Holiday marketing is becoming a timing and trust problem for small businesses: customers want relevant messages, but sending them too early—or through the wrong channel—can drive them away.

Email remains the leading way consumers want brands to communicate during the holiday season, according to new research from Adobe. The company found that 57% of consumers prefer holiday communications by email. Direct mail follows at 34%, while 27% prefer SMS.

The findings, published in Adobe’s holiday marketing calendar insights, offer a useful starting point for small businesses planning promotions, product launches and customer outreach in the months ahead. They also point to a more complicated reality: there is no single holiday marketing schedule or channel that works for every shopper.

Key takeaways for small businesses:

• Email remains the broadest-reach channel among those surveyed.
• More than half of consumers use generative AI tools to help with holiday shopping.
• Sending promotions too early can lead to ignored ads, unsubscribes and potential damage to customer relationships.
• Younger consumers and different device users may respond better to channels such as app notifications.
• AI can help businesses produce more campaign variations, but marketers still need to verify the information and make timing decisions themselves.

Adobe’s study found that 52% of consumers use generative AI tools to support their holiday shopping. That could include asking an AI assistant to compare products, find gift ideas, check prices or identify delivery options.

For small retailers, this shift makes accurate online information more important. Product descriptions, prices, discounts, inventory levels and delivery deadlines need to remain consistent across a company’s website, email campaigns, social media and other marketing channels. If an AI shopping tool receives outdated or conflicting information, a customer may never reach the checkout page—or may lose confidence in the business.

Holiday timing presents another challenge. Adobe reported that 32% of respondents ignore ads that appear too early, while one in 10 shoppers said they would unsubscribe from the brand responsible. That does not necessarily mean small businesses should avoid early planning or pre-season promotions. It does suggest that businesses should distinguish between preparing campaigns early and sending them too early.

A retailer, for example, might build its holiday email series in September, test its landing pages in October and wait to send gift-focused promotions until customers show stronger signs of buying intent. Early messages could focus on product guides, loyalty benefits or the importance of ordering ahead, rather than pushing a discount before shoppers are ready.

Channel selection also requires more precise targeting. Adobe found that Gen Z consumers are 89% more likely than older generations to want holiday communications through app notifications. iOS users are 37% more likely than Android users to prefer that channel, and women are 30% more likely than men to want brands to reach them by SMS.

Those figures do not mean every small business needs to launch an app or shift its entire strategy to text messages. They do indicate that customer preferences vary by age, device and demographic group. A business could start by reviewing its existing customer data, asking subscribers how they want to be contacted and segmenting lists based on permission and engagement. A local service provider might use SMS for appointment reminders, while a retailer could reserve text messages for limited-time offers that customers have specifically opted into.

Adobe is positioning its GenStudio for Performance Marketing platform as a way for marketing teams to create and manage variations of email, paid-media and display advertising content. The company says the product uses generative AI alongside brand, product and persona guidelines to produce on-brand creative for different audiences and channels.

For a small business with limited marketing staff, that type of tool could reduce the time required to adapt one promotion into multiple formats. A holiday gift guide might become an email, a paid social ad, a display banner and a mobile-oriented message without requiring employees to rewrite every version from the beginning. Businesses could also tailor creative for different customer groups, such as repeat buyers, first-time shoppers or customers shopping for specific product categories.

However, automation does not eliminate the need for human oversight. AI-generated copy can contain incorrect product details, unsupported claims or language that does not fit a company’s voice. Owners also need to consider how marketing platforms connect with their ecommerce system, customer database and analytics tools. A tool that creates content quickly will not solve problems caused by inaccurate inventory data, weak customer segmentation or unclear promotional terms.

Cost is another consideration. Larger marketing platforms may provide capabilities that small firms do not need, particularly if the business sends only occasional campaigns. Owners should compare subscription fees, implementation time and employee training requirements with the potential savings. They should also confirm how the provider handles customer data and whether the system supports privacy, consent and unsubscribe requirements.

Adobe’s research surveyed 1,003 consumers in the United States at a 95% confidence level and reported a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. The company noted that the results are based on self-reported information, which may reflect perceptions rather than actual behavior.

For small businesses, the most practical lesson is to use the research as a planning input rather than a universal formula. Start with email because it has the strongest overall preference in the survey, then use customer behavior and consent to decide whether direct mail, SMS, app notifications or paid advertising deserve a larger role. Build campaigns early, but schedule them around customer intent. Most importantly, keep product and delivery information accurate wherever customers—and increasingly, AI shopping tools—look for answers.

Image via Google Gemini

This article, “52% of Holiday Shoppers Use Generative AI, Adobe Finds” was first published on Small Business Trends