With the days getting darker and Christmas getting ever closer, it’s especially important that you build a robust social media strategy to encourage extra custom during the upcoming holidays before the year is out. Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas are all-important trading periods for online shop owners, and it’s important that when new potential customers discover your brand for the first time that you have a strong social media presence to encourage them to follow you, even if they don’t buy something during their first visit. You need to give them a reason to return and your social media content encourages just that, helping those potential customers form a positive relationship with you and your brand.
If this is the first of our posts in the series you’ve seen – listing the events expected to trend in the coming month – don’t worry, it’s not too late to start crafting the social media content for your online shop. The suggestions in these posts will inspire you to create content that ensures that you have good quality posts trending with popular subjects. If you choose to automate your social media, you won’t even need to update every day! Simply upload and schedule your updates and publish them automatically, leaving you more time to concentrate on managing your online shop.
The Event: Go Sober for October
Date: All Month
What you could do for a Business Post: This event is run by Macmillan Cancer Support, and encourages folk to avoid alcohol for the entire month by registering on their website and then raising money to help people with cancer for the duration. The official website is full of resources, inspiration, and a shop where you can buy merch to show your support for the event itself. If you have a bricks and mortar shop, consider holding an event there to support the charity, using resources and guidance from the website. This will encourage extra footfall and give you lots of opportunities to create some fantastic social media content in the form of photos and videos.
What you could do for a Personal Post: If you don’t have a physical shop, then consider getting involved in this event by going sober yourself. You can keep your followers updated with your progress, raise money for the charity and use some of the merchandise from the website shop in your social media posts too.
The Event: World Vegetarian Day
Date: 1st October
What you could do for a Business Post: Whilst there’s no official website for this event, it’s not really required as to take part all you need to do is celebrate vegetarianism which is rising in popularity all the time. If your online shops sells anything related to cooking and specifically items used when cooking vegetables, such as baking trays and food steamers, this is an excellent event for you to get involved with and you can use your products in styled photos suggesting how to best prepare your veggies.
What you could do for a Personal Post: If your online shop doesn’t sell items that can be related to vegetarian cooking, then you could make content about your favourite vegetarian dish – a simple video, Instagram story or photo post of you cooking or eating with the right hashtags is enough to get involved.
The Event: International Coffee Day
Date: 1st October
What you could do for a Business Post: The aim of International Coffee Day is to raise awareness for a fair wage as a decline in prices has led to the coffee farmers struggling to make a living wage. The official website can be found here where you can find out more about the coffee crisis and what you need to do to get involved. If your online shop sells coffee supplies, coffee machines, coffee cups and similar, this is the event for you to get involved with. With a little research, you could even write a blog post about how your own products are sustainable and what you are doing to support the plight of the coffee farmers.
What you could do for a Personal Post: If you don’t sell coffee related items on your online shop, do you drink coffee yourself? If so, what’s your favourite brand and your favourite mug? You could also write about what your brand is doing to support this event too.
The Event: National Poetry Day
Date: 1st October
What you could do for a Business Post: Celebrated in schools and across social media, National Poetry Day is run by the Forward Arts Foundation charity and aims to raise awareness of poetry, growing its audience and discovering new poets in the process. You can find the official website here, and don’t forget to check out the Facebook Page, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube too for inspiration. If you sell poetry books or products with poetry quotations on them, make sure these products are promoted both before the event and on the day itself.
What you could do for a Personal Post: Make a series of posts containing your favourite poems – this works especially well with text images that you can use in Facebook and Instagram stories.
The Event: World Smile Day
Date: 2nd October
What you could do for a Business Post: This year is the 21st World Smile Day, where the emphasis is random acts of kindness and celebrating the smiley face logo created by Harvey Ball in 1963. This event has a website, Facebook Page, Twitter and YouTube and although there’s no official Instagram account, the trending hashtag for this event #worldsmileday is very popular. If any products on your online shop carry the traditional ‘smiley face’ logo, make sure these products are promoted on the day. You could even take photos of your staff displaying their best smiley faces!
What you could do for a Personal Post: Do some research about World Smile Day and how the smiley face logo has been used over the years and use this to make factual posts and text images which are both relatable and shareable.
The Event: World Animal Day
Date: 4th October
What you could do for a Business Post: The aim of this event is to improve the welfare standards of animals around the world and make it a better place for all animals. There is an official website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that you can use to follow the event and tag your posts onto. If your online shop sells anything animal-related, such as food and accessories, this is a good event to get involved with and if you can afford it, consider making a donation to an animal charity of your choice so you can make a post about it and encourage your followers to do the same.
What you could do for a Personal Post: Make a series of posts about your favourite animal charities and how they have inspired you. Donate where you can, and encourage your followers to do the same.
The Event: National Badger Day
Date: 6th October
What you could do for a Business Post: The aim of this event is to raise awareness of badgers and to raise money for the Badger Trust who protect badgers all year round, vaccinating them and encouraging their growth and the vital part they play in our ecosystem. You can find lots of inspiration on their Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram for the kind of content you should be posting to join in with this event. If your online shop sells products that are countryside themed, such as walking and hiking equipment, it’s a sound assumption that your customers will care about badgers and British wildlife as much as you do. You should make a donation to the Badger Trust if you can afford it and encourage your followers to do the same.
What you could do for a Personal Post: If you’ve never seen a badger or don’t have a photo or video of one you’ve seen in your area, you could instead do some research and make content full of facts about badgers and what work the Badger Trust charity does to make them more relatable to your followers.
The Event: National Coming Out Day
Date: 11th October
What you could do for a Business Post: The official website provides some information about the event, but it’s also worth searching for #nationalcomingoutday on Instagram and Twitter so you can see an example of the kind of content you should post to take part in this event. If your online shop sells any gay pride products or merchandise, you’ll want to get these items promoted both before and during the event itself.
What you could do for a Personal Post: Research the kind of content that is shared during this event from previous years, and get involved where you can, even if it’s only posting messages of support to those who are coming out that day. Every positive message counts!
The Event: World Food Day
Date: 16th October
What you could do for a Business Post: Encouraging healthy and sustainable diets for all, World Food Day aims to make #zerohunger a possibility in a world where we have both famine and obesity. There’s lot of facts on the official website that you can use to create content for your own social media and start a conversation with your followers. If your online shops sells cooking products and equipment, and specifically items for making meals on a budget – such as a slow cooker for example – then promote these and highlight how easy it is to make large volumes and tasty meals.
What you could do for a Personal Post: If there was ever a time in your life when your budget was small – like in the days of university for example – what was your go-to meal? Share this with your followers and encourage them to do the same, whilst raising awareness of the event and how not everyone has a limitless budget for their regular meals.
The Event: Wear It Pink
Date: 23rd October
What you could do for a Business Post: To take part in this event and raise money for Breast Cancer Now, all you need to do is register on the website and wear pink for the day. Of course this event is very social media friendly as it provides an opportunity for you to take lots of photos of you and your team in their very best pink ensembles. There is of course social media you can look at for inspiration too, as there’s a Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a physical shop, consider holding a Wear It Pink event to encourage extra footfall during the day as well as getting your staff involved to create lots of social media content. Alternatively, make a donation to the charity as a company and encourage your followers to do the same.
What you could do for a Personal Post: If you can, wear pink for the entire day and make a donation to the charity. Take photos of your outfit and share these on your social media to raise awareness of the event.
The Event: World Pasta Day
Date: 25th October
What you could do for a Business Post: There is an official website for this event but it’s a lot more fun to cook your own and celebrate everyone’s favourite carb. If your online shop sells anything pasta related from ingredients to pasta makers and cooking equipment, then promote your products with lots of lifestyle images and ideally run a promotion for the event itself.
What you could do for a Personal Post: What’s your favourite pasta dish? Create it and make a series of photos or an Instagram/Facebook story to share with your followers, asking them to ‘rate your plate’.
The Event: Clocks Go Back (British Summer Time ends)
Date: 25th October
What you could do for a Business Post: Whilst there’s no official websites for this event, you could use the hashtags #clocksgoback and #clocksgobacksunday on both Instagram and Twitter, posting content to remind your followers about the change, and apart from their mobile phones which automatically adjust, which clocks they will need to manually change (as this is very shareable content).
What you could do for a Personal Post: You could write a blog post or a text image for your followers about how to cope with the loss of that extra hour in bed – from early bedtimes and hot chocolate to the fact that it signifies Christmas is not far off.
The Event: Halloween
Date: 31st October
What you could do for a Business Post: Whilst there’s no official website for this event specifically, it’s an excellent opportunity for you to create some fantastic content for your company social media. If your online shop sells fancy dress items or horror film memorabilia, then you need to promote these products around ten days before the event and during the day itself. Alternatively, if you or your staff are dressing up for the day, take lots of photos and stories for your social media.
What you could do for a Personal Post: If you’re getting dressed up this year, or dressing up your house for a party and the inevitable trick or treating, then make before and after photos and videos of your process, especially so if you’re making a lot of the costumes and decorations yourself.
Next month, we’ll be publishing a list of events that are due to run during November 2020 so you can plan ahead for that month too – be sure to subscribe to our blog so you get a notification of when the next month of our Social Media Calendar is published.
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