From Cycle to Work Day to Earth Day, World Mental Health Day to National Ice Cream Day, it seems like there's a day dedicated to almost everything. But can these awareness days be used as a genuine marketing tool, or are they a bit of a fad?
Here, Prominent’s Creative Executive Symone Slater delves into whether awareness days contribute to an effective marketing strategy or if they are simply a gimmick.
An awareness day is a date in the calendar that commemorates an occasion or places importance on a particular cause.
They are typically set up by organisations like charities, but have also in the past been created by marketers to try and drum up interest in their business.
Prominent examples include the likes of World Mental Health Day, started by the World Federation for Mental Health, compared to the much-disputed “Blue Monday” first coined by psychologist Cliff Arnall and Sky Travel in 2004.
The former was launched to raise awareness of mental health, while the latter was a cleverly constructed tactic to sell holidays.
In the ever-evolving landscape of social media marketing, staying relevant and engaging with your audience is key to success. One effective strategy is incorporating awareness days into your content calendar.
When used correctly, awareness days can boost your PR activity, strengthen your reputation and increase your social media presence.
They are a great way of promoting conversation and engagement on your social media posts – and with many having their own hashtag, can significantly increase your brand’s visibility.
Given that many fall on the same day every year, you have a lot of time to plan your content ahead of time and put together a strategy that can really boost your brand.
But that doesn’t mean you should be focusing on every awareness day.
With there being so many awareness days, it is important to not join in on an awareness day for the sake of it.
It is crucial to only use them when they truly align with your overall business strategy.
Pick a few to use in your content marketing and, while it is ok to have fun, try not to make the link too tenuous.
You should always look for awareness days with your purpose and audience at the front of your mind. Look for ones with a genuine connection to your product or service.
For example, if you were a coffee shop business, International Coffee Day would be the perfect awareness day to harness on your social media platforms and to utilise for you PR activity.
Something like Don’t Step on a Bee Day might be a nice thing to support, but it probably won’t have a positive impact on your coffee sales.
Using awareness days as part of your social media strategy is great, but they can also be used to get into the press.
It is important to ensure the press will be interested in the awareness day. As mentioned, many are nothing more than a marketing tool – something the press are likely to turn their nose up to.
The press will be particularly interested in awareness days that have a genuine, positive impact on their community – or for stories with hard-hitting or emotive case studies that show why it is so important awareness is raised on a certain topic.
An example we have used is Refugee Week – when we highlighted the amazing contribution of our newest team member, Lena, who fled to the UK following the outbreak of war in her native Ukraine.
Spend some time shortlisting the days you’d like to target, then research the press coverage for those days across previous years. You’ll soon get a taste of whether the media is interested in these occasions.
Incorporating awareness days into your social media and PR strategy can be beneficial if done thoughtfully and authentically.
They provide an opportunity to engage your audience and demonstrate your brand's values –however, it is essential to strike a balance and choose the right awareness days that align with your brand's mission and resonate with your audience.
If you are unsure on which awareness days to incorporate in your social media strategy, contact us via 01473 276126 or email us today. We’re here to help.
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