May holidays include shopping, celebrating, appreciation, and mourning losses. That is why it is important to get your messaging right.
Don’t only look at your marketing messaging and imagery, look at what your affiliates, ambassadors and influencers are saying. What these people say is a direct reflection on your brand. You don’t want them creating a problem that will come back to haunt you if it blows up on social media.
That means check your:
Banners
Landing pages
Wording
Images
Newsletters
Consumer
Wholesale
Affiliate
Influencer
Ambassador
PPC
Media Buys
If you do work with third party channels that represent you, be proactive and share ideas for messaging and imagery with them before the holiday starts. Also, make sure to talk to your customer service team too. I get into that at the end of the post and share a big talking point we use with our partners in the Mother’s Day section.
Star Wars Day
Teacher’s Day
Cinco De Mayo
Mother’s Day
Memorial Day
Is it happy?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
What to say:
Anything Geeky, Sci-Fi, May the 4th Be With You
Thank You, Happy, We Appreciate You
Happy Cinco De Mayo
Happy, Celebrate, Love
Thank You, We Remember, With Love
What to avoid:
Star Trek, Copyrights, Hashtags Disney and Star Wars protect
Talking about negatives like lack of funding and politics, or why your kids are being XYZ by the institution.
Getting the celebration wrong. Its not Independence Day.
Arguing with people who oppose Mother’s Day because they are not moms or hate their moms. Nobody wins, just let them be.
Celebrating, Big Sales, Saying “Happy”
Should I have a Sale?
Yes, absolutely.
Yes, make sure it is for teachers only and teacher specific gifts.
Yes, but it isn’t a shopping holiday. Try deals on food, or do a co-marketing campaign with a topically relevant brand.
Yes, but…..