The holidays are months away...but you’re already thinking about Christmas.

Why? Because you’re a marketer. You know it’s never too early to start planning your brand’s holiday campaign. While you don’t have to hammer down your campaign right this second, the end of summer is the ideal time to gather information and inspiration. You don’t have to set down that summery cocktail to seek out successful campaigns from holidays past. A little planning ahead means you’ll have your holiday marketing efforts underway when the change of seasons hits.

To get you in the holiday spirit (we know, we know—it’s still blazing outside, but bear with us), we’ve assembled six great holiday campaigns to highlight the tools and tricks that make their outreach sparkle.

1. A clothing brand brings your gift guide to life with rich Push Stories

Sometimes a text-heavy push notification can be easy to dismiss with a swipe. That’s not the case with this lovely holiday-themed rich push notification, which uses Push Stories to evoke those cozy Norman Rockwellian holiday vibes and get recipients into the gift-giving state of mind. With Push stories, it’s easy to bring your holiday gift guides, promotions, and sales to life—and to do it all within the context of a single message. That’s powerful.

Looking to convey that holiday feeling and do so quickly? That’s what rich push is built for. The number of messages that consumers receive skyrockets during the holidays. Use rich push to sell the emotion that makes your messages stand out—no wonder they’ve been shown to increase conversions by 57%.

2. A lifestyle brand slides in with a message

Early in the holiday season, people are unprepared for a barrage of urgent messaging. This brand takes a different tack, inviting people to begin their gift shopping with a subtle, slide-up in-app notification. It kicks off the holiday shopping season in an effective way without being obtrusive.

Additionally, while this gray, transparent message is a quiet take on the in-app notification, you could easily customize your outreach to be brighter in color or placed at the top of the screen. That kind of approach is great for more urgent messages, like a major, mid-holiday promotion you don’t want your customers to miss.

3. A music streamer fills your inbox with gifts

Email is popular all year long, but it’s huge during the holidays. Taking advantage of its full value as a messaging channel requires some preparation ahead of time. After all, your customers’ inboxes are going to be absolutely packed with messages during November and December. Why not start testing early to make sure you’re crafting messaging that stands out? No one wants their messages to end up on the naughty list (AKA the spam folder).

This email is just right. It’s rich with graphics, which ties in perfectly with the festive holiday season. In the true holiday spirit, this campaign comes bearing gifts, in the forms of commercial-free playlists. Who wouldn’t want to open this email?

4. A gaming brand lets their holiday special take center stage

Digital marketers in the gaming space are getting more and more creative by launching messaging in concert with gaming experience. A rich push notification message, like the one featured here, takes up only a small portion of the screen when it’s received, but can expand in response to user engagement. That makes it non-intrusive until recipients decide to give it center stage.

Rich notifications like this are perfect for the holiday season. It allows for color graphics and rich experiences, while also supporting clickability, so that users can get straight to your site for these holiday offers.

5. An electronics brand that doesn’t forget about desktops

The right web push notification catches your eye without detracting from your web browsing experience. This example does a great job of capturing the viewer’s attention and laying out the brand’s value prop in clear, compelling ways. Since many consumers still sit down to do their big holiday gift shop at the home computer, having a way to reach them directly on desktop makes web push the ideal option for engaging shoppers before they shop.

Another smart thing about this message? It offers something of value to consumers, rather than prompting them to make another purchase. After all, the holidays are a time of giving—and stress!—so promoting an offer like free, expedited delivery is a great way to turn heads while boosting sales.

6. A beauty brand leverages the holidays to ignite sharing

The holidays remind us that no one is an island, including your customer base. Every loyal customer doing their holiday shopping with your brand has a network of friends and family members who could potentially become loyal customers themselves—but only if they’re given the opportunity.

This brand leveraged those networks with a smart, appealing holiday push notification built to drive referrals and reward loyal users. From the smart use of emojis to the clear CTA, this campaign does what the holiday season is meant to—that is, giving gifts to customers and prospective customers alike.

Anything else?

For every one of these campaigns, launching them is just the first step. It’s possible to see more value by testing different creative, discount rates, or even timing. Doing so will allow you to optimize your campaigns based on the findings and see stronger results. Iteration and optimization are key to strong marketing outcomes—and that’s never more true than during the holidays.

Speaking of, the holidays will be here sooner than you think! To continue gathering inspiration, head to our Braze client stories page to learn more about exceptional campaigns from exceptional brands.