Why Pausing Your Ads in December & January Will Quietly Cost You Sales

If you are tempted to switch your ads off in December and January, you are not alone.

So many coaches, course creators and membership owners tell themselves things like:

• “My ideal clients are checked out.”
  
• “Ads are more expensive over the holidays.”
  
• “I’ll just start fresh when everyone is ‘back’ in February.”
  

On the surface it sounds logical. In reality, it is often the complete opposite.

When other businesses hit pause, competition can drop. That can mean cheaper impressions, lower cost per click and a much easier time staying visible to your warm audience.

In this post, I want to walk you through why pausing your Meta™ Ads (Facebook™ and Instagram™) over December and January can quietly cost you sales, and what to run instead so you can start the new year strong.

The big myth: “No one is buying and ads are too expensive”

Let’s talk about this one first.

Are there pockets of the holiday season where ad costs rise? Yes.

Do some audiences go into full holiday mode and stop checking emails? Also yes.

But that is not the whole story.

Here is what is also true:

• Your ideal clients are still scrolling.
  
• They finally have a little mental space to think about what they want next year.
  
• They are saving posts, joining email lists and quietly stalking the people they might want to work with in the new year.
  

And while they are doing that, a lot of your competitors are switching everything off.

That combination is what creates opportunity.

You do not need to run a huge, high pressure launch over Christmas to benefit from this. You simply need to stay present, keep feeding your warm audiences and make it easy for people to take a low friction next step with you.

Why pausing your ads hurts more than it helps

If you have already been running ads, you have something very valuable in place – data.

You have audiences that have engaged with your content, visited your website, watched your videos and joined your email list.

When you hit pause for weeks at a time, you do more than “save budget”. You also:

1. Lose momentum with the algorithm

Meta™ has already learnt who is clicking, opting in and buying from you. Pausing for a long stretch can mean you come back to higher costs while the system tries to relearn who your best people are.

2. Stop filling your warm audiences

Your warm audiences are your profit centre. People who have engaged with your content today are much more likely to convert in your next live launch or promo.

If you stop running audience building and lead generation campaigns now, you are asking your future self to launch to a smaller, colder audience later.

3. Disappear when your people are making decisions

December and January are “big picture” months. People are thinking about the year they have just had and the one they want next.

If you vanish from their feed in the exact weeks they are deciding who to invest with next year, you give that spot to someone else who stayed visible.

What to run in December & January instead of hitting pause

Here are three types of campaigns I recommend over December and January.

1. Audience building and nurture campaigns

Goal: Stay visible and deepen trust with the people most likely to work with you next year.

Ideas:

• Short reels that talk about lessons from this year or what you are doing differently next year
  
• Carousels that share quick wins, frameworks or “before and after” stories
  
• Behind the scenes of your business, planning sessions or client highlights
  

You can optimise for video views or engagement.

The key is to build your warm audience and stay visible to your existing warm audience, not chase random vanity metrics.

These ads are not about selling hard. They are about staying top of mind and positioning you as the person who has the answers they are looking for in the new year.

2. Lead generation with a “fresh start” angle

Your audience may not be ready to buy a full program on Boxing Day, but they are often very willing to download something that helps them get organised for the year ahead.

You can run lead generation campaigns to:

• A planning workbook
  
• A launch or content calendar
  
• A “fix this first” checklist for their biggest problem
  
• A short holiday themed training that leads into your core offer in January or February
  

Angle your messaging around the “head start” they will get by taking action now instead of waiting until everyone else wakes up in late January.

You are not just collecting leads for the sake of it. You are building a warm, engaged list for your next launch or evergreen funnel.

3. Retargeting warm audiences into low friction offers

If you do want to bring in revenue during this period, I like to keep the barrier to entry low.

Some ideas:

• Invite your warm audience to book January or February coaching spots now and secure a bonus
  
• Offer a paid workshop or intensive that solves a very specific problem
  
• Run a small promo on a low ticket digital product that naturally feeds into your main offer
  

These campaigns work best when they only target:

• People on your email list
  
• Website visitors
  
• Social engagers and video viewers
  

The goal is not to blast your whole cold audience with “New Year, New You” offers. It is to invite the people who already know you into a clear next step.

How to adjust your messaging for the holiday season

You do not have to plaster everything in tinsel and Santa hats, but you should acknowledge the season in your copy.

A few angles you can use:

• Relief: “Take the pressure off the new year by putting a simple plan in place now, so you are not trying to figure it all out once life gets busy again.”
  
• Head start: “Most people will wait until they ‘feel ready’ in February or March. You will already be one step ahead and taking action.”
  
• Reflection: “Before you dive into another year on autopilot, let’s look at what has not been working and map out what you actually want instead.”

Keep your tone grounded and realistic. Your people are tired of big “new year, new you” promises. Focus on specific outcomes and clear next steps.

Here is a simple plan to follow

If you are thinking “This all sounds great, but I do not have the capacity for a big campaign”, here is the simple version.

For December and January:

1. Choose one audience building campaign
   A reel or carousel that builds authority and connection.
   
2. Choose one lead generation campaign
   A free resource with a “start the year strong” angle.
   
3. Choose one warm retargeting campaign
   Invite your warm audience into a clear, low friction next step.
   

If you don’t have a low ticket offer or something to offer in step 3, then just run with the audience building and lead generation campaigns. 

Set a realistic daily budget that you are comfortable with (can be as little as $10 per day) and commit to checking your numbers at least twice a week. You can scale up when you see what is working.

The point is not perfection. The point is consistency.

You do not have to run yourself into the ground to keep your ads on in December and January.

You simply need a clear role for your ads to play:

• Stay visible.
  
• Grow your warm audience.
  
• Make it easy for ready people to take the next step with you.
  

While others disappear and start from zero again in February, you will have kept your momentum, grown your warm audience and set yourself up for a much easier, more profitable start to the year.

If you want support mapping out your December and January campaigns so you know exactly what to run and for who, this is the work I do every day inside Abundant Ads Academy and with my done for you clients.