They say a relaxed mind is a creative mind, but it’s hard to stay relaxed when you’re running a business—let alone in September when everyone’s switching gears. Lucky for you though, there’s a slew of events and themes in September that you can use for easy and creative marketing. And I’m not just talking Labor Day or Back to School….
So in this post, I’m going to equip you with over 50 unique ways to market your business in September, along with real examples from businesses just like yours. Argh ya ready? (Couldn’t resist).
Addiction recovery
Baby safety
Better breakfast
Childhood cancer
Childhood obesity
Disaster preparedness
Fall hat
Food safety
Life insurance
Mortgage professionals
Self-improvement
Self-care
Suicide prevention
Update your resume (international)
Wilderness
September is National Suicide Prevention Month.
Here are just some of the many holidays and national days of September. You can see a full list of days and dates at the bottom of this post.
Patriot Day
Labor Day
Voter Registration Day
No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day
Read A Book Day
Grateful Patient Day
Swap Ideas Day
Hug & High Five Day
Day of Encouragement
Hug Your Boss Day
Dance Day
CleanUp Day– Third Saturday In September
Talk Like A Pirate Day
American Business Women’s Day
Family Health and Fitness Day
Love People Day
Side note: Check out our Labor Day Instagram captions ideas.
There are plenty of opportunities to be proactive with diversity, equity, and inclusion this month. In addition to the ones featured below, there’s also Love People Day, Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and Intergeneration Month.
Just One Human Family Day occurs every September 12 and it’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a day to remember that no matter where we come from, what language we speak, what we look like, what our abilities and beliefs are, or how we identify ourselves— at the end of the day, we are all just one big human family living on this planet, all deserving of compassion from one another. You can incorporate this into your business marketing by:
Sharing the collateral: Share the lyrics or the YouTube video of the song “We Share Just One Planet” on social.
Do an earthly act of kindness: Reach out to someone and do something kind for them. Better yet, do something kind for the planet with them, like plant a tree or pick up trash.
Swag: Sport the t-shirt or stickers to show your support and post on social.
Women in business are a force to be reckoned with in today’s economy. This holiday occurs on September 22.
Compile a round-up: Find 10 women leading the way in your niche and write a round-up of them in a blog post. Tag them on social when you promote the post—they might share with their audience!
Run a stat-themed sale: For example, women started 49% of new businesses in the US last year. Send out a promotional email offering 49% off of select products, or run a $49 special.
Run a poll or quiz: Find some interesting stats about women in business and turn them into a poll or quiz or interactive post series for your followers. Like “What percentage of businesses are owned by women globally,” for example.
National Hispanic Heritage Month, which actually runs from September 15 – October 15, is a time to celebrate the history, culture, and contributions of Latinx and Hispanic Americans. Here are some ways to recognize it in your marketing:
Recognize Latinx influencers: Do some digging to find Latinx influencers or historical figures in your niche or neighborhood. Depending on their level of celebrity, share information about them, interview them, or spotlight them on social.
Mark your calendar. The independence anniversaries of Latin American countries is the reason behind it’s start date. You can share a different fact or stat about each country on its respective day.
September 15: El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras.
September 16: Mexico
September 18: Chile
October 12: Dia de la Raza/Columbus Day
Donate: Consider donating to the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Latinos for Education, the Latino Equality Alliance, or other organization dedicated to Hispanic community support.
Your business doesn’t necessarily have to be in an industry directly tied to any of the September awareness causes. Here are some ideas for incorporating September causes into creative, low-budget marketing.
It comes as no surprise that September is National Self-Improvement Month. It’s the second new year of the year where people get back into their routines after summer. Here are some ideas for marketing around this evergreen topic:
Create a video with your own self-improvement tips.
Share your favorite self-improvement books and ask your followers to comment back with theirs.
Write blog posts on goal-setting or listicles like “X Ways to Improve Your [memory, credit score, leadership skills]” or “How to Improve Your [X] in 5 Minutes.”
Run a 30-day challenge on Facebook or Instagram
There are several ways to engage your audience and your employees with cause-based marketing in the name of childhood cancer awareness. You could:
Post eye-opening stats about childhood cancer on social media.
Register your company for the Great Cycle Challenge and get your employees out on their bikes. Not only will you be fighting kid cancer, but you’ll be promoting good health and friendly competition among your employees. Encourage photo sharing so your audience can follow along throughout the month.
Host a fundraiser and sell T-shirts to support a particular child or the cause in general.
With September being Food Safety Month, this is an opportunity for health specialists and restaurants to promote their services, publicize their best practices, and reassure customers.
You could also tie it in nicely with the back-to-school theme, like with the example below:
National Wilderness Month celebrates the anniversary of the Wilderness Act, which was pivotal in the conservation of American land and the creation of national parks. Here are some ways to use it in your marketing:
Share your favorite hiking trails and ask your followers for theirs.
Post photos from your own wilderness adventures.
Share some eye-opening stats or a quote by John Muir.
So August is actually the official National Back to School Month, but who are we kidding. Any type of business can participate in the back to school season. You can:
We’ve got plenty more with these 31 Easy Back-to-School Marketing Ideas That Work for Any Business.
Reffering back to my intro, yes—National Talk Like a Pirate Day is a thing and it occurs on September 19. But I’ll let you come up your own ideas for that day (I am THIS close to throwing in a pirate pun). Let’s talk about some of the many other special days of September.
If it weren’t for Labor Day, the first Monday of September would potentially be the worst Monday of the year. Here are some ideas to try out:
For more awesome ideas, check out these Labor Day Social Media Posts, Promotions, & Marketing Ideas To Celebrate.
This day is dedicated to the 2,977 victims of September 11. Here are some ways to show your support:
Make it a day of service for your team.
Display flags in and outside your store.
Encourage your audience to take a moment of silence at the times of the attacks
Opening night for the NFL falls in September. Celebrate the season opener with some creative marketing for your business. Here are some ideas:
Engage customers on Facebook by asking about their favorite teams or running a trivia contest.
Decorate your storefront, restaurant, or studio in team colors.
Run a football-themed special.
Offer discounts on game days or when your team wins.
The autumnal equinox (for the Northern Hemisphere) occurs in the last week or so of September, which means that the number of daylight and nighttime hours is the same. This celestial holiday (yay) marks the official end of the summer (sad).
But the first day of fall is a beautiful second new start granted to us each year—hence why September is the new January. So it’s a great opportunity to publish content around fresh starts and fall collections.
And since this day happens at the end of the month, you can run a countdown series all month long.
You may also be interested in using any of these 157 authentic fall hashtags.
Positive Thinking Day falls on September 13 every year and never gets any less versatile. Any business can use this holiday for just about any reason: to cheer up, motivate, encourage, compliment, thank, help, inspire, or [insert any positive verb your heart desires here]. Dentists can connect this to smiles, physical therapists to recovery, interior designers to decorating, and the list goes on.
National Working Parents Day falls on September 16. If your audience includes working parents, humanize your brand and acknowledge their hard work. And don’t forget about your parent employees!
Good Neighbor Day, on September 28, is a good time to do some outreach across your Instagram, LinkedIn, or geographically local network. Acknowledge fellow neighboring businesses on social media to encourage a sense of community, or come up with a contest where followers or employees can nominate good neighbors for a grand prize.
National Read a Book Day is a creative way for preschools, tutors, and other education-oriented businesses to market themselves. If your business isn’t related to education, read a book related to your industry and share your insights and learnings on your blog or social media profiles.
This is also a good time to give back to your community by reading a book to children or the elderly. Volunteering is not only a honorable thing to do, it will make you feel good and as a bonus, likely increase brand awareness in your local market.
September 5 is the International Day of Charity. Choose a local charity to support and get your employees involved, whether in person or virtually.
Or, if you’re already supporting a charity, feature them on your blog or social media profiles and invite your followers to support them as well.
You can, and should, populate your own Q&A section on your Google Business Profile. This helps you to get ahead of common customer questions and increase their confidence in choosing your business. Take this time to address of any questions that may be particularly relevant for fall, such as:
Do you have student discounts?
Does your back-to-school package include sauna use?
Do you have the back-to-school supply list for my local elementary school?
What are your hours on move-in weekend?
If you have a seasonal business, make sure to reflect any changes in your hours on your Google listing. When it comes to local marketing, the details are key.
Our friends at LOCALiQ share some great September newsletter ideas, but here are just a few:
Run an email-exclusive summer clearance promo to boost engagement.
Include an inspirational quote for Positive Thinking Day.
Let customers know if you’ve changed your hours for fall.
Provide some of your most helpful blog posts for staying somewhat focused before the long Labor Day weekend.
Hopefully these September marketing ideas and examples have given you some material to work with for your blog, social media profiles, websites, and other free marketing channels.
For a year’s worth of marketing ideas, check out this marketing calendar template from LOCALiQ.
For more monthly marketing ideas, browse our collection…
As promised, here’s the full list of September social media holidays, courtesy of National Day Calendar:
September 1
No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day
September 2
V-J Day
September 3
Lazy Mom’s Day – First Friday in September
Food Bank Day– First Friday in September
College Colors Day – Friday before Labor Day
September 4
Tailgating Day – First Saturday in September
World Beard Day – First Saturday in September
September 5
Cheese Pizza Day
Be Late For Something Day
September 6
Read A Book Day
Labor Day – First Monday in September
September 7
Beer Lover’s Day
Grateful Patient Day
September 8
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses Day
Ampersand Day
September 9
Teddy Bear Day
September 10
Swap Ideas Day
September 11
Patriot Day and Day of Service and Remembrance
September 12
Just One Human Family Day*
Hug and High 5 Day *
Day of Encouragement
Pet Memorial Day – Second Sunday in September
Hug Your Hound Day – Second Sunday in September
Grandparent’s Day – Sunday after Labor Day
September 13
Kids Take Over The Kitchen Day
Celiac Disease Awareness Day
Bald is Beautiful Day
Day of the Programmer – 256th Day of the Year
Boss/Employee Exchange Day – Monday after Labor Day
September 14
Parents Day Off
Live Creative Day
Sober Day
September 15
Tackle Kids Cancer Day
Online Learning Day
September 16
Working Parents Day
Mayflower Day
September 17
Professional House Cleaners Day
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day
Hug Your Boss Day – Changes Annually
September 18
Air Force Birthday
HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day
Dance Day– Third Saturday in September
Gymnastics Day– Third Saturday in September
Boys’ and Girls’ Club Day for Kids – Third Saturday in September
Puppy Mill Awareness Day – Third Saturday in September
Responsible Dog Ownership Day – Third Saturday in September
CleanUp Day– Third Saturday In September
September 19
Talk Like A Pirate Day
Wife Appreciation Day – Third Sunday in September
September 20
Care for Kids Day
September 21
IT Professionals Day– Third Tuesday in September
September 22
American Business Women’s Day
Car Free Day
Autumnal Equinox – Changes Annually
September 23
Celebrate Bisexuality Day
September 24
Punctuation Day
Brave Day– Fourth Friday in September
Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – Last Friday in September
September 25
Tune-Up Day
Research Administrator Day
Family Health and Fitness Day USA– Last Saturday in September
September 26
Compliance Officer Day
Situational Awareness Day
September 27
Day of Forgiveness
Family Day – Fourth Monday in September
September 28
Drink Beer Day
Good Neighbor Day Fourth Sunday
Voter Registration Day – Fourth Tuesday in September
September 29
Coffee Day
VFW Day
Women’s Health & Fitness Day– Last Wednesday in September
September 30
Love People Day
