# How to make ads for Diwali sales

> Plan Diwali ads in four phases around the festival date. 2026 dates, what to make for each phase, a rupee budget split and the mistakes that waste the season.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-11-01
- **Category**: India
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-guides/how-to-make-ads-for-diwali-sales

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Make Diwali ads in four phases around the festival date: test hooks and offers about three weeks out, push your best offer in the ten days before, switch to delivery-date messages in the last week, and run gifting ads until Bhai Dooj. In 2026, Diwali falls on Sunday 8 November.

## 2026 dates

Checked 2026-10-20 on [Drik Panchang](https://www.drikpanchang.com/diwali/diwali-puja-calendar.html) for New Delhi. Dates can differ by city and panchang, so check yours.

| Day | Date |
|---|---|
| Dhanteras | Friday 6 November |
| Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) | Sunday 8 November |
| Govardhan Puja, Gujarati New Year | Tuesday 10 November |
| Bhai Dooj | Wednesday 11 November ([Drik Panchang](https://www.drikpanchang.com/festivals/bhai-dooj/bhai-dooj-date-time.html?year=2026)) |

## The four phases

Call Diwali day D. In 2026, D is 8 November.

| Phase | Days | Goal | What to run |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Test | D-21 to D-15 (18 to 24 Oct) | Find winners | 3 hooks, 2 offers, small budget |
| 2. Push | D-14 to D-8 (25 to 31 Oct) | Sell | Best offer, more budget |
| 3. Last call | D-7 to D-1 (1 to 7 Nov) | Close | Order-by dates, Dhanteras ads |
| 4. Gift | D+1 to D+3 (9 to 11 Nov) | Gifting | Bhai Dooj and quick delivery |

Late? Shrink Phase 1 to three or four days and start Phase 2 on time. For deeper ideas by day, see [Dhanteras ad ideas](/campaigns/dhanteras-ad-ideas) and [Bhai Dooj ad ideas](/campaigns/bhai-dooj-ad-ideas).

## What to make

1. **Three openings.** One about the festival ("Bring home something new this Diwali"), one about the offer and one about the problem you solve.
2. **Two formats.** A 9:16 video for Reels and Stories, and a 4:5 image for Feed.
3. **One clear offer.** Price, discount or gift, and the date it ends. Copy to adapt: [festive sale offer copy templates](/templates/festive-sale-offer-copy-templates) and [ad copy examples for festive sales](/templates/ad-copy-examples-for-festive-sales).
4. **A delivery cut-off.** We wrote this line as an example: "Order by 3 November for delivery before Diwali." Use your real courier dates.
5. **Local language versions** for the states that buy most.

## A worked example

Say you plan INR 3,00,000 for the whole season.

- Phase 1, test: 20% = INR 60,000
- Phase 2, push: 50% = INR 1,50,000
- Phase 3, last call: 20% = INR 60,000
- Phase 4, gift: 10% = INR 30,000

If Phase 1 shows that the "offer" opening gets cheaper orders than the festival opening, you put most of Phase 2 behind it. Without the test, you would have spent that INR 1,50,000 on a guess.

## Mistakes to avoid

- **Making creative in Diwali week.** Ads need review time and room to test.
- **Editing live ad sets daily.** Meta says edits can reset the learning phase.
- **Promising delivery you cannot meet.** Set the cut-off with your courier.
- **Stopping on Diwali day.** Gifting buyers shop right up to Bhai Dooj.
- **Sending traffic to a slow page.** Test your site before the rush.

We make Marxx. Its AI search covers 100M+ ads back to 2022, so you can look up what brands in your sector ran in earlier Diwali seasons. It also tracks competitor ads on Meta and Google. See [competitor tracking](/features/competitor-tracking).

For the general version of this plan, see [how to plan a festive sale campaign](/guides/how-to-plan-a-festive-sale-campaign).

## FAQ

### When is Diwali in 2026?

Sunday 8 November 2026 for Lakshmi Puja in New Delhi, with Dhanteras on Friday 6 November.

### When should Diwali ads start?

Start testing about three weeks before Diwali, so winners are known before the main push.

### Should I run different ads for Dhanteras and Diwali?

Yes. Dhanteras is two days before Diwali, so lead with "buy something new" and your delivery cut-off. Diwali day ads suit gifting and last-minute offers.

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