What day is it ‘socially’ today?

If you look at your common wall calendar, you’ll notice that there are many ‘holidays’ that are special for one reason or another. It might be religious holidays, social media holidays, or key festivals. Some of these holidays are created by fans such May The 4^th Be With You, others by official organisations. Some are silly like International Talk like a Pirate Day on September 19, some celebrate family  including National Grandparents Day on 31 October, whilst others have important purpose behind them such as today which is Remembrance Day  (#lestweforget).

Regardless, these holidays can be really useful in creating content and marketing activities that organically reaches your audience and creates shared value. They are best used when planned out in a content calendar that’s part of your communication plan.

November offers up many key ‘holidays’ such as:

• Men’s Health Awareness Month – #movember
• Black Friday, 26^th of November – #blackfriday
• Cyber Monday, 29^th of November –  #cybermonday
• Giving Tuesday, 30^th of November – #givingtuesday

Principles of using holidays in your marketing:

• Make sure it aligns with your company values and core beliefs
• Ensure that it is respectful to your customers and prospective target market
• Be respectful to other cultures and belief systems

Holiday marketing guidelines:

1. Ensure that the holiday you are using is relevant and that you have the right date (it may change year-to-year). You can create social posts prior to the actual date and schedule these to post on the appropriate day so you don’t forget!
2. Research and use the appropriate hashtag in your social posts for organic reach
3. Have fun with holidays, creating marketing campaigns and conversations. For example, create dialog with your audience socially by sharing photos for #WorldPhotoDay on August 19 or run a competition with your customers by sharing their last 5 emojis on July 17 for #WorldEmojiDay
4. Don’t overuse holidays, posting on social media ‘just because’ as that will deter your audience or connect you with an audience that may not share your core beliefs
5. Don’t approach holidays in an adhoc manner. Identify what is relevant to your business, how it fits into your overall marketing objectives and plan out across the year.

If you would like to find out more about using holidays in your marketing strategy, or to plan your content calendar for 2022, please reach out.