As summer winds down and the focus changes to returning to school, so should your marketing priorities. Get your copy written and checked, get your materials designed and proofed, and set those social media posts to auto-publish.
Below is a printable calendar for August 2023. 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 store.
1st – DOGust 1st
This is considered the universal birthday for shelter dogs without paperwork. Each year countless dogs are put into shelters. Many shelters use the “Dog Days of Summer” or “DOGust” to run campaigns to find homes for loving dogs. Contact your local shelter to see if you can cross-promote their efforts. Also, consider running an event where the entry is dog food or treats that can be donated to a shelter. Even though this is geared towards dogs, don’t forget the cat treats too.
1st – Spider-Man Day
Introduced by Stan Lee on August 1st, 1962, Spiderman is a common household name and a sure fan favorite no matter who the current actor is for the big-budget film. Look to run a special on anything involving Spider-Man and cross-promote with some Marvel merchandise. Be sure to share on social media so your community can like and share as well.
1st – Planner Day
While this day is normally about the love of planners, physical and digital, I think it’s a good moment to take a look at the future. As we -quickly- approach Q4, is everything ready? Do you have at least a marketing plan for sales, discounts, promotions, flyers, and holiday sale sheets? Do you need to finalize any printed items? According to Time and Date.com. You have about 62 days until the official start of Q4 (October 1st). This means you have about two months remaining until Q4.
1st – Back to School Month
Keep in mind that depending on where your business is located, a lot of schools begin their back-to-school programs this month. After-school programs, changes in hours, and possibly changing events based on school hours may be needed.
2nd – National Coloring Book Day
As game and hobby stores become more diverse in their offerings, coloring books have become a huge hit. Take today to showcase your coloring books. You could also offer a free coloring page event in-store. Crayola offers some great free coloring pages.
2nd – Ice Cream Sandwich Day
Summer officially ends September 23rd, 2023, until then, lets keep the summer vibes going. Many bulk stores like SamsClub or Costco have plenty of premade ice cream sandwiches to give away or sell as a promotion. Consider asking your local ice cream shop about cross-promotions or a temporary stand in your business.
3rd – Watermelon Day
Did you know that Watermelon is 92% water? That is part of the reason why it is so sweet, delicious, and refreshing. It should be in season and readily available.
3rd – Clean Your Floors Day
This is your reminder that deep cleaning your store is needed, don’t neglect your floors. If you are considering joining a program like WPN Premium things like the floors are important. Set up a task list for your staff for detail cleaning all the pesky, often forgotten about areas such as the top of bookshelves, and under display units, and dusting eye-catching display pieces like the life-size Mimic by Wizkids.
4th – Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
Celebrate by eating cookies! Chocolate Chip is a staple cookie flavor. If you sell cookies, this is a great day to feature and sample your chocolate chip cookie. If you don’t, work with a local bakery to cross-promote or give away to customers.
4th – International Beer Day
If you serve beer in your business, you probably already know it is one of the highest profitable items in the store. Adding another reason to highlight and promote beer sales is a no-brainer. Work with your distributors about deals, promotions, and or cross-over advertising.
5th – Mead Day
Also known as honey wine, mead is one of the easiest and most home-brewed alcoholic beverages. With that said, our friends at Bull and Bee Meadery in New York have let us know it’s easy to create a mead but takes time to really craft the different flavors and tastes. If you allow “BYOB” (bring your own brews) consider a tasting trade day. Look for a local brewer for a promotion.
5th – Disc Golf Day
Disc Golf has been growing in popularity in recent years and some game and hobby stores even carry full lines of Disc Golf. If you carry Disc Golf, today is the day to have your tournament, learn to play, or just generally get-to-know-the-game day. Sprinkle in some starter promotions and you could have built a new fan base. Here is additional information about Disc Golf.
6th – Sisters Day
Celebrate your sister! Consider running an event for pairs or teams of two. Connect with game publishers that have team games or co-op games and look to have sisters team up or face off against each other.
7th – Friendship Day
A day dedicated to friendship and human relationships. Originally created by the Hallmark Greeting Cards in the 1930s to you know, sell greeting cards, we can build a marketing day out of it. Promote two or four-player board games as an event in store, two-headed giant Magic the Gathering casual event, or remind people that they probably owe their friend a few bucks, and getting them a small gift as a thank you would be nice. Hallmark Greeting Cards would be proud.
8th – National Dollar Day
On this day in 1786, the United States monetary system was created. That is when the then, brand new United States Government set up what would become the world’s strongest currency which is the basis of the global economy. For us and marketing, today is a great day to focus on clearance. Set some items to $1 and get rid of them to make room for your Q4 inventory.
9th – Book Lovers Day
Designed to be a national day dedicated to books and the wonderful works of the world. We can focus on books that we carry in store. Roleplaying, Warhammer’s Black Library, and comics. August 9th falls on a Wednesday which is also new comic day.
12th – Garage Sale Day
Another chance to push clearance and dead inventory out of your store as your Q4 inventory is arriving.
13th – International Left-Handers Day
Take a moment to celebrate your left-handed friends. Approx 10% of the population is left-handed!
15th – National Back to School Prep Day
As summer is drawing to a close students slowly start to prepare for the fact that school will be starting soon. National Big Box Stores have already likely started their back-to-school advertising and huge displays of notebooks and pens. You could do an “it pays to get grades” club. If a student has A’s or B’s across their report card, reward them with a gift card, entry into an event, or a low-cost product of their choice. You also could hold an event to help students in need where entry into the event could be school supplies, which are donated directly to the school or an organization that will disperse them to those who need them.
16th – Joke Day
National Tell a Joke Day! Take to social media and get some engagement. Have some business-friendly jokes ready for your staff to use with your customers.
20th – Lemonade Day
Some cities around the United States focus on helping youth set up lemonade stands and running their own company. Today is a good day to help with some community outreach and be a location for one of these lemonade stands.
24th – Hamburger Day
Fast Food and quick service restaurants across the country tend to do amazing marketing and sales or extremely discounted burgers today. If you sell food in-house, be sure to catch the coattails of major chain marketing as you promote your own burger promotion.
26th – Women’s Equality Day
On this day the 19th Amendment was signed into law giving women the right to vote in the United States. Use today to celebrate the achievements and success of women, especially those you have in your community or employment.
