Awareness days: what to post
Ah, awareness days. And weeks. And months.
There’s Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day. And Backwards Day. And… well pretty much anything you could ever want (or not).
On June 5 2021, it’s World Environment Day. Hot on it’s heels is World Oceans Day, on the 8th. And - before you’ve even closed your Canva tab - 22nd June will be upon us, bringing with it World Rainforest Day.
Photo by Angiola Harry via Unsplash
On paper, these days look like social media gold - a chance to be ‘relevant’. To piggyback trending hashtags and find new audiences. To fill your content calendar on days when you haven’t got a clue what to post.
The reality? Well, we’ve all been there.
The one you didn’t know about until it pops up on your feed, thanks to a post from your biggest competitor that’s getting a ton of love.
The one where you rush to Google for some inspiration. Then spend far too long on Google. Before posting at about 7.30pm. And wishing you hadn’t bothered, when the post bombs before your eyes.
The one you know is coming up - but haven’t got a clue what to say. When you scroll endlessly through posts with last year’s hashtag, wishing you’d kept a note at the time of what looked good. When you faff for ages before eventually shoehorning in something that looks sort-of relevant.
The one where y̶o̶u̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶s̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶’̶v̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶s̶ there’s a gap in your content calendar so you Google “Awareness Days today”. When you end up posting something with no relevance to your business (but that’s kind of cute). Three days later, you realise that NOW there’s a relevant day - but end up not using it because posting about awareness days all the time makes it look like you don’t know what to post.
A peculiarly ethical dilemma
Every small business has these dilemmas. But if you’re an ethical business? Then it’s even worse.
The expectations of conscious consumers are high. Using awareness days to ‘sell’ - or even offer discounts and sales - can backfire, big time. ‘Protect the planet by buying more stuff’ isn’t a good look.
‘Tips to save the planet’ can come across as super-preachy, especially if your conscious consumers are already doing those tips and far, far more.
You look for advice online and all the guides to what to post just feel icky - it’s all about squeezing the maximum value for your ‘brand’ and your profit margin, when actually you’re as interested in people and planet.
And there are just so-freakin-many ethical awareness days.
Veganuary. Plastic Free July. Zero Waste Week. One World Week. Fair Trade Fortnight.
Earth Day. Earth Overshoot Day. Water Day. World Habitat Day.
World Animal Day. Endangered Species Day. International Tiger/Elephant/Polar Bear/Bee Day.
Trust me, I’ve barely started. Overwhelm, much?
Fortunately, I’ve got your back. Read on - and solve your awareness day dilemmas, ethically.
How to choose which days to mark
Lots of advice on this boils down to “Is it relevant to your business and your audience?”.
That’s a great starting point. But it’s pretty broad - and trickier than it first appears. So, here a slightly more in-depth approach.
Is it important to you and your business?
May 19th 2021 marked the UK’s version of Earth Overshoot Day. That mattered to me. I knew exactly what I needed to say. So I posted about it.
On March 21st it was International Day of Forests. I care about reforestation. My business supports reforestation projects. But that doesn’t make it important. And I didn’t have anything I wanted to say. Which is always a useful benchmark.
Are there any you REALLY can’t miss?
This is a different way of asking ‘What’s relevant to your audience?’. But I prefer to reframe it. Because it might be relevant - but that doesn’t mean it’s important.
Is your audience going to be offended if you don’t post? Are you going to miss out if you don’t post?
If you’re all about plastic pollution, then Plastic Free July is probably a must-do - but there’s an important distinction. That’s a month-long campaign, not a one-off awareness day.
Honestly? I’ve worked with gazillions of businesses in a gazillion sectors. And I can only point to a handful of cases where ‘missing out’ is bad business.
Will you get a few more sales if you post about your organic cotton parsnips in the elephant print on World Elephant Day? Probably. But that’s a pretty niche example.
Ninety nine times out of a hundred, posting on an awareness day is a nice-to-have; not a must-have. Even if you have a wood turning business, you don’t have to post on International Forest Day.
Don’t be afraid NOT to post
March 8th was International Women’s Day. I didn’t have anything meaningful to add. I care that women are under-represented at COP26. But I also know that there are people far better able to talk about that than me. I’d rather leave the space clear for their messages to be heard. I’d rather not post, than post for the sake of it. So I didn’t post.
Did anyone judge me for not posting - did they doubt my commitment to women’s rights? Did anyone even notice that I didn’t post? I very much doubt it.
We often set the bar too high for ourselves. It’s a bizarre version of Fear Of Missing Out, or FOMO - it’s OK not to be there.
Don’t overdo it
There’s no magic formula about how many awareness days you should mark a year. How often you mark them will depend on how relevant they are to you and - honestly - how good your content is.
If you’re posting because they are genuinely interesting and relevant to you and your audience? Keep at it.
If you’re posting to fill your content calendar? Step away, sunshine.
If you’ve got a sneaky suspicion that you’re overdoing it, or your posts feel samey? Yeah, you know what you need to do.
Avoid the days that lead to homogeneous content
I like dogs. But I’m going to be honest. If - on Take Your Dog To Work Day, or International Dog Day, or Hug Your Dog Day - you’re responsible for one of the 50 dog pics that clog up my feed, then basically, you’re spamming me. (And not everyone likes dogs.)
If, on International Women’s Day, every business that I follow on Facebook tells me how much they celebrate mammas everywhere - I’m going to tune out. Ditto your list of eco-friendly books on World Book Day.
The irony is that these are really good posts. Put any of these out on another day of the year and they’ll work. But on an awareness day they blend into the background - at best. At worst, they’re really, really annoying.
What to post
Choosing which days to post on is just half the battle. WHAT to post is often the big headache.
Creating content is something that most small businesses struggle with. Honestly, it doesn’t have to be like that. If you’ve already taken my courses on Ethical Business Marketing or How to Create Content, then right now you’re sitting there, smug as a button, with a content plan that means the ‘WHAT SHOULD I WRITE?!?” nightmares aren’t on your radar.
But if that’s not you, read on...
What’s your aim?
If the purpose of your post is to mark a day or fill a gap in your content calendar - then scrap it. Because everything you post needs a business-focused aim.
Is this post designed to make a sale?
Is it about connection, by telling the story behind the brand?
Is it about communicating what we stand for?
Is it useful - educational or a helpful hack?
Is it inspirational - do I want my audience to make change, or simply feel good?
Ask yourself: would this post work if I posted it on a different day? If the answer is ‘no’ then it’s probably worth going back to the drawing board. (Hint: “Happy Earth Day!” posts, with an image of a globe in a hand - I’m looking at you right now.)
Should we use quotes?
Now, this may not be fashionable, but:
A good quote is always a corker.
I posted a much-used quote once; my client thought I was bonkers. “But I’ve seen that so often!” she exclaimed, as it rapidly became the most shared post of the month.
A good quote ticks a lot of boxes. Your audience identifies with it - and, by association, identifies with you. You’ve shown that you share their values. Quotes are shareable - they want their friends to know about it too.
And if you’ve seen it a hundred times before? That’s because it resonates with a lot of people. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Source: 1 Million Women
A word about personal stories
Personal stories can be wonderful on social media. They turn your brand into a real person. But personal stories on awareness days can look clunky… almost as if you’re trying to shoehorn them in to fit a theme…
You know how a bunch of flowers for no reason can be a lot more memorable and meaningful than a bunch of flowers because it's your birthday? The same goes for personal stories.
That story about why your dad is your inspiration might actually carry far more weight on a cold Monday in November, rather than on Father’s Day.
Keeping it simple
Standing out on a crowded kind of day isn’t always about spending ages prepping, or writing an essay.
A few years ago, I ran a Zero Waste Week campaign for a client on Instagram. Each day we posted a statistic about consumption or waste. No image; just the statistic, a plain background and the business logo. In the caption: the source and a few hashtags. Just that. No explanation, no opinion, no comment.
It rocked.
Research your hashtags
I know - selecting hashtags is a subject in itself and can be frustrating and overwhelming. (Funnily enough, we cover that in the content course too.)
If in doubt, a quick rule of thumb is to look through last year’s awareness day posts to discover what people were using then.
Engage rather than post
The focus on awareness days tends to be on creating your own posts.
You know what? If it’s relevant to you and your audience, then the chances are that they’re posting about it too. If ever there was a time to prioritise sharing the love for other people’s posts, this is it.
I didn’t have a conversation-starter on International Women’s Day. But many of the people I’m connected to had a lot to say that was meaningful, inspirational, thought-provoking and amazing. Far better to learn from, share and appreciate their words than post for the sake of posting.
Don’t be afraid to be different
Come World Recycling Day, everyone and his uncle will tell you what they recycle in the office. Or give you tips about how to recycle more.
But what about the alternative? What about the fact that recycling should be a last resort? It’s OK to be bold - and explain the alternatives. A post that explains the circular economy has far more impact - and does far more good in the world - than a post about your waste paper bin.
In summary
In the heat of the moment, at 10.30pm when you realise that tomorrow is International Endangered Species Day, we both know you’re unlikely to head back here and have another read-through of this. So here’s a handy checklist to add to a post-it on your laptop:
Will I post about this?
Why/why not?
What’s the aim of my content - sales, brand, education, awareness or inspiration?
What hashtags should I use?
Will it stand out/be different?
Would it be better to engage/comment, rather than post?
You’re welcome.
If you find this useful, you might also like our Earth Day Takeaways: 12 key takeaways from what we saw on social media.