Looking for social media holidays?
I find them essential for spicing up my content marketing. Everyone loves a holiday!
Christmas, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, the Oscars, and the Super Bowl are core holidays that resonate with most audiences.
Then toss in a couple quirky and fun events, so you can surprise your audience with unusual promotional campaigns.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- The BEST social media holidays for 2021-22.
- Why you should use holiday marketing.
- How to create your holiday marketing strategy.
- How to make your own graphics for holiday marketing.
- How to organize your best ideas and keep them handy.
You’ll find the holidays on gorgeous graphics, AND find links to articles with even MORE holiday marketing ideas for each month.
Members of my site can download a FREE printable calendar each month, with daily holiday ideas.
Lots to learn, so let’s get going!
Why use holiday marketing?
If you’ve ever struggled with what to post on social media, you’ll find that these holidays inspire popular posts!
Few people will “like” a post about your product or blog post, but nearly everyone who sees a post saying Happy New Year will give it a “like.”
With a cool graphic, they might even share it!
Due to social media algorithms, this engagement is crucial to your social media success. Posts that don’t get immediate engagement are not shown to many of your followers on virtually every social platform. The algorithms think they’re boring.
Don’t be boring!
Not only are holiday posts successful, but they make it easy for your followers to associate positive feelings with your business.
So lets have some fun while we make your followers smile!
Creating a social media holiday strategy
Some brands can jump into almost every holiday out there. Food bloggers, for example, can use the hundreds of holidays each year for different ingredients.
But for most of us, it’s worth taking a moment to make sure that the holiday is relevant for our brand.
For example, it might seem a bit weird for a baby nursery to celebrate a gardening holiday. Wrong type of nursery!
Choose the relevant holidays and hashtags
When building your strategy, go through each month and pick the holidays and their hashtags that make the most sense for your business.
Popular hashtags can build a relationship with your customers. But they need to be the right ones.
Don’t send out loads of posts around social media holidays just to fill your content calendar.
Understand what the holiday is about
Once you have a shortlist of holidays to use, do a little research into them.
- What’s the background?
- Does it mean what it sounds like it means?
- Are there any negative associations that you don’t want tied up with your brand?
Also refer to your goals for posting on the social media channel and if the holiday can help.
Does it help get more followers? Build relationships or network with other businesses?
If it ticks the boxes, it can move to your social media plan.
Check to see if it works
Once you’ve been following a plan for social media holidays for a quarter or even six months, take a good look at the posts.
Do they get the engagement or reactions that you were aiming for? Do people comment or share them?
Use the analytics information to help you decide what to do going forward.
Look at social media holidays differently
Before diving into the dates, here’s one more thing to consider.
Don’t always see social media holidays as just a way to post engaging content.
Depending on the holiday, it can be a good time to run a promotion, offer a discount code, or to launch a special bundle. Especially the small business or entrepreneur holidays.
Just be sensitive to other holidays that have a deeper meaning and that aren’t commercial at all.
Social Media Holidays 2021
Here are the most popular holidays for the remaining months of 2021.
These are summarized on a social media holidays infographic for each quarter / season.
More holiday marketing ideas at each link!
The linked posts include month-long and weekly holidays too.
The dates in each linked post are updated about 8 weeks ahead of each month’s start. So if you’re reading this in mid-July 2021, all info on this page is correct, and the linked posts through September have also been updated for 2021.
Be sure to pin or bookmark each post that interests you, and return for the latest info AND your free monthly calendar download.
July 2021 Social Media Holidays
4. Sunday, Independence Day (United States) #4thOfJuly
7. Wednesday, World Chocolate Day #WorldChocolateDay
11. Free Slurpee Day (7/11) #FreeSlurpeeDay
15. Thursday, Give Something Away Day #GiveSomethingAwayDay
15. Thursday, Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
17. Saturday, World Emoji Day #WorldEmojiDay
18. Sunday, Nelson Mandela International Day #MandelaDay
24, Saturday, Tell an Old Joke Day #TellAnOldJokeDay
31. Saturday, National Mutt Day #NationalMuttDay
August 2021 Social Media Holidays
1. Sunday, World Wide Web Day #WorldWideWebDay
8. Sunday, International Cat Day #InternationalCatDay
9. Monday, National Book Lovers Day #NationalBookLoversDay
10. Tuesday, National Lazy Day #LazyDay
15. Sunday, National Relaxation Day #NationalRelaxationDay
16. Monday, National Tell a Joke Day #NationalTellAJokeDay
19. Thursday, World Photo Day #WorldPhotoDay
26. Thursday, National Dog Day #NationalDogDay
September 2021 Social Media Holidays
3. Friday, National Lazy Mom’s Day #NationalLazyMomsDay
6. Monday, Read a Book Day #ReadABookDay
6. Monday, Labor Day #LaborDay
11. Saturday, National Day of Service and Remembrance #PatriotsDay
12. Sunday, National Grandparents Day #NationalGrandparentsDay
21. Tuesday, International Day of Peace #PeaceDay
22. Wednesday, First Day of Fall #FirstDayOfFall
29. Wednesday, National Coffee Day #NationalCoffeeDay
October 2021 Social Media Holidays
1. Friday, World Smile Day #WorldSmileDay
4. Monday, National Taco Day #NationalTacoDay
13. Wednesday, National Train Your Brain Day #TrainYourBrainDay
14. Thursday, National Dessert Day #DessertDay
16. Saturday, Boss’s Day #BosssDay #BossesDay
21. Thursday, Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
30. Saturday, National Checklist Day #ChecklistDay
31. Sunday, Halloween #Halloween
November 2021 Social Media Holidays
1. Monday, National Author’s Day #NationalAuthorsDay
7. Sunday, Daylight Saving Time ends #DaylightSaving
11. Thursday, Veterans Day #VeteransDay
16. Thursday, National Entrepreneurs Day #EntrepreneursDay
25. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day #Thanksgiving
26. Friday, Black Friday #BlackFriday
27. Saturday, Small Business Saturday #ShopSmall
28. Sunday, Hanukkah Begins #Hanukkah
29. Monday, Cyber Monday #CyberMonday
30. Tuesday, Giving Tuesday #GivingTuesday
December 2021 Social Media Holidays
4. Saturday, National Cookie Day #NationalCookieDay
6. Monday, St. Nicholas Day #StNicholasDay
12, Sunday, Poinsettia Day #PoinsettiaDay
18. Saturday, Super Saturday #SuperSaturday
21. Tuesday, First Day of Winter #WinterSolstice
24. Friday, Christmas Eve #ChristmasEve
25. Saturday, Christmas Day #MerryChristmas
31. Friday, New Year’s Eve #NYE
Social Media Holidays 2022
Here you’ll find the most popular holidays for each month of 2022!
These are summarized on a social media holidays infographic for each season, as well as a huge one that encompasses the entire year.
More holiday marketing ideas at each link!
The linked posts include month-long and weekly holidays too.
The dates below are all updated for 2022. The dates in each linked post are updated about 8 weeks ahead of each month’s start.
Be sure to pin or bookmark each post that interests you so you can return for the latest info AND your free monthly calendar download.
January 2022 Social Media Holidays
1. Saturday, New Year’s Day #NewYearsDay
7. Friday, I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore Day #ImNotGoingToTakeItAnymoreDay
8. Saturday, Elvis Presley & David Bowie’s birth anniversary #ElvisBirthday & #BowiesBirthday
10. Monday, Peculiar People Day #PeculiarPeopleDay
17. Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day #MLKDay
20. Thursday, Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
24. Monday, National Compliment Day #NationalComplimentDay
28. Friday, Data Privacy Day #PrivacyAware
February 2022 Social Media Holidays
1. Tuesday, Chinese New Year #YearOfTheTiger
2. Wednesday, Groundhog Day #GroundhogDay
6. Sunday, Super Bowl LVI #SBLVI
9. Wednesday, National Pizza Day #NationalPizzaDay
14. Monday, Valentine’s Day #ValentinesDay
20. Sunday, Love Your Pet Day #LoveYourPetDay
21. Monday, Presidents’ Day #PresidentsDay
27. Sunday, National Retro Day
March 2022 Social Media Holidays
4. Friday, National Employee Appreciation Day #EmployeeAppreciationDay
7. Monday, National Be Heard Day #NationalBeHeardDay
8. Tuesday, International Women’s Day #BeBoldForChange
13. Sunday, Daylight Saving Time begins #DaylightSaving
15. Tuesday, World Consumer Rights Day #WCRD2022
17. Thursday, St. Patrick’s Day #StPatricksDay
20. Sunday, First Day of Spring #FirstDayofSpring
27. Sunday, Celebrate Exchange Day (a day for businesses to share ideas)
27. Sunday, Academy Awards #AcademyAwards
April 2022 Social Media Holidays
1. Friday, April Fools Day #AprilFools
10. Sunday, National Siblings Day #NationalSiblingsDay
11. Monday, National Pet Day #NationalPetDay
16. Saturday, National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day #PJDay
17. Sunday, Easter #HappyEaster
21. Thursday, Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
22. Friday, Earth Day #EarthDay2022
28. National Superhero Day
May 2022 Social Media Holidays
1. Sunday, May Day #MayDay
4. Wednesday, Star Wars Day #StarWarsDay #Maythe4thBeWithYou
5. Thursday, Cinco de Mayo #CincoDeMayo
6. Friday, National Nurses Day #NursesDay
8. Sunday, Mother’s Day #MothersDay
15. Sunday, International Day of Families #FamilyDay
20. Friday, National Be a Millionaire Day #MillionaireDay
30. Monday, National Creativity Day #NationalCreativityDay #CreativityDay #CreativityEveryday
30. Monday, Memorial Day #MemorialDay #MDW
June 2022 Social Media Holidays
1. Wednesday, National Say Something Nice Day #SaySomethingNice
3. Friday, National Donut Day #NationalDonutDay
8. Wednesday, Best Friends Day #BestFriendsDay
13. Monday, Kitchen Klutzes Day #KitchenKlutzesDay #KitchenKlutz
19. Sunday, Father’s Day #FathersDay
21. Tuesday, First Day of Summer #SummerSolstice
21. Tuesday, National Selfie Day #NationalSelfieDay
27. Monday, Micro-, Small-, And Medium-Sized Enterprises Day, #MSMEDay22
30. Thursday, Social Media Day #SMDay
July 2022 Social Media Holidays
4. Monday, Independence Day (United States) #4thOfJuly
7. Thursday, World Chocolate Day #WorldChocolateDay
11. Monday, Free Slurpee Day (7/11) #FreeSlurpeeDay
15. Friday, Give Something Away Day #GiveSomethingAwayDay
17. Sunday, World Emoji Day #WorldEmojiDay
18. Monday, Nelson Mandela International Day #MandelaDay
21. Thursday, Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
24, Sunday, Tell an Old Joke Day #TellAnOldJokeDay
31. Sunday, National Mutt Day #NationalMuttDay
August 2022 Social Media Holidays
1. Monday, World Wide Web Day #WorldWideWebDay
8. Monday, International Cat Day #InternationalCatDay
9. Tuesday, National Book Lovers Day #NationalBookLoversDay
10. Wednesday, National Lazy Day #LazyDay
15. Monday, National Relaxation Day #NationalRelaxationDay
16. Tuesday, National Tell a Joke Day #NationalTellAJokeDay
19. Friday, World Photo Day #WorldPhotoDay
26. Friday, National Dog Day #NationalDogDay
September 2022 Social Media Holidays
3. Saturday, National Lazy Mom’s Day #NationalLazyMomsDay
5. Monday, Labor Day #LaborDay
6. Tuesday, Read a Book Day #ReadABookDay
11. Sunday, National Day of Service and Remembrance #PatriotsDay
11. Sunday, National Grandparents Day #NationalGrandparentsDay
21. Wednesday, International Day of Peace #PeaceDay
22. Thursday, First Day of Fall #FirstDayOfFall
29. Thursday, National Coffee Day (US and Canada) #NationalCoffeeDay
October 2022 Social Media Holidays
1. Saturday, International Coffee Day #InternationalCoffeeDay
1. Saturday, World Smile Day #WorldSmileDay
4. Tuesday, National Taco Day #NationalTacoDay
4. Tuesday, National Dessert Day #DessertDay
13. Thursday, National Train Your Brain Day #TrainYourBrainDay
16. Sunday, Boss’s Day #BosssDay #BossesDay
20. Thursday, Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
30. Sunday, National Checklist Day #ChecklistDay
31. Monday, Halloween #Halloween
November 2022 Social Media Holidays
1. Tuesday, National Author’s Day #NationalAuthorsDay
6. Sunday, Daylight Saving Time ends #DaylightSaving
11. Friday, Veterans Day #VeteransDay
15. Tuesday, National Entrepreneurs Day #EntrepreneursDay
24. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day (US) #Thanksgiving
25. Friday, Black Friday #BlackFriday
26. Saturday, Small Business Saturday #ShopSmall
28. Monday, Cyber Monday #CyberMonday
29. Tuesday, Giving Tuesday #GivingTuesday
December 2022 Social Media Holidays
4. Sunday, National Cookie Day #NationalCookieDay
6. Tuesday, St. Nicholas Day #StNicholasDay
12. Monday, Poinsettia Day #PoinsettiaDay
17. Saturday, Super Saturday #SuperSaturday
18. Sunday, Hanukkah Begins #Hanukkah
21. Wednesday, First Day of Winter #WinterSolstice
24. Saturday, Christmas Eve #ChristmasEve
25. Sunday, Christmas Day #MerryChristmas
31. Saturday, New Year’s Eve #NYE
Make your own graphics for your holiday marketing
And there’s more! To create graphics to go with these holiday marketing ideas, read:
How To Make Valentine Graphics They’ll Love. It’s Easy!
St Patrick’s Day Graphics Go Viral on Social Media!
Independence Day Quotes: Tweet to Celebrate Freedom
How to Halloween Your Blog and Profile Pictures: Fun & Easy!
31 Halloween Quotes & 13 FREE Photos to Make Your Own Memes
30 Days of Gratitude: Quotes & Photos To Bless You & Others
Which social media holidays for your business?
There are truly holidays for every business and personality. Some days have as many as 8 to choose from!
As I mentioned in the article on Weird Holidays, there are a lot of places online where you can look up hundreds of fun holidays to connect with your followers.
But I can make that easier for you! I’ve consulted several of these sites and cross-checked the info, so you don’t have to.
Then I put the most engaging ideas in a handy, printable Social Media Content Planner.
I’ve included ideas on how to use them, and a strategy to ensure that your business promotion gets scheduled first. Then use fun holidays to keep your audience engaged!
Plan everything out by writing it down. Plan your work, then work your plan ?
Purchase this instant download PDF on an affordable monthly subscription. A full year planner is available November through January of each year.
• • • Check out the Social Media Content Planner! • • •
Social Media Holidays Conclusion
In this article, we covered:
- The BEST social media holidays for 2021-22.
- Why you should use holiday marketing.
- How to create a holiday marketing strategy.
- How to make your own graphics for your holiday marketing.
- How to organize the best ideas for your business, and keep them handy.
Missed something? Go back and review!
What to do next?
- Save this article to Pinterest, or bookmark for future reference.
- Log into the free member area to download next month’s calendar printable.
- Check out the Social Media Content Planner.
Whichever way you go – infographics, downloadable monthly calendar, DIY graphics inspiration, or the premium printable planner – you’re sure to give your marketing a boost with these social media holidays!
Jolene says
Hi, Louise I’m trying to craft some content for my LinkedIn page. I love your social media holidays, may I share your calendar from April to December on my page? I will of coz give credits to you in my post.
Louise Myers says
I’d love for you to share a link to the post. Unfortunately I can’t allow use of my images.
Mimi Cummins says
Outside of the USA, my biggest audience is Canadians. I would never include July 4th without also adding Canada Day to my calendar! Aside from that, this is a fantastic resource and huge props for sharing, thank you!!
Louise Myers says
I agree. I definitely have Canada Day on the July ideas page. This page is really just a brief overview and hub for the monthly pages 🙂
Tammy says
Louise this is fantastic! For years I have created a promotions and marketing calendar for our company, Organic Excellence, and this is by FAR the best list of Promo dates put in one convenient location for the year! I have read your other posts and am very impressed with all that you do and share. THANK YOU!!! You are a vast help to all of us out there trying to keep up. I love the links others have provided as well to help jump start the Cyber Monday sales too! Thanks everyone!
Louise Myers says
I’m so glad you like it, Tammy!
Barbara Woodman says
Omg thank you thank you! A calendar like this is actually what I was needing and totally on point, I’ll make sure to print it and put it right in front of my desk! I plan to officially announce my store opening a couple of days before Halloween and was looking for ideas that I can be capable of materializing by myself. With black friday and thanksgiving coming is going to be cray cray. Apart from social media, do you think timely newsletters could work? Especially for black friday I plan to at least use some of the advice here mailerlite.com/blog/black-friday-cyber-monday-email-marketing-checklist like a countdown timer + GIFs, and offer mystery sales as suggested here blog.fivestars.com/boost-your-black-friday-sales-with-these-5-promotion-ideas/ but then again, not sure if it’d be too soon for me after just opening a store (I sell hand-made jewelry and journals) either way I’ll try to create my own memes for Halloween so i’ll shamelessly copy some of your quotes if that’s ok 😀
Louise Myers says
If you have a mailing list, then you should definitely alert them to your store opening and sales, IF it’s relevant to why they joined your list.
Best of luck!
jennifer says
Hi, Thank you for giving out the details, Such a beautiful calendar, Thanks for sharing!!
Louise Myers says
Glad you like it!
Karen Cline says
Thanks so much for sharing this!! We are very excited about doing this. Thanks again
Louise Myers says
Enjoy!
Sharon Gore says
Thanks for sharing!! Such a beautiful calendar
Louise Myers says
Glad you like it!
R Lindner says
Don’t forget Boxing Day on December 26th. It’s a thing in Canada, etc., and a quirky one for the U.S.. ?
Louise Myers says
For sure
Chand Naik says
Hi,
Is this calendar relevant in India?
Louise Myers says
The calendar is relevant to audiences that are primarily US based.
Helena Orstem says
This is great! Thanks!!!
Virginia says
Fantastic information! Thank you!
Louise Myers says
You’re welcome 🙂
Val says
Was definitely looking for this, thanks! Just a quick question though; is there meant to be 3 get to know your customers days? Again, thanks for a great post!
Louise Myers says
Yep! They happen quarterly.
Mary Beth says
This is great! Thanks!!!
Louise Myers says
Enjoy
Petra says
Hi! I just wanted to quickly message you that I featured your blog post on my blog. You can find it here: nellaino.com/blog/10-blogs-which-will-help-you-make-instagram-marketing-a-breeze
Louise Myers says
Awesome! Thanks Petra.
Tisha Tahnin says
Cool. Outstanding! I was looking to start social media marketing for my business as I am suddenly feeling that my targeted customers are mostly interconnected with social medias like: FACEBOOK,TWITTER, PINTEREST,INSTRAGRAM etc. I am planning to establish a strategy for trial. Before that I am roaming in the blogs for getting some ideas about Social Media Marketing. I hope your one made something clear for me. I will be Planning with this holiday package. Thanks!