Blog / Seasonal

Festival Marketing Videos: Dashain and Tihar Plan

Plan simple festival videos for Dashain and Tihar. What to film, when to post, and how to turn festival views into orders for your Nepali business.

By Seenmatic · 1 November 2026 · 5 min read

Dashain and Tihar are the busiest times of the year for many shops in Nepal. People buy clothes, sweets, gifts, flowers, lights and decorations. They also spend more time on their phones. If your business has no festival video, your customers may buy from someone who does.

This plan is simple. You can follow it with a phone and a few hours of work. Start early, keep it small, and finish before the rush.

Start weeks before the festival

Most owners start too late. When the festival week arrives, you are busy with customers and have no time to film. Plan three phases instead.

• Before: people are thinking about what to buy. Show your products and your offer.
• During: people want greetings and a warm feeling. Show your team, your shop, your thanks.
• After: thank your customers and show how they enjoyed your product.

Write the three phases on a sheet of paper and list two or three video ideas under each. That is your whole plan.

Video ideas before the festival

These videos help people decide what to buy.

1. Gift ideas. Show three or four gifts from your shop and who each one suits: a mother, a brother, a friend living abroad.
2. New stock. A clothing store in Kathmandu can show new arrivals one by one. A sweet shop in Lalitpur can show the boxes being packed.
3. Last order date. Tell people clearly when they must order to receive the goods before the festival. This is useful and creates a reason to act now.
4. Delivery and payment. Many customers worry about late delivery. Show how you pack, deliver and take cash on delivery or digital payment.

Keep each video short. Read our guide on how long a reel should be if you are not sure.

Video ideas during the festival

At this time, people do not want a hard sell. They want to feel the festival.

• A short greeting from you and your team, filmed in your shop with the festival decoration.
• A look behind the counter on a busy day: tika colours, flowers, lights, packed boxes.
• For Tihar, a simple diya or light moment near your shop, with a short thank-you line.
• A quick tip your customers can use, such as how to keep sel roti fresh or how to hang lights safely.

Keep the offer small in these videos. One line at the end is enough: "Order on WhatsApp." If you want help with this step, see our post on getting WhatsApp orders from Instagram.

Video ideas after the festival

Many shops stop posting after the festival. That is a missed chance.

• Thank your customers by showing the busy days and the team behind them.
• Share photos or videos that customers sent you, only with their permission.
• Tell people what is next: a winter range, a new menu, a new service.

This keeps the people who found you during the festival from forgetting you.

Make them look and sound like a festival

You do not need a big set. Small things make the video feel right.

• Light. Film near a window or under warm lights. Our tips on phone lighting still apply.
• Colour. Use red, orange, yellow and marigold in the background. Flowers and diyas do most of the work for you.
• Sound. Use music you have the right to use. Read about copyright-safe music before you post.
• Captions. Add short Nepali captions so people can watch without sound.

Film once, use many times

Festival weeks are busy, so film in one session. Spend one morning and shoot ten or fifteen short clips: products, packing, greetings, the shop front. Then cut them into several videos for the whole season. Our post on turning one video into five posts shows how.

If you do not have time to edit, hand the clips to an editor. Our video editing service can add captions, music and a clear ending for you. If you would rather have someone else film too, our creator shoots connect you with a creator who can make a festival video in your shop.

Think about ads early

Festival buyers decide fast. If a video is already getting good watch time and messages, think about putting a small ad budget behind it. Choose a video with a clear offer and a clear way to order. Start a few days before people need to buy, not on the last day. You can learn how it works on our ads boost page.

A simple checklist

1. Write the three phases: before, during, after.
2. List two or three video ideas for each.
3. Film all clips in one session.
4. Edit with captions and a clear last line.
5. Post on a plan, not only when you remember.
6. Reply to every WhatsApp message quickly. A festival customer will not wait long.
7. After the festival, check which video brought the most messages and keep that idea for next year.

Common festival mistakes

• Starting too late. Plan weeks before, not days.
• Only shouting offers. Mix useful and warm videos with offers.
• Forgetting delivery details. People want to know if the gift will arrive in time.
• Stopping after the festival. Keep posting and thank your customers.