There are so many awareness days to choose from but how do you decide which ones are relevant for your business? How do you create topical and appropriate content that promotes your unique brand across social media? And how do you not get lost in the crowd but instead create posts that stand out, engage potential clients and, ultimately, makes sales?

What are awareness days?
An awareness day (or sometimes a week or month, even) is normally set up by an organisation or charity to mark an anniversary, raise awareness, or promote a cause. Some mark significant or poignant dates in history, some raise money for charity and some are just silly – Happy Mew Year for Cats (2^nd January), for example!

How should you use awareness days for your business?
Used in the right way, awareness days can be great content-hooks and, if you compose the right message, you can potentially raise the profile of your business as well as start new conversations. Trending hashtags provide an opportunity to increase engagement and reach new people.

It is important to be strategic when deciding which awareness days to use. The trick is to choose carefully and make use of the days that are appropriate for your business or brand.

I would not recommend using every awareness day, although coming up with the odd tenuous link to one from your business can be funny and really successful. Every post must suit the overall tone and voice of your business though. Social media is an opportunity to build a rapport with your audience. It’s a great way to humanise your feed and keep your audience engaged. Be consistent with your brand and show the real you. If you are too obscure in your links your audience will check out.

How to plan ahead
A big advantage of using awareness days is that the dates are set out well in advance (usually annually), so you can create and schedule social media content prior to the event. Facebook has its own scheduling tool Creator Studio which is free and easy to use. You can schedule posts on Facebook and Instagram. TweetDeck also allows you to schedule posts in Twitter.

How to create posts that stand out from the ground
The more visually engaging or amusing (where appropriate) your post, the more it will stand out and attract a higher level of engagement.

There are plenty of ways you can create posts. You can keep them simple with text and a supporting image or you can get more creative. I like using the app Canva as it is really easy to use to create designs and templates that you can then upload. You could also ask a creative team to design some templates for you, giving you a consistent brand to work with across your social media.

Where can you find your awareness days?
There are various calendars available online from which you can find events that might be relevant to your business.

Depending on how niche your business is, you might even find specific lists. For example, there are lists for promoting your pet business (great if you are a local dog walker or groomer) or lists for educational establishments. Start by searching for what you need into Google. A social media manager can also help you find the awareness days you might need.

January 2021 Awareness Days
January is a great month for raising awareness of your brand. It is a time for New Year’s resolutions and it is a time when people like to try new things. Is your business within the fitness or wellbeing industry? Then this is the month for you! Dry January, National Fitness Day…there is even a Personal Trainer Awareness Day (2^nd Jan)!

Here are a few others coming up that might be relevant for you:

• Veganuary – perfect for cafés or restaurants. Show off your vegan dishes or offer a discount on your special dietary menu.
• National Do Nothing Day (16^th January) – great for beauty rooms or spas? Encourage a day of relaxation and pampering.
• Winnie the Pooh Day (18^th January) – A. A. Milne is always a great place to find inspirational quotes for your business.
• Big Garden Bird Watch (29^th – 31^st January) – Perfect for nurseries and schools. Show off your outdoor learning facilities with a photo of children bird watching.

To see a more detailed list of January 2021 Awareness Days please keep an eye on our Facebook page.

Need further support?
Marketing Pace will be providing a monthly update highlighting some of the key awareness days you might use for your business. We might even make some specific suggestions for local business so watch this space!

Marketing Pace offers guidance to get your marketing and social media off the ground and the skills and confidence you need to go it alone.

Samantha Rumens, Marketing Consultant, Marketing Pace
sam@marketingpace.com

Author: admin