MARKETING IDEAS FOR JULY 2024
Summer is getting warmed up. So heat up those marketing posts ‘cause you’re gonna have to compete with summer weather. Get your copy ready and checked, get your materials designed and proofed, and set those social media posts to auto publish.
Below is a printable calendar for July 2024. Hopefully this easy reference can help you plan events, sales, and marketing. You certainly don’t need to create something for every day, do what feels right for your business.
1st
- National Postal Worker Day
- Postal workers deliver billions of letters and packages each year. Even with the occasional mistake, their percentage of mis-delivered mail is so small it’s a miracle. Take today to recognize and thank your postal delivery person, especially if you don’t already. While today is designed for the USPS, thanking your UPS, Fed-EX, and Amazon drivers is worthwhile also.
- International Joke Day
- While the 4th of July is looming, looking for something to help engage with your customer base on social media can be as easy as a joke today. Share a joke and ask for your customers favorites.
- Second Half of the Year
- Today is the first day of the second half of the year. The 3rd quarter is here and the 4th quarter is approaching quickly, do you have your plans and orders in? Did you take time to look over your business plans and goals to see if you are on track for the rest of the year?
2nd
- I Forget Day
- Normally dedicated to just being forgetful, let’s take a twist on it and take a moment to not forget the important things like stock organization, 4th quarter orders, restocks on evergreen products, paying your monthly or quarterly bills, and just plain old marketing planning for the next few months.
4th
- Independence Day – 4th of July
- Celebrating America’s Declaration of Independence this day is filled with local festivals and fireworks. There is a mass market big budget push on marketing on Independence Day Sales or Independence Week Sales, so do not be afraid to ride the coattails of their multi-million dollar marketing effort by doing the same. Customers will already be primed for a sale due to their marketing. Don’t forget that this is usually a three day weekend and a bank holiday. Make sure you have your banking in order to maintain a three day weekend and plan extra events or activities if you are opening during this weekend.
6th
- Fried Chicken Day
- In previous years, there was a marketing war between the national chain restaurants over who had the best fried chicken sandwiches, some of this even led to actual violence. (See Business Insiders blog post here; https://mntl.gg/4b74wVt) While the Fried Chicken Wars has subsided, the demand for fried chicken is still high. If you have an in store restaurant, offering a oil or air fried chicken today would be great. Many of the chains still use today as a marketing event and using their marketing dollars to help your business is a great idea. If you don’t, look at cross-promoting with a local restaurant to help each other market.
- Hop a Park Day
- Today is another reminder that physical activity is a great way to get in shape, stay in shape, or just help your general health. If you have a nearby park, plan an outdoor community event such as kickball or even a Pokémon GO community walk. If there are no parks nearby, consider trying to organize an event around the outdoors. Fundraise for the local chapter of Scouts to try and get kids to camp or a conservation fund to help clean up and care for the environment. Most schools also can use funding to help sports teams and other activities.
8th
- Chocolate with Almonds Day
- Spend today giving out or focusing on chocolate with almonds! The quick and easy answer is some Hershey Almond Bars and give them away with purchase. You can also consider teaming up with a local chocolate store that makes some chocolate almond bars.
- Freezer Pop Day
- Freezer Pops are a quick and easy way to enrich your staff and customers today. Give them away on a sidewalk marketing campaign or as customers walk in.
10th
- Pina Colada Day
- A creamy drink made with pineapple, rum, and coconut cream, a Pina Colada is a Puerto Rican mainstay. If you have a bar as part of your business, be ready to promote a Pina Colada today. Might as well make it the whole week, they are delicious
11th
- 7-Eleven Day
- Although this isn’t directly a holiday or event, 7-Eleven is one of the top convenience store’s in the United States and has a strong brand around the world. 7-Eleven usually offers free slush drinks or inexpensive “fill anything” events that normally catch headline news. If you have a 7-Eleven near you, it might be worth trying to get a community event together to capitalize on their event. Who from your business can bring the most ridiculous or largest thing to fill. Follow up with a community building event such as Pokémon Go or a walk at a local park.
12th
- Amazon Prime Day
- The best speculation is this two day event will happen July 12th and 13th. Mass market stores like Walmart, Target, and even Sam’s Club hold their own, “Special Event Day Deal” on these same days as competition to Amazon. Each of them usually have insanely low prices for products, usually even below costs. There is also a huge “Shop Local or Small” movement to help support local stores. American Express has a Small Business Saturday for November (https://mntl.gg/4dn4sD0) but the movement remains. Advertise discounted items that you wish to clearance out or reduce your inventory. Don’t forget that this is a great day or two to stock up on office supplies to prepare for the 4th quarter.
13th
- Embrace your Geekness Day
- Let your staff wear their favorite fandom today! Involve your community and have them come in cosplay as their favorite characters, hold a parade, or interact with your community on your social media, sharing and tagging people throughout the day. Consider a give away to whoever has the best cosplay or coolest design of a gift card or a copy of a game.
- Happy Birthday Patrick Stewart
- Award winning actor that has played dozens of roles. For the game and hobby industry he is most known for his role in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. He has also starred as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men
16th
- AI Appreciation Day
- While currently everything is trying to get some sort of established AI system working, which is a natural language processing model that is designed to have a human-like response. It’s here to stay. Companies like Bing have fully integrated an assistant into most of the Microsoft product line. Elon Musk at X (shameless plug, follow us? https://mntl.gg/twitter ) are working at integrating their AI model /Grok https://mntl.gg/3w8b4nS into the social media itself. There is also Wendy’s creating Wendy’s FreshAI https://mntl.gg/4bcfn0r to improve order accuracy and customer service at its test markets. Whether or not you are a fan of ChatGPT, Dall-E or any other of these generative language models, it is here to stay. Here is a link to our blog and how we think AI can help you. (links to future article)
17th
- World Emoji Day
- Have some fun on social media, maybe make a puzzle for a discount on your website. Use only emojis and be creative.
18th
- Sour Candy Day
- Sour candy is almost always delish! Take today to offer free sour candy to your customers or discount sour candy as a special treat.
19th
- National Hot Dog Day
- Fire up a BBQ and grill for your staff! Show some staff appreciation by grilling Hot Dogs, or ordering from your favorite hot dog stand.
- Happy Birthday Benedict Cumberbatch
- A renowned English actor born 1976 has become one of the most talented actors in the world. He starred as Dr. Strange in the Marvel universe for several films.
20th
- Lollipop Day
- Kids of all ages love lollipops! This is an easy day to add something special as a give away or with any purchase. Look to your local club stores such as BJ’s or Sam’s Club for a deal on bulk lollipops. They are extremely inexpensive and add a nice treat for your customers.
21st
- SHARK WEEK
- Hello. Welcome to Shark Week [https://www.discovery.com/shark-week] . This year runs from July 21st to July 28th. Discovery channel runs all things Shark and it has turned into a cultural phenomenon.
- National Junk Food Day
- Cross promote with your local fast food restaurants for discounts or free food coupons. You can also run a promotion, if you bring french fries in, you get a discount!
- Happy Birthday Robin Williams
- Forever missed.
23rd
- Vanilla Ice Cream Day
- Vanilla ice cream is the most popular flavor in the world. Don’t forget to stop the ice cream truck today.
- Happy Birthday Daniel Radcliffe
- Star of the Harry Potter films as Harry Potter himself.
27th
- Gary Gygax Day
- This day is celebrated as Dungeons and Dragons Day and Gary Gyrax’s birthday. Take time to point out your roleplaying section and schedule of events.
29th
- Chicken Wing Day
- Started in 1977 in the city of Buffalo, New York, Buffalo Chicken Wings became world famous by Anchor Bar. Today is a great day to promote wings as a special if you have a kitchen or to cross-promote with any local spot you love.
31st
- Happy Birthday Harry Potter
- In the series of movies where Harry Potter is the protagonist, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released on this day as well. Take time to promote your Harry Potter merchandise and let the staff wear those robes and wield their wands.
