How can you increase sales? Running an ecommerce business, you are often concerned with this question. The answer is simple – marketing holidays campaign. But what holidays are the best to promote your brand?
As small kids, we were excited about the upcoming holidays because of all the presents that we get. But when you are a marketer, you have to await holidays for a different reason – it is the best time to offer your best deals and boost sales. Holidays are a great way to attract more customers by good offers and eye-catching products. To save your time, we’ve created a retail calendar as a quick summary of dates you can use in the Q2 to draw attention and make more money. Read the article and find out what dates to include in your marketing calendar 2020.
Why does your business need a retail calendar?
Retail calendar 2020
Why does your business need a retail calendar?
Not sure whether your business needs it? A clear sales calendar helps create a marketing plan for the whole year. You will be focused on all your future activities and won’t miss anything. Remember, the earlier you start planning every event of your marketing campaign, the fewer problems you will run thorough.
Statistically, marketers who plan their strategies, are 419% most likely to succeed [1]. Moreover, 81% of those who set goals, achieve them [2]. As you see, a marketing calendar is a must if you want to document your strategies and succeed.
Developing your strategy, it’s important to decide which promotions and tactics – special deals, social media ads, case studies and more – you are going to focus on.
If you’ve chosen the promotion, plan your strategy on different stages:
- Before the date: Aware your customers about the coming day and how they can benefit.
- During the event: Use social networks and send newsletters to promote your big sales.
- After the holiday: Follow up your customer to get the feedback, analyze your work, and decide how to improve your marketing strategy for the next year.
Retail calendar 2020
Planning your marketing campaign calendar, don’t include too many of them. A great number of holidays may simply damage your company’s budget, and even scare off some customers. For example, running an IT business, you can hardly contribute to World Ice Cream Day. The best strategy is choosing one or two holidays per month suitable for your e-commerce business. You will have time to plan the campaign and advertise it. So, let’s consider all the holidays and events in the 2nd quarter of 2020.
June
The first month in our marketing calendar example is June. The summer is here, so it’s getting warmer outside. People plan their vacations and outdoor activities. Many companies notice a slump in sales and you might consider that your marketing activities are failing. Don’t worry, in several weeks everything will be alright, but considering marketing campaigns for summer holidays might fix the problem faster.
LGBT Pride Month, June 1
Target audience: worldwide
The June was chosen by the LGBT people to commemorate the Stonewall riots in 1969. During the month, people run various events to recognize the impact of LGBT in the world. The majority of brands update their social networks and post images with the common symbols of pride, such as rainbow flag, the pink and black triangles, and the lowercase Greek letter lambda – λ. Some companies also print the symbols on their products to show they care.
For example, Nike designed t-shirts, short and snickers with the LGBT community symbol – rainbow in 2012. The campaign was successful, and the company started producing such products every year in June. The actions of the company were recognized by the Human Rights Campaign, and since 2012 Nike has given $3.6 million to LGBTQ causes.
Father’s Day, June 21
Target audience: the Americans, the Canadians, and the British
Father’s Day isn’t as popular as Mother’s Day, but it is a big event for e-retailers. Every year only American consumers spend billions of dollars on gifts. For example, in the previous year Americans spent up to $16 billion for gifts, and it’s forecasted to increase to $17 in the year 2020. On average consumers plan to spend around $150, while 27% say they might spend up to $250 for presents [3].
If you decide to choose Father’s Day for your marketing campaign in June, we recommend making Father’s Day giveaway. Participants will be able to win one of your gifts – t-shirt, $50 gift card, leather wallet, tickets to Tour de France and anything else. You can also provide discounts for top Father’s Day products, such as construction tools, barbeque, craft beer set, robot vacuum, fitness wristband and many more.
July
While some people enjoy traveling, sightseeing and other outdoor activities, others are slowly preparing for the back-to-school season. If you sell stationery, it’s the perfect time to be getting ready for it.
Independence Day, July 4
Target audience: the Americans
Independence Day is a federal US holiday commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States in 1776. But for ecommerce retailers it’s an ideal event to reach more customers and tap into their celebration mood. Statistically, 86% of Americans celebrate Independence Day every year, and 26% of them buy patriotic items. All these people together will spend over $7.1 billion on food, and 36% will buy barbecue, picnic and cookout tools.
Launching an Independence Day campaign, start with social networks where you can make posts with the US national symbols. Moreover, make discounts for several food products like meat, hamburger buns, semi-finished products and soda. Depending on your business type, you can sell various patriotic items to your customers or present them when people buy something else. It will help win the loyalty of your customers.
International Day of Friendship, July 30
Target audience: worldwide
UNESCO proposed the International Day of Friendship in 1997 [4]. The aim of the day is to define the culture of peace to reject violence and prevent conflicts between countries, nationalities and races. However, several countries celebrate Friendship Day not only in July. For example, Americans celebrate it on the 15 of February, Finns – February 14, Brazilians – July 20 and more. So, if you want to target a specific country, remember that they might celebrate Friendship Day the other day.
Why to run a marketing campaign during Friendship Day? Well, it’s a good way to connect your customers in a more personal way. Top brands prefer making something special this day. One of the best examples is the Cadbury campaign. The confectionary brand created a fascinating video-collaboration with Oreo. The animation shows the adventures of Pip the block of chocolate and an Oreo cookie. The video was a hit in social media – over 10 million views on YouTube. The campaign reflects the idea that products together ‘double the yum, double the fun’.
August
August is the month when vacations come to the end, and people return home. This month is exactly when they will start thinking about warmer clothes, shoes, umbrellas or other items to prepare for the fall season. Isn’t it a perfect time to target customers with various offers and promotions?
Back to School, August 1
Target audience: worldwide
Back to School is traditionally the first day of an academic year. In the United States, there is no particular day on which all children go to school. More often schools start after Labor Day, as it was in the 20th century. However, many US schools might start earlier – in August – or in late July. Everything depends on your school and state.
Considering other countries, dates also vary. For example, in Russia and Latvia children go to school on the 1st of September, in New Zealand – the last week of January, Japan – 7 or 8 April, Australia – February 1 and more. So, running a Back to School campaign, remember your target audience.
According to the National retail Federation, Americans spent around $90 billion for back to school products in 2019, and at least half of the purchases were made online. Note that during Mother’s Day, Easter and other popular holidays, customers spend in general $20 billion. As you see, Back to School is one of the most profitable marketing holidays that you can’t miss. How to market your brand during Back to School you can find here.
National Dog Day, August 26
Target audience: dog lovers from all over the world
You might think that National Dog Day isn’t a widespread holiday, and you can’t make something special on this day. Well, you’re wrong. Yes, we’ve said that you can hardly choose all holidays. But National Dog Day is a 100% perfect marketing holiday for any brand. Note that according to statistics, all families around the world keep 900 million dogs. So why not attract their attention this day?
Several years ago, PilotPenUSA wrote a post this day “Happy #NationalDogDay! Today we’re celebrating man’s best friend with doggy doodles! What breed of dog do you have?”. This is the most common way how marketers call the attention of users. However, some brands make challenges like share #NationalDogDay and post a photo of your dog. There can be lots of variants, everything depends on your imagination.
Happy #NationalDogDay! Today we’re celebrating man’s best friend with doggy doodles! What breed of dog do you have? pic.twitter.com/xenGnskjr9
— PilotPenUSA (@PilotPenUSA) August 26, 2015
September
September is a shopping season – Back to School, Labor Day and more. Sometimes this month feels like January – beginning of the new year, we have lots of plans and need to buy a lot. September is the month for marketing.
Labor Day, September 7
Target audience: the Americans and the Canadians
If you were running a Back to School campaign, Labor Day is a must. Both days clothes, school supplies, summer tools and e-gadgets are in demand. Statistically, Labor Day is the perfect time to encourage your customers buying summen inventory you have in stock. Statistically, 67% of customers will buy Back to School products and summer inventory at a discount. So, it’s a perfect opportunity to make more money and free up your storage.
How to attract customers? Send email newsletters to users and design your website – add Labor theme to the website’s graphic and social networks. Provide customers with discounts and make free shipping.
Oktoberfest, September 19
Target audience: the Germans and beer enthusiasts
If you’ve never heard about Oktoberfest, you’re totally not a beer lover. Oktoberfest is the biggest beer festival that takes place in Munich, Germany. It usually lasts 17 days and attracts over 6 million people from all over the world. Interesting fact that several years ago people had drunk 66,000 barrels or 7.7 million litres of beer.
Oktoberfest is a perfect marketing holiday for alcohol manufacturers. Despite all the beer, served at the Oktoberfest, comes from Munich breweries, you can also find there other drinks like wine, cider and various non-alcoholic potables. As a result, a thoughtful marketing campaign can attract customers not only in Munich, but also those who are unable to attend the festival but want to feel the taste of Oktoberfest drinks.
October
Autumn is officially here, and it’s time to be ready for the scariest holidays of the year. For marketers it is the month when they plan their strategies for the whole Q4.
Women’s History Month, October 1
Target audience: ladies
Women’s History Month is the time when we highlight the contribution of women to history and society. It’s celebrated not only in Canada, but all over the world. For example, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia celebrate it during March, corresponding with international Women’s Day on March 8. Unlike the previously mentioned holidays, marketers do not provide special deals during the day and something like this. The main task here is to remember the contribution of women in history and their achievements.
If you choose this day for your retail calendar, we recommend writing a huge blog post about women or make a series of posts in social networks about different people, for example, Radia Parks, Marie Curie, Malala Yousafzai, Angela Merkel and others. The main goal of your campaign is to remind about the women’s strength.
Halloween, October 31
Target audience: worldwide
Witches, skeletons, ghosts, candles, and pumpkins – the scariest day is coming. It’s the fourth largest shopping day for marketers. People shop for candies, decorations and other holiday items. Moreover, even after October 31 such products are in high demand. Why? It’s more simple to buy goods for the following year and save some money thanks to discounts.
If you don’t know whether to market during Halloween or not, here is our statistics. On average, 67% of people all over the worlds celebrate Halloween – over 5 billion customers. Americans spend an average of $86 per person on Halloween goods. As a result, people spend each year around $200 billion preparing for Halloween. Want to run a Halloween marketing campaign? Find out top ideas here.
November
November is the official month for B2C sales. People buy goods and gifts for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and more. Don’t forget to mark them in your Retail Calendar 2020.
Thanksgiving, November 26
Target audience: the Americans
National holiday – Thanksgiving – originated when the first pilgrims shared their food with the native population of America, and since then we celebrate the harvest festival on November 26. Families and friends get together to thank each other for everything they have and share a holiday meal. But for business it’s the most profitable day. Statistically, customers spent $400 million in 2019, and the number are expected to increase by 17% in 2020.
Thanksgiving is a great time not only for special deals and discounts, Thanksgiving landing pages, email newsletters, but also to strengthen your relations with customers. We recommend using this day to thank your customers for their loyalty and provide them with something special. Showing them that you know about them and care is the best way to market your brand during Thanksgiving.
Black Friday & Cyber Monday, November 27- 30
Target audience: shopaholics and bargain hunters
The end of November is a holiday of crazy deals and shoppers. Running a business, you can’t miss Black Friday and Cyber Monday. According to Adobe Analytics, only online people spent over $20 billion over the holiday weekend in 2019. You might think that Black Friday is the most profitable day of November, but you will be mistaken. In recent years people have been shopping more on Cyber Monday, while stores provide bigger discounts than on Friday.
Steve Madden had a winning marketing campaign several years ago – early access email list. The company collected emails of customers to deliver early news about the upcoming deals. As a result, shoppers got early access to discounts and felt like VIP customers. There was a feeling of urgency that customers won’t have time to use a discount until it becomes public. So, the company had giant sales and a list of customers’ email addresses to contact them in future.
December
December – the last chance to give a final marketing push in 2020. Collect all your experience and creativity to deliver the Christmas mood to every and each customer.
National Sock Day, December 4
Target audience: Americans
National Sock Day was started by a company – Pair of Thieves – that sells socks. The holiday was launched to commemorate two historical events – the closing of the Broadway musical On Your Toes in 1954, and the final concert of the Judds in 1991. Moreover, the company has a tradition. For every hashtag #nationalsockday posted on December 4, Pair of Thieves donates a pair of socks to those in need. They donate up to a million pairs in total. They also have a give-back program and donate socks a year-around. A good campaign to take part in.
Christmas, December 24-25
Target audience: worldwide
Children and adults are waiting for this holiday the whole year. These dates are a remarkable event for billions of people worldwide who celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Despite the tendency that Christmas is becoming more and more commercial with every passing year, it’s still a family holiday. So a family marketing campaign is a winning one here.
A good example of a perfect Christmas marketing campaign was launched by Air Canada. The representatives of the company decided to visit a popular pub in London – The Maple Leaf – where Canadians usually spend free time. The offered those who presented a round – they provided round-trip tickets for everyone who wants to get back home for Christmas holidays.
Such gesture prompted delight not only of the bar’s visitors, but also amazed the society.
Wrapping it up
Every holiday and event is an opportunity to increase your brand awareness and boost sales, so use any possible marketing advantage. We also recommend downloading a retail calendar tool that will help you monitor events and work following the deadline. Such sales calendars can be downloaded for free, or you can buy a top-notch tool for your business. Choose according to the functionality you need. We hope that our important dates calendar is useful and you will be able to make something special for your customers every month.
Are there any events we’ve missed? Let us know how to improve our marketing schedule in the comments below!
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