The holidays can feel like a weird pause for health and wellness brands. Consumers are traveling, slowing down, and celebrating… but you know what’s coming. January is about to unleash a tidal wave of New Year, New Me energy. 

That’s exactly why the holiday slowdown is pure gold. 

While everyone else is coasting, you have a rare window to regroup, rethink, and gear up for your strongest experiential marketing year yet. Use this time wisely, and you’ll walk into January feeling prepared, not panicked. 

Here’s how to make the most of the quiet season and set your brand up for a powerful year ahead. 

1. Take a Hard Look at This Year’s Results

One of the biggest mistakes brands make is charging ahead into the new year without taking time to analyze the last one. The holidays are perfect for digging into your experiential marketing results. 

Look at: 

• Which events actually moved the needle 

• The markets where you crushed it (and where you didn’t) 

• How effectively your team connected with your audience 

• What your brand ambassadors kept reporting over and over again 

• Surprises—good and not-so-good 

Event reports are data gold mines. Your brand ambassadors are out there hearing real questions, real objections, and real needs. December is the perfect time to actually read what they wrote – confused customers, frequent questions, packaging issues, competitor promos, or recurring flavor requests. These details can help shape better plans for the next year. 

Don’t rush this step. Strong planning starts with strong awareness. 

2. Reevaluate Your Target Audience (People Grow… and So Should Your Approach)

People evolve. Trends shift. Behaviors move. 

So ask yourself: Are you still showing up where your ideal customer hangs out? 

Maybe your ideal customer is now more interested in endurance sports than yoga events. Maybe your gluten-free energy bar is catching fire among parents, not the athletes you originally expected. Maybe you learned that your highest conversions happen in. boutique gym pop ups instead of large sponsorship activations. 

Realigning your experiential strategy with your real audience—not the audience you think you have—ensures your marketing dollars go further. 

3. Plan Your Event Calendar Early (You’ll Thank Yourself in March)

So many brands wait until spring to finalize their experiential marketing plans. By then, booth spaces have sold out, the best brand ambassadors are booked, and travel prices are climbing. 

Use holiday downtime to: 

• Lock in key events and races 

• Secure vendor booths 

• Request early-bird pricing 

• Book travel while it’s still affordable 

• Map out your regional strategy 

• Identify gaps or overlaps in your calendar 

The earlier you plan, the more organized—and less frantic—the year feels.  

4. Refresh or Rebuild Your Event Assets

During the busy season, no one has time to redesign sampling tables, rethink booth layouts, or create updated signage. But the holidays? Perfect. 

This is an ideal window to freshen up: 

• Branded tents and tablecloths 

• Sampling supplies 

• Banners and signage 

• Backdrops 

• Interactive displays 

• Photo ops 

• QR code assets 

• Digital integration (apps, giveaways, surveys) 

Remember: your booth sets the tone long before your team speaks a word. Give it the attention it deserves. 

5. Strengthen Your Brand Ambassador Program

If you already feel like your brand ambassadors are rockstars, great—now is the time to train them for even better performance. 

If your team wasn’t where you needed them to be, the holidays are the perfect time to adjust.  

Ask yourself: 

• Who exceeded expectations?

• Who needs more coaching? 

• Who wasn’t the right fit at all?

Then:

• Update your training materials

• Build clearer performance expectations

• Reward your top performers

• Recruit talent early

• Create incentives that actually inspire

Your ambassadors are the experience. A great team can lift your event. The wrong one can sink it. 

6. Build a Digital + Experiential Plan

The most effective brands blend online and offline touchpoints. Holiday downtime gives you space to think this through. 

Consider adding: 

• QR-code-driven discount codes

• Photo ops with automatic email delivery 

• Giveaway-driven email collection 

• Custom hashtags for event buzz 

• Event-specific landing pages 

• Digital follow-up messages after someone samples 

Good digital integration turns a one-time interaction into an ongoing relationship. 

7. Set Clear Goals for the Year Ahead

A new year brings excitement, but excitement without clarity leads to chaos. Use downtime to define what success looks like.

Are you aiming for: 

• More retail velocity? 

• Larger event footprints? 

• Higher-quality engagements? 

• A stronger ambassador team? 

• A bigger sampling reach? 

• Better data from events? 

Once your goals are set, it becomes much easier to design an experiential marketing strategy that actually supports them. 

Final Thoughts 

Holiday downtime doesn’t have to be downtime at all. For health brands, it can be the most strategic and productive time of year—if you use it wisely. By looking back at your performance, aligning your audience, planning your calendar, and strengthening your ambassador program, you set yourself up for a year of meaningful, efficient, and high-impact experiential marketing. 

So make a cup of coffee, settle into the quieter season, and get ready for your strongest year yet. 

Want help refining your experiential strategy for the new year? We’d love to brainstorm ideas with you.