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A while ago, in the very early days of spring, we looked ahead not only at how email marketers can leverage Memorial Day for engagement, but also at the opportunities represented by a few lesser-known spring holidays – you know, gems like National High Five Day, Don’t Fry Day and, our top choice: Eat What You Want Day.
Now, we are excited to provide you with what we are confident will be your first look at six obscure summer holidays. While everyone else is planning to create fireworks in advance of July 4, you can strategize about how to make a big noise around these B-list commemorations. Chances are you won’t have a lot of competition and that your recipients will be surprised (and perhaps even delighted) to celebrate something new (and very different).
So, please give a warm greeting to:
1. Take Your Dog to Work Day (June 22)
Tails will be wagging on the second day of summer in offices all around the United States, when canines and their owners celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Take Your Dog to Work Day, the holiday established by Pet Sitters International, Inc., to encourage doggie adoptions and give Fido a day off from guarding the house. It’s an opportunity for bricks-and-mortar establishments to promote their pet-friendliness by inviting pups to visit, for online companies to share photos of their furry visitors and, of course, for creative promotions by marketers of anything dog-related.
2. Sunglasses Day (June 27)
As the song goes, “the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.” That fashion statement is absolutely mandatory on Sunglasses Day, which was established by The Vision Council to “celebrate the importance of wearing them to protect the eyes from the sun’s harsh ultraviolet (UV) rays.” This one’s a no-brainer for marketers with sunglasses in their product line, but if that’s not you, consider incentives for shade-wearing customers (those who visit your locations or submit selfies) or, conversely, share a picture of your whole team sporting sunglasses to announce a promotion related to this (kind of) big day.
3. I Forgot Day (July 2)
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We love this holiday, although sometimes we can’t remember exactly why. Its creator, Gaye Anderson, told ABC News that the special event is an opportunity to commemorate not only occasions you have already forgotten, but also those you think you might forget in the future. In other words, it’s the perfect reason to send a belated birthday greeting to someone whose birthday is still months away. Or something like that. Marketers can use the occasion to tell customers that they “forgot” to tell them about a great deal or promotion and are now making up for it, or as a peg on which to hang a customer-appreciation message.
4. Shark Awareness Day (July 14)
Like the ocean depths these majestic and terrifying creatures inhabit, the exact origins of Shark Awareness Day are murky, although the goal of the commemoration is, according to one source, “to provide education and awareness of the importance of sharks to the ecosystems of our world’s oceans.” That’s fine, and important, but we’re thinking that for marketers it’s also an excuse to employ dramatic shark imagery and urgent copy about “giant sales” that are “taking a bite out of our normal prices.” (But you can do better than that!)
5. Lazy Day (August 10)
One problem with “major” holidays is that there is often too much to do – places to go, people to see, things to cook, etc. That’s not the case with this not-so-major holiday – the point of which is, apparently, to do as little as possible. Wonderful! This holiday is made-to-order (so to speak) for online marketers, who only have to think of ways to reward their customers for not expending the energy it takes to visit a bricks-and-mortar store. It’s the perfect day for hammock-based shopping (possibly even for a new hammock!). By the way: “The origins and founders of National Lazy Day remain unknown,” the Sacramento Bee reported last year. “It’s likely its creators were too busy chilling out to record their efforts.”
6. Just Because Day (August 27)
“Every day we all do things that are expected or required of us or because we have to,” write the folks at the National Day Calendar. “On National Just Because Day, that does not apply. This day is a chance to do something without rhyme or reason.” The commemoration began as a family holiday in the 1950s and took off from there to become a national event that no one has ever heard of. It’s perfect for marketers, because it provides the perfect non-reason for an incentive or promotion, as in “We’re offering you this special offer…just because we want to.” You can have fun with this one – because, why not?
