National days: the viral way to pumpkin spice up your brand

Here at ROI Media Works, we not only work in marketing, we love it too. That’s why we’re going to bring you the best seasonal marketing campaigns we’ve seen every month. As the more traditional festive period has drawn to a close, we’re going to a take a look at the lesser known celebratory events, known as national days, that marketers can still utilize.

When you think of holidays, the big ones come to mind. You think of Santa coming down the chimney, a Thanksgiving feast or the Easter Bunny bouncing around your yard. While these represent a huge chunk of seasonal marketing campaigns, there are other notable days to keep your eye on. Don’t forget about these holidays’ niche cousin, national days.

We’re sure you’ve heard of them, but maybe have never thought of them in a marketing light. National days are non-statutory holidays that celebrate at least one facet of life in general., They can be food orientated, like National Doughnut Day, take a journey down memory lane like National Post an Old Headshot Day and anything in between – here’s looking at you, National Sense of Smell Day.

Another example, National Sibling Day, was broken down on LinkedIn by Dan Flatt. He provides some awesome examples by celebrities, car companies and media agencies alike, all of who use the talking point of the national day to their advantage.

How can your business use days like National Sibling Day to your advantage? Social media. Hashtags are the darlings of national days. Flatt points out that he was originally introduced to the day via a post he was tagged in. He then expands with some data:

“I then looked at the Social conversation around this new holiday. Facebook users flocked to the opportunity to share their familial nostalgia with the broader community. On Twitter #nationalsiblingday was one of the top trending hashtags (tweeted over 80,000 times)” including the groups mentioned above.

How can you be ready to get when the next national day arrives? There is an awesome resource to stay on top of all of them. It is aptly called the National Day Calendar and works just as it sounds. They have between one and 10 national days to celebrate for all 365 days of the year. This is awesome for content strategy as you can plan for tomorrow’s Facebook post or next fiscal’s blog series and anything in between. The National Day Calendar also has an mobile app in the works so keep an eye out for that.

As we often say, keep in mind that the majority of these are US-based. With our routine disclaimer in mind, however, don’t shy away from them. We all know the immense pull that American culture has on Canadian media. You can be using this to your advantage. Don’t be left feeling like an only child on National Sibling Day. Get those seasonal marketing campaigns going.

Inspired by what you read and want to create a seasonal marketing campaign that can make your brand of your own? We would love to help. Drop us a line at hello@roimediaworks.com.