We all know that holiday periods can result in a nice boost in business sales, especially surrounding Christmas. Before the most important holidays of the year, retailers, gift shops, and all kinds of businesses look into seasonal items, such as Christmas decorations or wholesale easter gifts, to add to their collections. Global sales during the holidays exceeded $1 trillion in the last years.
But what if businesses and marketers looked beyond the traditional holidays to spice up their campaigns? One great way to do something creative for your digital marketing campaigns without completely racking your brains is to look into obscure, weird, or simply quirky national holidays.
These peculiar dates can be an excellent strategy for creating engaging campaigns that resonate with your audience and stand out from the crowd.
Why Use Obscure Holidays in Your Digital Marketing?
Using obscure, funny, or weird national holidays – also known as social media holidays – in your marketing can be a great way to diversify your content and build a stronger awareness for your brand. And, of course, it can convert to a boost in sales.
Let’s take the example of National Doughnut Day. This unofficial holiday celebrated in the USA, Australia, and some other countries on the first Friday of June, has been used by brands to increase their sales (sellers can experience close to an 80% rise in doughnut sales) and brand exposure that goes beyond vanity metrics. Krispy Kreme, for example, gathered 1,4k brand mentions related to National Doughnut Day in 2022.
Using obscure holidays in your digital marketing is also an ideal opportunity to create content that has some humour. Reports show that 91% of consumers globally prefer brands to be funny, and 72% would choose a brand that uses humour over the competition. Surprisingly, 95% of business leaders fear using humour in customer interactions.
This shows that strategically integrating obscure and funny national holidays in your marketing can really help you stand out from the competition, boost your brand awareness, and increase your sales and customer loyalty.
How to Use Obscure Holidays in Your Digital Marketing?
Here are a few tips on how to make the most out of unofficial holidays in your digital marketing efforts.
- Brainstorm obscure holidays relevant to your brand
This first step is very important because you want to make sure that you are using obscure national holidays that have some sort of connection with your brand. Otherwise, it will look random and weird, and it will not resonate with your audience.
For example, imagine you own a stationery store. You may consider creating some content related to National Rubber Eraser Day (yep, that’s a thing – April 15th). You can use it to promote a school supplies kit, for example, or start a bigger conversation with your audience about overcoming mistakes.
Be strategic. Don’t do it for the sake of doing it. There are thousands of national holidays, but you don’t have to overwhelm your audience with this type of content. Do your research, choose a handful of dates that make sense for your business, and spread them out throughout the year.
- Align obscure holiday content with your brand identity
This goes in line with the previous point. However, it’s not only about finding national holidays that have some sort of connection to what your brand is selling, but understanding if they fit your overall identity and what your audience expects of you.
You want to make sure that the content reflects your brand values, vision, and identity, and that it’s something that will resonate with your particular audience. For example, if your brand identity and voice are known to be more professional or formal, it would be a bit bizarre to create something very quirky or silly. Always leverage obscure national holidays in a way that feels natural and authentic to your brand.
- Leverage social media and User Generated Content
Social media is the ideal playground for sharing engaging content about unusual national holidays. Create interesting visuals and infographics, share pictures and funny videos, tell a compelling story, and, of course, interact with your audience. You can also create quizzes and polls so that your audience can directly interact with your brand.
User Generated Content (UGC) is also a fantastic strategy to take obscure holiday marketing to the next level. Studies show that 60% of consumers consider UGC to be the most authentic marketing content.
There are several ways you can leverage UGC, such as starting a hashtag contest or a photo challenge related to your chosen national holiday. Stay open and creative.
Photo by Freepik
- Offer a Special Promotion or Giveaway
This can be the perfect opportunity to offer your audience a special promotion for your products or services. It doesn’t need to be only for one day. You can extend it for a week or even a month.
For example, if you have a bakery, you can offer a special discount or giveaway on National Cake Day. You can also think beyond products, and do something for Siblings Day, offering a promotion to your clients if they bring a sibling, for example.
This is a great way to attract new customers, meet sales goals, and boost your brand reputation. You can promote it on your website, social media, and email newsletters.
- Spice up your Email Marketing
Obscure national holidays can also be leveraged to create fun and engaging email newsletters. Craft a punchy subject line, use a holiday-inspired design, and create a compelling campaign where you merge the obscure holiday with the promotion of your products/services. You can also use it as an opportunity to offer a coupon or discount code.
If you want to send something less promotional, you can also focus on brand story emails. If you own a small business, you can send an email about the story of your company or a behind-the-scenes on Small Business Day. On Employee Appreciation Day you can share personal stories of your employees and highlight their achievements. These are just a few examples.
Bottom Line
Leveraging obscure national holidays can be a fantastic way to liven up your digital marketing content. There are so many dates to choose from, and you can use them in your social media posts, email newsletters, and blogs while promoting your products and strengthening your brand. Just remember to always create content that is relevant and aligned with your brand identity.
