Organic reach has been in decline for some time now, but social media holidays can help brands get a bit of a boost. When coupled with the right hashtag, these holidays provide businesses with a good opportunity to reach a like-minded crowd.
Where do social media holidays come from? Some days are the byproducts of marketing campaigns. Some were declared by official organizations such as the United Nations. Others seem to have been manifested by the sheer absurdity of the Internet. Some are strictly social media holidays, while many are holidays off social media, too.
But not every social media holiday is worth celebrating. Keep reading to find the holidays that fit your niche to connect with people around shared values and interests rather than gimmicks.
Bonus: Download our free, customizable social media calendar template to easily plan and schedule all your content in advance.
2023 social media holiday calendar
Scroll below to see the list of social media holidays in 2023 — or bookmark this calendar!
You can add this calendar to your Google Calendar by clicking the + icon in the bottom right:
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January social media holidays
Financial Wellness Month
January 1: New Year’s Day
January 4: National Trivia Day #NationalTriviaDay
January 15: National Hat Day #NationalHatDay
January 15: National Bagel Day #NationalBagelDay
January 17: Ditch Your Resolution Day #DitchYourResolutionDay
January 25: Opposite Day #OppositeDay
Blue Monday: Third Monday of January
Community Manager Appreciation Day #CMAD: Fourth Monday of January
February social media holidays
Black History Month (US)
February 2: Groundhog Day
February 8: Safer Internet Day
February 9: National Pizza Day #NationalPizzaDay
February 11: International Day of Women and Girls in Science #WomenInScience
February 13: Galentine’s Day
February 14: Valentine’s Day
February 17: #RandomActsOfKindnessDay
February 21: Family Day (Canada, except Quebec)
National Skip the Straw Day: Fourth Friday in February
March social media holidays
Women’s History Month
Endometriosis Awareness Month
March 1: Zero Discrimination Day
March 3: World Wildlife Day #WorldWildlifeDay
March 8: International Women’s Day #InternationalWomensDay #IWD[YEAR]
March 14: Pi Day #PiDay
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 18: World Sleep Day
March 20: International Day of Happiness #InternationalDayofHappiness
March 22: World Water Day #WorldWaterDay #Water2me
March 29: National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day
March 31: International Transgender Day of Visibility #TransDayofVisibility #TDOV
National Day of Unplugging #DayOfUnplugging: First Friday of March
April social media holidays
Move More Month
National Poetry Month
Celebrate Diversity Month
April 1: April Fool’s Day
April 1: Walk to Work Day
April 6: National Carbonara Day
April 7: National Beer Day (US)
April 7: World Health Day
April 9: Easter Sunday
April 10: Siblings’ Day #NationalSiblingsDay
April 11: National Pet Day #NationalPetDay
April 18: Tax Day (US)
April 20: 420
April 22: Earth Day
April 23: World Book Day #WorldBookDay
April 23-30: World Immunization Week
April 28: National Superhero Day
April 29: International Dance Day #InternationalDanceDay
May social media holidays
Asian Heritage Month
Skin Cancer Awareness Month
National Teen Self Esteem Month (US)
National Clean Air Month (US)
Mental Health Awareness Month
May 2-6: Teacher Appreciation Week
May 4: Star Wars Day #StarWarsDay, #MayThe4thBeWithYou
May 12: International Nurses Day
May 17: International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
May 18: International Museums Day
May 28: World Hunger Day
June social media holidays
LGBTQ Pride Month
June 1: International Children’s Day
June 1: Global Running Day
June 3: World Bicycle Day
June 3: National Donut Day (US) #NationalDonutDay
June 4: National Cheese Day (US)
June 6: Higher Education Day #HigherEducationDay
June 8: Best Friends Day #BestFriendsDay
June 8: World Oceans Day #WorldOceansDay
June 19: Juneteenth (US)
June 21: World Music Day
June 21: National Selfie Day #NationalSelfieDay
June 30: Social Media Day #SMDay, #SocialMediaDay
July social media holidays
July 1: Canada Day
July 3: International Plastic Bag Free Day
July 4: Independence Day (US)
July 6: International Kissing Day
July 7: World Chocolate Day #WorldChocolateDay
July 15: Social Media Giving Day
July 15: National Clean Beauty Day (US)
July 17: World Emoji Day #WorldEmojiDay
July 17: National Ice Cream Day
July 18: World Listening Day
July 30: International Friendship Day
August social media holidays
Black Business Month
August 8: International Cat Day #InternationalCatDay
August 8: National CBD Day
August 12: International Youth Day #YouthDay
August 13: Black Women’s Equal Pay Day #BlackWomensEqualPayDay
August 14: National Financial Awareness Day
August 19: World Photo Day #WorldPhotoDay
August 26: National Dog Day (US) #NationalDogDay
September social media holidays
World Alzheimer’s Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month (US)
September 12: National Video Games Day #NationalVideoGamesDay
September 18: International Equal Pay Day
September 21: World Alzheimer’s Day
September 30: International Podcast Day #InternationalPodcastDay
October social media holidays
Black History Month (UK)
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Global Diversity Awareness Month
National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month
National Cyber Security Awareness Month
October 1: International Coffee Day #InternationalCoffeeDay
October 5: International Teachers Day #WorldTeachersDay
October 9: Thanksgiving (Canada)
October 10: World Mental Health Day #WorldMentalHeathDay
October 10: Indigenous Peoples’ Day
October 11: National Coming Out Day
October 29: National Cat Day (US)
November social media holidays
Men’s Health Awareness Month (aka No-Shave November and “Movember”)
November 8: STEM Day #STEMDay
November 9: Social Media Kindness Day
November 13: World Kindness Day #WKD
November 20: Transgender Day of Rememberance
November 23: Thanksgiving (US)
Black Friday: Friday following Thanksgiving Day (US)
Small Business Saturday: Saturday following Thanksgiving Day (US)
Cyber Monday: Monday following Thanksgiving Day (US)
Giving Tuesday: Tuesday following Thanksgiving Day (US)
December social media holidays
AIDS Awareness Month
December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
December 4: National Cookie Day
December 24: Christmas Eve
December 25: Christmas Day
December 26: Boxing Day (Canada)
December 31: New Year’s Eve
8 examples of great social media holiday posts
Fenty Beauty: Black History Month
Fenty Beauty inaugurated this year’s Black History Month with a little history lesson of its own, courtesy of its founder, Rihanna.
Way back in 2011, a Twitter user offensively asked why Rihanna’s hair looked “so nappy,” in the music video for her song “Man Down.” In response, the music and business mogul clapped back: “Cuz I’m black bitch!!!!” Seven years later, Fenty Beauty launched a liquid eyeliner with the iconic name: “Cuz I’m black.”
The unapologetic, empowering line speaks both to Fenty Beauty’s brand purpose and audience. We give it a Clapback-lipstick-wearing chef’s kiss.
Knix: International Women’s Day
Knix CEO Joanna Griffiths delivered a supportive message on International Women’s Day… in the midst of delivering twin girls. It really doesn’t get more on-brand than that.
Heartfelt and urgent, the post demonstrates the intimate apparel founder’s priorities, which includes rejecting investors who frown upon fundraising while pregnant.
Food for Soul: Carbonara Day
While we’d all like to celebrate Carbonara Day, it suits some organizations, such as Food for Soul, more than others. Founded by Italian chef Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore, the non-profit organization used its food-salvaging ingenuity with a banana-peel carbonara recipe. Putting the “care” in #CAREbonara day, followers were encouraged to donate and share with others.
Time’s Up: International Transgender Day of Visibility
As a charity that advocates for victims of sexual harassment, this post from Time’s Up is a meaningful expression of solidarity with the transgender community. The simple gesture received more than six times the engagement than the post that followed.
National Women’s Law Center: Equal Pay Day
In this TikTok video, the folks behind the National Women’s Law Center break down the significance of Equal Pay Day with cold, hard facts. The explainer drew in more than 47 times more views than the account’s previous post.
@nationalwomenslawcenter
now that you really get it, are you ready to fight back? check out nwlc.org/wagegap to learn more about #equalpaynow ‼️ #wagegap #equalpay #feminism
Many Colors – Bryan Rheude
Thrive Market: Teacher Appreciation Week
Thrive Market showed its appreciation to teachers with a giveaway. The contest also served as a reminder that the wholesale online grocery store offers free membership to teachers all year round.
WWF #WorldWithoutNature: World Wildlife Day
Inspired by One Minute Briefs, World Wildlife Fund challenged brands to participate in World Wild Life day by removing nature from their logos. The goal behind the campaign was to create a stark portrait of a world without nature.
Today nature has disappeared from the logos of the world’s biggest brands Here’s why: A #WorldWithoutNature is a world that is incomplete pic.twitter.com/cd8lSfLcAJ
— WWF (@WWF) March 3, 2021
As planned, #WorldWithoutNature generated a great deal of social awareness and conversation, including an astute observation from climate activist Greta Thunberg:
We’re today discussing a #WorldWithoutNature as if it meant that “our children won’t be able to see pandas in the future” or that “we won’t be able to eat certain types of food”.
A world without nature is no world. Stop separating “humans” and “nature”. Humans are part of nature.— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) March 3, 2021
B Corp: National Beer Day
B Corp tapped National Beer Day to highlight its community of certified brewers. These posts benefited from strength in numbers, as they were able to signal-boost by tagging relevant accounts. By touting breweries by region, B Corp’s National Beer Day celebrations shared the tour-de-force scope of its community.
Schedule your posts and never miss a social media holiday
With IXLCenter.io, you can plan ahead and schedule all your posts in advance. Use IXLCenter.io Composer and planner to make sure you never miss a social media holiday that aligns with your audience’s interests and values.
IXLCenter.io Composer lets you schedule:
- Instagram posts, Stories, and Reels
- Facebook posts and Facebook Group posts
- Tweets
- TikToks
- LinkedIn posts
- Pinterest Pins and boards
- YouTube videos
Try for free for 30 days
It also comes with a set of powerful tools that will make your content creation process a breeze from start to finish:
- Personalized best time to post recommendations based on your audience analytics
- Built-in Grammarly Pro for engaging, typo-free captions
- A Canva integration that gives you immediate access to post templates and advanced editing tools
- A hashtag generator that comes up with hashtags based on your caption and the images included in your posts
Once your posts are scheduled, you can review and edit them from a single calendar view that gives you a bird’s eye view of your content plan across social channels.
Schedule your posts in advance and never miss a social media holiday with IXLCenter.io. From a single dashboard you can publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, engage the audience, measure results, and more. Try it free today.
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