D | Doug KendallMay 2026 · 5 min read · Campaign Strategy |
Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. For most families it means a long weekend — cookouts, travel, outdoor activities, and shopping. 94% of people who plan to celebrate Memorial Day expect to spend money during the weekend.
That is a big sales opportunity to reach new customers. And most small businesses are either not running ads at all or waiting too long to launch them.
Here is how to approach Memorial Day Meta ads the right way — with respect for what the holiday actually means and a clear plan to capture the spending opportunity it brings.
Get the timing right
Memorial Day is May 26th. Your ads should be live by May 5th — three weeks out. That gives the algorithm time to exit the learning phase and find your buyers before the long weekend arrives.
Almost half of Memorial Day shoppers make their plans only one to two weeks in advance. That means they are actively looking for ideas and options right now. The businesses that are already in front of them win. The ones that launch the week of the holiday are already behind.
How to talk about Memorial Day without getting it wrong
Memorial Day is a federal holiday that honors military members who died in service. It is not just a shopping weekend and your ads should reflect that. You do not have to make every ad a tribute — but being tone-deaf about the meaning of the day is a fast way to get negative comments and damage goodwill.
A few guidelines:
Where the opportunity is
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer. People are in a spending mindset — outdoor activities, home improvement, food, travel, and anything that feels like a treat after a long winter and spring.
Restaurants and food businesses
Long weekends mean cookouts, group dinners, and people looking for catering or pre-made sides. A restaurant special for the long weekend — “Feed the whole crew this Memorial Day” — or a promotion on family meal deals gives people an easy decision. Make sure your ad is live early so people can plan ahead.
A free or discounted meal for veterans not only shows honor and respect for what the holiday actually means — it also brings in more business and goodwill than almost any other promotion you could run that weekend.
Outdoor, home, and lifestyle businesses
Memorial Day is peak season for anything related to summer — garden supplies, outdoor furniture, sports equipment, cleaning services, pest control, landscaping. People are finally spending time outside and the to-do list is suddenly very visible. Your ad arriving at the right moment is all the push they need.
Salons and personal care
The long weekend is a social occasion. Events, cookouts, family gatherings. People want to look good. A Memorial Day booking special or a “get ready for summer” promotion fits naturally into the mindset people are already in.
Retail and boutiques
Summer merchandise, clearance sales, and seasonal new arrivals all have a natural home in Memorial Day messaging. The key is making the deal feel tied to the moment — not just a generic sale, but one that feels like part of the long weekend.
Lead with respect, follow with your offer. Three weeks out is the sweet spot. The algorithm needs time to warm up before the weekend hits.Memorial Day was always an interesting one for wedding photography. The weekend itself was usually already booked by couples — but the week after was when engagement season started picking up. We used Memorial Day to run awareness ads for fall and winter weddings, planting seeds for couples who were just starting to think about getting married.
You do not always have to tie your ad directly to the holiday. Sometimes the best opportunity is using the moment to reach people who are entering the right season for what you sell. Think about what comes next for your customers after Memorial Day — and be the first business in their feed to speak to it.
Turn long weekend buyers into repeat customers
The Memorial Day weekend produces a spike in buying behavior. Most businesses take the money and move on. The smarter play is to use that spike to build your retargeting audience.
Everyone who clicks your ad, visits your website, or buys from you during the weekend gets recorded by your ad assistant (the Meta pixel). That pool of warm, interested people is now yours to retarget with follow-up offers — summer promotions, loyalty deals, next-visit discounts. You spent the money to reach them once. Now you can stay in front of them for pennies.
This is where the Bulletproof Campaign Blueprint becomes valuable — it goes deep on how to build and use those post-holiday audiences to keep your best customers coming back long after the weekend is over.
Get your campaign live before the long weekend buyers start planning.
The Simple Ad Module walks through every setting in one sitting so your ads are running before the window opens.
Get the Simple Ad Module — $11 →The short version
Memorial Day is a real spending opportunity — the unofficial start of summer with a buying mindset attached. Lead with respect for what the holiday means, follow with a genuine offer, and launch three weeks out so the algorithm has time to work.
Then use the buyers you reach to build an audience that keeps paying off all summer long.
Get your first campaign live before the long weekend hits.
Every click, every setting, walked through in one sitting. No jargon. No guessing.
Get the Simple Ad Module — $11 →D | Doug KendallThe Ads That Make Sense GuyDoug spent 15 years running a successful luxury wedding photography business — and nearly a decade figuring out Meta ads the hard way. After burning through more money than he'd like to admit on bad advice and worse strategies, he built a simple, repeatable system that actually works for real business owners. Now he shares everything he learned at adsthatmakesense.com — no hype, no jargon, no “ad expert” nonsense. |
