How to use postcode heatmapping to supercharge your festive event marketing

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Stop Wasting Ad Spend: How Postcode Targeting Boosts Christmas Event Bookings

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Stop wasting ad spend this festive season. Learn how postcode targeting and heatmaps reveal your holiday hotspots, improve campaign ROI, and attract audiences most likely to book your Christmas experiences.

Stop wasting budget and start targeting the audiences most likely to book your Christmas experiences.

Why postcode targeting matters more than ever this festive season

For most attractions, festive events are among the highest-revenue moments of the year. But they also come with the highest marketing costs, the fiercest competition, and a shorter-than-you-think booking window.

And while it's tempting to “go big” with broad online campaigns, casting the net too wide can lead to wasted spend and missed opportunities.

The smarter approach? Use your real visitor postcode data to map where your bookings actually come from and target those areas (and nearby gaps) with precision.

In this blog, we’ll show how heatmapping can help you pinpoint areas with existing festive demand, discover new postcodes brimming with untapped potential, and create targeted campaigns that boost holiday bookings and revenue.

Festive events attract a different crowd—your targeting needs to reflect that

Christmas audiences are often broader than your summer or term-time visitors. You’ll likely see more:

Multi-generational family groups

Occasional visitors from slightly further afield

Parents and grandparents searching for “something magical” to do together

Because of this, your postcode data from previous festive seasons is one of the best assets you can use right now. It shows you which towns or areas actually converted—not just clicked or engaged—and gives you the clearest picture of where to focus this year.

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Top tip: If you’ve never compared postcode heatmaps by season, now’s the time. Holiday bookings often reveal completely different catchment areas than summer.

Heatmapping reveals your holiday hotspots (and cold zones)

Using postcode heatmaps based on real bookings gives you the clearest possible view of your festive performance. It shows:

Where your Christmas event was most popular

Where you had strong interest but lower conversion

Where nearby audiences may not even know you exist

From there, you can match postcode insights to your marketing activity—and build a strategy that scales what worked and fixes what didn’t.

For example, one heritage site saw bookings spike from a cluster of postcode districts 45 minutes away during their Christmas light trail. The following year, they targeted those areas with ads and local print distribution earlier and sold out their weekend slots 3 weeks ahead of time.

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Top tip: Don’t assume your best visitors are nearby. Many festive guests are happy to travel further for something special—heatmapping shows you just how far.

Targeted postcode marketing = better ROI on festive ad spend

Your festive marketing budget is likely under pressure, especially with rising CPCs on Meta and Google during November and December.

Instead of wasting money on radius-based targeting or interest categories, postcode-level targeting lets you speak directly to audiences with real interest in your event.

Use your heatmap to:

Upload postcode sector lists directly into ad platforms (such as Meta or Google)

Run local print or leaflet campaigns only in high-potential zones

Partner with schools or community groups in strong-performing districts

Use postcode insights to shape your messaging, not just your reach

Different areas don’t just perform differently, they often respond to different messages.

For example:

A nearby postcode with high summer attendance may respond better to urgency (“Book now, last year sold out”)

A slightly further postcode that only books at Christmas may need more inspiration (“Make it magical… just a 40-minute drive away”)

By pairing your postcode data with messaging tests, you can tailor your festive campaigns to the needs and habits of each audience segment.

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Top tip: Use A/B testing on Meta or email campaigns to see which messages perform best by postcode and adapt quickly as bookings roll in.

Why now is the time to act

October marks the moment to ramp up your festive marketing. With Christmas bookings starting to accelerate, targeting the right audiences now ensures your events capture early planners, weekend families, and seasonal visitors before your competitors take the spotlight.

Using postcode heatmaps at this stage helps you:

Focus your ad spend on areas most likely to convert

Drive bookings from proven high-performing postcodes

Build momentum for your festive campaigns in the crucial weeks ahead

Even just a few weeks of targeted postcode marketing can make a measurable difference, maximising bookings, reducing wasted spend, and ensuring your events reach the audiences who are most ready to book.

What this means for your festive strategy

This season, every booking counts and every ad impression should have purpose. Postcode heatmapping gives you the clarity to focus your efforts where they matter most.

You’ll not only boost bookings, but also reduce wasted spend, learn which audiences convert best, and build better festive campaigns year after year. To find out how to use our geographic targeting hub, schedule a demo with our team today.