Adbot E-Commerce Calendar Adbot E-Commerce Calendar

January: It’s a real no-fun, downer of a month, right? Not anymore: become now it’s Ginuary, and it’s big on social media. Check out Instagram and Twitter for all the #Ginuary cocktail posts by gin lovers.

The no-alcohol “Dry January” movement is about detoxing and repenting for being naughty over the holiday season. But it’s making an exception, just for gin, while participating in the spirit of Dry January. (Ah, the spirit.)

Heaps of gin bars and brands jump onto this trend by promoting special Ginuary deals, gin-based cocktails and events to encourage ginophiles to have fun and enjoy their gin – in moderation. If you’re a gin distiller, this is the biggest online retail month for you.

Who’s your customer? Gin’s for everyone who’s a grownup, from grandma who’s loyal to her Gin Martini to your cousin at uni who introduced you to a Rhubarb and Cranberry Cosmo. Gins fans are everywhere.

So go on, show off your Gin recipes on Facebook, link them to a deal and make sure your campaign is supported by a strong reach strategy.
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Kids groan, parents rejoice. It’s back to school time, and it’s a huge retail opportunity for many small businesses, as everyone gears up for the new school year. This happens in January for the southern hemisphere or around late July for the northern.

Small businesses do brisk sales in back-to-school supplies like clothing, shoes, backpacks, laptops, textbooks, stationary, notebooks, and educational apps.

Note: Online shopping is very popular – so make sure your business has that option.

Finances are tight these days, so why not package kits of essential school items to sell at a discount? This will help increase your online basket size and help parents give their kids more.

If the shift towards remote education has affected your sales of traditional school items, try connecting with online schools like Koa Academy and offering their online students a special discount on back-to-school packages.

An interesting side note: office supply stores also see an uptick in sales during this time. (Because everyone loves that sharpened pencil smell.) Don’t leave them out of your audience.
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Cue the fireworks and festivities! Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the lunar calendar, celebrated by 1.4 billion people in China, and millions around the world.

It’s a time to wish friends and family prosperity, wealth and luck for the new year, to give gifts, and to enjoy a great bash. It’s even bigger than Christmas; last year alone consumers spent $127 billion over a week-long period.

Your audience are Millennials and Gen-Z. They’re spending even more than their parents’ generation on Lunar New Year – and they’re buying more tech items.

Need tips? Okay:  2023 is the year of the rabbit, so why not include a rabbit theme in your social content? …

If you don’t love chocolate, and cake, are you even alive? We thought so. That’s why we also love International Chocolate Cake Day. It’s a great opportunity for your bakery, restaurant or confectionery store to promote your chocolate cake products and get feet through the door.

Here’s how to do clever stuff on National Chocolate Cake Day:

Get creative: Dream up a special chocolate cake flavour or offer limited-edition cakes for the day to create excitement and drive sales.

Drop short social media promo videos onto Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to promote your delicious new Choc-With-A-Twist flavoured cake. Use the hashtag #NationalChocolateCakeDay and get heaps of likes and attention.

Partner with local businesses like local coffee shops, restaurants or other businesses to feature your chocolate cakes and reach adoring new customers.

Allow online orders, and delivery through Uber Eats, to reach more customers who’d rather get it done online.

National Chocolate Cake Day may be a one-day event, but you can make that choccie-love last way longer. Keep creating a buzz to seduce the chocophiles, other goody lovers and foodies in the long-term.
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Cancer is a sensitive and serious topic, so It’s important to be sensitive and considerate when you promote your health products. Be gentle. You don’t want to be seen as exploitative or tactless.

If you’re a small business operating in the health care industry this is a good opportunity to raise awareness about cancer and to support the cancer community.

During Cancer Day or on Cancer Month, try this:

Donate a portion of proceeds from sales to a cancer research or support organization. This can be a great way for the business to give back to the community and support cancer research, while also promoting their products.

Offer discounts for cancer patients on cancer-related health products, to support them during their treatment and recovery and let them know that you care….

Love is ALL around, especially in February – so catch feelings now. This is the perfect opportunity to start off your year’s marketing efforts.

People start searching for Valentine’s products as early as January. You can celebrate all this Cupidy, cuddly romance in your eCommerce store by promoting gifts and treats that lovers will love.

And remember: the early lovebird catches the Valentine – so get in quick. To pump up those sales, use visual Facebook ads and support your marketing funnel with search ads

There’s been a huge increase in online searches for Valentine gifts like flowers, gifts, and restaurants, but people also want gifts for kids and pets.

For new audiences, think different, with gift options or experiences. From mid-January, focus on telling your unique brand story. February 11th to 13th are big shopping days, and same-day delivery is in big demand, so in that week, change your focus to same-day delivery and value.
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It’s Fur Baby Day! International Love Your Pet Day is your chance to promote whatever products and services your pet retail businesses offers. Celebrate the cuties, the fluffies and the feathery ones, and show you care.

Pet owners show their love through their wallets. The global Pet Care E-Commerce market has been valued at over US $38 billion – and it’s growing.

Want a share of that pie?

Try hosting a pet photo contest on social media, where your customers share photos of their pets, and give the winner a prize from your store. Use the hashtag #NationalLoveYourPetDay to reach a larger audience.

Doggy and kitty companions really are like children to many owners. You could live stream with pet experts and vets who give advice on all kinds of pet health issues.

Remember: you’ll reach heaps more customers by offering online shopping, too.

OK, fetch!
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Happy International Women’s Day! Today, we celebrate the strength, resilience, achievements and beauty of women everywhere. So let’s talk about self-care. It’s become a big thing, especially for women with busy lives, and this is the day to offer them something.

If you’re in the beauty industry, whether you own a spa or nail bar, sell underwear or sex toys, remember: every woman deserves to feel her best on this day – and you can make it happen. She’s waiting – get onto it!

A tip on Ads: Remember that Search is a media channel that’s great for conversion this month, so why not increase your search budget in March?
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St. Paddy’s Day – now there’s another grand opportunity to increase your online sales.
Jump in and promote relevant products – or engage your clever brain and make them relevant. (Clue: Green stuff. Lots of green stuff.)

Get a festive atmosphere going in your physical or online stores. Students and younger people love buying green beer on this day, and eating green-dyed soda bread. (Yum.)

Anything and everything goes green.
Create a page on your website with all your green products on one page, or give your website a green theme for the day.

Your customers are looking for unique St. Patrick’s Day-themed products. They like witty t-shirts. They like silly mugs. They like fun ornaments – anything that’s relevant.

Just have fun. The luck of the leprechaun will help you find that pot of cash at the end of the rainbow.
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Gotcha! In the week leading up to April 1, millions of naughty pranksters search on Google and Bing for good April Fools’ Day ideas. Want to take advantage of that, and get in on the fun? Try this:

Create a prank- or joke-themed campaign that’s relevant to your business. Let’s say you’re a food business. You could dream up a silly or odd fictitious product or menu item, (onion milkshake, anyone?) or if you’re an e-commerce business, you could create an equally silly but fake sale or promotion.

Promote your campaign on social media using hashtag #AprilFools to reach a larger audience.

Use Paid Advertising like Google and Bing to drive traffic to your prank campaign by targeting keywords related to April Fools’ Day.

Use email marketing: send an email to your customer list promoting your April Fools’ Day campaign, and any special offers or discounts….

Well, well, well! It’s what everyone wants to be, judging by the value of the wellness market at over USD 4,8 billion in 2022 and it’s still rising.

Health-focused apps and e-commerce stores are hugely popular. Want to get a piece of the action? Use social media and search advertising, and you’ll reach new customers.

World Health Day, which is organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), draws attention to a specific health topic. (last year’s theme was Our Planet, Our Health).
It encourages healthy living, among people and communities who know the importance of good health.

It’s all about appreciating healthcare professionals and advocating for greater access to healthcare for all. WHO provides resources and guidance to help countries and organisations to plan and implement their own events and activities.

Think public events, media campaigns, and social media campaigns.

This year, do it. Show your support. Connect with WHO and collaborate with your communities’ partners in the healthcare industry.
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Hoppy Easter! Around the world, that means chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs and fun parades for millions. For millions of others, it’s a deeply spiritual time. And for everyone who celebrates, food and cooking are big. It’s family get together time, with big family meals – and braais. Gardening and DIY also becomes popular as people use their free time to get things done.

Spending – both in store and online – has recovered, and increased enormously since 2020. Women do more shopping than men, but men spend more.

Even if your audience is just relaxing over the long weekend – this is an opportunity to promote relaxed and restful services. Think spa treatments, pampering and self-care products.

However your customers celebrate this moveable feast, you can connect with them by marking Easter in an unforgettable way. Use Adbot to help you pump up sales, and personalisation to make it more meaningful….

Chag sameach! It’s Passover (Pesach), a celebration of the story of the Jews’ epic exodus from Egypt, led by Moses, traditionally celebrated with a meal, storytelling, discussions, and religious services. The eight-day Passover holiday begins with the seder (celebratory meal) where family and friends gather.

This is also a great e-commerce opportunity to promote Pesach-themed gifts, food products, and decorative items that mark the main themes of this holiday.

Searches for “Pesach recipes” increase exponentially at this time. So do search terms like “Happy Passover 2022” and “What time does Pesach end 2022?” In South Africa, the search term “Passover 2022” had already increased by over 10 000% between February and March this year.

Your audience is searching for flowers, clothing and decorations. They want Passover-specific food and wine.

It’s a no-brainer: Team up with Adbot to take advantage of the sales uptake in the build-up to, and during, Passover. Use personalisation, because people need community….

Ramadan is a holy month of fasting, introspection and prayer for Muslims. Each day, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, then break their fast by sharing meals with family and friends. They celebrate the end of Ramadan with a three-day festival, Eid al-Fitr, one of Islam’s major holidays.

Let’s look at your Ramadan audience?

Google identified 7 audience personas for Ramadan that will help with marketing this to target audience:

“The Foodie” who loves new food and new desserts. Their food-related online queries during Ramadan keep increasing.
“The Spiritual Faster” who searches for “Religious App Downloads”
“The Entertainment Lover” who searches for entertainment apps downloads.
“The Ramadan Shopper” who loves shopping via E-commerce applications.
“The Seeker of Mental Refuge” – who likes relaxing activities at home, like yoga and home exercising – and are searching for these activities online.

The Escapist” who searches for arts and crafts and gaming during this time.
“The Progress Seeker.” In the MENA region, people who use this time to enhance their productivity search for videos about Ramadan that included the word ‘Routine’ in the title.
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Okay, everyone IS watching – so make your business dance! International Dance Day, April 29th, could be a good day to promote your small business if it is related to dance in some way.

For example, if you own a dance studio, dance clothing store, or a company that provides dance-related services, promoting on International Dance Day can be a great way to reach your target audience.

However, if your business is not related to dance, it may not be the best day to promote it. It’s always a good idea to consider the relevance of a promoted day or event to your business before deciding to promote on that day.

Here are a couple of ways you can promote your dance-related business on this day:

Collaborate with influencers and create a special dance for your TikTok audience, then engage with your online community through a dance challenge.
Offer online classes allowing more people to participate per class.
Host a special event on the day.
Collaborate with other dance-related businesses and offer a dance classes with an outfit at a reduced rate
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On your bike, little business! The bicycle market could grow to be worth almost USD 128 billion by 2029. That’s how popular cycling’s becoming.

And electric bikes are set to become the fastest-growing segment over the next 7 years.So if you’re in the two wheel business, this is your chance to shine, put forward promotions and get rid of some old stock.

Google shopping ads are your best bet for these promotions; just set up an ad campaign with words like “small discount” or “last chance.” (We’ll help.)

As pet lovers are with their pets, bicyclists can be as obsessive about their wheels. From CamelBaks to bib shorts to gloves, headlight, and pants, to Z Lok Security Ties, water bottles and sunglasses.

Nielsen data tells us that most cyclists are between the ages of 26-41 and they’re fans of travel, food and wine. Cyclists also tend to have higher annual incomes than the general population.

As a fun idea, why not get your employees to cycle to the office on this day?
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May the Adbot force be with you.

Promoting your small business on Star Wars Day (May 4th) could be a fun and unique way to engage with customers, especially if your business is related to Star Wars or pop culture in general.
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Mother’s Day is massive – a very popular holiday for small business retailers. It’s a day to celebrate and honour mom, mum, ma and granny, and there’s always a frenzy of gift-buying for these special humans.

You really don’t want to miss this one.

Retailers go all out to create special promotions and sales that attract Mother’s Day gift shoppers. And what do they look for? Popular gift categories are flowers, jewellery, beauty products, clothing and accessories, home decor, and gourmet food and chocolates – the special kind.

There’ll be loads of special deals and promotions on these types of products in the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day.

In addition to in-store promotion, your small business should definitely be promoting products or services as a great gift for mothers. This could be anything from spa packages to cooking and art classes. But think outside the box too. CrossFit classes, anyone?

Overall, Mother’s Day means big sales for small businesses trading online. Take advantage of this time, and watch your sales and revenue spike. Remember, it’s smart to plan ahead, so start promoting 3 weeks before the big day, through paid advertising and social media content. These two channels work together, so use their combined power and push up overall conversion rates.

Now make your mom proud.
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Want to add some sugar to your sales? Jump on the tea trend.

Craft beer, craft coffee and now … (drumroll) … craft tea is celebrated around the world. ‘Craft tea’ is a term used to refer to teas that are produced in small quantities; it’s all about quality, rather than mass production.

Often produced by small, independent farmers or companies, craft teas may be grown using more traditional or sustainable methods, and may be blended or flavoured in unique and interesting ways.

Tea can be enjoyed on its own or paired with alcoholic beverages like gin (remember Ginuary?) Serving suggestion: Why not cosy up to other businesses to cross-promote each other’s products? You’ll reach new audiences and build relationships with other industry professionals.

Is your website optimised for search engines? You can make sure it is, by including relevant keywords and meta tags, and building backlinks. (Ask us – we know this stuff.) Optimisation helps your website rank higher in search results and makes it more visible to potential customers. And we know you’ll drink to that.
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Bee aware! And create a bigger buzz for your business.

World Bee Day – what a great idea – was established by the United Nations to raise global awareness about the importance of bees and other pollinators for the environment and human food security. Without bee-pollination, our ecosystem would be in trouble.

Activities around the world include planting bee-friendly gardens, promoting ethically produced honey, organic and bee-friendly pesticides.

This is a sweet opportunity for garden centres to educate customers and promote their products. How? Try providing special deals or discounts on bee-friendly plants and organic pesticides.

Host educational events or workshops on the importance of bees and how to create a bee-friendly garden.

And don’t forget social media. Create social media posts and blog articles that raise bee-awareness. Jump in and get involved in local events and festivals to promote your garden centre. Tell the world about bees – and pollinate your business!
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