Memorial Day may be a long weekend and the unofficial start of summer, but it also happens to be a strategic holiday for small businesses. That’s because coming up with Memorial Day marketing ideas can help drive more sales or increase your company’s brand awareness. It’s also a good opportunity to strengthen your ties with your customer base, as many Americans use this weekend to reflect and honor military personnel.

But coming up with Memorial Day marketing ideas that are both effective and respectful can be challenging. In this guide, we’ll share a few strategies to increase sales while still respecting the meaning of this important holiday.

Memorial Day Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

1. Hand Out Branded Water Bottles

Memorial Day marketing naturally revolves around outdoor gatherings, which makes branded drinkware one of the easiest ways to stay visible without feeling overly promotional. With backyard cookouts, community events, and long weekends spent outside, people are already carrying drinks with them, and that’s where custom pieces from MOO subtly do their job. A well designed bottle or tumbler becomes part of the day, sitting on picnic tables, moving from hand to hand, and showing up in photos without any extra effort on your end. It’s a subtle but effective way to keep your brand present in moments that feel relaxed and social, not sales driven.

2. Host a Giveaway or Contest

Hosting a giveaway is one of the most effective marketing tactics for a number of reasons. For starters, it’ll increase brand awareness and engagement, since customers will need to interact with your posts or sign up for your newsletter in order to win. In many ways, this can attract potential business from people who may not have discovered your company otherwise. 

Of course, all of these additional sign-ups, comments, follows, and shares can also lead to more short and long-term sales. This is especially true if the contest entry is tied to visiting your website or subscribing to a newsletter.

Instead of offering a discount, why not give away a promotional product? Customers love branded water bottles, notebooks, or wine tumblers, especially when they’re of high-quality like the ones printed with Moo.

3. Run a Memorial Day Sale

Offering discounts is one of the most common memorial day marketing ideas for a reason. It’s a simple but effective way to quickly drive traffic or to incentivize your customers to make purchases. Here are a couple of marketing promotions to consider:

• Offer tiered discounts (spend $100 and save 10%)
• Create bundle discounts
• Increase order value with last-minute “add to cart” products
• Have a Buy One Get One sale
• Offer free shipping with minimum purchase amounts
• Give a gift with purchase

To ensure you keep cash flow organized during this time, make sure you have business checks to pay your vendors and suppliers! This is crucial for managing your expenses while still keeping up with the increased demand!

Related: Best Business Card Printing Services for Entrepreneurs

4. Update Your Website and Socials

Your website is more than just a shop. It’s also the front row to your small business, which means it should clearly communicate your messaging and brand identity. If you’re running a Memorial Day campaign, then you’ll also want to update this to reflect the theme (or to highlight your special offers). For example, you can add homepage banners or images specific to Memorial Day. Or you can display a countdown timer to reinforce urgency if there’s a sale going on.

In addition to your website, you may also want to update your social media channels. Adding patriotic posts or stories, highlighting promotional items, or simply reposting content from your customers can all boost engagement.

5. Use Patriotic Messaging 

Even if your goal is to drive sales, it’s important that your messaging and branding remain respectful. After all, Memorial Day holds a deep meaning for many people, so you’ll need to find a good balance between promotional and recognition. 

As a rule of thumb, you should keep your Memorial Day marketing ideas subtle. Avoid overly blatant sales language or insensitive visuals that would prioritize your sale over the appreciation for the holiday. Acknowledging Memorial Day with a short and thoughtful message or with a dedicated post can help honor those who served.

6. Re-target Existing Customers

A good marketing campaign doesn’t just attract new customers. It also has the ability to re-engage with your existing customers to incentivize them to make future purchases. Setting up a retargeting campaign can remind your audience of your products with the hope of bringing them back into the sales funnel.

To do this, it’s worth targeting customers with an email campaign. This is your opportunity to advertise your current Memorial Day sale or to highlight any new arrivals or collections. You can also offer a small incentive (like free shipping or a discount code). 

A retargeting campaign can also work for people who showed interest in your product but didn’t end up purchasing. If they’ve abandoned their cart, shoot them an email with a limited-time discount to increase the likelihood of them following through with the purchase.

Related: Valuable Business Marketing Materials That Elevate Your Brand

7. Get Involved in the Community

One of the best Memorial Day marketing ideas doesn’t involve sales or promotions at all. Instead, it’s about supporting your local community to show your appreciation for veterans or military personnel. While doing this can build goodwill, it also strengthens your image and brand reputation by creating an emotional connection with your audience. 

If you’re looking for ways to get involved with your community, you have a few options:

• Donate a portion of sales to a local organization (or offer to match customer donations)
• Participate in a Memorial Day parade or event
• Host a charity or donation drive for veterans and their families
• Get employees to volunteer at a community service event
• Share stories and images honoring service members on your website or social feeds

Celebrate With These Memorial Day Marketing Ideas

As a small business, any federal holiday can be turned into a marketing opportunity. With these Memorial Day marketing ideas, you can still honor those who served in the military while still promoting your brand or business. But because it’s the start of summer, there’s more to consider besides coming up with Memorial Day marketing ideas. This is also the time to think about your mid-year reviews and fiscal planning to ensure you’re prepared for the second half of the year!

Read Next: How to Start an Airbnb Successfully