Just because people are away on summer vacation does not mean you should be scaling back on those interactive marketing ideas for your next campaign. It just means you need to be a little more creative with your campaign themes. Subscribers will be in relaxation mode and need a break from the daily grind, so by using something off the wall, you may just get a few more opened emails at the end of the day.
One easy way to add a little more creative power to your interactive marketing ideas and campaigns is to use the calendar as your guide. You can almost find a special reason to celebrate each day of the month, whether it be a legit holiday or a silly event.
The gang at SimplyCast loves helping you out with creative ideas for your next email, survey, event, fax, SMS or autoresponder marketing campaign.
Here is a list of real holidays, sporting events, pop culture happenings and silly days in August that you can use to create a timely interactive marketing campaign.
August 1st - Friendship Day
Reason: Friendship Day celebrations take place on the first Sunday of August every year. The tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends began in the US in 1935. On this day people spend time with their friends and express love for them. Exchanging gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion.
Idea: Become better friends with your customers. Send out an online survey to help your company better understand what current customers and potential new customers like about you and what improvements they want to see. At the end of the survey, include a special offer or promotion as a thank you.
August 2nd - Natal Day
Reason: People living in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia (SimplyCast!!) and Prince Edward Island hold "birthday" parties for their provinces on the first Monday of August. Sure this is not as popular a day as others but I wanted to educate our readers on SimplyCast's home province of Nova Scotia.
Idea: Birthday parties of any kind are great for a campaign theme. Since this day is a holiday in most of Canada, create an event marketing campaign within your city or community for a good old fashioned BBQ and fireworks evening. Invite all your customers and have special offers ready for those who attend. This is an excellent chance for employees and customers to interact and to put a face to the company.
August 5th - International Beer Day
Reason: International Beer Day is a celebration of all things beer and is an opportunity for the whole world to drink up the culture of beer, bars, and breweries.
Idea: There is no real campaign theme associated with this day, we just did not want to miss out on letting everyone know about Beer Day. Okay, in all seriousness, if you are a pub or bar, you could set up a fax marketing campaign as simple as sending all of the local businesses a fax that includes a cut-out coupon for a free beer with the purchase of a meal. The gang at the office will be more likely to cash this coupon in if they can cut it out and put it in their wallet. Whoever checks the fax machine will be the lucky one in this case.
August 13th - Friday the 13th
Reason: Pretty simple, Friday the 13th does not happen that often and it is regarded as a day of bad luck to those who are superstitious. Also, it makes everyone think of Jason!
Idea: If you are a web-based business or operate an online store, send out an email marketing newsletter telling your readers that you will be slashing prices on your website on Friday the 13th. Then on the day, update the discount prices accordingly until a time that you stipulate. This is a different approach to always sending out coupon codes. It will also drive people to your website where they could possibly purchase more than they came for in the first place.
August 15th - National Relaxation Day
Reason: Instead of sapping your own energy by staying stressed out over what to include in your latest newsletter, take National Relaxation Day to heart and relax!
Idea: This means putting your promoting on autopilot by setting up an autoresponder marketing campaign. Customers can signup to receive several mailings from you that get sent out automatically depending on what timeline you choose. You can send out daily tips, monthly updates or whatever you need to grow your business. The point is you do the work once and kick back and relax. Okay, so technically that is not an idea to base a campaign around but I think I did point out a way to take it easy this month (and every other month).
August 25th - Kiss and make up day
Reason: Is a great way to end a spat or conflict. This is a day to end the fight, kiss, and make up. For those doing any kind of online marketing, this is the perfect chance to get your customers to open up and hopefully resolve any issues that are out there.
Idea: Keeping in touch with clients is key to any businesses success. For this day, you could send out an email marketing campaign or a survey marketing campaign to learn what is bugging your clients (hopefully nothing). Then take all of their replies and let your customers know in a followup email, which ones you can fix short term and long term. It will show that you value their opinion and that you are always trying to improve.
Other notable events
August 8th - Return of the NFL. The NFL preseason kicks off with the annual Hall of Fame game.
August 10th - National Duran Duran Appreciation Day.
August is National golf month.
The first week of August is National Clown Week as well. Enjoy!
Know of a fun day on the calendar that we missed and think it would make a great idea for a campaign theme? Let us know on Twitter @simplycast.
SimplyCast.com is a leading provider of interactive marketing software and services for organizations worldwide. The company's multi-channel marketing platform is a feature-rich solution used by thousands of customers in over 175 countries, including many of the most recognized brand names around the globe in retail, non-profit and hospitality industries. Sign up today for a free trial.
