If you have social media for your business, chances are pretty high you’ve seen posts such as the following examples:
- #InternationalFriendshipDay
- Yarr, me hearties! ’Tis Talk Like a Pirate Day!
- Mmm, doughnuts…Happy National Doughnut Day!
You may be thinking to yourself, “Why should I even care about this?” As it turns out, these types of posts on social media get a lot of engagement and traffic—both of which you could be missing out on or need.
These fun and quirky holidays are a must for a social media marketing campaign. But where to begin?
First, Some Do’s and Don’ts
- Don’t post a holiday on your social media if you don’t fully support it. People can see through this lack of authenticity!
- Do focus on holidays that relate to the industry you serve—not everyone needs to talk like a pirate on Talk Like a Pirate Day if silliness isn’t part of your company’s brand. Customers may, however, gravitate towards your celebration of Autism Awareness Day/Month if you are a doctor, for instance.
- Do have fun with the holidays you go with! This is your chance to show your fun or warmer side as opposed to the clinical and even robotic side you may be showing by accident.
- Don’t think only locally. If your brand is more recognized by an international audience, keep it in mind with any holiday. For example, if you celebrate Thanksgiving in the US but you sell products abroad, the content you create should be global in nature (“We’re thankful for our customers, etc.”)
- Do plan ahead of schedule. This is easier said than done given how often the dates change every year when it comes to these holidays (the answer is, for many cases, a lot). However, some dates are more concrete than others and you can plan for these in the long-term, such as Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc.
- Don’t overdo it with the holidays on social media. It’s a better idea to think like a customer in this case; would you really want to celebrate something if it doesn’t suit your brand or you’ve seen similar posts in one day? If not, don’t worry about celebrating something like Tell a Joke Day, but there’s always room to celebrate New Year’s Eve and Day.
- Do feel free to get creative with your content! These make not only for an excellent social media strategy, but also a content marketing one.
- Don’t worry if you miss a holiday by accident. Lots of holidays may seem to pop up out of nowhere, or there’s a second holiday on the same day.
The Best Platforms for Holidays
Naturally you will want to celebrate holidays throughout every single one of the social media platforms you use for your business regularly. On LinkedIn, you can celebrate by sending out blog posts or adding photos.
However, there are three primary platforms where holidays seem to be the most celebrated: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Pinterest and Reddit may also use hashtags, but the aforementioned three are the big ones.
Each of these platforms rely on what are now referred to as hashtags. The #InternationalFriendshipDay example we used above is one example out of millions of a hashtag. These enable people to find very specific posts that they may enjoy or want to share on their social media as well. You can also search for hashtags using the search bar on these three websites to help you find your own audience or come up with content ideas for your business using these hashtags. When put to good use, these hashtags can help people find your business in a way you may not have expected before.
With great hashtags come great responsibility, however. Much like the holidays themselves, you should be particular about the hashtags you’re looking to promote and share on social media. Some of the hashtags you may find are very politically charged or created to spread negativity. Always double check the hashtag before deciding it’s worth sharing. If you’re not sure, then don’t share it. Follow this rule of thumb and you’ll be okay.
Resources for Holidays
There are many online resources to find different holidays throughout the year, not just on the standard calendar we all know and cherish. Start by searching Facebook and Twitter themselves, usually by entering the hashtag first. In Twitter’s case the website displays their most popular hashtags of the day in the sidebar on the left.
Searching through Facebook can take a very long time, however, so if you want to get started on these holidays, here are some you can easily get started with as of this post:
- National Dog Day (August 26)
- Women’s Equality Day (August 26)
- Labour Day (September 3 2018)
- Read a Book Day (September 6)
- National Grandparents Day (September 9)
- International Day of Peace (September 21)
- National Coffee Day (September 29)
- World Vegetarian Day (October 1)
- World Teacher’s Day (October 5)
These are also some good resources (check the dates on the holidays before you post, however; some of these calendars are likely to change with each passing year!).
If some of these holidays sound good for this year or perhaps for next year’s summer marketing campaign, feel free to add them into your social media plan as well!
We hope above all else that you have fun with these holidays—that’s the whole reason many companies celebrate them! If, however, social media campaigns are something you struggle with, or if you need a website to support and promote your accounts, give us a call at V3 Media and let us know how we can be of service. We also provide one-on-one consultations if ever you’d like some professional feedback on social media, website development, and much more. Give it a try!