If you want to catch your customers in a good mood, April is the time to do it; the sun is shining, we’ve got bank holidays galore and a valid excuse to buy way too much chocolate.
So, grab your social media calendars and diaries because these are the dates to pull out your best marketing moves.
Wednesday 1st April 2015
April Fools’ Day is like Christmas for marketers. In the past, Domino’s told us they would be delivering dinner in edible pizza boxes, Honda advertised the world’s first DIY car and STA Travel told customers they could cut flying expenses by sharing their aeroplane seat with a fellow passenger. Today, pull a creative prank and you could make a lasting impression that sticks around for much longer than your place in the newsfeed.
Thursday 2nd April 2015
More than 80%1 of adults with autism are unemployed, with research suggesting that employers are missing out on the abilities that autistic people have in greater abundance than ‘neurotypical’ workers do, such as heightened logical reasoning and a better attention to detail. World Autism Day was declared by the United Nations General Assembly to improve the quality of life for those living with autism and The National Autistic Society are holding a number of events throughout the week to raise funds, including bake-offs, night walks and Onesie Wednesday. Encourage your workforce to take part and promote the campaign online.
Friday 3rd April 2015
Today is Good Friday and the beginning of the bank holiday weekend. For businesses, long weekends equate to more footfall, so create event pages and post adverts in the lead up.
Sunday 5th April 2015 / Monday 6th April 2015
Easter is a fantastic time to run a competition to increase your follower numbers and encourage audience engagement because people are feeling festive, and as a lot of people are off work, your reach could be significantly higher. Some ideas include Easter themed photo captions, quizzes or a search for the best chocolate covered selfie.
Tuesday 7th April 2015
The World Health Organisation state that over 200 diseases are caused by unsafe food and it is estimated that two million deaths occur every year as a result of contamination2, so this year’s theme for World Health Day is food safety. If you work in food production or are a policy-maker, use the campaign’s official hashtag #safefood to promote your initiatives.
Friday 10th April 2015
For Sibling Day, run an offer to give your customers’ siblings a discount at your shop. You can do this in return for a follow, regram or share.
Saturday 11th April 2015
Think outside of the litter box for Pet Day – you could raise money for your chosen companion charity, donate old toys and unused food to your local animal shelter or create a content marketing campaign about the benefits of rescuing.
Wednesday 15th April 2015
Historically, bad things happen on That Sucks Day – for instance, the Titanic sank on this date in 1912 and Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. This is your chance to post some seriously sharable content via your social media profile, from the interesting and strange, to funny quips about how life would suck without your product.
Saturday 18th April 2015
If you work in the music biz, you’re in, because it’s Record Store Day. Whilst we may all appear to be permanently plugged into iTunes and Spotify, digital can’t ever truly compete with thumbing through vinyl at a local record store, so play on that nostalgia today and invite your followers down for tunes, a free drink and music chatter. Make sure there is plenty of opportunity for visitors to take some Instagram-worthy snaps and watch word-of-mouth do its magic.
Wednesday 22nd April 2015
Earth Day started in 1970 and is widely credited for launching the modern environmental movement. For it’s 45th anniversary in 2015, lead the way for a greener planet through your business by pledging to reduce waste, recycle and use energy efficient technologies. If your company is already doing great things, you could use your voice on social media and at community events to educate others on kinder ways to treat Earth.
Monday 27th April 2015
Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse Code, was born on this day in 1791. If you own a communications business, Morse Code Day is the perfect time to document how communication technologies were formed and have evolved. Create a landing page on your website featuring the timeline and publish it via your Facebook and Twitter pages to draw in web traffic through social.
Tuesday 28th April 2015
If you’re keen to market the personalities behind your business, Cubicle Day is a good day to do so. The day is about encouraging employees to decorate their working spaces – you can then publish images or videos of the makeovers to Instagram and Vine, adding character to your accounts and enabling your clients and customers to connect with your workforce through mutual interests or style.
Wednesday 29th April 2015
It was the wish of seven-year-old Leukaemia sufferer Chris Greicius to become a police officer. When police heard about this, they granted his wish, and on the 29th April 1980 he became a police officer for one day. Granting wishes to ill children is a fantastic idea and the Make-A-Wish foundation makes them come true – on World Wish Day, ask your followers to submit their wishes and finish the month off by doing a good deed.
1 United Nations, 2015. 2015 Theme: Employment: The Autism Advantage. [Online] Available at: http://www.un.org/en/events/autismday/.
2 World Health Organisation, 2015. World Health Day. [Online] Available at: http://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2015/en/.
[Accessed 1st April 2015].
