It can be easy to jump on the bandwagon of using holidays to start a promotional campaign for your business. While it makes sense for some companies, it doesn’t make sense for all. Especially when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day.

St Patrick's Day Parade

Deciding whether or not to participate in St. Patrick’s Day Marketing

If you’re in the business of bars, beer or green food dye, the answer is an overwhelming yes, you should participate in St. Patrick’s Day.

However if your business falls into the 99 percent of other products or services out there, you should consider the following two questions to decide whether or not St. Patrick’s Day marketing is an efficient use of time and money for your company.

Does St. Patrick’s Day marketing fit with your brand?

The big question here is whether the message of St. Patrick’s Day fits with the message of your brand. You should have a solid understanding of your brand’s voice, image and values before participating in any event – holiday or otherwise.

For many people, St. Patrick’s Day is associated with parades, shamrocks and the luck of the Irish. It’s also associated with pub-crawls, green beer, green rivers and “Kiss me, I’m Irish” T-shirts.

Pug in a hat

To determine whether you should participate in St. Patrick’s Day, compare the values of your business to the values of St. Patrick’s Day. If they align in a way that will make sense to your audience, then go ahead.

Another thing to consider is if a holiday post is within the scope of your brand’s voice. If your social media or blog is consistently sharing serious topics or information, then it may not be within your brand voice to do a light-hearted holiday message.

For example, let’s examine Law Firm A, which specializes in mergers and acquisitions:

  • The company portrays a knowledgeable voice in its field by sharing successful case studies on its blog.
  • The company has a professional public image portrayed through a monotone color scheme and plenty of photos of lawyers suited up with their arms crossed.
  • The company values its top place as one of the state’s most successful merger and acquisitions law firms, and it values expert lawyers in this field who have a proven track record for winning cases.

On the other hand, we have Law Firm B, which specializes in accident injury cases.

  • The company portrays an informal voice by avoiding jargon on its website and sharing common pop culture lawyer references via social media.
  • The company portrays a personable public image by using photos of smiling lawyers in dress shirts and by hosting Twitter chats to answer the public’s legal questions for free.
  • The company values its place as a people’s law firm, available for everyone.

Law Firm B would be more likely to participate in St. Patrick’s Day marketing than law firm A because it has a more relaxed voice, image and values.

If your business needs to be taken seriously to be successful, you may want to steer clear of associating it with St. Patrick’s Day if you cannot come up with a unique and engaging way of communicating the holiday message.

Does your St. Patrick’s Day marketing link your brand’s image with the holiday?

With all marketing, we want to leave a lasting impression with our audiences and further our business goals. In order to do this, we need something more creative than, “Share this post if you’re feeling lucky!”

If you can come up with an idea that shows your brand’s image and relates it to St. Patrick’s Day in a clever way, then of course, join in the festive marketing.

Best Practices for St. Patrick’s Day Marketing

Show your personality.

It’s not just about St. Patrick’s Day; it’s about your company! Use the buzz of St. Patrick’s Day as a platform to share your brand’s personality.

Offer your audience something.

If it’s within the capacity of your business to hold a promotion for a prize, a special discount or additional loyalty points, now is the time to do it.

Know your history.

If you are going to hold a St. Patrick’s Day contest, make sure you know more about the history of the event than your audience does.

Promote the holiday internally.

Encourage your coworkers to dress up and host a festive get-together with St. Paddy’s-themed foods or Irish beer taste testing. Share photos on social media, and ask your followers how they celebrated the holiday.

Play with the word green.

If your company has strong recycling habits, now is a good time to talk about them by playing with the word ‘green’ in your posts.

Engage with your audience.

Always remember, social media is social. Facts are fine, but engaging with your audience is like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

St. Patrick’s Day marketing is a no-brainer for some businesses, but for others, it can be a waste of time or send unintentional messages. It all comes back to whether or not your brand’s voice, image and values align with St. Patrick’s Day.

Photo credits: cobalt123, Sébastien Barré, geraldbrazell,