Since being established to highlight charitable causes, awareness dates have grown in popularity and now there are numerous dates – some with a serious, educational aim, and others are quite whimsical.
Awareness dates can be a great engagement tool for your organisation. They can:
Some awareness dates will be an obvious fit for your organisation, others allow you to be creative. For example, August 19 is World Orangutan Day. The demand for soy and palm oil is causing the destruction of the rainforest where orangutans live. It’s a great opportunity to promote local, sustainable alternatives.
Knowing which awareness dates are coming up is essential to planning your social media content. There are dedicated websites that share awareness dates (just be aware that some might have a U.S. focus):
We include forthcoming awareness dates in our monthly newsletter. If you haven't already signed up to receive it, you can do so here: http://eepurl.com/hhbzZf
Once you've found a suitable awareness date, check out the official website for any promotional materials e.g. infographics, videos and the correct hashtag to use.
As long as you stay relevant and create engaging content, you can’t go too far wrong – and there really is an awareness day for everything!
Shown below are just some of the awareness dates and observances planned for September 2021.
September 2021 Awareness Dates & Observances
1 – 7 - Love Lamb Week You could ask your followers for their favourite recipes or live stream a cookery class.
4 – 19 - Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight Check the website's campaign toolkit for ideas how to get involved with the nation's biggest food and drink celebration.
5 International Day of Charity Does your business support a particular charity? Does your sector have a charitable body? Use Twitter to highlight the work they do.
5 – 12 - Tour of Britain From decorated bicycles to themed specials, local businesses along the route can capitalise on increased footfall while celebrating a world-class sporting event passing by their door. Download a Race Day Guide for Businesses here.
6 – 10 - Zero Waste Week Why not pledge your commitment to reducing the amount of waste you send to landfill and share your progress in a blog post?
Even if you don't plan to use awareness dates as part of your marketing, it is still useful to be aware of sombre observances to make sure you don't inadvertently cause offence by posting something frivolous on that date.
9 - Emergency Services Day At 9am on 9th September there will be a 2-minutes’ silence to remember all who have been killed as a result of their service to our nation. People are encouraged to participate and not post on social media during those two minutes
10 - World Suicide Prevention Day Light a Candle is an act of remembrance demonstrating support for suicide prevention, to remember a lost loved one, and for the survivors of suicide. Individuals from all over the world light a candle at 8pm on 10th September.
11 - 9/11 - 20th Anniversary 2021 marks 20 years since 9/11, when four hijacked US planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, killing 2,996 people.1
3 – 19 - Climate Week You could host a Facebook Live Panel Discussion with speakers from your sector discussing various aspects of the climate crisis.16 100 days until #ChristmasCountdowns are useful to built up excitement around any event. Calculate how many days until a specific date here.
17 – 26 - Great British Beach Clean Find a beach clean near you, or organise your own (there's a step-by-step guide on the website). Remember to take photos for Instagram!
19 - International Talk Like a Pirate Day Talk Like a Pirate Day has been celebrated for almost 20 years. It's not going to be a good fit for every business but if you're keen you show the lighter side of your team, make a TikTok sea shanty!
23 - National Family Business Day Family businesses can share their pride in their business with a LinkedIn post about the history of the business and photos from bygone years. A participants media pack is available to order from the website.
27 - World Tourism Day Show your support for tourism with a post highlighting local agritourism enterprises, food trails and hidden gems in your area.
29 - International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste Globally, around 20% of fruit and vegetable is lost between harvest and retail. Share success stories like that of Growers Garden who make crisps from vegetables that would otherwise not have made the grade for supermarket shelves.
30 - International Podcast Day It will come as no surprise that we are huge fans of podcasts! There are many ways to join in this celebration e.g.:
We recommend catching up on any previous OnFARM (Food, Agriculture & Rural Matters) episodes you may have missed at podfollow.com/onfarm
Do get in touch if you would like to discuss your digital marketing, or any aspect of PR for your rural or food and drink business.
Anna Davies: Email: anna@sceneandherdpr.co.uk
Ross (Monty) Montague: Email: monty@sceneandherdpr.co.uk
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