With the ever-increasing demand for creative marketing strategies, social media holidays and awareness days can help hospitality businesses stand out, engage with, and reach new audiences.
And in September 2023, there are plenty of opportunities to do just that.
Contents
Social Media Holiday Dates September 2023
How To Maximise Social Media Impact with OKR Goal Setting
25 x Campaign Ideas for September 2023
Social Media Holidays in September 2023
Here is a comprehensive list of social media holidays, events, and celebrations in September 2023:
September Monthly Celebrations
Blood Cancer Awareness Month
National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
Organic September
Sourdough September
World Alzheimer's Month
September Social Media Holidays & Awareness Days
September 1: National Cherry Popover Day
September 1: World Letter Writing Day
September 2: International Bacon Day
September 2: National Grits for Breakfast Day
September 3: National Welsh Rarebit Day
September 4: National Wildlife Day
September 4: National Macadamia Nut Day
September 4: Labor Day
September 5: International Day of Charity
September 5: Arbaeen
September 5: National Cheese Pizza Day
September 6: National Coffee Ice Cream Day
September 6: Read a Book Day
September 7: National Acorn Squash Day
September 7: Salami Day
September 8: International Literacy Day
September 12: Coptic New Year
September 12: National Chocolate Milkshake Day
September 12: National Video Games Day
September 12: National Day of Encouragement
September 13: Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day
September 13: National Peanut Day
September 15: National Cheese Toast Day
September 15: National Linguine Day
September 15: Rosh Hashanah
September 16: National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day
September 16: National Guacamole Day
September 17: National Apple Dumpling Day
September 18: National Cheeseburger Day
September 19: National Butterscotch Pudding Day
September 20: National String Cheese Day
September 21: Mabon
September 19: Talk Like a Pirate Day
September 21: International Day of Peace
September 21: National Pecan Cookie Day
September 22: National Ice Cream Cone Day
September 24: Yom Kippur
September 26: Mawlid
September 27: World Tourism Day
September 29: Sukkot
September 29: Pitru Paksha
September 30: International Podcast Day
How To Maximise Social Media Impact with OKR Goal Setting
The dynamic nature of social media platforms can make it challenging for brands to measure success and plan their strategies effectively.
Setting, tracking, and achieving social media goals is made easier with the OKR framework.
Understanding the OKR Framework
OKR, an acronym for Objectives and Key Results is a popular management strategy for goal setting within organisations. It provides a structured approach to setting ambitious goals and tracking progress.
There are two main components to the framework:
Objectives: These are clearly defined qualitative goals you want to achieve over a set period. Objectives are meant to be ambitious and should align with the company's mission and strategic plan.
Key Results: These are specific, quantifiable measures used to track the achievement of each objective. Key results should be measurable, time-bound, and directly influence the outcome of the objective.
The Benefits of OKRs in Social Media Strategy
OKRs can dramatically boost a brand's social media performance when deployed correctly by providing a clear roadmap for social media activities, ensuring that every post, campaign, and interaction aligns with the brand's overarching objectives.
With OKRs, social media teams can:
Focus on what matters: By defining clear objectives, teams can focus their efforts on high-impact activities that drive towards these goals.
Measure success: Key Results provide a quantifiable way to measure progress and success, giving teams a clear understanding of what's working and what needs improvement.
Improve transparency and alignment: Shared OKRs ensure everyone in the team understands the social media goals and how their work contributes to achieving them.
Setting Social Media Objectives: Start with the Big Picture
The first step to successful social media OKRs is setting clear, ambitious objectives. These should reflect the big-picture goals that your brand aims to achieve on social media. Your objectives should align with your overall business strategy, whether to increase followers, boost engagement, or generate more website traffic.
When setting your social media objectives, keep the following principles in mind:
Be specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve. Vague objectives can lead to confusion and lack of direction.
Make it challenging: Your objectives should push your team to step out of their comfort zone. Remember, the aim is not just to meet targets but to strive for continuous improvement.
Ensure it's relevant: Your social media objectives should align with your business goals and contribute to your brand's success.
Identifying Key Results: The Metrics that Matter
Once you've defined your social media objectives, the next step is to identify key results. These are the specific, measurable outcomes that indicate progress towards your objectives.
Key results for social media OKRs might include metrics like:
Engagement Rate
Follower Growth
Website Traffic
Conversion Rate
Examples of Social Media OKRs
Here are some examples to help you better understand how to apply the OKR framework to your social media strategy.
Objective: Increase brand awareness on social media
Key Results:
Increase Facebook page likes by 30% by the end of the quarter
Boost Instagram followers by 25% in the next two months
Achieve a 20% increase in LinkedIn post impressions within the next 60 days
Objective: Improve user engagement on Twitter
Key Results:
Increase average tweet engagement rate by 15% in the next month
Gain 100 new Twitter followers who actively interact with our content in the next six weeks
Raise the number of retweets per post by 10% in the next 30 days
Tracking Progress
Regularly review your key results to track progress towards your objectives. Depending on your goals, you can do this weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
Iterating on Your Approach
Use the insights from your key results to adjust your social media strategy as needed. You may need to tweak your content strategy, experiment with different posting times, or discover new ways to engage your audience.
Take-Away
Social media OKRs provide a powerful framework for setting, tracking, and achieving your social media goals. By aligning your social media objectives with your overall business strategy and measuring progress through specific key results, you can drive significant improvements in your social media performance.
Remember, regular review and iteration are key to effective social media OKRs. Don't be afraid to adjust your objectives or key results as needed, and always look for new opportunities to improve your social media impact.
Content & Campaign Ideas for September 2023
Here are some marketing campaign suggestions for September's monthly celebrations, social media holidays, and awareness days:
🍒 Celebrate National Cherry Popover Day with a special cherry-themed breakfast menu featuring delicious cherry-filled popovers with fresh cherry compote.
✉️ In honour of World Letter Writing Day, encourage your guests to pen heartfelt letters to loved ones while enjoying a relaxing afternoon tea experience at your hotel or restaurant, complete with personalised stationery and delicious treats.
Make the day an event with a calligraphy station or a talk from an English Literature or Letter Writing expert. Kids can also get in on the action with a craft zone.
🥓 Indulge in an unforgettable bacon extravaganza on International Bacon Day with a menu showcasing creative bacon-infused dishes like bacon-wrapped scallops, bacon mac and cheese, and bacon-topped burgers. Remember to offer vegan and pork-free alternatives.
🧀 Transport your taste buds to Wales on National Welsh Rarebit Day with a delectable Welsh rarebit tasting menu showcasing different variations of this cheesy and savoury comfort-food favourite.
The best pairing for Welsh Rarebit is beer, sparkling wine, cider, Grenache, or a GSM red blend (Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre)
🌰 Celebrate National Macadamia Nut Day with a tropical-inspired menu featuring macadamia-crusted fish and ice cream sundaes.
Approximately 80% of macadamia nuts are fat, making them a great keto diet nut—good news for guests cutting carbs.
👷 Treat your hardworking staff to a special Labor Day appreciation event with a staff barbecue, games, and prizes to show gratitude for their dedication and commitment.
💖 On the International Day of Charity, donate a percentage of all sales to a local charity or organise a charity event by partnering with a local cause, encouraging guests to participate while enjoying a memorable dining experience.
🍕 During National Cheese Pizza Day, provide guests with a buy-one-get-one-free promotion on cheese pizzas, or allow them to create their cheese pizzas using a curated selection of gourmet toppings.
Trending toppings this year include Goats Cheese, Beetroot Puree, Rocket, Figs, Brie, Balsamic Drizzle, Roasted Garlic, Pesto, Blue Cheese, Roasted Cauliflower, White Sauce Base, Smoked Salmon, Sauteed Leeks and Artichokes
☕ Satisfy caffeine and sweet cravings on National Coffee Ice Cream Day with coffee-infused ice cream flavours paired with a complimentary espresso or a coffee cocktail.
📚 Create a cosy reading corner in our restaurant or lobby, offering complimentary books and a special menu of literary-inspired dishes and cocktails to celebrate Read a Book Day. Partner with local book clubs or ask a local author to give a reading.
Consider starting a book club with special offers for members during quieter times.
🍂 Embrace the flavours of Autumn on National Acorn Squash Day with a menu featuring comforting acorn squash dishes, such as roasted acorn squash soup, stuffed acorn squash, and acorn squash desserts.
🥩 Celebrate the bold flavours of Salami Day with a curated salami-tasting experience featuring a variety of artisanal salamis paired with complementary cheeses, bread, and wine.
Host a special event with a themed charcuterie board, and work with local cheese producers and sommeliers to create a unique tasting experience.
🥤 Cool down on National Chocolate Milkshake Day with a menu of indulgent milkshakes featuring classic chocolate shakes, creative flavour combinations, and optional boozy additions.
Hard milkshakes, also known as adult or spiked milkshakes, have gained popularity in recent years. These alcoholic versions of the classic childhood treat have become trendy among adults looking for a fun and indulgent beverage.
The appeal of hard milkshakes lies in their ability to combine the nostalgia of a milkshake with the enjoyment of a cocktail. By adding spirits such as vodka, rum, or whiskey to the traditional milkshake ingredients, these drinks offer a delicious and boozy twist.
One reason for their popularity is the versatility they offer. Hard milkshakes can be customised according to personal preferences, including flavours, mix-ins, and toppings available. The Instagrammable nature of hard milkshakes plays a part in their success.
🎮 Gamers unite on National Video Games Day! Host a gaming tournament or offer gaming-themed food and drink specials to cater to the gaming community and create a fun-filled atmosphere.
Gamers love Twitch. Create a Twitch channel to engage younger customers.
With Twitch for restaurants, restaurants can showcase their food, chefs, and dining experiences through live video streaming. A restaurant can reach a wider audience through Twitch, engage with customers in real-time, and provide a unique experience to those who can't physically visit.
Viewers can interact and support their favourite restaurants through chat rooms, donations, and subscriptions.
🤗 Spread positivity and kindness on the National Day of Encouragement by offering guests complimentary desserts or uplifting notes, encouraging them to inspire and support one another.
"Positivity is like a boomerang. The more you put it out into the world, the more it comes back to you." - Gordon Ramsay
👩🍳 Let the little ones unleash their culinary creativity on Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day, organising a fun cooking class or a special children's menu where kids can design and prepare their own dishes.
🥜 Celebrate the versatility of peanuts on National Peanut Day with a menu featuring peanut-inspired dishes, from Thai peanut noodles to peanut butter desserts and peanut-infused cocktails.
🧀 On National Cheese Toast Day, offer a variety of gourmet cheese toasts, including different cheese toppings and creative combinations, paired with a selection of wines or craft beers.
Show everyone your Cheese Pull! Here are some of my Favourite Cheese Pulls on Instagram
🍝 Delight pasta lovers on National Linguine Day with a special menu highlighting linguine dishes, from classic linguine alle vongole to innovative variations like lobster linguine.
🍞 Indulge in the comforting flavours of cinnamon and raisin on National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day with a special menu featuring cinnamon raisin French toast, bread pudding, and gourmet cinnamon raisin sandwiches. Delicious!
🥑 Celebrate National Guacamole Day by offering a guacamole-tasting experience featuring different variations of this beloved avocado dip, served with crispy tortilla chips and refreshing margaritas. Or add some tableside theatre by smashing that avo for fresh guac!
🍏 Fall in love with the flavours of National Apple Dumpling Day. Serve warm apple dumplings with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce for the ultimate seasonal treat.
🍔 Sink your teeth into juicy cheeseburgers on National Cheeseburger Day with a special menu featuring a variety of gourmet cheeseburgers, from classic combinations to unique flavour profiles.
Level up your cheeseburger with these trending cravings: giant crunchy onion rings, blue cheese stuffed burgers, chicken katsu burgers, black bean burgers, peanut butter bacon burgers, fried crispy shallots, kimchi, and Caprese burgers with basil, tomato, and mozzarella.
🍮 On National Butterscotch Pudding Day, let your guests indulge their sweet tooth with a delicious selection of creamy butterscotch puddings served in individual jars or as a decadent dessert parfait.
🏴☠️ Ahoy, mateys! Join in the fun on Talk Like a Pirate Day, offering pirate-themed food and drink specials, dress-up contests, and fun activities for all landlubbers to enjoy.
Get creative with your dishes; here are some fun suggestions to get you started:
Pieces of Eight Pizza: A delectable pizza topped with eight different types of cheeses and a treasure trove of toppings.
Yo-Ho-Ho Calamari: Crispy fried calamari rings served with a zesty citrus-infused dipping sauce.
Jolly Roger Jambalaya: A rice dish with a medley of shrimp, chicken, and sausage seasoned with Caribbean spices and cornbread.
Davy Jones' Deep-Fried Pickles: Crispy breaded dill pickle served with a tangy sauce for dipping.
Cannonball Meatballs: Savoury meatballs made with a secret blend of spices. They'll explode with flavour in yer mouth!
Blackbeard's Beef Brisket: Slow-cooked beef brisket slathered in a smoky barbecue sauce. It's so tender; it'll make ye surrender!
Take-Away
Holidays, events, and celebrations on social media can significantly affect how businesses market in September 2023.
With these popular and practical opportunities, businesses can reach their audience and boost brand awareness, engagement, and sales.
Start planning your September marketing campaigns today!
Here's to Your Success 🥂