15 Engaging and Funny Holidays in July to Inspire Your Next Promotion

The 4^th of July may be the star of this month, but your summer celebration promotions don’t have to stop right as July is just getting started. There’s a whole calendar full of funny holidays in July that you can use to promote your business and engage with customers. Check out some of our favorites! 

How to Promote Your Business with Weird Holiday Marketing

Funny national holidays like Eat Beans Day may seem like just something to fill a calendar, but these holidays are a great opportunity to engage with your customers and get them excited about your brand. Here are just a few ways businesses are using weird, silly, inspirational, and international holidays to create fun and tasteful marketing content. 

• Inspired Sales: Find the weird national holidays that connect to your industry and use them to inspire exciting deals for your customers. For example, restaurants and bars can run some seriously delicious promotions on National Chicken Wing Day.
• Contests: Just like many businesses offer prizes for costume contests on Halloween, you can offer promotional merch as prizes for contests like best scarecrow designed on Build a Scarecrow Day.
• Social Media Content: Get customers engaged with your social media pages by asking how they’ll celebrate your favorite July social media holidays, and share images of how you’re celebrating, too!
• Create Local Traditions: Found a holiday that jives perfectly with your brand? Do something big to celebrate every year and get people coming to your door! Decorate, host an event, offer free samples, or even create your own branded giveaways to commemorate what you will make into a new local tradition.
• Coordinate With Another Business: Is a holiday not particularly relevant to your industry? Find another small business who can help you create an engaging promotion that both of you benefit from!

Pro tip: For months with cultural and/or religious celebrations, you want to avoid celebrating them for purely promotional reasons. It’s good to acknowledge the holidays of major religions and cultures, but using them to promote your business when you have no inherent connection is in poor taste and will offend more customers than it excites. Be tasteful and respectful whenever you address cultural or religious celebrations. 

15 Inspiring, Wacky, and Weird Holidays in July

1. Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day

July 1 

July is the perfect time to be going out for ice cream, and this day is all about trying new flavors and discovering exciting combinations. Just for today, skip out on the vanilla and chocolate encourage customers to go wild with flavors you’ve never tried before and mix-ins that get wild.  

2. World UFO Day

July 2 

With a season perfect for star-gazing, it’s no surprise that this month has a day dedicated to unexplained lights in the sky. Get engaged with your customers’ cryptic side with contests for best UFO pictures, UFO-watching night events, and more. You can also have fun with alien-themed decorations in your store, plus out-of-this-world specials that customers will look forward to every year. 

3. Chocolate Day

July 7 

Is it just me, or is there a chocolate-themed day every month? Not that your customers will be complaining – just keep the chocolate and sweet deals coming. Turn this month’s chocolate day into a July social media holiday with tasty chocolate recipes and new ways to enjoy this classic treat. 

4. Video Games Day

July 8 

Sure, it’s sunny out, but does every day have to be about running around in the heat? Encourage customers to enjoy a cool day inside with their favorite videogames on this holiday made for homebodies. Bring out your gamer audience with gaming events at your business, or just hit social media to see what your customers are playing (and maybe offer a gamer discount for some tasty order-out treats!) 

5. Teddy Bear Picnic Day

July 10 

Hey, kids like a good holiday too, and this holiday is perfect for toddlers, kids, and anyone who still has a teddy friend. Host a teddy bear picnic for the littles in your area (the parents will thank you!) and offer special deals for anyone who has a fuzzy friend with them at checkout time. 

6. National Blueberry Muffins Day

July 11 

A classic treat for any time of year, blueberry muffins just hit right for a summer treat. Get customers engaged with a contest for the best blueberry muffin recipe and offer your own muffin special in your store or restaurant! Office dwellers can also join in the fun with a morale-boosting muffin treat to share with coworkers. 

7. Embrace Your Geekness Day

July 13 

Are you giving your geeks enough love? Reach out to this super fun demographic with some geeky appreciation. Whether it’s a reprisal of your videogame night or a special eat-and-play special for tabletop RPG players, you can be sure that if you build it, they will come. 

8. Shark Awareness Day

July 14 

Shark week is all well and good for a quick deep-sea scare, but it’s good to take some time to remember that sharks are like any other animal – scared of humans and important to their eco-systems. Share some shark love with social media shark facts (like did you know sharks like belly rubs??) and host a save-the-ocean fundraiser to help protect these essential sea predators. 

9. World Emoji Day

July 17 

Talk about a holiday made for social media, this holiday is a great way to have fun with customers on their favorite online platforms with a special communication method packed with feeling. Share your favorite emoji, ask customers what theirs is, post emojis around your business, and consider creating your own unique emoji just for the occasion! 

10. Space Exploration Day

July 20 

July 20, 1969, man first stepped on the moon. Now, July 20 has become an excellent day to celebrate space exploration all of the cool discoveries made in recent years, take some pictures in front of a moon landing set (just because the real one wasn’t staged doesn’t mean you can’t stage your own!) and collectively mourn the loss of Pluto in our solar system planetary lineup. 

11. Tell an Old Joke Day

July 24 

Got an oldie but a goodie? Time to get some laughs on social media and in person by sharing your favorite old jokes! Plus, you can incorporate them into some knee-slapping promotions that will earn you sales and giggles at the same time. 

12. Aunt and Uncle Day

July 26 

We’ve got days for parents, grandparents, siblings, and best friends, but what about aunts and uncles? Let’s celebrate these often-overlooked members of our child-rearing village and maybe offer a special discount for people who bring their aunts and uncles to your business. 

13. Take Your Houseplants for a Walk Day

July 27 

I mean, your houseplants could use some sun, too. Plus, with all of the pet owners taking their pets out in strollers and leashes, the plant lovers can sometimes feel a bit left out. Encourage customers to put their leafy babies on display with promotions for anyone who brings in a house plant (bonus points if it has a name) and share on social media what plants you’re taking out for a stroll. 

14. National Day of the Cowboy

Fourth Saturday of July 

Time to saddle up for some serious summer sales with a day that is bound to capture the imagination of your customers. While certain western populations dress like this all the time, you can still get your customers excited to come show off their leather hats and riding boots with special deals for customers dressed like and talking like a cowboy. 

15. Paperback Book Day

July 30 

Remember those paperback children’s books that smelled ancient even if they were barely a few years old, and were packed full of nostalgia-in-the-making adventures? Let’s bring back that love of reading so many people lose over the years with a day that’s all about promoting literacy and embracing the not-so-fancy books in our personal collections.  

Didn’t find a holiday that suits you? These are just a few of the many funny holidays in July that can inspire your next promotion. Next time you’re feeling at a loss for social media content or promotional themes, check out the silly holidays of the month to help get your customers engaged with your brand and social media.