How to use social media topical days in your social media marketing strategy

What is a topical day?

A topical day is a specific day dedicated to something, for example, ‘Time to Talk Day’ on 2nd February. It’s the nation’s biggest mental health conversation and is designed to help people talk about how they feel. There are also some funny ones such as ‘National Hot Dog Day’ on the 19th of July and ‘British National Tea Day’ on the 21st of April.

Some dates may seem silly or not relevant, but there are plenty that will be interesting, funny and relevant to your business, your customers and your industry. Remember you need to market your business to real-life people which means people want to see interesting content about things happening around the world and something that gives them value or knowledge. Have you ever used topical dates in your social media strategy before?

Why use topical dates on your social media?

Social media has revolutionised the way we communicate with each other. It has enabled us to stay connected with our friends and family, no matter where they are in the world, most people you know have social media accounts. We can share our thoughts and feelings, as well as photos and videos, in an instant. Marketers have also been able to reach consumers more effectively than ever before. On average, social media users spend 2 hours and 29 minutes every day on social media platforms (source: Smart Insights) such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Most businesses are now on social platforms, trying to advertise and sell their products to the eyes of social media users and potential customers. However, most of the time generic social media posts about selling just don’t get as much engagement organically, the market is so saturated that posts that aren’t exciting or add value to the consumer are just more often ignored.

This is where topical dates come in. Using different dates, both well-known and less popular, offers a fun and unique element to your social media strategy. Using these dates you are able to show the people and personality behind your business, you have to remember it is called SOCIAL media for a reason – people like to see people.

Why is social media engagement important?

Engagement on social media is crucial for businesses looking to connect with their audience effectively. In today’s digital age, where social media platforms are central to communication, utilising topical dates in your social media strategy can significantly enhance engagement. People want to see content that goes beyond generic sales pitches and adds value to their online experience. Social media users spend a considerable amount of time scrolling through various platforms daily, and businesses must seize the opportunity to capture their attention.

Topical dates provide a unique and fun way to showcase the personality behind your brand. By participating in events or celebrations related to these dates, businesses can foster a deeper connection with their audience. In essence, leveraging topical dates is not just about following trends; it’s about creating a dynamic and personable online presence that resonates with the social media community.

Ideas for social media dates

Topical dates can be used in many different ways to market you and your business, how you do this is mostly dependent on the day. On different days you can do different things including

• An interactive quiz online
• Recording you and your staff answering questions or doing a task,
• For a food-related day, you could bring in the specific food for the day for your staff and/or customers or have a bake/cook-off,
• You could have a competition to make or do something relevant to the type of day
• You could share a personal story about you and your business that relates to the specific day.

You may be thinking, “what’s the point in posting about these days?”

The point is engagement and growing your social media presence.

Ryanair (1.9m followers and 25.1m likes on TikTok), Duolingo (5.5m followers and 109.6m likes on TikTok) and Aldi (660.2K followers on Twitter) are brilliant examples of boosting engagement and social media presence by interacting and creating fun posts rather than just selling on social media.

When marketing on social media having consistent posting and brand messages is very important when building a relationship with social media users. Constantly communicating and showing the humans behind the business is key to getting engagement. Think about what you would like to see on Facebook, would it be a generic post about a product or a person achieving an award in their career?

Most would rather like a post about a person and through many years of social media marketing efforts we’ve learnt this is true. Keeping your posting consistent so your followers remember you and your brand whilst also showing the people behind your business is a proven formula for your social media campaign success.

Where can I find great topical dates to use?

So now you want to use some topical dates, you may think you have to spend hours finding them and ideas on what to post for them.

But you’re in luck, we have compiled a full list of topical dates to use on your social media activities ready to be downloaded to your calendar, then when you are stuck for ideas we send out an email every Thursday with next week’s dates and ideas for how to use them for your social media content. You pick and choose the ones relevant to you and your business. When you sign up for this you will also receive a FREE wallchart! (whilst stocks last).

GET YOUR FREE & HELPFUL SOCIAL MEDIA IDEAS HERE…

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