There are lots of different holidays, fairs, and events that take place throughout the year that can be used to engage with your target audience.
These niche days might not have a mass-market appeal, but they’re great opportunities to reach your audience at a time when they are more likely to be interested in what you have to say. We often think of social media usage being restricted to the silly hat selfie sort of things, but there’s actually a huge range of potential topics here.
The type of things you need to cover will obviously depend on the audience you’re trying to reach; some examples may not be relevant for your brand or business. But thinking through the various social media holidays and other events in any given year will arm you with plenty of ideas for associated content for future editorial calendars.
Don’t miss these social media holidays!
As with most things, the best way to find relevant social media holidays is to keep an eye on the various online communities and forums where people are talking about these things.
As you come across holidays you’re interested in, subscribe to the relevant social media channels to make sure you don’t miss out on any associated content.
In addition to the holidays listed above, you might also want to keep an eye on events like the World Cup and Olympics, as well as other seasonal events such as Burning Man and Día de Los Muertos. These are likely to have their own associated social media trends and engagement.****
- January 4 – Nationwide Trivia (#NationalTriviaDay)
- January 10 – Nationwide Houseplant Appreciation Day (#HouseplantAppreciationDay)
- January 15: National Hat Day (#NationalHatDay)
- January 15: National Bagel Day (#NationalBagelDay)
- January 17: Ditch Your Resolution Day (#DitchYourResolutionDay)
- January 19 – Nationwide Popcorn Day (#PopcornDay)
- February 2: Groundhog Day
- February 8: Safer Internet Day
- February 9: National Pizza Day #NationalPizzaDay
- February 11: International Day of Women and Girls in Science #WomenInScience
- February 13: Galentine’s Day
- February 14: Valentine’s Day
- February 19 – Nationwide Lash Day (#NationalLashDay)
- February 22 – Nationwide Margarita Day (#NationalMargaritaDay)
- March 3: World Wildlife Day #WorldWildlifeDay
- March 5 – Nationwide Day of Unplugging (#NationalDayofUnplugging)
- March 8: International Women’s Day (#InternationalWomensDay #IWD[YEAR])
- March 14 – Pi Day (#PiDay)
- March 18: Global Recycling Day
- March 18: World Sleep Day
- March 20: International Day of Happiness (#InternationalDayofHappiness)
- March 22: World Water Day (#WorldWaterDay #Water2me)
- March 23 – Nationwide Pet Day (#NationalPuppyDay)
- March 25 – Waffle Day (#WaffleDay)
- March 29: National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day
- April 1: April Fool’s Day
- April 1: Walk to Work Day
- April 3 – Discover a Rainbow Day (#FindARainbowDay)
- April 7: National Beer Day (US)
- April 7: World Health Day
- April 11: National Pet Day #NationalPetDay
- April 11 – Nationwide Pet Day (#NationalPetDay)
- April 18: Tax Day (US)
- April 23-30: World Immunization Week
- April 23 – Nationwide Picnic Day (#NationalPicnicDay)
- Might 21 – Nationwide Bike to Work Day (#BTWD)
- Might (third Friday) – Pizza Occasion Day (#PizzaPartyDay)
- Might 27 – Nationwide Sunscreen Day (#NationalSunscreenDay)
- April 28: National Superhero Day
- April 29: International Dance Day #InternationalDanceDay
- June 4 – Nationwide Doughnut Day(#DoughnutDay)
- June 8 – Nationwide Greatest Associates Day (#BestFriendsDay)
- June 18 – Worldwide Sushi Day (#InternationalSushiDay)
- June 25 – Take Your Canine to Work Day (#TakeYourDogToWorkDay)
- July 7 – World Chocolate Day (#WorldChocolateDay)
- July 15 – Nationwide Clear Magnificence Day(#NationalCleanBeautyDay)
- July 17- World Emoji Day (#WorldEmojiDay)
- July (third Sunday) – Nationwide Ice Cream Day (#NationalIceCreamDay)
- July 29 – Nationwide Lipstick Day (#LipstickDay)
- July 30 – Worldwide Day of Friendship (#DayofFriendship)
- August 2 – Nationwide Coloring E book Day (#NationalColoringBookDay)
- August 9 – Nationwide E book Lovers Day(#Nationwide BookLoversDay)
- August 10 – Nationwide Lazy Day (#LazyDay)
- September 13 – Constructive Pondering Day (#PositiveThinkingDay)
- September 18 – Nationwide Cheeseburger Day (#NationalCheeseburgerDay)
- October 1 – Worldwide Espresso Day (#InternationalCoffeeDay)
- October 1- World Smile Day (#WorldSmileDay)
- October 4 – Taco Day (#NationalTacoDay)
- October 10 – Nationwide Purse Day (#NationalHandbagDay)
- November 4 – Nationwide Sweet Day (#CandyDay)
- November 13 – World Kindness Day (#WorldKindnessDay)
- November 26 – Nationwide Cake Day (#NationalCakeDay)
- December 4 – Nationwide Cookie Day (#NationalCookieDay)
- December (third Friday) – Ugly Christmas Sweater Day (#UglyChristmasSweaterDay)
- December 21- Crossword Puzzle Day (#CrosswordPuzzleDay)
(Professional Tip: Ensure you examine a calendar earlier than scheduling your publish! A few of these holidays fall on the ‘first Friday’ or ‘final Monday’ of the month so might shift year-to-year.)
None of those talking to you? Why not make up your individual firm vacation by celebrating the day you had been based or launched your hottest product! This offers you an excuse to interact along with your viewers and rejoice a big day to your model.
April: National Co-dependence Day
April is National Co-Dependency Month, so it’s a great time to reach out to your customer base and ask them to let their partners know how much they’re appreciated.
You could do this through a simple social media post asking people to tag their partners and let them know how much they’re appreciated, or through a simple discount coupon that’s only redeemable when shared with a partner.
May: No-Shave-November and Movember
If your brand is looking to partner with one of the many charities that appeal to men, you could tie in with the No-Shave-November charity that encourages men to skip shaving for the month and donate their resulting scruff to cancer research.
Alternatively, you could tie in with Movember, which is the equivalent charity for prostate cancer research. Your content could be as simple as asking your male customers to let their partners know that they’re growing facial hair for a good cause.
July: World Domination Summit
The first weekend in July is World Domination Summit, a conference for people who are looking to expand their businesses and become as successful as possible.
While most businesses will be catering to customers, it can be a great opportunity to reach out to other businesses and offer to help them with their social media marketing.
September: International Talk Like a Pirate Day
This is one of the best-known social media holidays, but it’s also one of the best opportunities to engage with your customers. You could promote a special offer, or simply encourage customers to tag their friends and let them know how much they’re appreciated.
Alternatively, you could promote a charitable cause such as Ocean Aid or Parrot Rescue, and donate a percentage of your sales to these organizations.
October: Halloween and Friendsgiving
Halloween is a great opportunity to engage with your customers and promote an in-store or pop-up event. Alternatively, you could promote a special offer, and encourage your customers to share it with their friends.
Friendsgiving is a popular alternative to Halloween, and you could promote your charitable donation to a local food bank.
November: Bloggersgiving and Black Friday
Bloggersgiving is a charity event held on Black Friday that encourages bloggers to donate their time and services to non-profits. If you’re a blogger yourself, you could host a giveaway and donate the proceeds to a charity that appeals to your audience.
Alternatively, you could encourage your customers to share your sales, and donate a percentage of the proceeds to a charity of their choice.
December: Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday
Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday are two very close, yet distinct, events that can be used to promote your sales and encourage your customers to share the love.
Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday and is a popular day for online retailers to launch sales while Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and is a day for people to donate to charitable causes.
How to Align Holidays with Your Social Media Calendar:
In today’s world, consumers are exposed to a dizzying amount of marketing messages. As a result, they are becoming more and more immune to traditional advertising tactics.
In order for brands to cut through the noise and reach their target audiences, marketers must leverage every opportunity available to them as efficiently as possible. With so many different holidays, cultural celebrations, and other special occasions happening at different times of the year, incorporating these events into your marketing calendar can be a great way to keep tabs on upcoming opportunities for your brand.
Not only do these activities give you a chance to plan ahead for ways you can integrate them into your marketing strategy, but they also provide you with specific dates to market accordingly.
Aligning your marketing calendar with different cultural celebrations is an effective way to help your brand stand out from the crowd in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Which Holidays should you align with your social media calendar?
Now that you know what a social media calendar is and when the most popular holidays are, it’s time to understand how you can align your marketing calendar with them. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- New Year’s Day – You can promote discounts, offers, and gifts related to New Year’s on January 1 (like many e-commerce websites do). You can also use this day to promote your New Year’s resolution.
- Valentine’s Day – Valentine’s Day is all about love, and social media channels are filled with posts related to love and affection. Use this day to promote love-related content and drive engagement on social media.
- St. Patrick’s Day – St. Patrick’s Day is all about luck, so you
If you have been wondering how to align your marketing calendar with different cultural celebrations (as well as other holidays), here’s what you need to know:
Sync up your marketing calendar with seasonal events:
Certain seasons of the year provide marketers with a great opportunity to leverage culturally relevant themes that are already top of mind for consumers. For example, Halloween is a time of year when consumers are especially likely to be interested in spooky and/or gory products.
Halloween-themed marketing campaigns can therefore help brands effectively stand out from the crowd by giving them a relevant theme to market around. Similarly, the holidays listed below are all tied to specific seasons of the year, giving marketers ample opportunity to take advantage of seasonal themes for their marketing campaigns.
By syncing up your marketing calendar with seasonal events, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are as timely and relevant as possible. Doing so can help you to reach more potential customers, boost your brand’s overall recognition, and ultimately generate more revenue.
New Year: Start With a Clean Slate:
New Year’s Eve is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world. This year, New Year’s Eve falls on December 31st. While most people associate the New Year with drinking and partying, marketers can also use this holiday to their advantage.
If your brand is trying to re-invent itself, New Year’s Eve is a great opportunity to start fresh. For example, a car manufacturer that has struggled in recent years could use New Year’s Eve as an opportunity to reset its image and re-establish itself as a leader in the automotive industry.
New Year’s Eve is a Clean Slate for the New Year, so it can be a great opportunity for brands to start fresh and make a positive impact on their target audiences from the start.
Chinese New Year: Celebrate a milestone for your brand:
Spring marks the start of the Chinese New Year, an event that is celebrated by billions of people around the world. Chinese New Year is a cultural celebration that is rooted in tradition.
During this time, it’s customary for people to reunite with their loved ones, exchange gifts, and partake in other traditional activities. Chinese New Year is an important milestone for brands that want to appeal to ethnically Chinese consumers.
If your brand is marketing toward Chinese customers, it is important that you acknowledge and celebrate this occasion. Chinese New Year is a celebration of longevity, prosperity, and good luck, making it an ideal time for brands to look back at their own successes.
In addition to recognizing the positive milestones that your brand has reached, you can also use the Chinese New Year as an opportunity to wish your customers good luck in their future endeavors.
Valentine’s Day: Leverage Romance
February 14th is commonly referred to as Valentine’s Day. This day marks the occasion where people celebrate love and romance. According to a 2016 survey, Valentine’s Day is the most popular holiday for single people to find a significant other.
Although Valentine’s Day has become somewhat of a commercialized holiday in recent years, marketers can still use it to their advantage by focusing on romance. If you are targeting single customers, Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to market toward romance.
You can talk about love and promote your product as a gift that will help people to celebrate their feelings. If your brand is marketing toward couples, Valentine’s Day can also be leveraged to help you reach your audience. You can promote your product as being helpful for couples who are looking to enhance their relationships. This way, you can help to reach customers all over the world who are celebrating this event.
Easter: Leverage the Holiday to Talk About Spring-themed Products
Easter is a widely celebrated Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This event typically falls in March or April, depending on when Easter Sunday lands. Easter is a holiday that is heavily geared toward families.
People use Easter to spend time with loved ones and exchange gifts. Easter can be leveraged by marketers to promote springtime-themed products. By marketing to parents and families, you can take advantage of Easter’s focus on springtime to reach your audience.
Easter is a great holiday to promote spring-themed products because it is typically a time of year when people are thinking about getting outside and reenergizing themselves. You can take advantage of this by marketing your product as a way to help customers get ready to face the spring season.
Ramadan: Leveraging a Special Culture Celebration to Boost Product Awareness
Ramadan is an Islamic religious festival that is observed by Muslims worldwide. It is a time of fasting and self-reflection. During Ramadan, Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk.
Ramadan is a special cultural celebration that can be leveraged by brands that are looking to boost their product awareness. Ramadan is a celebratory time for Muslims, and it’s a great opportunity for brands to advertise their products.
By marketing toward the Muslim population, you can take advantage of the buzz that Ramadan brings. Ramadan is a great time to boost your product awareness because it is a time when Muslims are thinking about shopping for new items.
Plan Ahead
It is crucial to plan ahead if you want to celebrate the holidays in the most profitable manner. This will allow your team enough time to purchase props, hire a photographer, create posts your fans will love, and schedule them across your social networks accordingly.
Why is it important to align your marketing calendar with holidays?
Social media has become a major part of our lives, and it influences our buying behavior. We are more likely to be influenced by what our friends and family members are buying, and many turns to social media for ideas.
By publishing content that resonates with your audience on important dates, such as cultural holidays, you are more likely to grab their attention and convert them into customers.
When you align your social media calendar with holidays, you are bound to reach a wider audience and get them interested in your products.
Conclusion
Marketers must continually approach their work with a growth mindset. It’s not enough to just do the same things that you’ve always done. Instead, you must hone your skills, knowledge, and abilities so you can keep growing and progressing as a professional.
One way you can do this is by actively engaging in new activities and events so you can see how other people approach their work and gain new insights. When you come across new opportunities, you should always be ready to seize them and make the most of them.
Aligning your marketing calendar with different cultural celebrations is one way you can stay prepared for new opportunities.
