The MARKETING RX: Why Burnout Hits Marketers Hard in December

Q4 always looks bright and shiny from afar because there can be so much excitement! Holiday campaigns, big sales, year end reporting, planning for the next year. But… behind the scenes, this stretch between Thanksgiving and January can easily be one of the most mentally draining seasons for marketing teams. 89% of adults feel stressed during the holiday season and over 68% even report decreased productivity in December!

Expectations rise, deadlines loom, and everyone feels pulled in ten different directions at once to try to end the year strong.

But the truth is that burnout doesn’t equal failure. It’s usually a sign that your team is trying to do too much at once. Luckily, this time of year is the perfect moment to slow down and reset the load. A few simple shifts can help…

Focus on what actually moves the needle (like we talked about last week) and put everything else on pause. Get clear on what can wait until January. Give your team permission to unplug without guilt. (Here at Radiant we even have an extra day off in December for our ‘Happy Health Day’!) Rely on automation for content posting. And build a content plan to wrap up the year that’s intentional, not reactive. Small adjustments like these usually create more breathing room and lead to a happier and healthier team come year end.

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QUICK HITS

Here are a few other things happening this week in the marketing world.

• Coca-Cola back-steps with a new human-centric holiday ad. In response to recent years backlash on their fully AI-generated holiday ads, Coca-Cola debuted a new commercial blending AI clips with the efforts of over 100 creatives.
• Google Search Console adds branded/non-branded filter. A new filter will help marketers analyze non-branded search growth by separating it from branded queries. This change will make it much easier to measure brand recognition.
• A new Market Like a Mother episode dropped last week. In case you haven’t listened yet… Karen and I debunk the myth that visibility has to feel cringe. Listen as a pick-me-up today on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Want some guidance on your 2026 marketing plans? Set up a Discovery Call and we can help!