5 engaging events and anniversaries to add to your content calendar this summer
Content that entertains or informs is an important part of your social media strategy. It helps keep your audience engaged, so they stick around to see the content that directly markets your visitor attraction.
Planning this type of content can be time-consuming though. To save you time and help your visitor attraction maintain a steady flow of relevant, engaging content that doesn’t come across as overly self-promoting, we’ve combed through the calendar for you.
We’ve included campaigns that require a little more involvement from the wider VA team, opportunities to support other businesses and simple additions that won’t take up more than a few minutes of your time. By piggybacking on these campaigns, you can amplify your social reach and inject some variety into your social media. We’ve also included relevant hashtags to save you even more time.
Here are 5 events and anniversaries worth including in your VA’s content calendar in June, July and August 2021.
Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day
When: 27 June
Hashtags: There’s no dedicated hashtag for this day, so try the following - #microbusiness #smallbusiness #supportsmallbusiness #smallbusinesslove
The United Nations dedicates a whole day to raising public awareness of the crucial role small businesses play in creating jobs and improving livelihoods around the globe. For now, it’s all about supporting small businesses through the pandemic. Micro, small and medium-sized businesses are among the hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis – and those in tourism have been especially impacted.
Use today to talk about the contribution your visitor attraction makes to the local economy, or give a shout-out to the small businesses that help make your attraction a success. LinkedIn is a great platform for this kind of content, as well as your usual B2C channels.
When: July
Hashtag: #plasticfreejuly
Does what it says on the tin! Plastic Free July is a month dedicated to moving us all towards a world free of plastic waste. The initiative is run by the Plastic Free Foundation and is backed by a focus on finding solutions and the belief that small changes add up to a big difference.
There’s still time to think about what changes your visitor attraction can make to reduce plastic pollution, whether that’s encouraging visitors to bring their own cups when they visit your café in July (Otto’s at Riverhill Himalayan Gardens does this year-round), improving your attraction’s recycling process or running plastic-free events. There are lots of ideas for ways to get involved on the campaign’s website. Whatever you do, make sure you shout about it on social media.
30th anniversary of the first-ever website
When: 6 August
In August 1991, Tim Berners-Lee published the first-ever website. The site was all about Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web project and how to use it. Amazingly, he resisted calls to patent his new technology. He wanted it to be open, free and to grow as quickly as possible.
Today is a great day to give a nod to Berners-Lee and his gift to the world. Because of his brains and generosity, half the world is now online, meaning your visitor attraction can connect – for little to no budget – with a much, much bigger audience.
When: 9-15 August
Hashtag: #AfternoonTeaWeek
A whole week is dedicated to celebrating “the nation’s favourite pastime”! This delicious annual event is a opportunity to upsell in your on-site café or restaurant. If you don’t already offer afternoon tea, now’s a good time to start, even if it’s for one week only. If you can offer an exclusive discount or event you’re more likely to be featured in the PR around the event.
The more photogenic you can make your afternoon tea, the more likely visitors will be to share their experience on social media. And if Afternoon Tea Week is likely to appeal to your audience, make a note of National Tea Day for next April too.
When: Extended throughout 2021
Hashtag: #mayflower400
Commemorations marking the 40th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower are being rearranged in light of the various coronavirus guidance from the UK, Dutch and US governments. It’s disappointing for everyone who has worked so hard on the event but it also represents a chance to incorporate this complex anniversary into your 2021 content calendar.
The Mayflower touched a surprisingly large number of lives either side of the Atlantic. In the UK, Pilgrims joined the ship from places as far apart as Cornwall and Lancashire. As well as exploring the themes of migration, humanity and freedom, Mayflower 400 highlights the very different experiences of the people touched by the journey, including the Wampanoag Nation whose lives and land were brutally taken from them.
If your visitor attraction is in or near any of the 13 English destinations involved in the event, see how you can support their commemorative events as the anniversary draws to a close. Mayflower 400 also presents an opportunity to highlight the ruthless consequences of colonialism.
