Each month we share some national days, weeks and months that businesses can use for free to update their social media, boost engagement on social media platforms, schedule with social media management tools or use for inspiration to get those creative juices flowing so they can come up with new ideas for social media posts for business.

This month we would like to share the following ideas of things you can post on social media;

15th – 21st July is Independent Retailers Week; if you are an independent retailer or your clients or suppliers are independent retailers then why not really make something of this week. Share tips and pointers to help other businesses, or promote local independent retailers that inspire you.

7th July is Chocolate Day– we have some different options on this day! If you send me a chocolate bar I will post on your social media page for you. Alternatively, you could run a like and share competition and offer chocolate as the prize, ask your audience for their favourite chocolate bar, share strap-lines from chocolate bars and ask your audience to guess the chocolate bar? Get chatty on this fun day.

Just when you’ve got over all the chocolate from last week, it is National Ice Cream Day on 15th July; again be engaging with it. Share all the favourite ice creams of your team, ask your audience what their favourite ice cream is, even share a picture of your child or pet eating ice cream. It’s a fun day, so make it fun on your social media.

As if all the chocolate and ice-cream wasn’t enough, along comes International Cake Day on 20th July. Why not use this as a ‘Bake Off’ type event and raise money for your company charity of the year? Get employees to make or buy cakes, invite customers to come in and eat cakes, have a cake sale and talk about it all on social media. Don’t forget to tag the charity too as they will be likely to share it with their audience too.

24th July is Tell An Old Joke Day – what a great chance to share a funny joke on social media and make others smile? Maybe it’s a joke you remember as a child, or a joke that hasn’t been told for years? Encourage your audience to do the same.

30th July is Friendship Day and you could use this to draw attention to business friends, it may a photo of you and colleagues on a night out that you share or maybe you tag a supplier that you get on really well with. This shows your social media following that you are a ‘real person’ and you want to build relationships with others / you’re not just in it for the money!