If you are wondering what to post in December, the short answer is: less than you think, and almost none of it should be a stock photo of a bauble. A small business needs about eight to ten posts for the whole month. Tell people when you are open, what they can still order, who to thank, and when you are back. That covers most of it.
The trouble is that December is when everyone is flat out, so social media gets done at 9pm on a Sunday with whatever Canva template shows up first. That is how feeds fill up with “Tis the season!” graphics that could belong to any business in the country. This is the plan we would hand a client instead. It is built around Australian dates, it takes about two hours to prepare, and you can do the lot before the month starts.
Why December posts go wrong
Most cringe comes from one of three places.
- Borrowed cheer. Snowflakes, fireplaces and reindeer when it is 33 degrees and the mango tree is dropping fruit on the ute. If the picture could have been posted from Ohio, it is not doing anything for you.
- Posting about yourself when people want information. In December your customers have a short list of questions. Are you open? Can I still get it before Christmas? When do you come back? Answer those before you post the team in Santa hats.
- Leaving it until the day. A rushed post on the 23rd announcing your closing dates helps nobody who needed to book in on the 15th.
Fix those three and you are already ahead of most feeds. The rest is timing.
The dates that matter in December 2026
Put these in your calendar first, then hang your posts off them. Everything here is from the source, and each one is worth checking again for your own state and suburb.
- Friday 11 December: last day of Term 4 for Queensland state schools, according to the Department of Education term dates. From that weekend, parents are home, routines change and daytime scrolling goes up.
- Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 December: Australia Post’s last recommended Parcel Post days for Christmas delivery between most metro areas. Tuesday 22 December is the date for parcels staying within the same state, and Monday 21 for most interstate routes. Express Post runs to Wednesday 23 December on most routes. Western Australia and the Northern Territory are earlier, and Australia Post says parcels sent outside a metro area need extra time, which matters if you post from Cairns or anywhere regional. The full table is on the Australia Post Christmas sending dates page.
- Thursday 24 December: in Queensland, Christmas Eve is a part-day public holiday from 6pm to midnight.
- Friday 25, Saturday 26 and Monday 28 December: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and the substitute Boxing Day public holiday because the 26th falls on a Saturday. That is a four-day stretch for a lot of your customers. The Queensland Government public holidays list has the detail.
- Friday 1 January 2027: New Year’s Day public holiday.
If you sell products, work backwards from the postage dates. If you sell a service, work backwards from your last working day.
What to post in December, week by week
Two posts a week is plenty. Each one below has a job to do, which is the difference between a content calendar and a list of things to fill space with.
Week one (1 to 6 December): the useful stuff
Post 1: your December dates. Last day for orders or bookings, last working day, the day you reopen. Make it a plain graphic or a photo of your shopfront with the dates in the caption. Pin it to the top of your profile so it stays there all month.
Post 2: the last-chance list. What can people still get done before Christmas, and what is now a January job? A sparky might say “switchboard upgrades are booked out, but we can still do ceiling fans until the 18th”. Being specific gets people to pick up the phone.
Week two (7 to 13 December): real people
Post 3: a customer thank you with a face in it. Pick one job, one order or one regular from this year and say what it was and why you liked doing it. Ask first, tag them, and use a photo you actually took.
Post 4: behind the scenes of the busy bit. The packing bench, the booked-out whiteboard, the van loaded at 6am. People like seeing a business being busy. It is proof, and it takes thirty seconds to film on your phone.
Week three (14 to 20 December): the reminder
Post 5: the deadline. “Order by Thursday for delivery before Christmas” or “three booking spots left before we close”. Only say it if it is true. This is the post most likely to bring in money, so give it a clear instruction: call, message, or book through the link.
Post 6: something useful that is not about you. A tip from your trade that helps over the break. A pool shop explains what to do before going away for two weeks. An accountant lists the three receipts people always lose over the holidays. This is the post people save and send to someone else.
Week four (21 to 27 December): sign off properly
Post 7: the team sign-off. One real photo of the people who did the work this year, a short thank you, and your reopening date again. Skip the paragraph about what a journey it has been. Two or three sentences will do.
Post 8 (optional): Christmas Day. If you want to post on the day, schedule it ahead and keep it to one line. Nobody is checking a plumber’s Instagram on Christmas morning, and that is fine.
Week five (28 to 31 December): the quiet week
Post 9: the year in a handful of photos. A carousel of five to eight images from jobs, products or moments this year. No stats needed. It is a low-effort post that reminds people what you do right before they start making January plans.
Post 10: we are back on. Your first day back, and what you are taking bookings for. Schedule it now so it goes out even if you are still at the beach.
Where else to put your December hours
A post disappears from the feed within a day or two, so your dates need to live in the places people check when they are deciding whether to drive over.
- Google Business Profile. Set special hours for each public holiday and your closure. Google explains how in its special hours help article. If you have never touched your profile, our guide to Google Business Profile for local businesses covers the basics.
- Your website. A line on the home page and the contact page. It takes five minutes and saves a week of voicemail.
- Email. One short email to your customer list with the same dates. We have written before about email marketing for small businesses, and December dates are about the easiest email you will ever send.
- Your auto-reply and voicemail. Reopening date, and who to call if it is urgent.
What to skip
- The generic “Merry Christmas from all of us” tile on a red background. If you must, use a real photo of the team instead.
- A different sale every few days. One clear offer with one end date beats a month of shouting. If you have nothing to discount, do not invent something.
- Posting daily because a calendar told you to. Ten posts with a purpose will do more than thirty fillers. Our piece on social media content that converts goes into why.
- “New year, new you” in the last week. Save your January message for January.
- Lots of AI-made festive artwork. People can tell. A slightly wonky phone photo of your actual counter with tinsel on it will be liked more.
The two-hour December plan
Block out one sitting in late November and work through this list.
- Write down your four dates: last orders, last working day, public holiday closures, first day back.
- Take or dig out ten photos: shopfront, team, three jobs or products, one customer (with permission), the busy bench, something that shows where you are.
- Write the ten captions above. Two or three sentences each. Read them out loud and cut anything you would not say to a customer at the counter.
- Schedule the lot in Meta Business Suite, which is free for Facebook and Instagram.
- Update your Google Business Profile hours, website, email auto-reply and voicemail on the same day.
Then leave it alone. Reply to comments and messages when they come in, and get on with the work that is actually paying you in December.
FAQs
How often should a small business post in December?
Two posts a week is enough for most small businesses, so eight to ten for the month. Put the practical ones early: opening hours, order deadlines and your last working day. Posting every day adds work in your busiest month and rarely adds sales. One pinned post with your dates does more than a week of filler.
When should I announce my Christmas closing dates?
Post your closing and reopening dates in the first week of December and pin the post to your profile. Repeat them around the middle of the month and again in your sign-off post. Update your Google Business Profile, website and voicemail on the same day so the dates match everywhere.
What should a service business post in December?
Service businesses should post their last booking dates, what can still be done before Christmas, a customer thank you, one useful tip for the holiday break, and a clear back-on date. The aim is to fill the last December spots and to be the first name people think of when work starts again in January.
Is it okay to schedule posts over the Christmas break?
Yes. Scheduling is how you get a real break. Load your sign-off, year in photos and reopening posts before you finish up, and check messages once or twice so nobody with an urgent question is ignored. Do not schedule anything time-sensitive that you cannot honour while you are closed.
Do I need a Christmas sale to have something to post?
No. Plenty of businesses do well in December without discounting. Useful information, real photos of your work and a deadline that is true give people a reason to act. If you do run an offer, keep it to one, say exactly what it is, and give it a clear end date.
If December has snuck up on you and you would rather hand the whole thing over, that is what we do. Our social content packages start at $500 + GST for a shoot that gives you a bank of real photos and clips, and our social media marketing team in Cairns can plan and run it for you. Get in touch and tell us what your December looks like.
