Would you believe that I’m hanging fire with an article that I wrote early in June about making the most of the summer months to start planning your Christmas marketing tactics.

And I’m not the only "saddo" with the “C” word on my mind - there was a great big plug for Doctor Who this Christmas at the end of the last season run on BBC3!

While of course, it’s way too early to be sending snowflake-encrusted emails; it's never too early to begin planning your marketing tactics for the holiday season. Yes, I know it's ridiculously early, but don’t go into denial, or be caught out by being naïve; as many retailers have already acknowledged the holiday season in their email communications with customers.

The Christmas period always affords many an opportunity and a lot of companies rely on having good sales figures at Christmas to pull them through for the entire year. According to an e-consultancy GSI Christmas 2009 survey, 25% of British adults said they were willing to spend more than £1,000 on a product online this year, compared with 12% the year before and this could potentially double again in 2010.

So start thinking how you are going to engage with your customers now and remember that your Christmas marketing message should always re-iterate "Remember that we are the best choice for next year, too."

This article just serves as a quick reminder to make the most of the precious planning time you will have in the summer and gives you a cheeky heads up to watch out for our Christmas planning whitepaper coming soon to our Resources section!