Somehow another month is coming to a close, but social media never stops. This is around the point in the month when small business owners are looking back thinking, “Man, I didn’t post enough on social media.” We get it. Running your company is your focus and your digital marketing strategy may just be a task on your to-do list. That’s why we often recommend business owners who are doing their own social media marketing to start with the basics, like holidays! While an unbranded “Happy Memorial Day” graphic you got from Canva isn’t going to do a damn thing to increase your following or engagement, there are tons of other creative ways to use holidays in your social media marketing strategy that will get you the results you’re looking for. Here are some holidays and marketing ideas you can use to make them successful in April:
International Customer Loyalty Month
If you’ve been thinking about introducing a customer loyalty program like a punch card or birthday discounts, April is a great month to launch them. Piggybacking on International Customer Loyalty Month will give your promotion an extra little push. Consider kicking off the month with the announcement of your new loyalty program (examples: a discount after every 3rd visit, free product when you spend over x amount, merch when they make a purchase on their birthday) with verbiage like, “To celebrate our incredible customers during International Customer Loyalty Month, we’re using April to announce our exciting new loyalty program!”
1st April Fools’ Day
April Fools’ Day is a holiday that you’ve probably celebrated over the years by pulling silly pranks on your friends and family. It might not seem like something you can use in your business marketing strategy, but it is! A huge piece of social media is entertainment and companies that don’t utilize this pillar often suffer. The key to making this holiday work for your brand is to keep it light and silly. Here are some ways you could incorporate April Fools’ Day into your social media marketing:
Make your logo into a sticker or little toy and record video clips of you placing them all over the office or your town. Note: if you’re using a sticker, be careful where you place it!
Create and post a fake news announcement saying that your company is working with a highly recognizable brand. For example, we could create one that says “Breaking! U.S. Government announces partnership with local marketing agency, Millennial Marketing”
Create a funny tutorial or how-to-guide on how to use one of your products or how your services work with obviously fake/funny steps
7th National Beer Day
We’ve highlighted other alcohol-centric holidays in the past and they all tend to follow the same guidelines. National Beer Day is an easy holiday to utilize because it doesn’t pigeonhole your followers. It’s relevant to a wide variety of people. Be sure to use the hashtag #nationalbeerday in any content you post relating to the holiday. Some easy ways to use National Beer Day in your social media marketing strategy are to:
Post a picture of a beer from a local bar/brewery and tag them
Head to a local bar and hand out koozies with your business info on them- post a picture of someone holding their beer/koozie
Create a Reel with clips of you sipping a beer in different places that you might work throughout your day. Example: if you’re a real estate agent, you could have clips of you sipping a beer in the morning at your house, at your computer, in the elevator, at a showing, in an open house, etc.
20th 4/20
It’s 2024 and marijuana has been legal in our neck of the woods for a while, so it feels like we can take the stigma away from weed and make some really funny content for 4/20. Unless you own a dispensary, cannabis consulting firm, or something else that directly relates to the cannabis industry, the content you’ll create for this holiday is likely going to be funny/entertaining. Here are some funny marketing ideas to use on 4/20 in your social media marketing strategy:
If you work in a really professional office (law, accounting, etc.), post a video of the camera zooming in to a coworker with a completely straight face and holding up a post-it note that says happy 4/20
Clips of coworkers coughing with a caption that says something like, “The only day of the year that I’m not worried about COVID when everyone is coughing. Happy 4/20.”
Answer weed-related questions on stories. For example, if you’re a lawyer, you can answer some FAQs about the legality of it in your area.
22nd Earth Day
Earth Day is a great opportunity to do some community connection as part of your social media strategy. We encourage community-based campaigns as often as possible for small businesses that primarily market to their immediate neighbors. Partnering with other brands and businesses in your area is a simple way to increase your reach and grow your following on social media. Here’s a few ideas that you can use to lean into the holiday:
Volunteer your team to fix up the outside of a local non-profit. You can add mulch, plant flowers, or something else outdoors
Let the team work outside for the day or take them on a team walk to celebrate and get some fresh air
Highlight some of the ways that your company supports the environment in Stories
26th Get Organized Day
No matter what brings your followers to your page, we can all use a little extra organization in our lives. Showing your audience that you’re not organized all the time humanizes you and showing them how you’re getting organized gives you some credibility. Here’s how to use Get Organized Day in your social media marketing strategy:
Record a timelapse of you doing an office reset (cleaning and reorganizing)
Show off some products or services that will help your customers be more organized (for example: investing in our social media marketing services will help you feel more organized when it comes to content planning- we plan it out a month in advance!)
Give us a behind the scenes look at how your team organizes their day in Stories
28th-4th National Small Business Week
One thing about small businesses is that they always try to support other small businesses when they can. Like I said earlier, community-based campaigns work really well for business accounts, especially if your company primarily markets to a geographically close demographic. National Small Business Week is a great opportunity to connect with other local businesses and co-promote to get visibility from each other’s audiences. Here are some ideas on how you can use promote National Small Business Week in your social media marketing strategy:
Tell us your story! Have the owner of the business record themselves telling the story of how the company got started
Shoutout some of your favorite local businesses in your stories
Host a small business networking event
Organize a contest or giveaway where users can comment their favorite local business
If you’re stuck with drab or inconsistent social media content, try getting your creative juices flowing by incorporating holidays into your content strategy. The ideas listed in this article will give you a more unique perspective than just posting a random Canva graphic wishing your audience a “Happy Whatever”. As always, if you could use a hand with your social media management, Millennial Marketing would love to be your marketing partner! Send us a message on social media or email us at malia@millennialmrktg.com to get a quote for marketing services for your business.