While implementing different marketing strategies is always a good idea, having a promotional calendar in place is also a great opportunity for you to improve your store’s cash flow.
The new year offers a chance to start fresh and improve your business as a result of the holidays, World Cup, Oscars, etc. But with all major sales events coming up next year, it’s likely (though not guaranteed) that your online store won’t be as busy as usual.
In this article, we will summarize a few key sales days that we recommend keeping in mind throughout this year. These days can be used to help you plan your promotions, help you choose which products you want to create deals for, and even identify opportunities for making upsells!
2024 Promotional Calendar
WooCommerce is a powerful tool that allows you to create an online store with all of the bells and whistles. It’s one of the most popular e-commerce platforms out there, but it’s not always easy to know where to start when it comes to planning out promotional campaigns.
The first step towards creating an effective promotional calendar is choosing which dates should be included (and what type of content each day should have).
For example, if you plan on offering free shipping during Black Friday, then make sure you get the word out before, during, & after the set date.
To help you kickstart your planning, we prepared a 2024 promotional calendar below! You can use this to identify which sales dates align with your offer and marketing needs so you can start maximizing your seasonal promotional campaigns:
January
- 1st: New Year’s Eve
- 3rd: International Mind Body Wellness Day
- 4th: World Braille Day
- 15th: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- 24th: International Day of Education
February
February is the month of love. It’s also the time when everyone wants to get out and celebrate, especially if you have a special someone in your life. As a store owner, you can take advantage of this month by:
- Offering bundles
- Hosting discount promos
- Being creative with your coupon codes
- Encourage gift-giving by offering gift cards
March
- 3rd: World Wildlife Day
- 7th: World Book Day
- 8th: International Women’s Day
- 10th: Mother’s Day (UK)
- 17th: St Patrick’s Day
St Patrick’s Day: This day celebrates Irish heritage while also honoring St Patrick who lived sometime around 450 AD – 518 AD; so there are plenty more reasons why people might want something Irish-related during this timeframe too!
April
This month may be considered a quiet month for many retailers…but it shouldn’t be! Here are some bonus sales dates you can get creative with!
- 1st: April Fools Day
- 1st: Easter Monday
- 4th: Eid al-Adha
- 11th: National Pet Day
- 22nd: Earth Day
And if none of these options suit your needs, you could always just make one up yourself! Just remember not to go overboard though; no one wants an empty storefront full of stale cupcakes all summer long.
May
- Mother’s Day – This holiday falls on the second Sunday of May each year. It is a day when people honor their mothers or caretakers with gifts and cards.
- Memorial Day (US) – As everyone will be pausing and taking a break, you can also provide memorial-themed discounts or promotions to US-based customers. They’ll have more time to browse and shop as a result!
June
After Mother’s Day, it’s time to celebrate all the awesome dads out there!
June is the month of Father’s Day and Independence Day, but it also marks the start of the summer vacation season. If you’re looking to promote your products or services in June, here are some ways you can do so:
- Offer discounts and deals on any product or service related to traveling or leisure
- Launch personalized products aligned with Father’s Day (that your customers can give as a gift)
- Customize a gift card product for Father’s Day
- For stores in the fashion industry, now is the perfect month to advertise heavily all summerwear products you have!
July
- 4th – Independence Day (US)
- 17th: World Emoji Day
- 24th: National Cousin’s Day
- 26th: National Uncle and Aunt Day
- 30th – International Friendship Day
The date you want to focus on is July 4th. This is an ideal time to promote your e-commerce store because many people will be at home relaxing with family or friends, rather than out and about shopping for items that you offer as part of your business strategy.
Furthermore, you can also use this day for promotional activities such as: sending out emails or posting on social media channels about upcoming sales; developing new products or services; offering discounts; hosting special events; and many more.
August
- 1st: National Girlfriend Day
- 2nd: International Beer Day
- 8th: International Cat Day
- 9th: International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
- 26th: National Dog Day
September
- 2nd: Labour Day (US)
- 6th: Read a Book Day
- 11th: Patriot Day
- 21st: Oktoberfest
- 27th: World Tourism Day
October
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Coffee Day, and National Pizza Day are in October.
October also marks the spooky month of Halloween, Taco Tuesday, and Book Lovers Day.
So, if you’re looking to drive sales in your store this holiday season, consider offering discounts or promotions on these days:
- Coffee Day (October 1) – 50% off coffee
- Spooky Month (October 1-31) – Free shipping on all orders over $50 USD with no minimum purchase necessary (excludes tax)
- Taco Day (October 7th) – 25% off any purchase made at WooCommerce stores during this day!
November
- 28th: Thanksgiving
- 29th: Black Friday
- 30th: Small Biz Saturday
If you want to know how you can make next year’s Black Friday promotion better than this year, consider reading this full-blown Black Friday guide here.
December
- 2nd: Cyber Monday
- 16th – Green Monday
- 14th – Free Shipping Day
- 25th – Christmas Day
- 31st – New Year’s / End of Financial Year
Christmas is the biggest shopping season of the year, and it’s also one of the most important times to get your store ready for peak sales. Similar to Black Friday and all the significant sales dates before, December is the month when you should consider going all out on your marketing efforts.
Conclusion
The best way to avoid missing key sales dates is to start planning them now. So, if you haven’t already, create a WooCommerce promotional calendar and start working on your marketing campaigns.
In this article, we provided a 2024 promotional calendar to help you get started. You can always add more events as they come up, but it’s important to keep track of what’s already been scheduled so that there will be no surprises when it comes time to plan out promotions for these special days!
Do you have any questions about our promotional calendar? Send us a message or let us know in the comment box down below!
Grab Your 2024 Promotional Calendar PDF Here
Need this seasonal promotion date calendar in a PDF format? Click on the link below to get started. Happy planning!
Thanks for the promo calendar. It can be overwhelming to keep track of all the holidays and fun promotional marketing days. 🙂
Glad it helped Alisha! Don’t forget to print it out!