10 St Patrick’s Day Marketing Ideas

On St Patrick’s Day, as the saying goes, everyone is Irish! Reports Maryland Capital, a funding organisation for small and medium businesses in America, the occasion – celebrated on the 17th March in honour of the Patron Saint of Ireland – increases spending by 20% as everyone but everyone, regardless of their own cultural heritage, goes green for a day. While it’s most often associated with restaurants and pubs, every business can cash in on this holiday spending spree. Here’s how…

First, Promote Your Brand…

For customers to flock to your franchise to buy your goods and services, they need to be aware that you even exist! Before sales, then, brand promotion to raise awareness of who you are, where you are and what you do. Hopping onto high days and holidays is a great way to raise your profile amongst your target market, and drive traffic to your website or get feet through the door of your bricks-and-mortar store. Social media is a free channel to do just that:

1. Take a leaf from Google’s book – they change up their regular logo with innovative and quirky Googledoodles which mark special occasions and anniversaries. You can do the same! Change your web and social media avatars and banners to St Patrick’s Day-themed images to freshen up your profiles and renew interest in your online brand.

2. Share your St Patrick’s Day office shenanigans – it’s been a while since the festive season celebrations, Easter holidays are still some way off and everyone’s eager for a bit of good, clean escapism during working hours! Provide your online audience with a little light relief…post photos of what you, your staff and customers are getting up to – how you’ve decorated your premises, what you’re wearing and any special events that you’re running for the day. Ask your fans to like and share your posts for a chance to win a St Patricks Day giveaway.

3. Remember to use St Paddy’s Day hashtags – These are keywords preceded by a hashtag (#) which help users search for and find related content. To increase the likelihood that your content is found, tag your posts with these:

• #StPatricksDay
• #StPaddysDay
• #LuckOfTheIrish
• #Guinness
• #Green

Second, Boost Your Sales

Down to the nitty-gritty, getting that cash register ringing! This hinges on incentivising, discounting or adding value in some way, for example:

4. It’s Your Lucky Day Sale – a one-day sale on all your goods and/or services on St Patrick’s Day

5. A Green Shamrock Sale on selected goods and services (marked by a green shamrock sticker or label) for the week of St Patrick’s Day

6. Wear Green and Win – in which customers visiting your franchise wearing green win a mystery special discount on the items they’re purchasing. For online sales, get them to tag your business in a photo of themselves wearing green to qualify.

7. Lucky Four-Leaf Clover Promotion – Buy three items and get a fourth item (of a certain value) free

8. Get Your Guinness Promotion – send out a well-crafted memo with a time-limited opportunity which asks your existing clients to refer you on to people they think can benefit from using your products or services. Reward them with a voucher to a local Irish-themed pub for every order or sale they send your way.

9. Luck of the Irish Promotion – distribute beautiful discount vouchers which target the lucky few – i.e. specific segments of your target market, such as preferred clients to reward them for spending their money with you, or clients you haven’t heard from in a while but wish to entice back

10. Create custom St Patrick’s Day products – for sale during the month of March, only.