What’s with weird holidays?
Are they just wacky and nonsensical – or could they make sense (and dollars) for marketing your business?
Count me as a fan of funny holidays.
Why? People are attracted to different.
Our brains are wired to notice the odd and unusual.
I suggest you try them! There are enough weird holidays to find ones that work for any type of business – even if the people you sell to are more of the corporate type.
Why Use Funny Holidays?
As I noted in my post about content types, current holidays are trending. People see content about them all day (or season) long, and realize that you’re in the know when they see your content in the mix.
About holiday content, Business2Community said:
It ensures that you get traffic and engagement because it’s simply timely.
And about funny content, Buffer noted:
Content that entertains is often funny, frequently highly shareable, and often is able to quickly transform a “company” into a “group of people just like me.”
How Many Weird Holidays Are There?
There’s a unique holiday for every day of the year!
Each offers a golden opportunity to latch onto the weird and wonderful and spin it into something uniquely yours.
Everyone does promotions for the Christmas holidays. If you want memorable marketing, try Opposite Day or Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day — and make your customers smile!
How Many Silly Holidays Should You Use?
It’s unlikely that you want to build your entire marketing strategy around oddball holidays. That would be random and confusing to your audience.
Use fun holidays when you need content ideas to stay in touch with your customers, followers, and subscribers.
You should choose offbeat holidays that:
- Directly relate to your business OR
- Give you a chance to express your personality OR
- Provide an interesting topic of conversation.
Any of those are useful for either directly promoting your business, OR creating a connection or conversation with your audience. You don’t want to promote all the time!
Avoid the unique holidays that:
- Don’t align with your business personality.
- Might offend your audience.
- Interrupt a promotion you’re running.
Those could create a disconnect, mistrust, or confusion about who you are and what you stand for.
How to Find Unique Holidays
To get ideas of what’s available, you can check one or more of the many crazy holiday websites.
No time to surf all over looking for appropriate holidays? Make it easy on yourself by purchasing my Social Media Content Planner.
I’ve hand-picked the holidays that are most appropriate to businesses in general.
I also double-checked the dates as much as possible, including using the industry standard reference, Chase’s Guide to Events.
This Planner offers:
- Daily holidays at a glance.
- Ideas on how to use them.
- A way to keep track of those you’ll use, and how they perform.
- A balance of funny and business-oriented marketing ideas.
• • • Check Out the Social Media Content Planner! • • •
How to Use Crazy Holidays for Marketing
Brainstorm which holidays make sense for your business, your brand (or business “personality”), and your audience.
- Fitness, health, and wellness businesses are a natural for healthy foods and stress relief.
- Family-oriented businesses match up with kid-themed days and many food holidays.
- Business-to-business can find holidays like Clean Out Your Computer Day.
- Your specific industry may have a holiday like National Toothache Day for dentists.
But don’t shy away from using some purely silly holidays that resonate with your audience. These help you stand out and find your tribe of like-minded people, who love to do business with you – because you’re you!
I’m big on creativity and expressing oneself, so I pick a lot of oddball holidays like Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day.
8 Ways to Use Wacky Holidays
You can tie a theme into a business promotion: Hold a moonlight madness sale on International Observe the Moon Night.*
Create a quote graphic for a holiday like Lincoln’s Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien Day, MLK Jr Day, or Presidential Joke Day.
Stir people to good deeds with ideas like bringing in canned food on Good Neighbor Day (perhaps give them a discount coupon in return).*
Hold a photo or video contest on Dress Up Your Pet Day or Chicken Dance Day (and so many others!).
Share delectable recipes (and ask followers for theirs) on any of the food-related holidays.
Spread joy with upbeat images on Happiness Happens Day, Cheer Up the Lonely Day, and so many more.
Show appreciation for customers on National Thank You Day, National Compliment Day, or You Matter to Me Day.
Share a selfie on Hat Day, Wear Something Gaudy Day, or Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day.
*These ideas from Groupon.
Should I Use Weird Holidays if I’m not in the U.S.?
Do you wonder what to post on social media if you’re not US-based?
I’ve been getting this question a lot lately from social media users worldwide, particularly as regards my Social Media Content Planner.
But I’ve also gotten this question over the years in regards to what time to post on social media.
Whether you’re in Europe, South Africa, Australia, or Juneau Alaska, I’ve got answers for your social media in general, and specific to my Planner.
The Simple Solution to What and When to Post
The answer to this is simpler than you might imagine:
Post the content that’s appropriate to the majority of your audience, at the time that’s appropriate for them!
If you have, or aspire to have, a global English-speaking audience, your target market is largely in the U.S., and specifically in the Eastern and Central time zones. I once heard a stat that 75% of English speakers reside in those time zones.
Now, India, Pakistan, The Philippines, and Nigeria may be challenging those stats by sheer numbers – but consider whether that’s your target market. Nonetheless, each of those 4 countries is home to more English speakers than the United Kingdom and (by far) Australia.
For specifics, see this chart of English speakers by country.
What If I Have a Local Business?
By all means, post content that’s relevant to your region, at a time that works for your market. So if you see reports that “the best time to post on LinkedIn is between 7 and 9am,” use your local time. (And do test those “best time” recommendations, as they don’t work for every business).
But if you have a global audience, consider using U.S. Eastern time, even if your local time is the opposite!
What If I Don’t Know Where My Audience Resides?
A couple possibilities: one would be to ask them! You could try taking a poll.
If you have a Facebook Page, you can do a quick check under Insights… People… Your Fans. Similar stats are available in Instagram, and many third-party tools.
These methods will tell you where your current fans are, BUT you should always be aiming for your ideal customer.
NOTE: It doesn’t matter whether 95% of your potential clients live in New York City if you don’t want to work with them. YOU get to choose your ideal customer. Post for them!
Should I Post Wintry Stuff When It’s Summer Here?
It’s completely up to you! What do you think will resonate with your target audience?
If they would like it, and it’s something you can connect with them over, then post it! (Even if that connection is, “I’m going for a swim, how’s the weather by you?”).
Only you know your audience, and your feelings about it. If the content makes you feel uneasy, skip it. You’ve got to be true to yourself!
Conclusion
Social media holidays are fun and engaging. Try a few posts and see!
There are so many ways to use weird holidays for marketing. Which will you choose?
For Weird Holidays and more marketing ideas, grab the Social Media Content Planner!
• • • Get Your Social Media Content Planner! • • •
Tna says
What a great idea! I have wondered how I could stand out in the crowded Social Media sites and I believe using unusual holidays will help. I’ll have to start looking for them. Thanks
Louise Myers says
Great! Enjoy, Tina.
alifaakter says
Your article is very well written. I like to know more about what is new and i think that we must always learn from each other. Keep it up
Louise Myers says
you bet.
Crazy Tom says
Awesome post. It is very informative and it is really interesting to increase our conversation rate. Thanks for sharing, it will be useful to everyone.
Laura Byrne says
Enjoyed many of your other articles, thought I’d enjoy this one too…however:
“It’s unlikely that you want to build your entire marketing strategy around oddball holidays. Frankly, you’d look a little spastic!”
Inappropriate use of the term “spastic”, completely and utterly…frankly I’m shocked and disappointed that you’d think that to be acceptable.
I didn’t read any further, and I doubt very much if I’ll be reading any other articles.
Louise Myers says
My apologies for misusing a word. I honestly didn’t know this word was offensive.
Mari-Lize du Toit says
Wonderful article, even if I am a few years late, lol. Don’t worry about comments like these, some people will find any reason to be offended. The “victim mentality” is everywhere. Thanks for all the tips!
Louise Myers says
You are welcome, and thanks for a nice comment 🙂
Dhaval Parmar says
Thank you so much for this article. I’ve got so many ideas running through my head now – can’t wait to start putting these tips into practice! It’s really refreshing to read an article that actually provides thorough advice.
Louise Myers says
I’m glad you liked it!
Removed your link though: blog comment policy.