November marketing ideas based on national months

Here are even more ways to bring attention to issues, groups, and causes that you and your audience cares about and connect with them on an emotional level.

Lung Cancer Awareness Month

These ideas can also apply to pancreatic cancer, epilepsy, diabetes, and any other health conditions recognized in November.

• Sign your team up for a fundraising activity—a walk, a farmer’s market, a virtual race, etc. This gets you out in your local community which strengthens the roots of your business.
• Caterers can show photos from fundraiser events.
• Health-related businesses can share news articles, educational posts, or survivor stories.
• Artists can showcase awareness-inspired work to show their support:

Military Family Month

For Military Family Month:

• Recognize on social media your employees and their families who were or are currently active in the military.
• Volunteer to place flags on veteran grave sites in your community.
• Offer sales promotions and discounts on products, services, and packages for military families.

Entrepreneurship Month

Good month for everyone!

• For those in the business services vertical, run an educational series with webinars, online guides, or live Q&A sessions on Instagram.
• Write a blog post sharing the story of how you came to be an entrepreneur—including the hardships you faced and how you got through them. Pitch your story to your local newspaper as a way to get some PR while also inspiring your local community.
• Share inspirational advice or quotes on social media.
• Even if your audience does not include entrepreneurs, you can still create content around entrepreneurial themes such as goal setting, persisting through challenges, leadership, being unafraid to fail, and the list goes on.

• You could even interview an entrepreneur in your field or a related one. Many of the lessons in entrepreneurship can be applied to life in general, so your audience will come away with plenty of wisdom and inspiration.

No-Shave November/Movember

Movember, or No-Shave November, is a movement where men grow out their mustaches until the end of the month to raise awareness and donations for men’s health issues.

• Sign up! Participants can sign up here.
• Run Movember competitions and fun contests between employees or among customers.
• If you’re into it, showcase your facial hair on social media and get involved in the chatter on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Here are some ways to incorporate Movember into your social media content:

• Post a picture of your team members (or yourself!) sporting a Movember mustache.
• Participate in a Movember charity event and share photos to your account.
• Get a little contest going, or even an official giveaway.
• Donate a portion of your proceeds to the Movember Foundation
• Of course, don’t forget to use the #movember hashtag

November marketing ideas based on holidays and national days

Don’t worry, we’ve dedicated an entire section after this one to Thanksgiving marketing ideas. But don’t forget these days either!

Veterans Day

Veteran’s Day occurs every November 11th, and on this day, schools may have off and many workplaces are closed. While this is often a time used for sales and promos, your priority should be that of thanking veterans for their hard work and sacrifice for our country.

• If your business is owned by a veteran, you can also add a badge to your Google Business Profile to let others know.
• If you have a veteran who works for you or who lives in your community, showcase them on your blog or website. A simple “thank you” goes a long way and lets customers know that you care about people, not just sales.
• Create a general Veteran’s day post on social media thanking them for their service.

This doesn’t mean you should abandon sales altogether. There are still great ways to promote your business in a way that supports US veterans.

• You could offer a discount to those who have served, donate a proceed of your November profits to veteran organizations, or even run a giveaway.
• The company below hosted a free pop-up concert with a trio of vintage-inspired female singers in honor of Veterans Day. In addition to celebrating veterans, this event also supports National Aviation Month at the same (crushed it).

Daylight saving time ends in November. This means you get an extra hour of sleep one night (cool), more sunlight in the morning (nice), but also that dark and cold afternoons are ahead (womp). That said, acknowledge this the end of daylight saving time with a positive outlook:

• Highlight the fall foliage in your social media posts and use fall hashtags.
• Showcase bright, fall-colored products on your homepage.
• As many consumers are heading into cool weather and more time at home, promote products or services that will make their indoor experience meaningful.
• Or perhaps your audience prefers to stay in denial and hang on to summer for as long as they possibly can. Is it too late for summer clearance sales? Yes—don’t do that. But could you pull off an outdoor product clearance sale? Surely.

• Encourage your summer-loving customers to get something for next year—something to look forward to and carry them through the winter like Allmodern does below:

• Of course, you can always do a simple #fallback post on social media, reminding your followers to turn the clocks back.

Extra Mile Day

Extra Mile Day is recognized annually on November 1st. This observance day is perfect for small businesses which, unlike big businesses, can truly cater to individual customers. It’s all about taking that additional step to help others with something or even to accomplish one’s own goals.

• Challenge your Instagram followers to help their neighbor in need, to finish that book they’ve been reading, or even just to wake up one hour earlier. Going the extra mile is something we can all fit into our daily routine and is a great November holiday for connecting with your audience.

• You also don’t have to only go the extra mile for people; the environment will take some special treatment too!

America Recycles Day

America Recycles Day is a great day for showing that your small business cares about the environment.

• Include some facts on your social media profiles.
• Share what steps your business is taking to improve the environment.
• Provide suggestions on your blog on how to recycle.
• Offer a discount on bulk-size items.
• Promote your sustainable products.
• Raising awareness on social media about the importance of recycling.
• Participate in or even host a recycling drive.

• Make a video instructing your followers how to recycle your products or items in general, like Coca-Cola did in the example below:

Keep in mind also that a business conscious of the planet is likely to be conscious of its customers.

Take a Hike Day

This is a perfect day for feel-good quotes and to encourage people to get outside for a stroll in the great outdoors. Ask followers to share their nature photos and favorite spots to take a hike.

Thanksgiving marketing ideas

You may also be interested in these Thanksgiving social media post ideas.

Family, friend, and customer appreciation

Thanksgiving is a time to appreciate your family, friends, and of course, your customers. Take the time to express your appreciation and gratitude, and be specific! Let others know exactly what you are grateful for about them to show that they matter as individuals. This will also give your social media posts a truly genuine and heartfelt feel.

Stay sensitive

Don’t forget to stay sensitive to those who may not have family or friends to share the day with, or who might not be able to afford a feast. You may want to show your support for this audience in some of your content.

Encourage others to give back

As you give back to the community in any Thanksgiving charity runs, food drives, or fundraising events, encourage your customers, local audience, and social media followers to do the same.

Offer Thanksgiving specials and advice

The opportunities here are endless, just be sure that your content is high-quality and preferably, SEO-friendly.

• Promote products and services at your business particularly useful for Thanksgiving, such as cooking classes for great Thanksgiving side dishes or an after-Thanksgiving boot camp class.
• Your pet grooming or boarding business can write a blog post on Thanksgiving foods that can be toxic to pets.
• Be sure to announce your specials and events in your November newsletter.

Black Friday

If you’re not running a promotion on Black Friday, you need to! People wait year-round for the incredible deals that await them the day after Thanksgiving, and this is a great opportunity to get your business on the map.

• Start promoting your Black Friday deals at the beginning of the month so customers will be ready when the day arrives.
• You could even create a Facebook event for your Black Friday specials, where you can post updates and reminders and where followers can invite their friends and add it to their calendars.
• If you’re in the grocery business, perhaps consider running a Black Friday sale…

Get more marketing ideas for the holidays here!

Small Business Saturday

What November marketing ideas post would be complete without a #SBS section? This is perhaps the best time of year to get your small business noticed, bring back dormant customers, and attract new ones.

Here’s what you can do for SBS:

• Register your business through the official American Express site.
• Highlight your best products and most attractive sales promotions over email, social media, your website, and in-store signage.
• Check out these Small Business Saturday Promotion Ideas.
• You may also want to do a partnership with another local business, create and share a gift guide, or host a sidewalk sale. Remember to thank your customers for their support, and remind them of the importance of shopping small!
• At some point, however, take a break from self-promotion and lift up other small business owners who have given it their all to make their company a success and a staple in their community.

Image source

Update your Google Business Profile
Having an optimized Google business listing is important for any month of the year, but especially in November because of Thanksgiving and Small Business Saturday. Here’s what you can do:

• Provide your Thanksgiving hours.
• Upload pictures of any November or Thanksgiving-themed products or services.
• Create Google posts about Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or Small Business Saturday promotions,
• Ask and answer questions related to visiting your store (parking info, for example), especially if you expect more traffic on Small Business Saturday.

Cyber Monday

And the sales never end! Prep for Cyber Monday and choose a few promotions to run on this day. If you don’t have a website, you can still run a Cyber Monday promo using your social media accounts or even paid social strategies.

• One idea is to run a raffle or offer a special deal to the first ten customers who directly message you on Facebook.
• Or, take another break from all the sales mayhem and post a video of what it’s like to be an Amazon employee on Cyber Monday…yikes.