# How to plan a festive sale campaign

> Plan a festive sale backwards from sale day: set the offer and break-even ROAS, test early, ramp budget, protect delivery and plan after. With a rupee example.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-11-01
- **Category**: India
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-guides/how-to-plan-a-festive-sale-campaign

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Plan a festive sale campaign backwards from sale day. Fix the offer and your break-even ROAS first, test creative three to four weeks out, ramp budget in the final ten days, protect stock and delivery, and plan what you run after the sale ends.

Call sale day T. The plan works for any festival: Diwali, Navratri, Eid, Christmas or a New Year sale. For Diwali dates and ideas, see [how to make ads for Diwali sales](/guides/how-to-make-ads-for-diwali-sales).

## Step 1: fix the offer and the floor

A discount lowers your margin, so it raises the ROAS you need just to break even. Work it out before you spend.

**Break-even ROAS = selling price / profit per order**

Say a product sells for INR 1,500 and costs you INR 700 to make, pack, ship and process payment. Profit is INR 800.

- Normal price: 1,500 / 800 = **1.88**
- With a 20% festive discount: price INR 1,200, profit INR 500, so 1,200 / 500 = **2.4**

The same ads need a ROAS of 2.4 instead of 1.88 to break even. See [break-even ROAS](/glossary/break-even-roas) for the method. Use your own costs and include tax and returns.

## Step 2: build the timeline

| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| T-28 to T-15 | Test hooks and offers at a small budget |
| T-14 to T-8 | Scale winners with an early offer |
| T-7 to T-1 | Countdown ads and order-by dates |
| T | Peak budget. Watch stock and site speed |
| T+1 to T+3 | Last-chance and gifting ads, then taper |

## Step 3: make the creative pack

- Three openings and two formats (9:16 video, 4:5 image)
- One offer with an end date. Copy to adapt: [festive sale offer copy templates](/templates/festive-sale-offer-copy-templates)
- A countdown version for the last week
- Versions in the languages of your top states

## Step 4: split the budget

Plan the money by phase, with a reserve. Use the [ad budget template](/templates/ad-budget-template) to track it, and [how to build a creative testing budget](/guides/how-to-build-a-creative-testing-budget) to size the test.

Say your total is INR 5,00,000.

| Phase | Share | Rupees |
|---|---|---|
| Test | 15% | INR 75,000 |
| Early push | 25% | INR 1,25,000 |
| Countdown | 30% | INR 1,50,000 |
| Sale day and after | 25% | INR 1,25,000 |
| Reserve | 5% | INR 25,000 |

Spend the reserve on whichever ad set is clearly winning in the last week.

## Step 5: scale without breaking delivery

Meta says editing during the learning phase resets learning, and that frequent budget changes can send an ad set back into it (Meta, [learning phase](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/112167992830700), checked 2026-10-20). Raise budgets in a few planned steps, not every few hours. Do the big creative changes in the test phase.

## Step 6: protect the sale

- **Stock.** Check inventory daily on your best-selling items.
- **Site.** Test the page and checkout on a phone before the rush.
- **Delivery.** Set an order-by date with your courier and print it in the ad.
- **Payments.** Add a backup payment method to your ad account. See the [launch checklist](/templates/launch-checklist-for-meta-ads).
- **Support.** Have staff ready for the peak.

## Mistakes to avoid

- Setting the discount before knowing break-even ROAS
- Starting creative work in sale week
- Changing ad sets every day
- Stopping ads on sale day
- Ignoring the days after, when buyers still gift and reorder

## FAQ

### How early should I start planning a festive sale?

Start four weeks before sale day. That leaves time to test openings and offers before the main push.

### How much should I spend on testing?

Set the share from how many ideas you want to test and what each test costs. The example above uses 15% of the season budget.

### Should I run the same ads for the whole sale?

No. Use fresh creative as the countdown moves from "get ready" to "last chance", and swap out ads that tire.

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