Looking for a reason to celebrate? There’s probably a hashtag holiday for it!
When it comes to optimizing publicity and marketing opportunities for our clients, at Fort Lauderdale and Aspen-based marketing and public relations agency Durée & Company we utilize hashtag holidays throughout the year to garner media coverage and social media engagement for our clients.
Hashtag holidays are designated days, weeks or months tied to a specific trend. These holidays are a great way to promote your brand in a timely and relevant way. They’re also very effective for promoting brands in the health, wellness and beauty spaces as these industries experience a large volume of content in a competitive arena. With that said, we’ve compiled some best practices to help navigate hashtag holidays and how they can elevate your brand in the health, wellness and beauty industries:
1. Plan ahead.
We recommend starting your social media efforts at least one month in advance of the actual hashtag holiday to ensure that there is enough time to properly plan the content. For any public relations efforts, including media pitching, this can begin even earlier as many outlets work months in advance. For optimal coverage on both fronts, begin outreach for your promotions or products with plenty of time to spare to secure optimal editorial coverage and social media traction.
Helpful hint: an organized social media content calendar will help you plan week by week leading up to the event.
2. Research is key!
To successfully secure media coverage for hashtag holidays, identify which holidays have a strong following and relevant tie to your product or brand. Be selective with the holidays that you choose to incorporate into your brand’s social media and public relations strategies. Be mindful of broad hashtag holidays (#NationalSelfieDay) versus more specific holidays (#LipsAppreciationDay) when evaluating where/how to insert your brand. Do some upfront research to determine engagement, relevance and the historical success of the hashtag holiday.
Here are a few of our favorite hashtag holidays with some great hooks, plus some that are ripe for opportunity:
- January 1: New Year’s Day (new year, new look, skin-care routine, beauty regimen, new year, new you!)
- February 14: Valentine’s Day (show your skin, face or body some love, Valentine’s Day promotions or sales)
- March 8: International Women’s Day (women-focused products)
- April 22: Earth Day (natural skin-care products or treatments, eco-friendly skin-care products)
- May 9: Mother’s Day (Mother’s Day special package for MedSpa treatments or products, Mother’s Day promotions or sales)
- June 21: National Selfie Day (skin-care and makeup products to prepare your skin for the perfect selfie)
- June 29: National Camera Day (camera-ready makeup looks and skin-care products)
3. Get creative.
Find ways to make your brand or product stand out among the competition. For example, in celebration of #NationalSunscreenDay, create a special limited time offering (or LTO) travel-size bundle of your anti-aging skin-care products or create a special promo code to encourage customers to sample new products. These unique promotions will serve as a timely hook to pitch and share your brand with media and create relevant social media content.
4. Form relationships with other companies to cross-promote and increase the exposure of your brand.
For example, #NationalBeachDay on Aug. 30 is a great opportunity for a skin-care line to promote its SPF products and partner with a bathing suit brand for a product giveaway. Giveaways increase your brand’s following on social media by garnering increased exposure by cross-promotion on other brands’ social media channels. Dynamo tip: Include the giveaway in your pitching efforts to reach an even wider audience!
Whether your brand involves health, beauty or wellness products, our team at Durée & Company can help you strategize the best way to incorporate hashtag holidays into your media relations and social media plans. Contact us today!
About Durée & Company, Inc.
Durée & Company, Inc. is an award-winning, full-service public relations and marketing firm founded in 1999. The firm has offices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Aspen, Colorado. Durée & Company serves the corporate, agency and nonprofit arenas for local, national and international clients. Services include public relations, social media, marketing, digital marketing, content development, advertising, branding, radio promotions, affiliate marketing and more. Durée & Company clients include well-known names in yachting, business, real estate, hospitality, travel, cannabis and hemp, wellness and CBD, art and culture, fashion, nonprofit organizations, legal and professional services. Durée & Company is a member of PR Boutiques International™ (PRBI), an international network of boutique PR firms. To learn more, call 954-723-9350; go to dureeandcompany.com; or visit its new, specialized cannabis- and CBD-specific site at cannabismarketingpr.com. Join the social conversation and follow Durée & Company on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn at @DureeCoPR.