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Welcome back to the Inspiration Hub!
It’s time to get ready for March marketing plans, and there’s plenty to celebrate. I’ve put together some Story ideas for each of the holidays and events coming up, so you can mark your calendar with favorites or the best fit for your brand.
Ready to get those creative juices flowing? Let’s dive in!
World Book Day (UK) — March 2
March 2nd is Book Day in the UK, a great opportunity to get your customers excited about their favorite reads. Obviously, this will be an especially fun day for retailers that specialize in books, but there are lots of ways to get in on celebrating the holiday.
Treat your customers to a literary-themed quiz where they can earn discounts by showing off their knowledge. Interactive Story stickers make it easy to create a fun series of questions that users can answer with just a tap. You can even use Storyly’s Audience Builder to create audience segments based on their responses to instantly reward them with a discount code in a targeted Story!
Not only will you create a gamified, interactive experience for your users, but you can get to know more about them too by including questions about their favorite books, characters, and authors.
Not a bookstore? No worries; you can still connect with the bookworms in your customer base. Coffee or tea shops can offer a book and bevvie pairing guide, clothing retailers could create product collections based on popular books or characters, and home goods stores can create a “Which literary hero are you?” decor quiz!
International Women's Day — March 8
International Women’s Day is perfect for highlighting women-owned businesses or the women-created products in your shop! For marketplace apps, consider creating a Story group featuring women makers and sellers. From adding a personal touch through maker profiles to creating gift guides that feature their products and creations, Stories are perfect for deepening audience investment and boosting conversion rates.
You could also offer promotions like free shipping or discounts on orders that support these shops and items, and Stories are a great way to get the word out about special deals.
For Gen Z and Millennial shoppers, a brand’s values are a top consideration alongside their products and services, so honoring International Women’s Day presents an opportunity to affirm your company’s commitment to gender equity. Consider donating a portion of proceeds from specific products, or made on March 8th to an organization working towards empowering women!
95th Academy Awards — March 12
Nothing says glam like Oscar night, and this year the 95th Academy Awards will be broadcast on March 12th. Movie lovers are likely to tune in to the show to see who wins and cheer on their favorite films and performances from 2022, but the fashion is as much a draw as the awards themselves.
Let the red carpet help you drive engagement with fun polls and sliders asking how your customers feel about individual looks. For fashion brands, this zero-party data can be invaluable for getting to know your audience’s tastes and preferences. You may also want to create “Shop the Look” Stories that feature any items in your inventory that reference specific red-carpet outfits. Utilizing in-Story checkout for these will make it easier and faster than ever for customers to say yes to a new favorite!
Even if your brand isn’t directly film or fashion related, like World Book Day, there’s a lot of room to build connections in a fun and exciting way. Maybe your customers are planning a viewing party and are looking for food delivery or celebratory menus or cocktails. Perhaps movie posters can provide the inspiration for a gift guide or themed collection. Even if getting in on the Oscar buzz is more about building engagement than boosting conversions, your audience will still love the fun of interactive Stories and value the chance to make their voice heard.
White Day — March 14
White Day is popularly celebrated in Japan and Korea as well as many other Asian countries as a day for the recipients of Valentine’s Day gifts to return the gesture with a sweet gift of their own. Often women and girls will be shopping for chocolate to gift a special person in their life on White Day, but any sweet treat can get in on the fun.
With full-screen, interactive Stories, it’s easy to greet your users with an easy-to-navigate spread of White Day gift options. Combined with clear CTAs like swipe-ups and in-Story checkout, you can help your customers get their gifts in record time. Reducing decision fatigue is always a good strategy for eCommerce brands, and offering a seamless path to conversion can help reduce cart abandonment–sweet!
St. Patrick's Day — March 17
Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, right? Actually, St. Patrick’s Day is usually a far more subdued affair in its native country of Ireland than it is elsewhere in the world, like Boston, MA, for example. But still! Who doesn’t love the chance to get dressed up in their favorite green garments and share a few (or more than a few) drinks with friends?
Food and alcohol delivery apps can offer special deals and promotions to keep the party going, and the easier it is to take advantage of your offers, the higher your conversion rates will be. Consider featuring special St. Patrick’s Day-themed bundles that reduce decision fatigue, and help your customers get what they want right away. Not only can bundles make decisions easier and faster, but they’re a great strategy for increasing cart values and helping users try new products as well. Just make sure to include CTAs like swipe-ups, and in-Story checkout for frictionless ordering.
Mother's Day (UK) — March 19
Finding the perfect gift for mom isn’t always easy, and even marketing teams can get stumped with which items to feature for the holiday. But if you plan ahead a bit, you can get the best intel on what your audience wants by, well, asking them! Interactive Story stickers are a great way to ask your audience about things like their Mother’s Day budget, their favorite type of gifts to send their mom, and how they plan to celebrate the day. Zero-party data is an invaluable tool for guiding your product strategy and can help you put together the perfect selection of Mother’s Day bundles.
You may also want to consider using Stories to give users a chance to opt out of your Mother’s Day campaign altogether. While it may sound strange at first, giving your audiences more control around potentially sensitive holidays can actually be a strong retention move. Storyly’s Audience Builder feature is perfect for segmenting your audience in this way; just use a sticker to ask users if they want to skip your Mother’s Day messaging and create your audience segments based on their responses. Letting your audience know that you care and want to respect their feelings can increase brand loyalty, and protect valuable customer relationships.
International Day of Happiness — March 20
Everyone needs a break from the KPIs once in a while and that includes your customer base. Though, of course, conversion is key in eCommerce, International Day of Happiness can present an opportunity for your brand to design a campaign that’s just about building your community and helping your customers feel good. It can be as simple as asking your users to share a sunny selfie, or encouraging them to share what makes them happy. Not only will you gain audience insights and reinforce your in-app community, but it will likely give your creativity a breath of fresh air to change up the campaign goal.
The First Day of Spring — March 21
Spring means renewal and a fresh start and just might be the perfect time for your audience to dust off some of their New Year’s Resolutions, especially if they involve getting ready for spring fashion and summer adventures. For fitness and sportswear brands, consider building a promotional campaign around the first day of spring as a chance to get motivated and moving.
Of course, any goal is easier to achieve with good friends at your side, so why not take advantage of Story shareability for a get fit with friends style campaign? Including a sharable promo code in your Stories is a great way to encourage your current customer base to spread the word to family and friends. By rewarding both the sharer and your new customers, you can boost your K factor to expand your audience with word-of-mouth marketing.
Beginning of Ramadan — March 22
Ramadan begins on March 22nd, and Muslims around the world will begin a season of charity, introspection, and daily fasting from sunup until sundown. It’s no surprise then that demand for food delivery rises for evening meals, or that many are searching for high-protein recipes to make at home in pre-dawn hours.
If your brand is food focused, try basing your content strategy around Ramadan-friendly breakfast ideas for suhoor. Choose a few recipes that are easy to make (remember, your cooks are sleepy!), to feed a family, and are nutrient-dense to power your audience through the day. Shoppable cooking videos are a fun way to get your audience inspired, and you can make it easy for them to grab the necessary ingredients through clear CTAs like swipe-ups, and in-Story checkout. Making shopping quick and convenient can help boost conversion and increase cart value.
For food delivery apps, ease of use is key. It’s safe to assume that your audience is hungry, and making your ordering process as seamless as possible will reduce frustration and cart abandonment. Consider offering a selection of complete meals that can be easily scaled to the number of people sharing Iftar or customized for dietary restrictions. Interactive Stories are a great way to reduce decision fatigue for your users and help them place their orders quickly and confidently.
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