There is a social media holiday for every occasion — official and unofficial, local and global, serious and fun. Any of these holidays can increase your brand awareness by plugging you into larger conversations. But it's important to pick and choose your celebrations.
Every social media holiday has a unique message. National Pizza Day (February 9) is a time to celebrate pizza and support the shops that make it for us. World Compliment Day (March 1) is a day to show kindness to the people around you. National Just Because Day (August 27) is...just because.
Your brand also has a unique message, and you'll want to pick holidays that help you illuminate that message. Attempting to associate your brand with every trending holiday hashtag can damage your brand personality.
Will it be Pancake Day or Presidents Day? You have to choose based on the brand story you want to tell.
In this guide, you’ll discover:
- What social media holidays are
- Why social media holidays matter for your brand
- The most popular social media holidays
- How to keep up with social media holidays
What are social media holidays?
Social media holidays, or hashtag holidays, are specified days when you celebrate a particular event on social media. These holidays aren't restricted to official holidays — they extend to celebrations of hundreds of unofficial events that celebrate culture, heritage, history, people, and often food.
For example, Domino’s increased their engagement by 15% with the celebration of #NationalPizzaDay:
Source: Domino's on X (Twitter)
Official holidays, on the other hand, are public, national, or religious holidays that are widely recognized and celebrated, like Christmas and New Year's. Depending on your region, there are a handful of holidays like these that you can easily create content around (and actually remember to do it!).
Why social media holidays matter for your brand
Whether it's official or unofficial, holidays provide your brand the perfect opportunity to emotionally connect with your audience and humanize your brand. A strategic holiday posting schedule is an easy tactic to attract your ideal customer and engage your audience by celebrating events that match their interests to your brand.
- Humanize your brand: Show your support for specific causes or participate in holidays that celebrate people, like National Receptionists Day, to put a face to your company or celebrate the people in your local community.
- Develop your brand personality: Strategically join in on events to associate your brand with different characteristics and lifestyles.
- Increase engagement with your audience: Holidays help focus the conversation on something universal. Since you're more likely to tap into shared ideals, you're also more likely to get interaction on your posts.
- Promote your products or services to boost sales: Find a way to make your products or services relevant to the celebration. Sometimes it's straightforward, like Starbucks celebrating National Coffee Day. Sometimes it's more of a stretch, like Starbucks celebrating National Friendship Day. Either way, it's a great way to weave a narrative about your products.
- Stay relevant with topical content: Alternatively, if you’re constantly posting about your product or service, holidays are a great way to incorporate topical content. Take a “brand break," post something fun, and make a connection with your audience.
- Give your brain a break: We all hit creative block, especially when we're sticking to an intense posting schedule. If you’re in a creative rut, tap a social media holiday to get the ideas flowing. (Did you know Loomly shares post ideas and holidays every day?)
Source: Starbucks on X (Twitter)
How to pick which holidays are right for your brand
Have you ever really looked at the full unofficial holiday schedule? (If not, just keep scrolling!) There’s something to celebrate nearly every day.
Like, the first Wednesday of June is Global Running Day. August 12th is National Middle Child Day. And September 3rd is National Skyscraper Day.
Source: Hoka on Instagram
Needless to say, not all of them will make sense for your brand to acknowledge. For example, if you’re a financial service brand it might be strange to celebrate National Running Day because it doesn't relate to your message.
The trick to posting about social media holidays is to choose days that you can strategically, respectfully, and meaningfully develop content and campaigns around that put your brand in the best light.
For example, if your brand wants to acknowledge Pride Month or Juneteenth, don’t just change your profile picture to reflect those days and call it “good enough.” Consider:
- Partnering with LGTBQ+ or Black-owned brands or non-profits and highlighting their posts and initiatives
- Promoting inclusivity in all of your content, not just for your June schedule.
- Sharing the history and significance of Pride Month and Juneteenth
While many social media holidays are just fun, low-stakes celebrations, be aware of the days that require more thought, compassion, and tact. Today's consumers are well attuned to "performative" action. Creating quick content around these holidays or months without truly turning an eye inward on your brand can seriously backfire.
What kind of social media holiday posts to create
You don't need to limit your social media holiday celebrations to an image and a hashtag. For your holiday posts, consider sharing:
- Relevant or branded memes
- Photo dumps from events celebrating the holiday in your office
- Viral short-form video formats that relate to the holiday
- Behind-the-scene content
Speaking of planning content, let’s talk about when to start planning your social media content calendar.
When to start planning for your social media holiday content
Planning your social media content calendar in advance requires some upfront effort. But once it’s done, Future You will thank you for already putting in the elbow grease to make your calendar work.
Some marketers prefer to plan their social media content a month ahead of time. If this is your preferred style, make a note of any relevant upcoming holidays. Google searches like “unofficial holidays in June” can uncover those obscure holidays — or you can use a social media scheduling tool like Loomly, which shares upcoming holidays and post ideas every day! Sometimes if you're low on content, it's totally fine to throw a holiday post into the schedule. This is a simple strategy for approaching those one-off, random holidays that you want to jump on.
Be aware, though, that big, official holidays and holidays relating to your brand might require a larger lift, longer production lead time, and a longer campaign duration.
For example, pretend you're a boutique chocolate shop. Valentine's Day and the days leading up to it are your biggest sales days. You'll miss out on capturing more sales if you limit social media content to Valentine's Day itself. Instead, you'll want to create a Valentine's Day campaign that starts in mid-January. It might include posts like:
- Short-form videos that show your chocolatiers making the chocolate
- Multiple stories per week reminding followers about deals and promotions
- Image posts that highlight your newest flavors and packaging
All of this content will take a few weeks to create, which means you should probably start thinking about Valentine's Day content in early December, if not sooner!
Source: Tony's Chocolonely on Instagram
Map out the official and unofficial holidays that are key to your brand story and your product/service promotion cycle. When you're creating your social media schedule, assume you'll run holiday campaigns for at least two weeks; then walk it back to figure out the lead time you'll need for content development.
Social media holidays for your content calendar
January social media holidays
If you’re in the finance industry, January is your month to shine! January is officially Financial Wellness Month. That means you can share financial tips all month long with the #finanicalwellnessmonth hashtag.
Check out this reel from ABLE United:
Source: ABLE United on Facebook
Here are other January holidays to consider:
- New Year’s Day: January 1
- National Science Fiction Day: January 2
- National Spaghetti Day: January 4
- National Trivia Day: January 4
- National Bubble Bath Day: January 8
- National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day: January 9
- National Clean Off Your Desk Day: Second Monday of January
- National Human Trafficking Awareness Day: January 11
- National Bagel Day: January 15
- National Hat Day: January 15
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day: The third Monday of January
- Ditch Your Resolution Day: January 17
- National Popcorn Day: January 19
- National Cheese Lover's Day: January 20
- National Hugging Day: January 21
- National Pie Day: January 23
- National Peanut Butter Day: January 24
- National Compliment Day: January 24
- Opposite Day: January 25
- International Holocaust Remembrance Day: January 27
- National Puzzle Day: January 29
- National Croissant Day: January 30
February social media holidays
In the United States, February is designated as Black History Month. The last Thursday in February is Digital Learning Day. If you’re planning to share a new how-to guide with your audience, Digital Learning Day is the perfect time to share.
Or, take a note from the Sacramento History Museum and share interesting facts with your audience.
Source: Sacramento History Museum on Facebook
Here are other February social media holidays to consider adding to your calendar:
- Groundhog Day: February 2
- National Wear Red Day: First Friday of February
- World Cancer Day: February 4
- Safer Internet Day: February 6
- National Send a Card to a Friend Day: February 7
- National Pizza Day: February 9
- International Day of Women and Girls in Science: February 11
- National Inventors' Day: February 11
- National Make a Friend Day: February 11
- Lincoln's Birthday: February 12
- Galentine's Day: February 13
- Valentine's Day: February 14
- Random Acts of Kindness Day: February 17
- Presidents' Day: Third Monday of February
- National Drink Wine Day: February 18
- National Love Your Pet Day: February 20
- Digital Learning Day: Last Thursday in February
March social media holidays
March is Women’s History Month, and International Women’s Day is March 8th. These two events offer a great opportunity to create related content for your social media. If you’re looking for an example of how to highlight Women’s History Month, check out Insightly’s LinkedIn for a great example.
Looking for more content ideas? Get creative for World Poetry Day. For a social media post, you could write a haiku about your appreciation for your audience. Or, challenge your followers to write a poem about why they love your brand!
Here are some more March social media holidays to consider:
- World Compliment Day: March 1
- Employee Appreciation Day: First Friday of March
- National Wildlife Day: March 3
- International Women's Day: March 8
- Pi Day: March 14
- St. Patrick's Day: March 17
- World Sleep Day: March 18
- Global Recycling Day: March 18
- World Poetry Day: March 21
- International Day of Happiness: March 20
- World Water Day: March 22
- National Puppy Day: March 23
- Doctors' Day: March 30
- National Crayon Day: March 31
April social media holidays
April is National Stress Awareness Month and National Garden Month. You could create content to promote stress-relieving activities (like gardening!) to share with your audience.
Earth Day is April 22nd. It’s the perfect day to highlight your brand’s commitment to a cleaner, more sustainable environment. Create a post showing off your brand’s eco-friendliness like this Instagram post from Entrepreneur:
Source: Entrepreneur on Instagram
Here’s a list of other April social media holidays for your social media calendar:
- April Fool's Day: April 1
- National Burrito Day: First Thursday of April
- World Autism Awareness Day: April 2
- National Walk to Work Day: First Friday of April
- National Carbonara Day: April 6
- World Health Day: April 7
- National Beer Day: April 7
- Siblings' Day: April 10
- National Pet Day: April 11
- National High Five Day: Third Thursday of April
- National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day: April 16
- National Look Alike Day: April 20
- Earth Day: April 22
- World Book Day: April 23
- International Dance Day: April 29
May social media holidays
May is National Mental Awareness Month, National Military Appreciation Month, and the first full week of May is dedicated to teachers. If these initiatives align with your brand, add them to your May social media holiday calendar, or consider hosting a giveaway like the USA Science & Engineering Festival did on LinkedIn.
Here's the list of May social media holidays:
- May Day: May 1
- Star Wars Day: May 4
- Cinco de Mayo: May 5
- National Nurses Day: May 6
- National Tourism Day: May 7
- International Nurses Day: May 12
- International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia: May 17
- Mother's Day: Second Sunday of May
- National Teacher Appreciation Day: First Tuesday of the first full week in May
- National Receptionists Day: Second Wednesday of May
- Armed Forces Day: Third Saturday of May
- Memorial Day: Last Monday of May
June social media holidays
There are lots of reasons to celebrate in June. June is National Safety Month and Pride Month. Plus, National Splurge Day is June 18th (the perfect day to offer a sale or discount code!). Or, take a page out of Dunkin's book — they celebrated National Donut Day (their cornerstone event) by launching a fun, unexpected collab with Scrub Daddy.
Source: Dunkin on TikTok
Here are a few more June social media holidays:
- International Children's Day: June 1
- National Donut Day: June 2
- Global Running Day: First Wednesday in June
- World Bicycle Day: June 3
- National Cancer Survivors Day: June 4
- World Environment Day: June 5
- National Cheese Day: June 6
- Higher Education Day: June 6
- National Best Friends Day: June 8
- World Oceans Day: June 8
- Best Friends Day: June 8
- Father's Day: Third Sunday of June
- International Picnic Day: June 18
- National Splurge Day: June 18
- Juneteenth: June 19
- World Refugee Day: June 20
- National Selfie Day: June 21
- World Music Day: June 21
- Social Media Day: June 30
July social media holidays
July 15th is National Give Something Away Day and there’s really no better time to run a giveaway contest or run a BOGO promotion. Mark it on your calendar so you don’t forget.
Source: Earth Rated on Instagram
Consider these other July social media holidays, too:
- Canada Day: July 1
- National Postal Worker Day: July 1
- International Joke Day: July 1
- World UFO Day: July 2
- Independence Day (U.S.): July 4
- International Kissing Day: July 6
- World Chocolate Day: July 7
- National Give Something Away Day: July 15
- National Ice Cream Day: July 16
- World Emoji Day: July 17
- National Parent's Day: Fourth Sunday of July
- National Aunt and Uncle Day: July 26
- International Day of Friendship: July 30
August social media holidays
August is special for many different reasons. It’s National Immunization Awareness Month, Black Business Month, National Wellness Month, National Family Fun Month, and National Picnic Month. And, let’s not forget that August 15 is National Relaxation Day. Check out this Instagram post from Dr. Teal’s:
Source: Dr Teal's on Instagram
There are plenty of opportunities for social media content this month for your brand. Check out these other August social media holidays:
- National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day: August 4
- International Cat Day: August 8
- National Book Lovers Day: August 9
- National Lazy Day: August 10
- International Youth Day: August 12
- International Left-Handers Day: August 13
- National FInancial Awareness Day: August 14
- National Relaxation Day: August 15
- National Tell a Joke Day: August 16
- World Photo Day: August 19
- National Senior Citizens Day: August 21
- National Dog Day: August 26
- National Just Because Day: August 27
- National Bow Tie Day: August 28
September social media holidays
September is back-to-school season and the start of Fall in the U.S. There are plenty more reasons to be excited about it. It’s National Honey Month, National Self Improvement Month, National Preparedness Month, National Suicide Prevention Month, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, and World Alzheimer’s Month.
If you need other ideas for social media content for September, consider asking your employees to share the books they’re reading with your audience on September 6, Read a Book Day. Look at this post from Peppa Pig for inspiration:
Source: Peppa Pig on Facebook
Mark your calendar for these other September social media holidays:
- Labor Day (U.S.): First Monday in September
- Read a Book Day: September 6
- National Grandparents Day: First Sunday after Labor Day
- National Day of Service: September 11
- National Video Games Day: September 12
- National Programmers' Day: 256th day of the year, usually September 13
- National Working Parents Day: September 16
- Constitution Day: September 17
- Talk Like a Pirate Day: September 19
- World Gratitude Day: September 21
- International Day of Peace: September 21
- World Alzheimer’s Day: September 21
- National Punctuation Day: September 24
- National Sons Day: September 28
- International Podcast Day: September 30
October social media holidays
Like September, October is dedicated to bringing awareness to various causes. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, National Bullying Prevention Month, National Arts & Humanities Month, and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
If you need an idea for content, how about creating a post on October 16th celebrating your boss for National Boss’s Day?
Source: The Office on Instagram
Here are more October social media holidays to consider:
- International Coffee Day: October 1
- National Custodial Workers Recognition Day: October 2
- National Techies Day: October 3
- World Animal Day: October 4
- World Teachers' Day: October 5
- National Do Something Nice Day: October 5
- Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day (U.S): Second Monday of October
- World Mental Health Day: October 10
- National Train Your Brain Day: October 13
- National Boss's Day: October 16
- National Cat Day: October 29
- Halloween: October 31
November social media holidays
Much like September and October, November can be a busy time for your content calendar, too. November is National Native American Heritage Month, National Novel Writing Month, National Diabetes Awareness Month, National Military Family Month, National Adoption Awareness Month, and Movember, or Men’s Health Awareness Month.
Plus there are plenty of sales days, too. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Small Business Saturday are great days to make social media posts to advertise your brand. Or if you’re a non-profit organization, take advantage of Giving Tuesday.
Here are more November social media holidays for your content calendar:
- National Author's Day: November 1
- Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead): November 1-2
- National Sandwich Day: November 3
- STEM Day: November 8
- World Freedom Day: November 9
- Veterans Day: November 11
- World Kindness Day: November 13
- International Day for Tolerance: November 16
- National Take a Hike Day: November 17
- National Entrepreneurs' Day: Third Tuesday of November
- Universal Children's Day: November 20
- Thanksgiving: Fourth Thursday in November
- Black Friday: Day after Thanksgiving
- Small Business Saturday: Saturday after Thanksgiving
- Cyber Monday: Monday after Thanksgiving
- Giving Tuesday: Tuesday after Thanksgiving
December social media holidays
December is literally "the holiday season," so it's full of significant dates to add to your content calendar. For starters, it’s Universal Human Rights Month and AIDS Awarness Month.
And besides creating content for Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's, consider sharing pictures of your team’s ugly Christmas sweaters on National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day. Or create funny Reels of your team spreading Christmas cheer on Go Caroling Day.
Source: Odoo on LinkedIn
Consider these other December Social Media Holidays, too:
- Hanukkah: Dates vary
- World AIDS Day: December 1
- International Volunteer Day: December 5
- Human Rights Day: December 10
- National App Day: December 11
- National Wear Your Pearls Day: December 15
- National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day: Third Friday of December
- National Twin Day: December 18
- Go Caroling Day: December 20
- Festivus: December 23
- Christmas Eve: December 24
- Christmas Day: December 25
- Boxing Day: December 26
- Kwanzaa: December 26 - January 1
- Tick Tock Day: December 29
- No Interruptions Day: Last workday of the year
- New Year's Eve: December 31
How to keep up with social media holidays
As the vast list of holidays shows, some are evergreen while others are topical. To ensure you keep up with both types of social media holidays, integrate these two approaches:
- Proactive
- Reactive
Take a proactive approach
Some major events occur every year on a fixed date. These holidays matter for your audience and demand a special place in your social media holiday strategy.
Taking a proactive approach involves planning for such holidays, allowing you enough time to create a powerful brand story. For such preparation, follow this proactive approach:
- Identify important holidays for your brand
- Add them to your social media calendar
- Analyze previous organic content campaigns
- Generate ideas around the holiday
- Craft a story that connects with your audience
- Create stunning visuals
- Use special hashtags
- Leverage your existing followers
1. Identify important holidays for your brand
Decide strategically what holidays are important for your brand by asking these questions:
- What is the theme of the holiday?
- What is the holiday celebrating?
- How did this holiday come into being?
- Who primarily celebrates this day? Are they my ideal customers?
- Does my product/service relate to it in any way?
- Do I support the cause?
- Is it something I can connect to personally?
For example, Jeep celebrated #NationalPuzzleDay with a neat animation. Is it the right fit for their brand and audience? You be the judge.
Source: Jeep on X (Twitter)
2. Add them to your social media calendar
Once you have a list of holidays you want to associate your brand with, add them to your social media calendar.
“Anytime you want to be involved in a holiday with your brand, definitely start thinking about it at the beginning of the year,” says social media strategist Audrie Segura.
Holiday seasons are overwhelming, and it’s easy for things to slip by. To ensure a smooth holiday campaign that generates huge profits for your organization, plan ahead of time. Manually adding holidays to your calendar can make it easier.
Or you can use Loomly to automatically integrate social media holidays into your calendar with just one click. Our Post Ideas feature lets you know every holiday coming up — even ones we don't include in this blog post!
You can plan all the significant events of the year and eliminate the risks of last-minute planning.
3. Analyze previous organic content campaigns
Every major campaign needs a detailed analysis before planning. And holiday posts are no different. To make it an absolute success, perform an in-depth analysis of previous campaigns of your competitors and yourself to map out:
- The time frame of the campaign. This will depend on the type of holiday you choose to participate in. Is it a one-day event, or goes on for several days? When will you start and end the holiday campaign?
- The platforms on which you’ll execute your strategy. Not every type of content works on all platforms.
- The frequency of your posts through the holiday campaigns. How many posts are you planning to do for this event? How will they be spread out?
Analyze the type of content that worked (and didn’t work).
Ask yourself:
- What hashtags did they use?
- What was the CTA?
- What can you bring in that’s new?
4. Generate ideas around the holiday
Now that you know what works and what doesn’t, let your creative juices flow and jot down all the social media post ideas that come to your mind.
On D-day, social media will be overflowing with holiday posts, with every brand doing its best.
So, how do you stand out?
By using authentic and unique social media ideas around a central concept.
If it seems like too much work, it’s because it is! But Loomly eases the task for you by giving you holiday post ideas by the day:
You can save your time searching for topical holidays and post topics and spend it on strategizing instead.
5. Craft a story that connects with your audience
After selecting a central idea for a holiday, craft a story that flows seamlessly and connects with your audience. A compelling story grabs your audience’s attention and connects on an emotional level.
Take your time to do this and make sure it integrates with your holiday CTA. Take inspiration from Starbucks and their use of different formats of content:
Source: Starbucks on Instagram
Along with this, make sure you include posts that allow audience engagement. Some ideas for such posts include:
- Giveaways
- Contests
- Irresistible holiday packages/deals
- “Limited Time only” offers
6. Use special hashtags
Hashtags play a crucial role in social media holiday campaigns. They help you increase your reach, join relevant conversations, and make your content discoverable by a wider audience.
When planning your holiday posts, research and use special hashtags that are specific to the occasion. These hashtags can be trending ones related to the holiday or unique ones created by your brand.
7. Leverage your existing followers
Your loyal followers are your brand advocates and they can be your biggest asset during social media holidays. Encourage them to participate and share their experiences related to the holiday. Run contests or giveaways exclusively for your existing followers, rewarding their loyalty and encouraging them to spread the word about your brand.
By leveraging your existing followers, you not only strengthen your brand community but also amplify your reach as their posts and recommendations reach their own networks.
Remember, the power of word-of-mouth marketing can be particularly influential during social media holidays, so make the most of your engaged audience.
Take a reactive approach
While proactive approaches work well for fixed events, audiences often develop new hashtags based on topical events. To keep up with such events, you can integrate these three reactive approaches into your hashtag holidays strategy:
- Follow news-worthy events
- Monitor social media trends
- Watch your competitors
1. Follow news-worthy events
There’s no need to fear topical events. To connect with your audience in real time, you need to keep a tab on current events.
If you're a small local business, one of the best ways to incorporate holidays into your content calendar is to keep track of local and regional events in your area. For example, your local area might schedule regional festivals that become popular pseudo-holidays. In Mount Olive, North Carolina, locals and travelers enjoy and participate in the NC Pickle Festival hosted in April every year. While the Pickle Festival might not be an official holiday, it is still a big dill to the community (get it?).
Participating in and keeping up with regional holidays is a great way to connect with your audience, promote your small business, and fill your social media calendar with relevant events.
Keep an eye on your local Chamber of Commerce’s calendar to incorporate these events into your social media calendar.
2. Monitor social media trends
Social media monitoring is the process of keeping an eye on valuable information for your business – your brand mentions, competitors’ mentions, and hashtags gaining popularity.
It helps you remain aware of your audience’s changing sentiments and interests, but it can be tiresome. Plus, if not performed meticulously, you can lose out on lucrative moments.
To prevent this, Loomly gives you suggestions for trending hashtags based on your copy, along with the recent stats of the hashtags:
3. Watch your competitors
Getting busy with content creation and other logistics during holidays is common. But no matter how busy it gets, make it a point to monitor your competitors’ activities.
If your competitor is receiving engagement on a certain kind of post, learn how those posts target your audience.
Ready to create your 2024 social media content calendar?
Social media holidays provide you with the opportunity to create a brand story that attracts your ideal customers. You can use these events to target specific identities that resonate with your brand.
Social media holidays help you:
- Develop a brand personality
- Strengthen your community
- Increase engagement with your audience
- Promote your products and services to boost sales
Once you identify the social media holidays to celebrate, you can use Loomly to get post inspiration, schedule your posts, interact with your audience, and measure your success all in one place.
Loomly is the social media scheduler that empowers your marketing team to streamline collaboration — and make the most of social media holidays on your calendar. Start your 15-day free trial now.
