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via ThriveHive

November is upon us! What better way to kick off a new month than with a list of great marketing ideas? Here are some ways to boost your marketing and blogging for the month of November.

10 Ways to Market Your Business in November

1. Update Your Google My Business Profile

With Google’s ever-improving search results, consumers are getting the information they need to engage with a business without even having to visit their website. This is why it’s crucial to have a complete and updated Google My Business profile. By communicating your products, services, hours, and location to Google, it can know which searches to rank you for; and by keeping your profile and active (such as by updating it, collecting reviews, and answering FAQs), Google can feel more confident in ranking you higher and for more searches. Here are some things you can do to optimize your Google My Business profile for November:

• Provide your Thanksgiving Hours
• Upload pictures of any November- or Thankgiving-themed products or services
• Create Google posts about Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or Small Business Saturday promotions
• Ask and answer questions related to visiting your store, especially if you expect more traffic on Small Business Saturday

2. Take Part in Movember/No Shave November

Movember or No Shave November is a movement for men’s health issues. Participants can sign up here and are encouraged to grow a mustache for the month of November to bring awareness and raise donations for men’s health and cancers. Some companies host Movember competitions between employees or among customers. Movember is a fun way to host contests or showcase your facial hair for men’s health on social media. Get involved in the chatter on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

2. Honor Veteran’s Day

Vereran’s Day is November 11 and comes up fast! Schools may have off and many workplaces are closed. While this could be a good time for sales, it’s also a great time for your business to make a push on social media thanking veterans for their hard work and sacrifice for our country. If you have a veteran who works for you, showcase them on your blog or website. A simple “Thank You” goes a long way and let’s customers know that you care about people, not just sales.

3. Celebrate Women’s Entrepreneurship Day

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day occurs every November 19. On this day, post some compelling stats about female entrepreneurs to your Facebook or Instagram profiles. If you are a female entrepreneur, share some milestones about your business. If you are not a female entrepreneur, highlight one in your community or network.

4. Participate in America Recycles Day

November 15 is America Recycles Day and a great day for showing that your small business cares about the environment. Does your business recycle? Include some facts on your social media or suggestions on your blog on how to recycle. If you don’t already recycle, now is a great time to start! Get a recycling bin and let customers know that you’re taking steps to help improve the environment for everyone! Participate in America Recycles social media efforts (#AmericaRecyclesDay and #RecyclingSelfie) to show off your recycling efforts and encourage others to do the same!

5. Support November Causes

Movember gets a lot of attention, but November is also host to other awareness efforts like lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and adoption awareness. Is your business affected by any of these issues or do you feel strongly about these causes? Make a difference and help raise awareness this November using social media. November is also the month of the Great American Smokeout when people pledge to quit smoking. Help support someone you know who is trying to quit!

6. Partake in Sports

November is a time when the NFL, NHL, and NBA are in full swing! Show off your team spirit by dressing up in team jerseys or decorating your business with team colors. Going to the game? Tweet about it or post pictures of employees at a game. Showing personality and friendly competition is a great way to market your business!

7. Run a Thankful Campaign

November is the month of Thanksgiving so don’t forget to give thanks. Post what you’re thankful for on social media and ask customers to participate. Make sure to thank your customers for their support!

8. Promote Holiday Buying Guides

December will come soon enough and customers are starting to shop for the holidays. Now is the time to start marketing with gift guides, either in written or video form on your blog, to help customers shop for the special people in their lives.

Free eBook: 50 Creative Holiday Marketing Ideas

9. Run a Food Drive

It’s easy to get caught up in planning for Thanksgiving but don’t forget those who aren’t as fortunate. Hosting a food drive is a great thing to do to help others enjoy the holiday who are struggling to make ends meet. Encourage customers to donate canned or non-perishable food. Offer a discount on a service to customers who bring in a bag of food. Host a contest where each can of food gives participants a chance to win. Donate the food to a local food pantry, church, or charitable organization and give back to the community.

10. Offer Thanksgiving Specials

Thanksgiving is the holiday star of November and a great chance to market your business. Offer specials at your restaurant or cooking classes for great Thanksgiving side dishes or how to use leftovers after the holiday. Gyms and heath-focused businesses can host or participate in Thanksgiving races or an after-Thanksgiving bootcamp class! Your pet grooming or boarding business can write a blog post on Thanksgiving foods that can be toxic to pets. The content opportunities for Thanksgiving are plentiful!

11.  Small Business Saturday (November 29)

Last but certainly not least, don’t forget Small Business Saturday! This is perhaps the best time of year to get your small business noticed. Register your business HERE and make a push on social media, your website, and your blog for supporting small businesses!

For more Small Business Saturday ideas, visit these posts:

• Small Business Saturday Promotion Ideas
• How to Create a Plan for Small Business Saturday

via ThriveHive

August is a great time to round up your summer marketing efforts to prepare and plan for the fall. But without any major holidays, a lot of business owners struggle trying to figure out what to write about on their blog and what to post on social media. If you need some ideas for your marketing, social media, and blog content, we’ve got the answers! Here are some fresh ideas to round out your summer marketing in August!

1. Optimize Your Google My Business Profile

Your Google My Business profile appears in Google Maps search results as well as local results for regular Google searches. It’s also the Knowledge Panel that displays on the right-hand side of a results page when someone searches your business. Make sure your Google My Business profile is optimized for August with:

• Summer-themed Google posts
• Questions and answers about relevant topics (Do you serve dairy-free ice cream?)
• Updated summer hours
• Photos of your summer-themed or seasonal products/services

2. Family Fun Month

August signifies the last few weeks of summer before children return to school. Encourage family relationship building by promoting family activities throughout the month of August that are related to your business. Hold special family-appropriate events at your business throughout the month to support families spending fun time together. If you maintain a blog, compile a list of ideas for local family-friendly places to bond.

3. National Golf Month

Improve business relations by inviting clients to the course to play a round of golf. Golf is a notoriously great way to connect and create potential business leads for any industry. Golf is a sport that can be fun for any skill set, so regardless of your level of expertise, it can be an enjoyable time.

This is a perfect holiday for fitness establishments as they can use it to motivate their members to get outside and get active. One idea to take advantage of this national holiday is to give away free branded golf accessories, like golf balls or tees. Not only does this indirectly advertise your business when customers use them, but it’s a nice way to give back to your customers with a useful gift.

4. Simplify Your Life Week (August 1st-7th)

The beginning of fall is a hectic time with the start of a new school year. Simplify Your Life Week is a perfect time to get your business organized for the upcoming chaos. For starters, use this time to get your business in check and your workplace organized in preparation for fall. In addition, there are a variety of businesses that would benefit from promoting their services during the time.

In particular, interior designers and personal organizers should promote this time to their clients. Send out an email newsletter with your top organizing tips, or write a blogpost doing the same. Another way to take advantage of this week is to post on social media a daily organizing tip. Encourage your clients to step back and take a look around them, so they won’t be overwhelmed and bogged down later on (like when back to school season is underway.)

Related: Free Summer Marketing Guide

4. Friendship Day (August 2nd)

One of the best ways to find business is from your current customers! Take advantage of their raving reviews and referrals on National Friendship Day. Hold a promotion for customers that bring in their friends on this day. Offer incentives to both parties for participating, whether it’s a discount or a freebie, anything offer is enticing.

5. National Relaxation Day (August 15th)

Spas and salons can use this holiday to offer special beauty treatment deals to unwind from daily stress. Other types of businesses can offer special relaxing promotions on this day as well. For example, restaurants can give out free drinks, while fitness centers can hold special yoga and meditation classes. If you work at a spa or yoga center, partner up with other companies to arrange for a day of in-office relaxation. This will help you improve the reach of your company and get new clients!

Although you can take advantage of this day to engage customers, it’s also important to allow your staff to relax as well. Close up shop early after promoting relaxation to allow employees to enjoy some hard-earned rest.

Motivate your social media followers to take a step back from the daily chaos and take some time to themselves as well. Whether this means using your services or not, customers will appreciate the personal approach in encouraging taking time to rest.

6. World Humanitarian Day (August 19th)

The purpose of World Humanitarian Day is to recognize those that lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. Use this day to not only donate your time or money to an important charity, but to encourage your customers to do the same. Pay it forward to your local community, and share with your customers how they can contribute as well. Post on social media about your favorite cause and why it’s important to you. The day is all about giving back, so there’s no limit to your effort.

7. Senior Citizens Day (August 21st)

While some businesses offer year-round discounts to senior citizens, senior citizens deserve their own special day. Honor the older folks with discounted or free services, they deserve it! Contact local senior centers and find out if you can sponsor an event or stop by with catering or manicures to brighten up someone’s day.  It’s important to remember that when marketing for an event targeted at this demographic, try to stick to offline marketing, as most senior citizens don’t use social media. (Or check out our post on How to Market to an Older Demographic)

8. State Fair Season

Many state fairs are held in August, stretching through the early fall. These are a great way to market your business and services by setting up a booth. Thousands of people flock to state fairs, sometimes from across the country! If your state fair is coming up soon, find out how you can make an appearance.

While there are many fairs taking place in August (Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming), many are scheduled later on for the fall so use this time instead to get on the list of vendors and plan your approach.

9. Plan for Labor Day

Start gearing up for Labor Day toward the end of the month. Labor Day is a big end-of-summer holiday that many businesses take advantage of. It’s important to participate in the frenzy with sales during this time. Start marketing for your specific promotions at the end of August to increase excitement and ensure that everyone knows to support your business then.

Need help creating promotions for Labor Day? Try running an Instagram giveaway or contest promoting an in-store special or new product.

10. Back to School

Like Labor Day, Back to School sales are an American tradition. Even if you think your business isn’t directly student- or school-related, there are still plenty of ways to get in on the action. For example, salons can offer special deals for back to school haircuts. Of course, this time is especially crucial for childcare centers or extracurricular academic institutions to prepare for the start of the year. Businesses offering after school activities can offer early bird registration for their classes.

It’s important to remember not to exclude parents in your marketing efforts. Although a new school year is a big and exciting change for children, their parents are affected in the change of schedule as well. Once kids are back in school, parents have more time for themselves during the day. Salons and spas can offer deals on beauty treatments parents might need after a long summer with the kids. Personal trainers or fitness centers can offer discount packages on their exercise services. Healthcare businesses, like dentists or nutritionists, can promote healthy lunch ideas.

One way to engage parents is to reach out to current customers who might have been busy over the summer and offer them a returning client special. This is a great way to show customer appreciation and retain existing customers.

1. National Small Business Week

First and foremost, National Small Business Week is the first week of May! Dedicated to raising awareness about small businesses and celebrating the hard working owners behind them, this week will be packed with ample marketing opportunities. Here are some ways to make the best of National Small Business Week:

• Run a deal-a-day for the week, promoting different products/services each day.
• Get return customers: Give out coupons with purchases this week, that can only be redeemed on an upcoming holiday or on the last day of Small Business Week.
• Get more leads: Offer a downloadable, small business-themed piece of content that is of value to your target audience in exchange for their email addresses.
• Increase your exposure: Use #NationalSmallBusinessWeek and other relevant hashtags in your social media posts and promotions.
• Run an Instagram giveaway for a free product or service. Entrants post a photo to Instagram of themselves at your business, using a custom hashtag. Announce the winner at the end of the week.
• Don’t forget that educating yourself about small business and networking with other small business owners is important for your marketing success as well. Attend local events, SBA events, or follow along via live streams.
• Build community and expand your reach: Team up with other complimentary small businesses and create an event.
• Make an extra effort to give back to your community by shopping at, posting reviews, and engaging in social media with other small businesses during the week.

2. Kentucky Derby (May 6)

Use the Kentucky Derby in your May marketing efforts. Get creative with derby fashion or horse-themed decorations, promotions, contests, and events. For example,

• Change up your storefront with a derby theme to grab attention and attract customers.
• Blog about derby fashion and outfits for men and women.
• Throw a derby party with derby hat contests and mint juleps.
• Host a cooking or cocktail-making class.
• Run a derby hat contest on Instagram or Facebook.
• Use derby hashtags such as #kyderby, or your own custom hashtag (like #derbyatjoes) so that people can find you and follow along.

3. Cinco de Mayo (May 5)

Cinco de Mayo falls on a Friday this year, which makes it all the more fun. There are many ways to infuse a Mexican-American spirit into your marketing. For example:

• Food or fitness businesses can post recipes or videos of recipes on social media.
• Give out coupons the day before or a few days before, redeemable on Cinco de Mayo.
• Share a festive discount “code word” on social media, customers who mention the code in-store get 15% off.
• Use a triumph or underdog theme. This holiday comes from Mexico’s unlikely victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla. Give your customers the victory over high prices, long lines, slow service, and more with particular deals.
• Use the number 5 in your promotions, such as get the fifth one free, $5 specials, 5% off, 5 for 5, etc.
• Throw a party or cooking class revolving around Mexican food and culture.

4. Teacher Appreciation Day (May 2)

May 2 is Teacher Appreciation Day—a perfect time for preschools to market themselves to new parents in anticipation of the new school year.

• Throw a party for teachers or have students write thank you letters to show off on your blog, in email newsletters to parents, or on social media.
• Update your website content with new teacher bios and pictures.
• Did anyone receive a new degree or have a teacher accomplishment to share? This is the perfect time to showcase them in an “About Us” page on your website. Doing so not only highlights your teaching staff, but it also can improve your SEO.

5. Mother’s Day (May 14)

Mother’s Day is prime time for any business, not just the flower shops, salons, and spas (although it is advantageous!).

• Flower shops and bakeries can offer special Mother’s Day products, and discounts for Mother’s Day gift givers, either on this day or the day before as well.
• Salons and spas can create Mother’s Day themed gift certificates, or offer 2 for 1 deals for mothers and daughters celebrating together.
• Combine products and/or services into attractive gift packages that make gift-giving easy.
• Businesses that get a spike in traffic on Mother’s Day can hand out coupons with purchases that are redeemable at a later time (ideally a time when business typically gets slow).
• Preschools can have their little ones create Mother’s Day cards or crafts to send home. Make sure to post the pictures on social media or follow up with a blog post or email newsletter to communicate with parents!

6. Memorial Day (May 29)

Here are some ways to show your patriotism and love for the good ol’ USA through your business marketing on Memorial Day.

• Red, white, and blue themed recipes, outfits, flower arrangements, etc. and promote on Pinterestand Instagram.
• Host a BBQ or picnic for your community, and give out branded swag  like sunglasses or water bottles.
• Participate in or sponsor a local event.
• Use quotes, images, and other posts on social media to show your support for those who have lost their lives for our country.

7. Warm Weather

Take advantage of the warmer weather and provide information and helpful tips to your customers in accordance with your business.

• Contractors, landscaping companies, and painters should boost their May marketing efforts to get new clients for the spring and summer months.
• Now’s the time to run that gutter cleaning sale or post pictures on Facebook of your most recent outdoor paint job. Increase your SEO with blog posts about seasonal maintenance
• Create success stories of successful jobs and promote them on your website and social media
• Word of mouth marketing is important in these industries – offer existing clients a discount or incentive for each new client they refer who becomes a paying customer.

Related: Summer Marketing Guide

8. Flowers

April showers bring May flowers. If you own a flower shop, May marketing is your time to shine! (If you don’t, there are still opportunities!)

• Host that flower arranging workshop you’ve been thinking about.
• Start a Pinterest board to see if Pinterest is right for your business, or grow your Pinterest followingwith your creations linked to your online store or blog.
• You don’t have to be a florist to use flowers in your marketing. Spruce up your office, restaurant, or store front with flowers. Nothing says “spring” like fresh-cut flowers that add a pop of color to your business space.
• Buy flowers from a local florist and introduce yourself. Supporting other small business owners is the first step to getting more word of mouth referrals.

9. Weddings

May is the start of wedding season and a perfect time to market your business to new people who are in town.

• Caterers, event planners, DJs, photographers, bakeries, and other wedding friendly services: Use social media to engage customers as much as possible. Whether you’re hosting the bachelorette party at your restaurant or baking their wedding cupcakes at your bakery, take pictures and share them on Facebook and other social media platforms.
• Many couples ask guests to use custom hashtags on social media so that pictures of the events can be easily searched. For example, the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Burns might use the tag #BurnsInLove2015. Ask if you can use their hashtag to make your photos easily discoverable by wedding guests and the people in their social media networks.
• Landscapers can capitalize on wedding venue owners looking to perfect their landscapes.
• Fitness and nutrition businesses can provide workouts, recipes, blog posts, and tips on getting to your healthiest and best version of yourself in time for these heavily photographed events.

10. Final tips for Your May Marketing Events

Make the most of your May marketing events with these final tips:

• Recap your events, promotions, and festivities in your next email newsletter or blog post so that those who missed out will want to join in the fun next year!
• Send thank you and follow-up emails to any new leads for your business.
• Encourage customers to use your custom event hashtag to follow along and/or to help promote it.
• Post real-time photos of your event through Snapchat or Instagram Stories.