Planning ahead for the year is a massive task, especially when you need to keep track of everything from Valentine’s Day to National Donut Day! We’ve put together a handy list of all the big holidays, as well as some key events and fun “National Days” that you can use to help keep you on the right track.
Things to think of when planning ahead:
Sales and Promotions
Plan to run sales and promotions mainly on holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Father’s/Mother’s Day etc. rather than on every “special” day of the year. Picking key dates means you’re not always trying to think of new promotions, and you’re not devaluing your products. Do sales/promos too frequently, and people won’t buy outside of promotion periods because they’ll know there’s one coming soon.
Social Media
Just because you aren’t running a promotion, doesn’t mean you can’t acknowledge something on social media! Acknowledging and creating content for specific days keeps your content up-to-date and relevant. Which brings us to our next point...
Make It Relevant
If a holiday/event doesn’t fit your brand, you don’t have to do a promotion or acknowledge it. If your business is all about baked goods, then there’s not really a point in celebrating National Hat Day!
January
25th - Chinese New Year Begins (Global)
Chinese New Year runs from the 25th of January until the 8th of February in 2020. This year is the Year of the Rat, so you might be able to find a fun way to incorporate this into your online marketing.
25th - Burns Night (Scotland)
We have a Scot on our team, so we had to include some Scottish events too! If you’re unaware, Burns Night celebrates the works of poet Robert Burns. You can include this as a fun bit of content on your social media feed, especially if your business has to do with books or food.
February
2nd - Super Bowl Sunday (America)
The culmination of the NFL season, around 100 Million people in the US watch the Super Bowl. That’s almost a third of the population! Depending on your industry, it might be appropriate to run some fun promotions, for example you could have your followers vote for who they think will win and depending on who wins you’ll run a “Winners” promotional deal on your store the following day.
10th - Oscar Night
Whether you watch it for the winners, the losers, the fashion, or the speeches, the Oscars is the biggest event in the movie lovers’ calendar.
14th - Valentine’s Day
Ah Valentine’s Day, a day for lovers and one of the biggest shopping holidays of the year. This is your first big ecommerce opportunity since Christmas, so don’t let it pass you by. Plan some unique promotions on your store, as well as get some paid advertising going for your top products that suit the special day - target these ads effectively to the audience buying them for a loved one, not your usual target audience.
17th - Family Day (Canada)
25th - Mardi Gras
March
5th - World Book Day
8th - International Women’s Day
Use today to celebrate the women on your team, or introduce your audiences to women in your industry or who are relevant to your brand. This is a really positive, engaging event to be a part of, so make sure you plan some content for it in advance.
14th - White Day
This is on the international side of things - in Asian countries on Valentine’s Day it’s up to the women to give gifts to men, but on White Day it’s the other way around. If you have a strong customer base in Asia, consider running some paid advertising. If not, however, it’s still something to show your international fans you’re thinking about days important to them, and something fun to introduce to fans who may not have heard of it.
17th - St Patricks Day
One of the fun holidays, people love to celebrate St Patricks Day - an excuse to get dressed all in green and drink a pint of Guinness (or five). You can play on all the stereotypes for this one to have fun, for example a “lucky” giveaway, or even run promotions on all the green products in your store.
22nd - Mother’s Day (UK Only)
If you have a strong customer base in the UK, then definitely consider running some targeted promotions to your audiences in the UK around Mother’s Day. Alternatively if you don’t have a strong customer base, but a portion of your social media audience is in the UK, you can still give it a nod on social media to show your UK followers some love.
April
1st - April Fool’s Day
7th - World Health Day
This one is especially of note if your business has anything to do with health and beauty whether that be supplements, work out gear, skincare, food, etc.
10th to 13th - Easter Weekend
The obvious go-to for Easter weekend would be those businesses selling chocolate and other sweet treats, but you can still run smaller promotions on Easter Weekend. Easter for many is also about getting together and spending time with family, so think of ways you can appeal to that as well.
22nd - Earth Day
The environment is a growing concern for many, on Earth Day consider showcasing tips for how your followers can live more sustainably, or encourage them to do something for the environment. If your products are sustainable/sustainably sourced, be sure to highlight this on Earth Day to show the positive impact your business is trying to have.
May
4th - Star Wars Day
Of course we had to include this one.
5th - Cinco de Mayo
10th - Mother’s Day (US, Canada, Australia)
Mother’s Day is a big ecommerce holiday - as with all holidays that involve gift buying for a very specific demographic, target the buyers, not your usual audience. Create unique product collections and sections on your site, and use paid promotions on social media to reach those looking to buy gifts for their mothers.
25th - Memorial Day
A federal holiday to remember those who have lost their lives serving in the US military, remember to be careful when creating content around holidays like this. Be sensitive and respectful, and don’t push your products using the holiday as an excuse. Instead, use it as an opportunity to show some respect to your followers if you feel it’s appropriate.
June
20th - Summer Solstice
21st - Father’s Day
The same goes for Father’s Day as we said for Mother’s Day about targeting and thinking smartly about who you’re trying to sell to in the run up to Father’s Day. If you want to create some engaging content, you could run a giveaway or just a post that encourages your followers to share stories/photos of them and their fathers. Holidays like this can often be difficult for those who have lost a parent, so this sort of content is a very positive, inclusive way for them to be involved as well.
July
1st - Canada Day
Being a Shopify agency, you can probably guess that we love our Canadian friends and celebrating them! Use Canada Day to show some love to your Canadian customers and followers. If you’re based in Canada, even better. If you want to run some kind of promotion, it could be reduced or free shipping to Canada, or a shop-wide discount code valid only for purchases being shipped to Canada.
4th - Independence Day
There’s no better day to bring Americans together to feel all patriotic than the 4th of July. Fireworks, BBQs, spending time with friends, and lots of red, white and blue. Give your content a patriotic theme in the run up to the day, and if your products are relevant then promote them as well in advance. For example, if you sell partyware or food and drink, you’ve got an obvious tie-in. If your products are made in the USA, then no matter what you’re selling you can still promote your products using that angle.
24th - Olympics Begin
August
Whilst there aren’t many holidays in August, it is during Summer Vacation! Make sure you’ve planned in advance for content, promotions, and advertising related to summer, for example if you run a fashion business then promote products that are perfect for summertime. If you run a store selling tech, show off cameras and other equipment people can use to capture their vacation. Many different types of business can relate to summer, you just need to be smart about it.
However there are a few National Days if you like a drink!
6th - National IPA Day
7th - International Beer Day
28th - National Red Wine Day
September
Before we get into specific days, remember that for many people September means it’s time to go back to school. Whether that’s kids or people going to college, appeal to them with your products. As with summer vacation season, lots of different types of ecommerce businesses can relate to this theme from stationery, to tech, to clothes, and more.
7th - Labor Day
19th - Oktoberfest Begins (Germany)
Something a bit more fun, especially if your business is related to beer or travel!
October
1st - International Coffee Day
14th - Canadian Thanksgiving
31st - Halloween
You don’t have to sell costumes and candy to get into the Halloween spirit. Simply making your content fit the Halloween theme a little helps to keep your brand relevant and up-to-date. If you can think of a way to relate your business to Halloween, then by all means you can run promotions, create unique product collections, and create some interesting content.
November
5th - Bonfire Night (UK)
Remember, remember, the 5th of November! This is another international one for you that’s a bit of fun to create content around if you have a strong audience or customer base in the UK.
11th - Veteran’s Day
26th - Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is all about spending time with family, enjoying good food, and showing thanks for what you have. Today is a good opportunity to show a little love to your customers who have supported you, rather than try to sell them something. After all, the next day is when the ecommerce fun begins...
27th - Black Friday
The biggest shopping weekend of the year! We won’t go into too much detail here as we’ve got plenty of other blogs about how to make the most of Black Friday. Just remember you should prepare in advance for this weekend back during the Summer months so you’re ready.
28th - Small Business Saturday
A great one for a lot of ecommerce businesses, today is the day we celebrate all the small businesses around the world. Especially on the busiest shopping weekend of the year, it’s a great opportunity to promote and celebrate independent businesses as an option for people on BFCM weekend.
30th - Cyber Monday
December
24th - Christmas Eve
25th - Christmas
It’s obvious why this day is in your calendar! The festive shopping season begins as early as October for many people, so plan ahead for your Christmas marketing and promotional activity well in advance.
On Christmas itself, schedule in a post that wishes your followers a merry Christmas so you can go enjoy your holiday!
31st - New Year’s Eve