Social Media Content Creation: Don’t Forget the Awareness Days!

Social media content creation can be a challenge. Your content needs to be engaging and authentic while showcasing what your organization does and why you are unique. At Chartwell, we encourage creating a content calendar a month in advance with your content, links, and any media you may need. While things may change before the posting date, it’s much easier to think of something interesting to share when you’re not in a hurry each time. 

When creating content don’t overlook national holidays and awareness days. They offer many ways that your organization can create timely content that not only shares what your organization is about but can also be a fun way to celebrate your company’s culture. 

Take a look at national holiday calendars and determine which holidays best fit your organization or your industry. While we want to show support for all the great causes out there, don’t be the company that jumps on the bandwagon because it’s trendy. Choose holidays that help represent who you are and what you stand for. However, if you’re looking for ways to engage your team for fun photos or encourage audience engagement, don’t be afraid to consider some of the more fun holidays like National Coffee Day or Popcorn Poppin’ Month. Just make sure they are appropriate. 

There are three kinds of holidays: awareness months, awareness weeks, and single day holidays. While all of them provide opportunities to share content, each one comes with its own strategies to make the most of them. 

Awareness Months

Breast Cancer Awareness Month, American Heart Month, and Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month are some of the examples of month-long awareness campaigns. These often help bring more serious issues to the forefront of discussion. Because these are more widely known, it is easier to reach a broader audience when tying into them. 

Strategy: Consider a month-long campaign centered around the topic across all your platforms. This is a great opportunity to repurpose multiple case studies, articles, and other longer content that relates to the topic as well as mixing in more candid posts showing how your organization contributes to the national conversation.

Awareness Weeks 

Teacher Appreciation Week, National Physician Assistants Week, and National Public Health Week are a few of the shorter entries on the calendar. These weeks are either used to bring a broader awareness to a topic or celebrate the contributions that many people make in their job. 

Strategy: Focus on more original content during this week. While this is another good time to share a few long-form content pieces, these weeks are a great way to showcase what makes your organization unique. Consider planning an event to celebrate the teachers at your school or nurses in your health organization and take photos and videos to share. Organic content connects with audiences much better than stock photography. Much like month-long awareness events, these weeks also are a little more forgiving on when posts can be scheduled. 

Single-Day Holidays

Earth Day, Giving Tuesday, and National Coffee Day are examples of single-day holidays devoted to raising awareness, celebrating an event, or are just fun days. While some of these receive national attention, many are fun ways to celebrate.

Strategy: These can be mixed in throughout your entire calendar for single posts to change up your day-to-day content and share more about your culture. These days are less inclined to sharing long-form content such as articles but are great for creating organic content like photos and videos. Plan ahead and host an event that day by setting up a coffee bar for National Coffee Day or ask staff to send in pictures of their favorite furry friend for National Dog Day. These days are made for organic photos and videos. 

Creating varied, engaging content for social media can be a struggle but it doesn’t have to be. With a little foresight, creativity, and planning, you can mix in holidays with your regular content to help spice up your social media and beyond. This will help you reach audiences in a new way and may even introduce new fun activities for your employees. If you’re not sure where to start, Chartwell Agency can help.