January 2025 Marketing Calendar: Creative Ideas for Game & Hobby Businesses
Jumpstart Your 2025 Marketing!
The new year is here, and it’s time to refresh your marketing and explore new opportunities for your business. Whether you’re engaging with customers in-store or online, our January 2025 marketing calendar is full of ideas to help you boost engagement, drive sales, and start the year on the right foot. Let’s make 2025 the year you take your marketing to the next level and set your business up for long-term success. Ready to get started? Let’s go!
January: National Clean Up Your Computer Month
Kick off the new year by tidying up your computers! Take some time to save and sort your financial records—like invoices and receipts—so you’re ready for tax season, your accountant will thank you. Go through your old marketing materials and ditch anything that doesn’t fit with your 2025 goals, those are done, right? Lastly, back up important files to the cloud or an external drive, update your software, and clear out those unnecessary files to keep things running smoothly and so you can find your new files easily.
January: National Thank You Month
January is a great time to show some love to the people who make your business thrive. Say thanks to your customers for sticking with you, your partners and publishers for being awesome collaborators, and even your delivery drivers for getting your products where they need to be. A quick thank-you note, a thoughtful email, or even a simple message can go a long way in building those relationships and kicking off the year on a high note. These little personal touches will help build and cement brand loyalty with your customers and the people and businesses that work with you.
1st
- New Year’s Day (F)
- New Year’s Day is considered one of ten Federal holidays with non-essential Federal Government offices closed. This is a banking holiday as well, so be sure to stock up on change.
2nd
- National Science Fiction Day
- A day to celebrate anything science fiction based on any medium. Book, art, movie? Celebrate it.
3rd
- JRR Tolkien Day
- J.R.R. Tolkien Day is “The Lord of the Rings” author’s birthday. Feel free to highlight some Lord of the Rings merchandise or host a second breakfast for your staff in true hobbit fashion.
4th
- National Trivia Day
- This national day is a day to test or share small bits of almost useless information. Did you know that Trivia is the plural of the word Trivium? Now you do.
6th
- National Take Down the Christmas Tree Day
- This is a great reminder to take down any holiday decorations you may have up still. Pack away the Christmas rush and take a moment to finish your inventory and detail clean areas that have been neglected due to the holiday sales rush.
8th
- Show and Tell Day
- To create an off the wall marketing idea, show and tell. Have this event as something for your customers and staff to bring in whatever theme you wish, plants, animals, comic books, collectibles ect ect. The idea is to create an event out of something you’d normally never think of as a day to draw in customers.
11th
- National Milk Day
- Milk now also comes in non-daily options as well! Today is a great day to advertise milk-based drinks or small giveaways with sales such as bite-sized MILK chocolate bars.
13th
- National Sticker Day
- Stickers were originally invented by European Merchants who wanted to advertise their goods to people who went by them. Today, we even have digital stickers and emojis. Stickers in bulk are ridiculously cheap. These 2”x2” stickers start at $44 for 1000. This is a good brand awareness day.
- Stickers were originally invented by European Merchants who wanted to advertise their goods to people who went by them. Today, we even have digital stickers and emojis. Stickers in bulk are ridiculously cheap. These 2”x2” stickers start at $44 for 1000. This is a good brand awareness day.
- National Rubber Ducky Day
- Based on a 1973 Sesame Street Calendar and an introduction to the Rubber Duckie character, this birthday has been given. After World War One and Two, the ducks’ design changed slightly due to the invention of plastic and vinyl. The Rubber Duck is a Toy Hall of Fame inductee for the year 2013. Rubber ducks in bulk are very inexpensive and are a memorable giveaway, especially if it’s based on a sale.
- Based on a 1973 Sesame Street Calendar and an introduction to the Rubber Duckie character, this birthday has been given. After World War One and Two, the ducks’ design changed slightly due to the invention of plastic and vinyl. The Rubber Duck is a Toy Hall of Fame inductee for the year 2013. Rubber ducks in bulk are very inexpensive and are a memorable giveaway, especially if it’s based on a sale.
- National Clean Your Desk Day
- Cleaning your desk is a great way to get organized and ready for the new year, PS. you are almost two weeks in already. Make sure you get a head start on any tax documents you need to get to your accountant. It’s also a good time to reorganize your desk and work area and bring in a completely new space. Change the layout, add some plants, and change the brand of the pen you like to use. Actually, complete this year’s budgeting and goal planning. Get rid of the good stuff that has been shoved into your desk that isn’t actually good stuff, and get rid of the clutter of stacked-up junk mail that has been sitting there for at least 3 months. A clean desk will bring you new energy to focus on planning and fulfilling your goals this year.
15th
- National Hat Day
- Hats have a very long and festive history. Wear a hat, give out a hat, and celebrate the early Millinery skills needed to craft hats. Like Ugly Christmas Sweaters, today is a great day to let staff wear outlandish hats or a promotion where customers can receive a small discount or prize for wearing a hat or crazy hat.
16th
- Appreciate a Dragon Day
- There be Dragons! The mythical beings of Dragons have captured the imagination of us all at one point or another, today is a great day to advertise your Dungeons and Dragons campaigns or show off your other Dragon merch.
- There be Dragons! The mythical beings of Dragons have captured the imagination of us all at one point or another, today is a great day to advertise your Dungeons and Dragons campaigns or show off your other Dragon merch.
- Get To Know Your Customers Day
- Do exactly as this says. Learn more about the people who are supporting your business. Find out what they like, what they love, and what they do. Make a connection with them deeper than a transaction. This holiday happens every January, April, July, and October on the third Thursday.
18th
- National Winnie the Pooh Day
- Originally created in 1926, Winnie the Pooh is a staple among many homes with young children. Don’t forget your honey on the way to the Hundred Acre Woods.
- Originally created in 1926, Winnie the Pooh is a staple among many homes with young children. Don’t forget your honey on the way to the Hundred Acre Woods.
- National Use Your Gift Card Day (Third Saturday of every January)
- Every year, roughly $100 Billion of gift cards are purchased. There is a certain percentage of gift cards that never get used. Making an event around this will help you encourage and remind customers that may have been given a gift card over the holidays to stop in.
19th
- Brew A Potion Day
- In most games that have some sort of alchemy, potions are the difference between winning and losing. With Brew A Potion day, creating a special coffee drink for the day or inviting a local coffee shop to offer samples could be a marketing event that helps drive customers into your business.
20th
- Martin Luthor King Day (F)
- King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. It is a Federal holiday, be sure to have your banking done before the weekend.
- King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. It is a Federal holiday, be sure to have your banking done before the weekend.
- Inauguration Day
- As a special political event that only happens every four or eight years, today is the day that the next President of the United States is sworn into office. You may see an increase or decrease in walk-in customers due to the televised political event. Today is likely a great day to advertise a distraction from politics and offer an in-store game day, paint and take, or one time adventure of a role-playing game.
24th
- National Compliment Day
- Bring some praise, love, and happiness to your community. Give out compliments all day, this should already be an everyday event. This holiday is just to highlight it.
26th
- Happy Birthday Aquaman (DC)
- Happy Birthday Aquaman, DC Comics
28th
- National Lego Day
- Celebrating children, creativity, and building, Lego day is a great day for a Lego event or a Lego sale. Check with your Lego representative about sales as the company usually has a MAP policy.
29th
- National Puzzle Day
- Puzzles are a great option for unplugged mental exercise. This makes a great day to highlight puzzles and possibly offer a sale.
- Puzzles are a great option for unplugged mental exercise. This makes a great day to highlight puzzles and possibly offer a sale.
- Chinese New Year
- This is an important day to at the very least, be aware of. It’s celebrated by about 20% of the -world- population, or by about 2 billion people. It has a long history and is one of the largest holidays in China and Chinese descendants. It’s generally celebrated everywhere except North America, and even then large city populations uphold the celebration. During this celebration, most production in China shuts down for holiday for about 7 days. If you are planning on orders or manufacturing, avoid this time. If you are looking to include or acknowledge your Chinese customers, look to hand them a Red Envelope with cash or chocolate coins, which symbolizes good fortune.
31st
- Inspire Your Heart with Art Day
- Art comes in so many forms and this day is dedicated to art. Pick a style or artist and celebrate it! Have an arts and crafts day, a miniature building. If you sell Games-Workshop, plan a paint-and-take event. So many options for brand building or a sales event for this.
