Whether you’re selling Easter-themed products or utilizing the festive atmosphere to showcase your latest collection, the key to a successful promotion is having an egg-ceptional strategy in place.

In this blog, we’ll explore a variety of Easter marketing campaign ideas, including email, SMS, and attention-grabbing subject lines. These ideas will help you breathe new life into your brand and captivate your customers for the best possible results.

Why should you send an Easter marketing campaign?

Here are some reasons why you should launch an Easter marketing campaign:

1. Increased customer spending: Holidays like Easter often inspire consumers to shop more for gifts, decor, food, and other celebratory items. You can take advantage of this surge in spending by offering exclusive discounts, promotions, and product bundles through your marketing campaign.
2. Seasonal themes: Easter-themed emails provide a chance to refresh your email copy and design, using lighthearted visuals, puns, and images that resonate with your audience. This seasonal creativity can attract your subscribers’ attention and delight them, leading to higher open rates and engagement.
3. Strengthen customer relationships: Use your Easter marketing campaign to send personalized greetings and messages of appreciation to your customers. This strategy helps build a more personal connection, strengthens customer loyalty, and nurtures long-lasting relationships.
4. Drive traffic to your website: Easter-themed emails and SMS messages with exciting offers, compelling calls-to-action, and exclusive content can drive more traffic to your website. This gives your customers a reason to explore your products and services further.
5. Showcase new products or offerings: Use your Easter marketing campaign to introduce seasonal products or exclusive promotions that may interest your audience. This tactic helps generate interest and excitement for your brand while potentially spurring more purchases.
6. Boost social media engagement: An Easter marketing campaign can also encourage subscribers to engage with your brand on social media. Leverage this opportunity by promoting Easter-themed contests or sharing content that encourages user-generated content using specific hashtags.
7. Stand out from competitors: Use the festive season to differentiate your brand from competitors with unique SMS offers, creative email designs, and standout subject lines. Easter marketing campaigns that offer genuine value and capture your audience’s attention can set your brand apart and create lasting impressions.

Engaging and creative Easter subject line ideas

Easter is a great opportunity to make your email subject lines more creative and engaging. You can use witty puns, personalized greetings, and time-sensitive offers to grab your audience’s attention and increase your email open rates. Check out these fantastic Easter subject line ideas for inspiration:

1. Spring into savings: Major discounts are hatching this Easter.
2. Your Easter basket just got better: Save 30% sitewide .
3. Hop to it. Unwrap these egg-sclusive Easter deals.
4. Celebrate Easter in style: Fresh deals just for you .
5. Indulge yourself. Our mouth-watering Easter treats await.
6. Easter basket bonanza: Curated collections for the perfect gift.
7. Crack open your Easter savings. Limited time only.
8. Last chance: Peep our irresistible deals before they’re gone.
9. Add a touch of magic to Easter with our special offers.
10. Ready, set, hunt. Reveal your mystery Easter discount inside .
11. Bloom into savings with our exclusive Easter discounts.
12. Sweet deals to satisfy your Easter cravings: Shop now .

If you’re struggling to come up with Easter email subject lines for your marketing campaign, you can use WinstonAI’s generative AI capability when building your email on Dotdigital. This feature can suggest new subject lines, adjust the tone, shorten or expand text, rephrase, and even include emojis to make your email more engaging.

7 Innovative Easter campaign ideas

Creating captivating campaigns that catch your customer’s attention and spark their imagination is important. That’s why we’re here to help you achieve precisely that. We’ve put together seven innovative Easter marketing campaign ideas that will make your brand stand out and set you apart from the competition. So let’s get cracking.

1. Create a cracking Easter sale

As the seasons change, it’s always a good idea to freshen up your marketing strategies and create new incentives for your customers to make purchases. When seasons change, it’s a great opportunity to promote your latest products and offer discounts and sales to attract more customers.

A great example of an effective Easter marketing campaign is the one created by the personalized children’s book brand, I See Me. The brand has come up with a cracking Easter sale that is sure to catch the attention of potential customers. The brand offers a sitewide discount of 30%, which is a great incentive for shoppers to make a purchase.

What’s more, the email also showcases a curated selection of personalized Easter-themed books, which are perfect for inclusion in any Easter basket. This boosts relevancy and ensures its emails appeal to customers who are looking for unique gift ideas for their loved ones. 

By highlighting its spring savings and offering personalized Easter-themed products, I See Me has created a compelling Easter sale that is sure to drive more traffic to its website and boost sales during this holiday season. Take inspiration from this strategy and come up with your own creative Easter sale that resonates with your audience and drives revenue.

2. Show off your Easter collection with MMS

Easter is a great opportunity to display your new seasonal product collections to your customers. One of the most effective ways of doing this is through Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages. MMS uses rich media, such as images and videos, to create engaging and informative shopping experiences for your audience.

A prime example of a brand that executes this strategy successfully is a children’s clothing store, SugarBabies Boutique. By sending a visually appealing MMS message, SugarBabies Boutique highlights its Easter product offerings and makes it easy for customers to visualize the potential of creating a delightful Easter basket for their loved ones. The message not only showcases the brand’s cute and curated product lineup but also employs creative Easter language for a festive touch.

In addition, SugarBabies Boutique entices customers further with the offer of a ‘SAVE10’ discount code to use on purchases, adding an incentive for recipients to act swiftly and make a purchase.

3. Throw a virtual Easter egg hunt

Easter egg hunts are a classic and beloved activity to celebrate the season. But have you considered taking this traditional event online to engage your customers?

Reese Witherspoon’s clothing line, Draper James smartly incorporates a virtual Easter egg hunt into its email marketing campaign. The email features a simple and clear design, paired with concise copy that entices recipients to visit the brand’s website and start hunting for hidden Easter eggs. These eggs contain discount codes that shoppers can apply to their purchases, adding an incentive to engage with the website actively.

The email also includes an on-brand hero image, a specific call-to-action (CTA) button, and helpful hints as to where the eggs can be found. These elements create a seamless and enjoyable virtual egg-hunting experience for enthusiastic participants.

4. Leverage Easter FOMO with a countdown timer

Countdown timers are a popular tactic you can use to create a sense of urgency among your customers. By setting a deadline for a limited-time promotion, you can encourage your customers to act quickly before the offer expires. This marketing strategy plays on the fear of missing out (FOMO) and inspires subscribers to shop promptly to benefit from the promotion. Simply add a countdown timer to your website and see the powerful impact of FOMO in action.

One brand that executed this strategy incredibly well is the sustainable denim company Frank and Oak. Its Easter marketing campaign included a countdown timer at the top of the email, emphasizing the limited-time offer. By placing the timer prominently, the brand grabs its recipients’ attention with a time-sensitive message, encouraging them to act quickly to take advantage of the promotion. The result was a successful marketing campaign that generated buzz and encouraged customers to shop promptly to avoid missing out on the deal.

5. Host an Easter-themed social media contest

Easter-themed social media contests are an excellent way to engage your audience while boosting your brand exposure and promoting your products or services. Hosting a creative contest can foster excitement, encourage user-generated content (UGC), and increase interaction with your brand during the holiday season.

For example, create an Instagram photo contest where followers share pictures of their decorated Easter eggs, Easter outfits, or homemade treats using a specific hashtag. Offer a tempting prize, such as a gift voucher or product bundle from your Easter collection, for the participants with the most creative or popular submissions. Make sure to carefully outline the contest rules, participation guidelines, and entry deadlines to ensure a seamless and enjoyable experience for your audience.

Announce the contest in your email or SMS campaigns and use attractive visuals and compelling copy to encourage your subscribers to participate. By holding an Easter-themed social media contest, you can captivate your audience, showcase your products, and foster a sense of community around your brand.

The online boutique, Little Party Dress effectively promotes its Easter social media contest on Instagram. This is done by encouraging participants to engage with the brand and offering a choice of prizes from its Easter collection. The post explains how to enter, where to find more information, and the closing date for entries. By providing clear instructions and appealing prizes, Little Party Dress ensures a successful contest that excites and connects with its audience.

6. Curate your Easter gift guides

Gift guides are an excellent way to showcase and curate your Easter product selection, making it easier for customers to find the perfect gift for their loved ones during the festive season.

The Luxury department store, Fortnum and Mason’s Easter gift guide showcases a stunning collection of Easter eggs that were expertly curated by the brand. The email campaign also mentioned that customers can visit their store to build their own Easter eggs, providing a unique and interactive experience. This is a great way for the brand to not only showcase their products but also to engage with their customers and offer them an unforgettable experience.

By curating and presenting a visually appealing Easter gift guide through your email marketing, you can effectively guide your customers to ideal gift options and entice them to explore your product offerings. This approach simplifies the decision-making process for your customers and helps boost your overall sales during the Easter season.

7. Use creative copywriting to enhance your Easter marketing

To make your Easter marketing messages more compelling and memorable, you can utilize creative copywriting techniques that capture the attention of your target audience. By using creative copywriting in your Easter marketing, you can stand out in the crowded marketing landscape and drive better results for your campaigns.

LUSH Cosmetics is an excellent example of a brand that understands the power of imaginative copywriting. The brand uses vibrant language and storytelling techniques to create a sense of wonder and excitement around its Easter-themed products.

Its email campaign, for instance, invites readers to “Spring into a world of pure imagination,” which blends the festive Easter ambiance with the brand’s colorful, nature-inspired offerings. LUSH’s copywriting is captivating, creating a mesmerizing connection with its audience that goes beyond the product itself.

Kickstart your Easter marketing strategy

Easter is a time of joy, renewal, and celebration. The season presents a great chance for you to connect with your audience and enhance your sales with innovative marketing campaigns. To make the most of this opportunity, it’s essential to develop a comprehensive Easter marketing strategy that fully embraces the festive essence and engages your customers through every touchpoint, including email, SMS, and social media. By doing so, you can increase your brand’s visibility and effectively capture the attention of your target audience during this festive season.

What is customer acquisition?

Customer acquisition is the process of attracting potential customers and converting them into actual customers who purchase your products or services. This process is typically carried out through a series of steps, which include marketing, engaging, nurturing and ultimately convincing a prospect to take action.

For successful customer acquisition, it’s important to have a well-planned strategy that combines a deep understanding of your target audience, a focus on providing value, and effective marketing techniques. Implementing a customer acquisition strategy can help drive growth, increase revenue, and build a loyal customer base, making it an essential aspect for all brands.

What is organic and paid social media in social media marketing?

It’s essential to understand the difference between organic and paid social media strategies. Both approaches have their unique benefits and contribute to the overall success of your social media marketing campaigns.

Organic social media

Organic social media is the content and activities that you share on your social media profiles without paying for them. These can include regular updates, engaging with your audience, responding to comments, and sharing useful information. The main goal of organic social media is to increase brand awareness, grow your online presence, and establish connections with your followers. The benefits of organic social media marketing are:

• Establishing a genuine relationship with your audience
• Building brand trust and credibility
• Showcasing your company’s culture and values
• Having a cost-effective approach to audience engagement

Paid social media

Paid social media involves the use of sponsored content and advertising campaigns on social media platforms. By investing in paid advertising, you can reach a larger audience and target specific customer segments based on their interests, demographics, and location. Some of the key benefits of paid social media marketing are:

• Expanding your audience’s reach and visibility
• Targeting specific user groups for higher conversion rates
• Tracking and measuring ad performance for data-driven optimization
• Achieving faster results compared to organic efforts

To create a successful social media marketing campaign, it’s important to use both organic and paid strategies. By combining these approaches, you can engage with your audience, increase your brand’s visibility, and achieve tangible results for your business.

The importance of social media in customer acquisition

Social media has become an essential tool for marketers who want to acquire new customers. With billions of active users on various platforms, marketers have the opportunity to reach and engage with their target audience more effectively than ever before. The significance of social media in customer acquisition cannot be overstated, and here are some reasons why:

Extended reach and visibility

Social media platforms provide unprecedented reach, allowing brands to showcase their products and services in front of a global audience. This increased visibility enables brands to tap into new markets and expand their customer base.

Cost-effective marketing

Social media marketing offers a cost-effective way for businesses to engage with their target audience, as many platforms offer free organic reach and affordable advertising options.

Authentic engagement

Social media marketing is a cost-effective way for businesses to engage with their target audience. By engaging with customers through comments, messages, and direct conversations, businesses can build trust and foster long-lasting relationships.

Enhanced brand perception

A well-executed social media presence can improve your brand perception. Through the consistent sharing of relevant and valuable content, brands can position themselves as industry experts, further piquing the interest of potential customers.

Customer insights

The data collected through social media platforms provides valuable insights into customer preferences, behaviors, and pain points. These insights can help businesses tailor their marketing strategies to better target and acquire new customers.

Viral potential

Social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, make it effortless to share content, which significantly increases the likelihood of your content going viral. A single piece of captivating content has the potential to reach thousands, or even millions, of users and can significantly enhance customer acquisition efforts.

How to choose the right social media platforms

With so many social media platforms available, it can be daunting to choose the most suitable ones for your target market. However, it can be made easier by considering the following three factors:

1. Analyze the demographics and usage habits of each platform’s user base to determine which suits your target audience best.
2. Align the selected platforms with your marketing objectives and goals.
3. Develop a consistent brand presence across all platforms. Consistency in visuals, messaging, and tone is important in ensuring that your marketing is memorable and recognizable to your target market.

Craft compelling and shareable content

Now that you’ve understood the role of social media and picked the right platforms for your brand. Now, it’s time to create engaging content that your audience will love and share. Here are some tips to help you generate shareable content:

1. Attention-grabbing headlines: Pique your target audience’s curiosity with headlines that are enticing, relevant, and memorable.
2. Compelling visuals: Stand out in social feeds by using eye-catching images, videos, and graphics that capture the essence of your brand and accompany your written content.
3. Embrace storytelling: Weave captivating narratives into your content, connecting with your audience on an emotional level and generating a sense of relatability with your brand. 
4. Try out influencer marketing: Partner up with influencers to create authentic content that resonates with both their audience and yours. Influencers have a unique voice and style, and combining it with your brand’s identity can lead to share-worthy content that reaches a larger audience.
5. Diversify your content formats: Experiment with various content formats such as blog posts, long-form social captions, videos, and infographics. A mix of formats keeps your audience engaged and caters to their diverse preferences.
6. Offer value and provide solutions: Create content that offers value to your audience, such as educational, informational, or entertaining posts. Address your audience’s pain points and provide actionable solutions to their problems, making your content indispensable and share-worthy.

Boost your social media customer acquisition with SEO

In addition to creating compelling content, optimizing your social media profiles and content with appropriate keywords is crucial for increasing organic traffic. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Optimize your social media profiles: Incorporate the right keywords into your profile descriptions, bios, and URLs to increase visibility and search engine rankings.
2. Use keyword-rich captions and hashtags: Use relevant keywords and trending hashtags to increase the discoverability of your content.
3. Track and analyze SEO performance: Regularly monitor social media analytics such as impressions, engagement rates, and click-throughs to evaluate and improve your SEO efforts.

Expand your reach with targeted social media advertising

Sponsored content and ads on social media channels can significantly expand your audience and improve your marketing campaign’s effectiveness. Here’s some social media promotion tips:

1. Know your ad formats: Each social media platform offers different ad formats such as Facebook carousel ads or Instagram story ads. Familiarize yourself with these options to choose the most effective format for your brand. 
2. Create compelling ads: Invest in high-quality visuals and persuasive copy to increase your ad’s conversion rate.
3. Use automation: Sync your Facebook Lead Ads data with the Dotdigital platform to personalize your content and deliver a seamless customer experience.
4. Targeting and retargeting strategies: Use audience segmentation and retargeting features to reach the most relevant viewers and account for bounced traffic.
5. Measure your campaigns: Continuously monitor your ad campaigns’ performance and optimize them to maximize your ROI.

Engage with your audience and build relationships

Creating a strong connection with your audience isn’t just about posting great content; it’s also about engaging with them and nurturing relationships that turn casual followers into loyal brand advocates. Here’s how you can establish genuine connections with your audience on social media platforms:

1. Respond to comments and messages: Show your audience that you’re listening and value their input by actively responding to their comments, messages, and questions. A prompt response and friendly demeanor can leave a lasting positive impression on your followers.
2. Initiate discussions and include questions: Spark conversations with your followers by posing thought-provoking questions or discussing relevant topics in your niche. Encourage them to share their opinions and experiences, which can further enrich the discussion and foster a sense of community.
3. Share user-generated content: Recognize and celebrate your customers by sharing their content featuring your products or services. This can build a sense of pride and enhance customer loyalty, encouraging others to share their experiences as well.
4. Like, comment on, and share other users’ posts: Be an active member of the social media community and engage with other users’ content, especially those relevant to your niche. This can help foster relationships and extend your brand’s reach by tapping into new audiences.
5. Organize giveaways and contests: Host fun social media contests or offer giveaways to encourage interaction and engagement among your followers. Not only does this showcase your appreciation for their support, but it also promotes a sense of excitement around your brand.
6. Address negative feedback constructively: Respond to any negative comments or reviews in a professional and empathetic manner. Addressing concerns and providing solutions in public can demonstrate your brand’s commitment to customer satisfaction and problem-solving.
7. Showcase your brand personality: Lastly, let your brand’s unique voice shine through in your engagement efforts. Showcase the human side of your business by sharing behind-the-scenes moments, team highlights, or company milestones to create relatability and build a more profound connection with your audience.

Keep track and analyze your customer acquisition efforts

It’s important to continuously monitor and measure your social media marketing efforts, so you can gain valuable insights and ensure that your strategies remain effective. You can use tools like Google Analytics and each social media platform’s built-in analytics to help you with this. Regular analysis of this data can help you make necessary adjustments to improve your efforts continuously.

Summary

Using social media for customer acquisition offers a powerful and cost-effective way to reach, engage, and convert potential customers. By implementing the strategies discussed in this blog post, your brand can leverage social media to drive growth and foster loyalty among your target audience.

How you use them and which you choose to include in your social media marketing plan will vary depending on your brand and your audience. Remember, the goal is to surprise and delight, and sometimes, the weird and wonderful is what it takes to engage customers and stop the scroll. Of course, you know we love a cross-channel approach, and social media and email marketing can really help each other out.

We’ve compiled a list of key social media dates for 2024. This list is extensive, it’s not exhaustive. With so many more holidays popping up, there are sure to be some we’ve missed. But this list is designed to help inspire some new campaigns and help you plan unique ways to engage your customers.

January 2024

Themes for the month

Dry January #DryJanuary

National Mentoring Month #Mentoring Amplifies

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

January hashtag calendar

January 1 – New Year’s Day #NewYearsDay

January 2 – National Motivation and Inspiration Day #MotivationandInspirationDay

January 2 – Science Fiction Day #ScienceFictionDay

January 2 – World Introvert Day #WorldIntrovertDay

January 3 – Festival of Sleep Day #FestivalOfSleepDay

January 4 – National Spaghetti Day #NationalSpaghettiDay

January 6 – Epiphany #Epiphany 

January 7 – The Golden Globe Awards #GoldenGlobes 

January 8 – Clean Off Your Desk Day #CleanOffYourDeskDay

January 8 – Bubble Bath Day #BubbleBathDay

January 11 – Human Trafficking Awareness Day #HumanTraffickingAwarenessDay

January 13 – National Sticker Day #NationalStickerDay

January 13 – Make Your Dreams Come True Day #DreamsComeTrue

January 14 – Organize Your Home Day #OrganizeYourHomeDay

January 14 – National Vision Board Day #VisionBoardDay

January 14 – Dress Up Your Pet Day #DressUpYourPetDay

January 15 – National Hat Day #NationalHatDay

January 15 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day #MLKDay

January 18 – Get To Know Your Customers Day #Customers

January 18 – Winnie The Pooh Day #WinnieThePoohDay

January 19 – Popcorn Day #PopcornDay

via GIPHY

January 20 – Penguin Awareness Day #PenguinAwarenessDay

January 23 – National Pie Day #PieDay

January 21 – National Hugging Day #NationalHuggingDay

January 24 – National Compliment Day #NationalComplimentDay

January 25 – Opposite Day #OppositeDay

January 27 – Chocolate Cake Day #ChocolateCakeDay

January 28 – Data Privacy Day #DataPrivacyDay

January 30 – Croissant Day #CroissantDay

January 31 – Backwards Day #BackwardsDay

February 2024

Themes for the month

National Black History Month (USA)

LGBT+ History Month (UK)

February hashtag calendar

February 2 – Groundhog Day #GroundhogDay

February 2 – World Wetlands Day #WorldWetlandsDay

February 2 – National Bubble Gum Day #BubbleGumDay

February 2 – National Wear Red Day #WearRed

February 3 – Eat Ice Cream For Breakfast Day #IceCream

February 3 – Golden Retriever Day #GoldenRetrieverDay

February 4 – World Cancer Day #WorldCancerDay #WeCanICan

February 5 – The Grammy Awards #Grammys2024

February 6 – Frozen Yoghurt Day #FrozenYoghurtDay

February 6 – Safer Internet Day #SaferInternetDay

February 7 – National Send a Card to a Friend Day #SendACardToAFriendDay

February 8 – National Boy Scouts Day #BoyScoutsDay

February 9 – National Pizza Day #PizzaDay

February 9 – New York Fashion Week begins #NYFW

February 10 – Chinese New Year #YearOfTheDragon

February 11 – Super Bowl LVIII #SuperBowl2024

February 13 – Self-Love Day #SelfLoveDay

February 13 – Shrove Tuesday #PancakeDay

via GIPHY

February 13 – Galentine’s Day #GalentinesDay

February 13 – Mardi Gras #MardiGras

February 14 – Valentine’s Day #ValentinesDay

February 15 – Singles Awareness Day #SinglesAwarenessDay

February 17 – Random Acts of Kindness Day #RandomActsOfKindnessDay

February 16 – London Fashion Week begins #LFW

February 19 – Presidents Day #PresidentsDay

February 20 – London Fashion Week ends #LFW

February 20 – Love Your Pet Day #LoveYourPetDay

February 29 – Leap Year Day #LeapYear

February 29 – Toast Day #ToastDay

March 2024

Themes for the month

Women’s History Month

American Red Cross Month

Ramadan: March 10, 2024 – April 9, 2024

March hashtag calendar

March 1 – Employee Appreciation Day #EmployeeAppreciationDay

March 1 – Peanut Butter Lover’s Day #PeanutButterLoversDay

March 2 – Dr. Suess Day #DrSuessDay

March 3 – World Wildlife Day #WorldWildlifeDay

March 7 – Cereal Day #CerealDay

March 7 – World Book Day and Copyright Day #BookDay

March 8 – International Women’s Day #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2024 #EachforEqual

March 9 – Meatball Day #MeatballDay

March 10 – International Day of Awesomeness #IDOA

March 10 – Mother’s Day (UK) #HappyMothersDay

March 10 – The Academy Awards #Oscars2024

March 11 – National Napping Day #NationalNappingDay

March 12 – Organize Your Home Office Day #OrganizeYourHomeOfficeDay

March 12 – National Girl Scout Day #GirlScoutDay

March 12 – National Organize Your Home Office Day #WFH

March 14 – Potato Chip Day #NationalPotatoChipDay

March 15 – World Sleep Day #WorldSleepDay

via GIPHY

March 16 – Panda Day #PandaDay

March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day #StPatricksDay

March 18 – Awkward Moments Day #AwkwardMomentsDay

March 19 – National Let’s Laugh Day #NationalLetsLaughDay

March 20 – First Day of Spring #FirstDayofSpring

March 20 – International Day of Happiness #InternationalDayofHappiness

March 20 – World Storytelling Day #WorldStorytellingDay

March 21 – Elimination of Racial Discrimination Day #RacialDiscriminationDay

March 21 – World Poetry Day #WorldPoetryDay

March 22 – World Water Day #WorldWaterDay #Water2me

March 23 – Puppy Day #PuppyDay

March 23 – Earth Hour Day #EarthHourDay

March 25 – Tolkien Reading Day #TolkienReadingDay

March 26 – Good Hair Day #GoodHairDay

March 29 –  Good Friday #GoodFriday

March 31 – Easter Sunday #HappyEaster 

March 31 – Transgender Day of Visibility #TDOV

March 31 – National Taco Day #NationalTacoDay

April 2024

Themes for the month

Stress Awareness Month

National Poetry Month

April hashtag calendar

April 1 – Easter Monday #HappyEaster 

April 1 – April Fools Day #AprilFools

via GIPHY

April 2 – World Autism Awareness Day #AutismAcceptance

April 3 – Find a Rainbow Day #FindARainbowDay

April 3 – World Party Day #PartyDay

April 5 –  Walk To Work Day #WalkToWorkDay

April 7 – World Health Day #LetsTalk

April 9 – Unicorn Day #UnicornDay

April 10 – Siblings Day #SiblingsDay

April 11 – Pet Day #PetDay

April 15 – World Art Day #WASD2024

April 16 – Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day #PJDay

April 18 – Get To Know Your Customers Day #Customers

April 18 – National High-Five Day #NH5D

April 20 – National Lookalike Day #NationalLookalikeDay

April 21 – World Creativity and Innovation Day #Innovate

April 22 – Earth Day #EarthDay2024

April 23 – National Picnic Day #NationalPicnicDay

April 24 – Pigs in a Blanket Day #PigsInBlanketsDay

April 25 – Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day #COUNTONME

April 25 – World Malaria Day #EndMalariaForGood

April 28 – National Superhero Day #SuperheroDay

April 29 – International Dance Day #InternationalDanceDay

April 30 – Adopt a Shelter Pet Day #AdoptAShelterPetDay

May 2024

Themes for the month

National Barbeque Month

Lupus Awareness Month

May hashtag calendar

May 1 – May Day #MayDay

May 2 – World Password Day #WorldPasswordDay

May 3 – Write a review Day #WriteaReviewDay

May 4 – Star Wars Day #MayThe4thBeWithYou

May 4 – Bird Day #BirdDay

May 5 – Cinco de Mayo #CincoDeMayo

May 6 – Music Monday #MusicMonday

May 6 – Nurses Day #NursesDay

May 8 – World Donkey Day #DonkeyDay

via GIPHY

May 8 – Parents’ Day (Korea) #ParentsDay

May 10 – World Lupus Day #LupusDay

May 11 – Eat What You Want Day #EatWhatYouWantDay

May 12 – Limerick Day #LimerickDay

May 12 – Mother’s Day (US) #MothersDay

May 13 – World Cocktail Day #CocktailDay

May 15 – International Day of Families #FamilyDay

May 15 – National Chocolate Chip Day #ChocolateChipDay

May 16 – Love a Tree Day #LoveATreeDay

May 17 – Endangered Species Day #EndangeredSpeciesDay

May 17 – World Baking Day #BakingDay

May 18 – Visit Your Relatives Day #VisitYourRelativesDay

May 20 – World Bee Day #BeeDay

May 22 – Sherlock Holmes Day #SherlockHolmesDay

May 24 – National Scavenger Hunt Day #NationalScavengerHuntDay

May 24 – Brother’s Day #BrothersDay

May 25 – Wine Day #WineDay

May 27 – Memorial Day #MemorialDay

May 28 – Hamburger Day #NationalHamburgerDay

May 30 – National Creativity Day #NationalCreativityDay

May 30 – Web Designer Day #WebDesignerDay

May 31 – Heat Awareness Day #NoFryDay

June 2024

Themes for the month

Pride Month

Men’s Health Education and Awareness Month

June hashtag calendar

June 2 – National Cancer Survivor’s Day #NCSD2024

June 2 – Rocky Road Day #RockyRoadDay

June 5 – World Environment Day #WorldEnvironmentDay

June 6 – Drive-in Movie Day #DriveInMovieDay

June 7 – Donut Day #DonutDay

via GIPHY

June 7 – Chocolate Ice Cream Day #ChocolateIceCreamDay

June 8 – World Oceans Day #WorldOceansDay

June 8 – Best Friends Day #BestFriendsDay

June 11 – Make Life Beautiful Day #MakeLifeBeautiful

June 14 – National Flag Day #FlagDay

June 14 – World Blood Donor Day #GiveBlood

June 16 – Fudge Day #FudgeDay

June 16 – Father’s Day #HappyFathersDay

June 17 – Eat Your Vegetables Day #EatYourVegetablesDay

June 18 – International Picnic Day #PicnicDay

June 19 – Martini Day #MartiniDay

June 19 – Juneteenth #Juneteenth

June 20 – World Refugee Day #WorldRefugeeDay

June 20 – First Day of Summer #FirstDayOfSummer

June 21 – National Selfie Day #NationalSelfieDay

June 21 – Take Your Dog To Work Day #TakeYourDogToWorkDay

June 21 – World Music Day #WorldMusicDay

June 21 – International Yoga Day #InternationalYogaDay

June 27 – Sunglasses Day #SunglassesDay

June 30 – Social Media Day #SMDay, #SocialMediaDay

July 2024

Themes for the month

National Ice Cream Month

National Grilling Month

July hashtag calendar

July 1 – Joke Day #JokeDay

July 2 – World UFO Day #WorldUFODay

July 4 – Independence Day #July4th

July 5 – Bikini Day #BikiniDay

July 6 – Fried Chicken Day #FriedChickenDay

July 7 – World Chocolate Day #WorldChocolateDay

July 9 – Fashion Day #FashionDay

July 10 – Pina Colada Day #PinaColadaDay

July 11 – Cheer Up the Lonely Day #CheerUpTheLonelyDay

July 12 – Malala Day #MalalaDay

July 12 – French Fries Day #FrenchFriesDay

July 14 – Mac and Cheese Day #MacCheeseDay

via GIPHY

July 15 – Give Something Away Day #GiveSomethingAwayDay

July 16 – Guinea Pig Appreciation Day #GuineaPigs

July 17 – World Emoji Day #WorldEmojiDay

July 18 – Nelson Mandela International Day #MandelaDay

July 18 – Get To Know Your Customers Day #Customers

July 20 – Lollipop Day #LollipopDay

July 21 – Ice Cream Day #IceCreamDay

July 21 – Junk Food Day #JunkFoodDay

July 24 – Tequila Day #TequilaDay

July 26 – All or Nothing Day #AllOrNothing

July 26 – Summer Olympic Games begins #Olympics2024

July 28 – Milk Chocolate Day #MilkChocolate Day

July 29 – Lipstick Day #LipstickDay

July 30 – International Day of Friendship #DayOfFriendship

July 31 – Harry Potter’s Birthday #HappyBirthdayHarry

August 2024

Themes for the month

National Immunization Awareness Month

Black Business Month

August hashtag calendar

August 2 – International Beer Day #BeerDay

August 2 – Coloring Book Day #ColoringBookDay

August 3 – Watermelon Day #WatermelonDay

August 4 – National Sisters Day #SistersDay

August 5 – Blogger Day #BloggerDay

August 8 – National Bowling Day #Bowling Day

August 8 – International Cat Day #CatDay

via GIPHY

August 9 – Book Lovers Day #BookLoversDay

August 11 – Summer Olympic Games end #Olympics2024

August 11 – Sons and Daughters Day #SonsAndDaughtersDay

August 12 – World Elephant Day #WorldElephantDay

August 13 – International Lefthanders Day #LefthandersDay

August 15 – Relaxation Day #RelaxationDay

August 16 – Tell a Joke Day #TellAJokeDay

August 17 – Non-Profit Day #NonProfitDay

August 18 – Never Give Up Day #NeverGiveUp

August 19 – World Photo Day #WorldPhotoDay

August 19 – World Humanitarian Day #WorldHumanitarianDay

August 20 – National Lemonade Day #NationalLemonadeDay

August 23 – Sponge Cake Day #SpongeCakeDay

August 25 – Banana Split Day #BananaSplitDay

August 26 – Dog Day #DogDay

August 27 – World Rock Paper Scissors Day #RockPaperScissor

August 28 – Summer Paralympics begins #Paris2024

August 29 – Chop Suey Day #ChopSuey

September 2024

Themes for the month

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Suicide Prevention Month

Friendship Month

Back to School

September hashtag calendar

September 2 – Labor Day #LaborDay

September 2 – World Coconut Day #WorldCoconutDay

September 4 – Eat An Extra Dessert Day #EatAnExtraDessert

September 5 – International Day of Charity #CharityDay

September 6 – Read a Book Day #ReadABookDay

September 7 – Superhuman Day #SuperhumanDay

September 8 – International Literacy Day #LiteracyDay

September 8 – Summer Paralympics ends #Paris2024

September 8 – Stand Up To Cancer Day #KissCancerGoodbye

September 11 – Day of Service and Remembrance #911Day

September 13 – Positive Thinking Day #PositiveThinkingDay

September 15 – Greenpeace Day #GreenpeaceDay

September 19 – Talk Like a Pirate Day #TalkLikeAPirateDay

September 21 – International Day of Peace #PeaceDay

September 21 – Miniature Golf Day #MiniGolfDay

September 21 – World Alzheimer’s Day #Alzheimer’sDay

September 22 – Car-Free Day #CarFreeDay

September 22 – Hobbit Day #LordOfTheRings

September 22 – First Day of Fall #1stDayOfFall

via GIPHY

September 24 – National Punctuation Day #NationalPunctuationDay

September 26 – European Day of Languages #EDL2024

September 27 – World Tourism Day #WTD2024

September 28 – International Rabbit Day #InternationalRabbitDay

September 28 – Good Neighbor Day #GoodNeighborDay

September 29 – World Heart Day #HeartDay

September 30 – Love People Day #NationalLovePeopleDay

October 2024

Themes for the month

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Global Diversity Awareness Month

National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month

National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Black History Month (UK)

October hashtag calendar

October 1 – World Vegetarian Day #WorldVegetarianDay

October 1 – International Coffee Day #CoffeeDay

October 2 – Name Your Car Day #NameYourCarDay

October 4 – World Animal Day #WorldAnimalDay

October 5 – World Teachers Day #WorldTeachersDay

October 6 – Grandparents Day #GrandparentsDay

October 6 – Noodle Day #NoodleDay

October 10 – World Sight Day #WorldSightDay

October 10 – World Mental Health Day #WorldMentalHeathDay

October 11 – World Egg Day #WorldEggDay

October 11 – International Day of the Girl #DayOfTheGirl

October 13 – Train Your Brain Day #TrainYourBrainDay

October 15 – Global Handwashing Day #GlobalHandwashingDay

October 16 – World Food Day #FoodDay

October 17 – Spreadsheet Day #Spreadsheets

October 17 – Get To Know Your Customers Day #Customers

October 19 – Evaluate Your Life Day #EvaluateYourLife

October 21 – Reptile Awareness Day #ReptileAwarenessDay

October 24 – United Nations Day #UNDay

October 25 – Greasy Foods Day #GreasyFoodsDay

October 26 – Make a Difference Day #MDDAy

October 26 – Pumpkin Day #PumpkinDay

via GIPHY

October 30 – Checklist Day #ChecklistDay

October 31 – Halloween #Halloween

November 2024

Themes for the month

Men’s Health Awareness Month #Movember

Epilepsy Awareness Month

November hashtag calendar

November 1 – World Vegan Day #WorldVeganDay

November 2 – International Stress Awareness Day #StressAwarenessDay

November 3 – Sandwich Day #SandwichDay

November 4 – Candy Day #CandyDay

November 4 – Use Your Common Sense Day #CommonSense

November 8 – Cappuccino Day #CappuccinoDay

via GIPHY

November 9 – World Freedom Day #Freedom Day

November 10 – Tongue Twister Day #TongueTwisterDay

November 11 – Veterans Day #VeteransDay

November 11 – Singles Day #SinglesDay

November 12 – Happy Hour Day #HappyHourDay

November 13 – World Kindness Day #WKD

November 14 – World Diabetes Day #WDD

November 15 – Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day #CleanOutYourRefrigeratorDay

November 16 – International Day for Tolerance #ToleranceDay

November 16 – Fast Food Day #FastFoodDay

November 18 – Mickey Mouse’s Birthday #MickeyMouse

November 19 – International Men’s Day #InternationalMensDay

November 19 – Women’s Entrepreneurship Day #WomensEntrepreneurshipDay

November 21 – World Hello Day #WorldHelloDay

November 23 – Espresso Day #EspressoDay

November 26 – National Cake Day #NationalCakeDay

November 28 – Thanksgiving Day #Thanksgiving

November 28 – French Toast Day #FrenchToastDay

November 29 – Black Friday #BlackFriday2024

November 30 – Small Business Saturday #SmallBusinessSaturday

December 2024

Themes for the month

Christmas: December 24-26

Hanukkah: December 25, 2024 – January 2, 2025

Kwanzaa: December 26, 2024 – January 2, 2025

December hashtag calendar

December 1 – World AIDS Day #WAD2024

December 2 – Cyber Monday #CyberMonday

December 2 – Play Basketball Day #PlayBasketballDay

December 3 – Giving Tuesday #GivingTuesday

December 3 – Make A Gift Day #MakeAGiftDay

December 4 – Cookie Day #CookieDay

December 5 – International Ninja Day #DayOfTheNinja

December 7 – Cotton Candy Day #CottonCandyDay

December 8 – Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day #PretendToBeATimeTravelerDay

December 8 – Brownie Day #BrownieDay

December 9 – Christmas Card Day #ChristmasCardDay

December 10 – Human Rights Day #HumanRightsDay

December 11 – International Mountain Day #InternationalMountainDay

December 12 – Gingerbread House Day #GingerbreadHouseDay

December 14 – Monkey Day #MonkeyDay

December 15 – 10 Days to Christmas #10DaysToGo

December 18 – Bake Cookies Day #BakeCookiesDay

December 21 – Crossword Puzzle Day #CrosswordPuzzleDay

December 21 – First Day of Winter #WinterSolstice

December 24 – Christmas Eve #ChristmasEve

via GIPHY

December 25 – Christmas Day #MerryChristmas

December 31 – No Interruptions Day #NoInterruptionsDay

December 31 – New Year’s Eve #NYE2024

Let’s wrap up

Ensure you never miss an opportunity to connect with your audience and create content that drives engagement by planning your social media strategy well in advance. Use this comprehensive list of key social media dates for 2024 as a reference and schedule your content around these special events to see your brand’s engagement soar throughout the year.

What exactly is causing the concern? Broadly, iOS 17 automatically removes tracking parameters from messages, mail, and links, making it more difficult to tie an interaction to a specific user. This new feature is termed Link Tracking Protection.

Don’t panic: link tracking is still going to be a viable tool and metric. Only specific link types for specific user cases will be affected, and Dotdigital customers will likely see less than a 1% effect on the data they get from their link tracking. This means we can applaud Apple for wanting to be a safer place for consumers while knowing our customers will still have access to data that will help them build successful strategies.

Why are they doing this?

Apple is taking further steps to make things more secure for its users. In this update, they are targeting cross-site tracking because of the way it violates privacy; their goal is to make this better for the community. Causing change for marketers is a side effect of wanting to be better. As part of the sending community, we can embrace these changes by learning about them and helping our customers understand what they mean and how they will impact their marketing strategies. 

How does Link Tracking Protection work?

Some links that are shared by organizations, marketers, or within social media may include a ‘query string’. Query strings can be used to track clicks and user journeys on websites, allowing marketers to analyze their users’ behavior in detail. Query strings in links are easy to spot; they start with a question mark, and multiple metrics can be tracked by conjoining parameters in the string with ampersands.

Here’s an example that tracks campaign id (1405123), marketing medium (email), and the recipient’s SnowYo customer ID (101):

https://snowyo.co/?utm_campaign=1405123&utm_medium=email&SnowId=101

Through our testing and interpretation of what’s been shared so far, we’ve determined that Apple’s Link Tracking Protection appears to pick up query strings and remove them from the link. The link is still functional and delivers the user to the target landing page, but the sanitization prevents marketers and organizations from tracking users who have clicked and arrived at their website through such links.

Private Browsing and Link Tracking Protection

Apple stated when referencing Private Browsing for Safari that ‘When a tracking parameter is detected, Safari strips the identifying components of the URL, while leaving non–identifiable parts intact.’ They also indicated that links will be sanitized when Private Browsing users copy a link containing a tracking parameter.

The changes to the new iOS primarily impact the Private Browsing Mode within Safari, and users with this mode enabled sharing links in mail or messages. This means that other browsers without similar limitations to tracking would not be affected under iOS 17. It is not fully clarified what the effect will be for iOS users who don’t primarily use Safari in Private Browsing Mode.

Mail, Messages, and Link Tracking Protection

Apple further clarified that Link Tracking Protection applies to messages and mail which are sent and opened by users of iOS 17. Not much additional detail was shared so there are still questions to be answered: is this a feature that can be disabled? Will links be sanitized if messages are being sent between 2 users? If a link is shared but the default browser is Google Chrome, will the link be sanitized of the tracking query link? There’s much to test and learn.

How does this impact Dotdigital services?

First of all, if you’re adding links to your marketing campaigns that don’t contain query strings, you’ll be entirely unaffected. If link click tracking is enabled, click reporting in your Dotdigital account is going to continue to work just fine – we use a hashed string in the URL for tracking and redirection purposes, and Apple’s Link Tracking Protection doesn’t remove this. 

However, you may use query strings within your marketing to track your users and traffic for contact data insights and analysis – for example, to track ROI, feed into your Google Analytics account, or in our Pages and Forms functionality so you can bind data from a query string directly from an email.

These insights are useful to surface recipient patterns and allow for analyzing how your marketing campaigns are progressing. They empower you to identify where improvements can be made and ultimately lead to the success of the strategies being used.

Based on our testing, the potential disruption to your marketing campaigns from Link Tracking Protection seems as though it will be small. It appears to be limited to Safari’s Private Browsing mode only, which will likely account for less than 1% of individuals within a Dotdigital account’s contact list. And if you’ve got our link click tracking enabled, you’ll still at least get click data in your Dotdigital reporting for these contacts.

What’s next?

When the beta release of iOS 17 happens this month, we will be monitoring the development of the new features so we can continue to understand and communicate how they operate and affect you and our Dotdigital platform. 

We know having the right data to help make sure you get the most from your marketing strategies is key to the success of your business. Continuing to be up to date with what’s happening is something you can trust we are doing. If you need further help, please don’t hesitate to reach out. 

As well as including reviews and ratings on your products and services, making your emails shareable helps you increase the number of impressions of your marketing efforts. The customers who share your content are effectively becoming brand advocates, creating a secondary audience for you to connect with and engage.

There are more ways you can drives shares than simple email forwarding. In fact, if you think beyond email forwards, you’ll find customers much more receptive to your tactics.

To create ‘shareable’ content follow these five rules and watch your audience flourish.

1. Write editorial content

Editorial content should be a core part of your email marketing strategy. While the bulk of your email marketing will take the form of promotional emails, your daily, weekly, or monthly newsletter should consist solely of content designed to engage and educate your customers.

In this age of content consumption, subscribers are hungry for information that’ll help them connect with a brand. Blogs and updates about your brand’s efforts to be eco-friendly or examples of your corporate social responsibility policy are great to create an emotional bond with your customers.

When you have a clear understanding of the persona’s you’re targeting, you can identify key issues, causes, and interests your audience shares. This will help you plan topics for your newsletter. As you produce articles that connect with readers, they’re going to connect and share your content with friends and family who share they believe would be interested.

2. Add social share buttons

To make sharing even easier, ensure you’re adding social share buttons to every email you send.

These are particularly useful for brands who produce reports, educational, or insightful editorial content. Pulling out interesting facts and figures and pairing them with a ‘share on social media’ link will drive email recipients to post about your content.

Social share buttons are not just great in your newsletters. Add them to your transactional emails such as order confirmations to drive shoppers to share about their new purchases. For B2B brands, add them to your event marketing emails.

Wherever you add social share buttons, you’re making it easier for your email recipients to become brand advocates with a simple click of a button.

3. Run competitions

Competitions are a tactic guaranteed to engage your readers. After all, who doesn’t want that chance to win something for nothing?

There is a range of competitions you can run from your email marketing. Social competitions using hashtags or comments on your posts to enter is a great way to get your email subscribers to connect with you on social media. It also helps increase the number of impressions your brand has. Encourage users to combine both tactics for more chances to win and really get noticed by their respective followers.

You can also add gamification to your email-based competitions. Doing this is just another tactic that’ll surprise and delight readers. And, the more delightful they find the experience, the more they’ll want to share you with their friends and family.

4. Reward referrals

Referrals are just another way to get customers to share your brand with others. Running a referral rewards program encourages email recipients to share your emails and spread the word about your business.

There are various referral reward strategies you can adopt. Whether you choose to reward every referral or implement a points-based loyalty program that assigns points for every share, offering additional benefits creates a stronger connection between you and the reader. Recipients will begin to recognize your brand as one that values its customers making them more engaged with your marketing, and willing to share your brand.

Always include the refer-a-friend CTA in your email marketing to ensure customers are always aware of the option and rewards they’ll receive for sharing your business.

5. Keep subscribe buttons in the footer

As well as unsubscribe links in your footer, you should also include a link to your email subscription form.

When customers share your emails, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to subscribe to your newsletters and email marketing. By keeping a subscription link in the footer of all your emails, you’re never missing a chance to expand your marketing mailing list.

Final thoughts

These are our five rules to follow if you want to increase your organic list growth.

Every business is different, as are your audiences. While these tactics work for the majority of brands they may not suit your brand. Always be testing your email marketing strategy to ensure it’s working for you. Taking the time to optimize these tactics will provide greater returns in the future.

For more ideas about how to grow your mailing list check out our cheatsheet: How to grow your mailing list.

Social influencers have emerged from this and are now instrumental in many successful marketing strategies. People love to hear what other people are wearing, buying and doing. That’s why, today, 69% of people trust social influencers and peer recommendations more than they do brands.

As a result, including social proof in your email marketing campaign – if not all your marketing campaigns – is essential. Tapping into your audiences’ social feeds sounds simple, right? After all, you have their email address, and there’s no better place to start than that. But encouraging them to actively share your content is a whole other ball game.

But have no fear, we’ve got four top tips to help you:

Follow us on…

Directing subscribers to your social accounts should be high on your to-do list. Especially when they’ve just signed up.

Introducing your various social media channels should be an integral part of your welcome program. New subscribers are engaged with your brand. Make the most of it and direct them to your social channels as quickly as possible.

Whether it’s the core of your message or at the end, make your CTA clear, easy to understand, and accessible on mobile devices.

And, don’t just think of it as part of your welcome program. Social links should be a part of every email you send.

Make sharing easy

When you’ve invested time and effort into creating engaging content, don’t let readers forget about it when they close your email.

Most web content, especially mobile-friendly web content, has an easy-to-identify share button. To increase the lifespan of your work, make it as easy as possible for subscribers to share. If they find it interesting, so may their social circle. Email subscribers are 3x more likely to share content, so use this and make it as easy as possible.

Newsletters like The Skimm do this by including sharing links at the end of every content block.

But that’s not the only way to encourage your audiences to spread the word about your brand. People who discover a new brand through referral marketing are 4x more likely to buy from it.

Key to getting customers to refer are incentives. Once you’ve decided what you’ll offer them, invite customers to post referrals via social media. This has the dual benefit of promoting your business and giving them more opportunities to receive your referral perks.

Give customers a voice

We’ve already told you how important social proof is to the modern consumer. It’s important that your social accounts are an open and friendly environment. Your audience must feel comfortable talking to you, and the best way to do this is by encouraging them to express on your social channels.

You can achieve this by frequently sharing posts where your brand has been tagged and mentioned by fans and followers.

Alternatively, directly asking for feedback has the added benefit of empowering your customers and making them feel like a valued member of your audience.

Never forget the importance of peer-to-peer reviews. They’re becoming ever-more influential in the decision-making process, so capitalize on your customers’ social habits. Give them a voice, help them be heard, and get good publicity for your brand at the same time.

Promote your content across social

Give your content a new lease of life by repurposing it for social media. This is a useful tactic if you create editorial newsletters on a regular basis. Why not share the link to the web version of your newsletter on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook?

Or perhaps you have a dedicated landing page for each article. Share these links along with a CTA to sign up in the hopes of increasing your subscriber database.

Think about engaging ways content can be repurposed for social media. Pose a question to the audience, run a poll, turn features into a podcast, or create vox pops after an event. With each post, include a link for new subscribers.

Conclusion

Both social media and email are excellent channels for customer acquisition and retention. It’s only logical to use the one to support the other. Using the tactics outlined above, you’ll see your database grow, social followers increase, and customer engagement soar.