It seems like there is a national day, week, or month for everything, but when leveraged correctly, what may seem to be an impromptu holiday could boost your public relations strategy. Whether it is National Siblings’ Day or National Recovery Month, there is a holiday to fit each organization that can generate earned media and raise brand awareness.
For example, on National Coffee Day in 2019 (September 29), Dunkin celebrated by having a BOGO deal on hot coffee. We know this wasn’t a last minute decision because in 2018, Dunkin had the same promotion. Dunkin knows that each year National Coffee Day is happening in September, and undoubtedly has the press release and marketing materials ready in advance. In 2019, the campaign was picked up nationally by Newsweek, QSR Magazine and Yahoo! Finance to name a few.
Use established online calendars, like awarenessdays.com and nationaldaycalendar.com, to create your own calendar that includes events that align with the brand, mission, and overall messaging of you or your client.
Once you have built your calendar, identify the opportunities and the right timing to take advantage of them. Keep in mind that the day, week, or month is not the thing you are generating awareness for, it is the brand’s event or campaign that builds off the holiday. It is important to have a clear message and call to action that is media worthy and will generate buzz.
Many people know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is the month where all our favorite sports teams wear pink to show support and raise awareness for the cause. A breast cancer survivor from Laguna Beach named Sharael Kolberg made her effort stand out by announcing her plan to run 50 miles with virtual partners from all 50 states in 50 days to celebrate her 50th birthday while raising money and awareness. This is a great example of the power of having a compelling personal story and a clear call to action, getting people to donate to Susan G. Komen. Her story ran in local outlets including the Los Angeles Times and the Minot Daily News and was picked up nationally by the Today Show. Many stories mentioned the association with the upcoming national month.
Be sure to Include social media in your campaign to gain the most traction. This could include things like Instagram Lives throughout the day, week, or month, a sponsored Snapchat filter, and a countdown on twitter to the campaign. Share any traditional media hits you get through press release distribution on your social media channels to give your campaign third party credibility and show those news outlets that you appreciate the time they took to cover your story. There is so much noise to break through on national days, weeks, or holidays so share, share, share when your story shines through.
To promote action and donations during this past June, Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, the Alzheimer’s Association encouraged the public to change their Facebook profile picture to a pre-made frame that showed support for the organization and encouraged others to do the same. They also encouraged people to use their hashtag, #ENDALZ, when sharing content.
There are many things to take into consideration if you plan on incorporating a national day, week, or month into your PR strategy. Above all, make sure your campaign makes sense and aligns with your brand. Good luck!
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