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90+ May Marketing Ideas for Any Business or Budget

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90+ May Marketing Ideas (& Examples) for Any Business or Budget

M-A-Y. These three letters, when strung together in that order, represent many things:

  • A lovely first or last name.
  • Who it’s gonna be, according to N*SYNC.
  • An expression of possibility or permission.
  • A month bursting with creative and compassionate marketing opportunities

That’s right. I’m not just talking Mother’s Day or Cinco de Mayo. There’s National Limerick Day. Honor Our LGBT Elders Day. Small Business Week. Mental Health Awareness Month. Asparagus Month!?

You don’t see BIC writing limericks about its pens, do you?

So in this post, I’m supplying you with over 90 free, easy, and creative May marketing ideas so you can connect with current and potential customers in meaningful and memorable ways.

Table of (creative) contents

 

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may marketing ideas - military appreciation month

Month-long observances in May

In May, we celebrate, appreciate, and raise awareness for quite a lot. Here’s what we’re working with:

Health

  • ALS
  • Arthritis Awareness
  • Better Sleep
  • Blood Pressure Education
  • Bladder Cancer Awareness
  • Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness
  • Brain Cancer/Tumor
  • Celiac Disease
  • Cystic Fibrosis
  • Correct Posture
  • Dental Care
  • Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
  • Employee Health and Fitness
  • Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness
  • Healthy Vision
  • Hepatitis Awareness
  • Huntington’s Disease
  • Lyme Disease
  • Lung Health
  • Lupus Awareness
  • Maternal Mental Health
  • Meditation
  • Melanoma/Skin Cancer
  • Mental Health
  • Physical Fitness and Sports
  • Physiotherapy
  • Stroke
  • Sturge-Weber Syndrome
  • Motorcycle Safety
  • Water Safety
  • Wildfire Awareness
  • Women’s Health Care
  • Youth Traffic Safety
  • Ultraviolet (UV) Awareness

Diversity and social awareness

  • Jewish American Heritage
  • Haitian Heritage
  • Older Americans
  • Asian American Heritage
  • Pacific Islander Heritage
  • Foster Care
  • Military Appreciation
  • Speech and Hearing Awareness

Lifestyle

  • American Wetlands
  • Better Speech and Language
  • Be Kind to Animals
  • International Drum Month
  • Date Your Mate
  • Deck Safety
  • Biking
  • Chamber Music
  • Family Wellness
  • Get Caught Reading
  • Gardening for Wildlife
  • Inventors
  • Local and Community History
  • Photography
  • Pets
  • Preservation
  • Recommitment
  • Moving
  • Share a Story
  • Show Your Smile

Food

  • American Cheese
  • Asparagus
  • Barbecue
  • Egg
  • Hamburger
  • Lettuce
  • Mediterranean Diet
  • Salad
  • Salsa
  • Strawberry

 

may marketing ideas - correct posture month

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Week-long May observances

First full week of May

  • Small Business Week – April 30-May 6
  • Wildflower Week
  • Choose Privacy Week
  • Screen-Free Week
  • National Hospital Week
  • National Hurrican Preparedness Week – April 30-May 6

First Sunday through Monday of May

  • National Pet Week
  • North American Occupational Safety & Health Week
  • Public Service Recognition Week

First Monday of May

  • Teacher Appreciation Week – First Monday through Friday in May

Second week of May

  • National Etiquette Week – first Monday of the second full week
  • National Salvation Army Week – second full week
  • American Craft Beer Week – second full week
  • Nurses Week – May 6th – May 12

Third full week of May

  • National Emergency Medical Services Week
  • National Police Week – Week of May 15
  • Public Works Week – Week of May 15
  • National EMSCULPT Week – Week of May 20
  • Bike to Work Week – Week of National Bike to Work Day

 

may marketing ideas - small business week

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Holidays and observances in May

There’s a complete list of May holidays and observances at the bottom of this post, but here are some highlights:

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  • National Loyalty Day – every May 1
  • National Lumpy Rug Day – every May 3
  • Star Wars Day – every May 4
  • Cinco de Mayo – every May 5
  • Kentucky Derby – May 6
  • Teacher Appreciation Day – Tuesday of the first full week in May
  • Mother’s Day – May 8
  • Limerick Day – every May 12
  • Peace Officer’s Memorial Day – May 15
  • Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day – every May 16
  • Bike to Work Day – third Friday in May
  • Armed Forces Day – 3rd Saturday in May
  • Endangered Species Day – every May 20
  • Geek Pride Day – every May 25
  • National Burger Day – every May 28
  • Memorial Day – last Monday of May

may marketing ideas - national do something good for your neighbor day

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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion marketing ideas in May

We all hear about diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in marketing but what does that look like? Let’s take a look.

National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day

This holiday, celebrated every May 16, was created by Chase Brexton Health Care, an LGBT health resource center. It is focused on honoring protestors, supporters, doctors, politicians, influencers, and others who blazed the trail with the LGBT movement.

may marketing ideas - national honor our lgbt elders day

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Here are some ways to honor them:

  • Do some research and identify LGBT trailblazers in your geographic or industrial niche and write a blog post or social media fun fact post about them.
  • Ask your audience to share older LGBT mentors and thought leaders in their lives.
  • Raise awareness about the importance of taking care of LGBT elders who may still lack the care and support they need.

Jewish, Haitian, Asian & Pacific Island Heritage Month

In May, we celebrate individuals of Jewish, Haitian, Asian, or Pacific Island descent. Here are some ways to do just that:

  • Consider learning about each of these groups and sharing your findings in a blog post or on social media.
  • Interview a coworker, client, or friend who identifies with one of these groups on a topic relevant to your audience.
  • Put a request out there to your network for individuals within those groups to write a guest post or share their experience about something with a dedicated hashtag.

National Foster Care Month

Contrary to what we often see in sitcoms or novels, most people grow up with varying family dynamics. National Foster Care Month is meant to bring to recognize “the important role that members from all parts of child welfare play in supporting children, youth, and families.”

  • Update your marketing copy to be more inclusive. For example, instead of promoting a sale for moms and dads, you may want to extend your offer to caretakers, grandparents, or guardians as well.
  • Post foster care facts on social media to inspire your audience to take action. For example, did you know that foster youth are seven times more likely to have depression, and five times more likely to have anxiety? There are tons of interesting (and eye-opening) statistics like this on the current state of the foster care system that your followers could find both interesting and action-worthy. This will show that your business truly cares for the cause.
  • Connect with local foster care organizations to find ways you and your audience could donate or volunteer. For example, many foster care parents and case workers share Amazon wish lists and more on social media to allow people to support foster children or former foster youth.

may marketing ideas - foster care awareness

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National Silence the Shame Day

This day is observed every May 5 and is dedicated to erasing the shame and stigma around mental health challenges and disorders. Consider these ideas:

  • Share eye-opening stats about mental illness in the United States (or the world).
  • Share a few resources for those who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and other symptoms.
  • Participate in #silencetheshame textathons and fundraisers like the one below.

may marketing ideas - silence the shame day social media post example

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National Barrier Awareness Day

Every May 7, National Barrier Awareness Day encourages us to advocate for and educate others about breaking down barriers—visible and invisible—that prevent individuals with disabilities from living independent, fulfilled lives.

may marketing ideas - national barrier awareness day

To participate in this day:

  • Use the #nationalbarrierawarenessday hashtag to post information, resources, and stats.
  • Do an Instagram Story takeover by someone with a disability so they can share a day in the life.
  • Ask your audience about their experiences with barriers and how they overcame them.

Additional observances in May that help promote diversity, equity, and inclusion include:

  • National Interpreter Appreciation Day – first Wednesday in May
  • Join Hands Day – first Saturday in May
  • National Bombshells’ Day – first Saturday in May
  • International Being You Day – annually on May 22

May marketing ideas for national weeks

We’ve got loads of ideas for you for May—for Facebook and Instagram posts, blog posts, events, promotions, and more. We’ve organized them by themes and holidays, but you can find industry-specific ideas within each theme.

National Small Business Week

First and foremost, National Small Business Week happens annually every first week of May. Dedicated to raising awareness about small businesses and celebrating the hard-working owners behind them, this week will be packed with ample marketing opportunities. Here are some ways to make the best of National Small Business Week:

may marketing ideas - small business week instagram example

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  • Get return customers: Give out coupons with purchases this week, that can only be redeemed on an upcoming holiday or on the last day of Small Business Week.
  • Get more leads: Offer a downloadable, small business-themed piece of content that is of value to your target audience in exchange for their email addresses. You could also create a guide outlining the specials offered by other small businesses in your neighborhood. This is a great way to connect and network with nearby businesses and strengthen your ties to the community.
  • Promote your promotions: Write a blog post with a schedule of the deals, events, and contests you’re running and include it in your emails and social media posts.
  • Increase your exposure: Use #nationalsmallbusinessweek and #nationalsmallbusinessweek[your location] and other relevant hashtags in your social media posts and promotions.
may marketing ideas—instagram post promoting flower shop sale
  • Run an Instagram giveaway for a free product or service. Entrants post a photo to Instagram of themselves at your business, using a custom hashtag. Announce the winner at the end of the week.
  • Connect: Don’t forget that educating yourself about small businesses and networking with other small business owners is important for your marketing success as well. Attend local events, SBA events, or follow along via live streams.
  • Build community and expand your reach: Team up with other complementary small businesses and create an event.
  • Give back: Make an extra effort to give back to your community by shopping at, posting reviews, and engaging in social media with other small businesses during the week.
may marketing ideas—instagram post featuring a local small business

Public Service Recognition Week

For Public Service Recognition Week, post a thank you to the men and women who make our lives better by devoting their days to public service professions. Public service employees range from police officers to county clerks to city bus drivers. Say thank you!

may marketing ideas—instagram post giving public service worker recognition

Women’s Health Week

During Women’s Health Week, get creative about how you show appreciation for your female consumers and think of fun ways to engage them with your shop and on Instagram.

This influencer partnered with integrative health providers to share women’s health educational content and resources:

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may marketing ideas—womens health week instagram post

This fitness center took their spin class outdoors to shake things up a bit. This is a great idea, especially during the pandemic. If lugging out equipment isn’t an option, go for a yoga class, dance class, or boot camp. This is also a great way to show potential customers how awesome your classes are.

may marketing ideas—outdoor spin class instagram post

May marketing ideas for national days and holidays

Kentucky Derby

Use the Kentucky Derby in your May marketing efforts. Get creative with derby fashion or horse-themed decorations, promotions, contests, and events. For example,

  • Change up your storefront with a derby theme to grab attention and attract customers.
  • Blog about derby fashion and outfits for men and women.
  • Throw a derby party with derby hat contests and mint juleps.
  • Host a cooking or cocktail-making class.
  • Run a derby hat contest on Instagram or Facebook.
  • Use derby hashtags such as #kyderby, or your own custom hashtag (like #derbyatjoes) so that people can find you and follow along.

may marketing ideas - kentucky derby example

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Cinco de Mayo

In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, there are many ways to infuse a Mexican-American spirit into your marketing. For example:

  • Food or fitness businesses can post recipes or videos of recipes on social media.
  • Give out coupons the day before or a few days before, redeemable on Cinco de Mayo.
  • Share a festive discount “code word” on social media, customers who mention the code in-store get 15% off.
may marketing ideas—facebook post about cinco de mayo event
  • Use a triumph or underdog theme. This holiday comes from Mexico’s unlikely victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla. Give your customers the victory over high prices, long lines, slow service, and more with particular deals.
  • Use the number five in your promotions, such as: get the fifth one free, $5 specials, 5% off, 5 for 5, etc.
  • Throw a party or cooking class revolving around Mexican food and culture.
  • Consider offering your followers information about where to enjoy Cinco de Mayo. Remember, not everything you post should be in an effort to make a sale. Providing useful information gives your followers another reason to keep watching you on social media.

Teacher Appreciation Day

May 2 is Teacher Appreciation Day—a perfect time for preschools to market themselves to new parents in anticipation of the new school year.

  • Throw a party for teachers or have students write thank you letters to show off on your blog, in email newsletters to parents, or on social media.
  • Update your website content with new teacher bios and pictures.
  • Did anyone receive a new degree or have a teacher accomplishment to share? This is the perfect time to showcase them on an “About Us” page on your website. Doing so not only highlights your teaching staff, but it also can improve your SEO.
may marketing ideas—chipotle teacher appreciation discount

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is prime time for any business, not just the flower shops, salons, and spas (although it is advantageous!). We have a whole post on Mother’s Day marketing ideas, but here are a few:

  • Flower shops and bakeries can offer special Mother’s Day products, and discounts for Mother’s Day gift-givers, either on this day or the day before as well.
  • Salons and spas can create Mother’s Day-themed gift certificates, or offer 2-for-1 deals for mothers and daughters celebrating together.
  • Combine products and/or services into attractive gift packages that make gift-giving easy.
  • Post on Instagram using any of these Mother’s Day Instagram captions.

may marketing ideas - mothers day small business event example

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  • Businesses that get a spike in traffic on Mother’s Day can hand out coupons with purchases that are redeemable at a later time (ideally a time when business typically gets slow).
  • Preschools can have their little ones create Mother’s Day cards or crafts to send home. Make sure to post the pictures on social media or follow up with a blog post or email newsletter to communicate with parents!
  • Run a Mother’s Day photo contest on Facebook.
may marketing ideas—mothers day photo contest on facebook

Memorial Day

Here are some ways to show your patriotism and love for the good ol’ USA through your business marketing on Memorial Day.

  • Show your respect with these Memorial Day Instagram captions.
  • Promote red, white, and blue-themed recipes, outfits, flower arrangements, jewelry, and other products and promote them on Pinterest and Instagram.
may marketing ideas—instagram post with american flag wind chime for memorial day
  • Host a BBQ or picnic for your community, and give out branded swag like sunglasses or water bottles.
  • Participate in or sponsor a local event.
  • Use quotes, images, and other posts on social media to show your support for those who have lost their lives for our country.
  • Run a charity race or ride to remember our troops and veterans.
  • Memorial Day is often celebrated with gatherings , and Groupon will feature seasonal deals on its site. Try running a Groupon deal geared for families and groups. You could offer winter and spring products and services at a discount or even introduce your summer deals.
may marketing ideas—groupon memorial day deals
  • Run long weekend deals that encourage others to check out your business during their mini-vacay.

And if you’re in a pinch, head on over to these Memorial Day marketing ideas you can pull off last-minute.

Star Wars Day

Star Wars Day simply can’t be ignored with its rising popularity. Run a webinar or live stream on this day to help add some creativity to your copy.

may marketing ideas—facebook post on star wars day may the fourth

Or, organize a live or virtual Star Wars trivia night or contest. The prize could be discounts on future purchases or even a small cash prize for the winning team to share.

may marketing ideas—star wars trivia promotion

Bike to Work Day

Perhaps a surprise to most, Bike to Work Day is kind of a big deal in most major cities. Many metro areas have websites to register for the day and to organize large bike-riding groups. Look for information regarding your local Bike to Work Day activities and post useful information for your followers.

Geek Pride Day

Geek Pride Day offers you the opportunity to geek out over anything you think is the bee’s knees (a technical geek term). Geek out over a topic in your industry that you’re passionate about, or ask your employees about what they geek out on. Or, ask your social media followers questions related to the day.

may marketing ideas—facebook post about geek pride day

ALS

Not only is it important to support worthy causes, but statistically, people are more apt to do business with companies that share their values. This restaurant got a repost from an ALS-focused organization to help drive customers to their fundraiser:

may marketing ideas - als awareness instagram

You could also post infographics that educate the public:

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may marketing ideas—infographic about ALS awareness

Peace Officer’s Memorial Day

As a part of Public Service Recognition Week, we have Peace Officer’s Memorial Day on May 15. In addition to our troops and veterans, no one deserves our adulation more than those who serve and protect our cities. Take a moment to give a big thank you to your town’s protectors and even offer up specials specifically for Peace Officers.

may marketing ideas—peace officer memorial day facebook post

More May marketing themes and ideas

Warm weather/spring cleaning

Take advantage of the warmer weather and provide information and helpful tips to your customers in accordance with your business.

  • Contractors, landscaping companies, and painters should boost their May marketing efforts to get new clients for the spring and summer months. Try sending out postcards encouraging homeowners to get their homes and gardens in top shape for summer.
may marketing ideas—landscaping postcard "enjoy your yard this summer"

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  • Now’s the time to run that gutter cleaning sale or post pictures on Facebook of your most recent outdoor paint job. Build your content authority with SEO-optimized blog posts about seasonal maintenance.
may marketing ideas—blog post about spring cleaning

Speaking of spring cleaning, why not do a little of your own by going through your website, ad campaigns, social media profiles, and listings to make sure information is up to date, photos are relevant to the season, and links are working properly? You may want to refresh some of the evergreen content from last year that performed well around this time.

  • Gather up your top reviews from last year and share them on social media. These make for enjoyable Tweets with no pressure to click a link or read more. You might also share success stories with before-and-after photos to get clients excited about the warm weather.
  • What better time to get the chatter going about your business when people are getting excited about the warm weather? Word-of-mouth marketing is important for small businesses. Offer existing clients a discount or incentive for each new client they refer who becomes a paying customer.
may marketing ideas—referral program example

Flowers

April showers bring May flowers. If you own a flower shop, May marketing is your time to shine! (If you don’t, there are still opportunities!).

  • Host that flower-arranging workshop you’ve been thinking about.
  • Start a Pinterest board to see if Pinterest is right for your business, or grow your Pinterest following with your creations linked to your online store or blog.
  • You don’t have to be a florist to use flowers in your marketing. Spruce up your office, restaurant, or storefront with flowers. Nothing says “spring” like fresh-cut flowers that add a pop of color to your business space.
  • Buy flowers from a local florist and introduce yourself. Supporting other small business owners is the first step to getting more word-of-mouth referrals.

Weddings

May is the start of wedding season and a perfect time to market your business to new people who are in town. Unless, of course, you’re hosting a virtual wedding this year due to the pandemic. Here are some wedding-based marketing ideas for both live and virtual weddings.

  • Caterers, event planners, DJs, photographers, bakeries, and other wedding-friendly services: Use social media to engage customers as much as possible. Whether you’re hosting the bachelorette party at your restaurant, baking the wedding cupcakes at your bakery, or photographing the event, be sure to take pictures and share them on Facebook and other social media platforms. You may also want to ask and see if you can use the special custom hashtag for the event. This is a great way to put a name to the features of the wedding that stick out to guests (who can become or refer you to new customers) and their social media audiences.
  • Landscapers can capitalize on wedding venue owners looking to perfect their property.
  • Or perhaps you want to run a virtual wedding planning campaign, through organic content or paid ads.
may marketing ideas—wedding season ads and blog posts in the SERP
  • Fitness and nutrition businesses can provide workouts, recipes, blog posts, and tips on getting to your healthiest and best version of yourself in time for these heavily photographed events.

More May marketing magic

Show how busy your business has been by simply providing some updates for the month of May. You could frame it as “May mayhem” to showcase to your audience how your business is rapidly progressing. You might:

Final tips for your May marketing

Whatever you decide to do to promote your business in May, be sure to recap your events, promotions, and festivities in your next email newsletter or blog post so that those who missed out will want to join in the fun next year. Also, be sure to send follow-up emails to any new leads for your business. And during your campaigns, post real-time photos and user-generated content to encourage more participation.

Couldn’t get enough? We’ve got lots more May social media holidays and ideas here!

Not May? Here’s our full series of monthly marketing ideas

And for a year’s worth of marketing ideas, check out this marketing calendar template from our friends at LocaliQ.

Full list of May holidays and observances

Thank you, as always, to National Day Calendar for supplying these days and dates!

May 1

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  • Law Day
  • May Day
  • National Chocolate Parfait Day
  • National Loyalty Day
  • National Mother Goose Day
  • School Principals’ Day
  • Silver Star Service Banner Day
  • Melanoma Monday – first Monday in May

May 2

  • National Life Insurance Day
  • National Truffle Day
  • National Foster Care Day – first Tuesday in May
  • National Teacher Appreciation Day – Tuesday of the First Full Week in May

May 3

  • National Chocolate Custard Day
  • National Garden Meditation Day
  • National Lumpy Rug Day
  • National Montana Day
  • National Paranormal Day
  • National Raspberry Popover Day
  • National SAN Architect Day
  • National Specially-Able Pets Day
  • National Textiles Day
  • National Two Different Colored Shoes Day
  • National Skilled Trades Day – first Wednesday in May
  • National Interpreter Appreciation Day – first Wednesday in May
  • National Bike to School Day – Changes annually – May 3, 2023

May 4

  • Bird Day
  • National Candied Orange Peel Day
  • National Orange Juice Day
  • National Renewal Day
  • National Star Wars Day
  • National Weather Observers Day
  • National Day of Prayer – first Thursday in May
  • National Day of Reason – first Thursday in May
  • World Password Day – first Thursday in May

May 5

  • Cinco de Mayo
  • National Astronaut Day
  • National Cartoonists Day
  • National Hoagie Day
  • National Silence the Shame Day
  • National Totally Chipotle Day
  • National Space Day – first Friday in May
  • School Lunch Hero Day – first Friday in May

May 6

  • National Beverage Day
  • National Crepe Suzette Day
  • National Nurses Day
  • National Bombshells’ Day – first Saturday in May
  • National Fitness Day – first Saturday in May
  • National Homebrew Day – first Saturday in May
  • National Play Outside Day – first Saturday of Every Month
  • National Scrapbook Day – first Saturday in May
  • Join Hands Day – first Saturday in May
  • Kentucky Derby – first Saturday in May
  • National Start Seeing Monarchs Day – first Saturday in May
  • Free Comic Book Day – first Saturday in May

May 7

  • National Barrier Awareness Day
  • National Packaging Design Day
  • National Paste-Up Day
  • National Roast Leg of Lamb Day
  • National Infertility Survival Day – Sunday Before Mother’s Day

May 8

  • National Coconut Cream Pie Day
  • National Have a Coke Day
  • National Student Nurse Day
  • National Women’s Checkup Day – Second Monday in May

May 9

  • National Home Front Heroes Day
  • National Alphabet Magnet Day
  • National Butterscotch Brownie Day
  • National Lost Sock Memorial Day
  • National Moscato Day
  • National Sleepover Day

May 10

  • National Clean Up Your Room Day
  • National Lipid Day
  • National Shrimp Day
  • National Washington Day
  • National Receptionists’ Day – Second Wednesday in May
  • National Third Shift Workers Day – Second Wednesday in May
  • National School Nurse Day – Wednesday of National Nurses Week

May 11

  • National Eat What You Want Day
  • National Foam Rolling Day
  • National Twilight Zone Day

May 12

  • National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day
  • National Limerick Day
  • National Nutty Fudge Day
  • National Odometer Day
  • National Military Spouse Appreciation Day – Friday Before Mother’s Day
  • National Provider Appreciation Day – Friday Before Mother’s Day

May 13

  • National Apple Pie Day
  • National Crouton Day
  • National Frog Jumping Day
  • National Fruit Cocktail Day
  • National Babysitter’s Day – Saturday before Mother’s Day
  • National Birth Mother’s Day – Saturday before Mother’s Day
  • Cornelia De Lange Syndrome Awareness Day – second Saturday in May
  • National Archery Day – second Saturday in May
  • National Dog Mom’s Day – second Saturday in May
  • National Miniature Golf Day –second Saturday in May
  • Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day – second Saturday in May
  • National Train Day – Saturday closest to May 10

May 14

  • Mother’s Day
  • National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
  • National Dance Like a Chicken Day
  • National Decency Day
  • National Underground America Day

May 15

  • National Chocolate Chip Day
  • National Nylon Stocking Day
  • Peace Officers Memorial Day

May 16

  • Honor Our LGBT Elders Day
  • National Barbecue Day
  • National Biographer’s Day
  • National Coquilles Saint Jacques Day
  • National Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day
  • National Love a Tree Day
  • National Mimosa Day
  • National Piercing Day
  • National Sea Monkey Day

May 17

  • National Cherry Cobbler Day
  • National Graduation Tassel Day
  • National Idaho Day
  • National Pack Rat Day
  • National Walnut Day
  • National Juice Slush Day – third Wednesday In May

May 18

  • National Cheese Soufflé Day
  • National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
  • National No Dirty Dishes Day
  • National Visit Your Relatives Day

May 19

  • National Devil’s Food Cake Day
  • National May Ray Day
  • NASCAR Day – third Friday in May
  • National Bike to Work Day – third Friday in May
  • National Pizza Party Day – third Friday in May
  • National Defense Transportation Day – third Friday in May
  • National Endangered Species Day – third Friday in May

May 20

  • International Red Sneakers Day
  • National Be a Millionaire Day
  • National Pick Strawberries Day
  • National Quiche Lorraine Day
  • National Rescue Dog Day
  • National Streaming Day
  • National Armed Forces Day – third Saturday in May
  • National Learn to Swim Day – third Saturday in May

May 21

  • National American Red Cross Founder’s Day
  • National Memo Day
  • National Strawberries and Cream Day
  • National Waitstaff Day
  • Take Your Parents to the Playground Day – third Sunday in May

May 22

  • International Being You Day
  • National Buy a Musical Instrument Day
  • National Craft Distillery Day
  • National Maritime Day
  • National Solitaire Day
  • National Vanilla Pudding Day
  • World Paloma Day

May 23

  • National Lucky Penny Day
  • National Taffy Day

May 24

  • Brother’s Day
  • National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day
  • National Escargot Day
  • National Scavenger Hunt Day
  • National Wyoming Day
  • National Yucatan Shrimp Day
  • National Senior Health & Fitness Day – last Wednesday in May

May 25

  • National Brown-Bag It Day
  • National Missing Children’s Day
  • National Tap Dance Day
  • National Wine Day
  • Towel Day

May 26

  • National Blueberry Cheesecake Day
  • National Paper Airplane Day
  • National Cooler Day – Friday before Memorial Day
  • National Don’t Fry Day – Friday before Memorial Day
  • National Road Trip Day – Friday before Memorial Day

May 27

  • National Cellophane Tape Day
  • National Grape Popsicle Day

May 28

  • National Beef Burger Day
  • National Brisket Day
  • National Hamburger Day

May 29

  • National 529 Day
  • National Coq Au Vin Day
  • National Paperclip Day
  • National Memorial Day – last Monday in May

May 30

  • Loomis Day
  • National Creativity Day
  • National Hole In My Bucket Day
  • National Mint Julep Day
  • National Water a Flower Day
  • World Multiple Sclerosis Day

May 31

  • Autonomous Vehicle Day
  • National Macaroon Day
  • National Save Your Hearing Day
  • National Smile Day
  • National Speak in Sentences Day
  • National Utah Day
  • Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day

 



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11 Actionable Ways to Build Client Relationships That Last

Some agencies manage to build a steady client base that strengthens over the years, while others ride roller coasters and eventually close up shop. What’s the difference? Client relationships. Strong client relations make for greater success with projects and campaigns, loyal clients who stay with you longer and refer new clients, and a better reputation for your brand. Even better, they make everyday work more enjoyable for all.

So what makes for a strong client relationship? The same traits that define any good relationship: awareness, communication, empathy, dependability, accountability, honesty, and the list goes on.

In this post, I’ve compiled 11 ways your agency can demonstrate the above and more to achieve the best possible outcomes for you and your clients. I’d say happy endings, but good relationships don’t really end.

Table of contents

Why are client relationships important?

It’s easy to skim over the importance of creating a strong relationship with your clients—you know you have to do it. But when you dig into how it helps your agency grow, you can be more strategic about it.

Reduces churn

It can be 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. You also have a much higher probability of selling a new agreement to a current client than closing a deal with a new one.

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A strong client relationship helps you weather rough patches and identify clients who are at risk of leaving. Both will help you reduce customer churn.

Increases referrals

Customer referrals are an extremely important source of new clients for your agency. That’s because referred customers are more likely to buy, are more loyal, and spend more on average than non-referred customers.

When you have a strong relationship with your clients, you can ask them to give reviews and refer other businesses. That’s especially helpful if your agency serves a niche industry where everyone knows everyone else.

Provides opportunities to learn

Have you ever wanted to know how a new regulation would affect your clients? Or how to best sell a service like PPC? When you have a rock-solid relationship with your clients, you can ask them.

It takes time to build that sort of comfort, but when you do, your best clients become your agency’s de facto advisers.

📣 Learn how 300 marketing agencies manage services, pricing, and challenges in our State of the Digital Marketing Agency report.

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How do you build client relationships that last?

In the following list, you’ll find actionable ways to improve client satisfaction and build mutually beneficial partnerships, with input from PPC agency experts like Mark Irvine, Francine Rodriguez, Akvile DeFazio, and Susie Marino.

1. Gather “hard” and “soft” information

A strong agency-client relationship starts before the client even becomes one. You know that you need as much information as possible about your client to come up with a winning proposal. But the solution you come up with isn’t going to establish a meaningful connection between you and your potential client. It’s how you present that solution with respect to both the business’s goals and the personalities and values of the team you’ll be working with.

This means collecting “hard” information like:

  • Products and services they offer
  • Target audience and the end-users of their product or service
  • Top three competitors
  • Prioritized list of goals and challenges
  • Strategies that have worked and not worked in the past
  • Software are they currently using
  • Budget

But also “soft” information like:

  • What they define as success
  • Their future hopes or anticipations, like scaling, adding on new offerings, etc.
  • The company’s mission, beliefs, and values, and unique selling proposition
  • What makes them different from their competitors
  • Hobbies, interests, and preferences of the individuals you’ll be working with

strengthen client relationships emotional vs logical intelligence

Think with both sides of your brain when gathering information about your client.

Building emotional intelligence about the team you’ll be working with will help you to make communication more personalized as you move through these initial phases of your journey together.

Side note: Be prepared to answer their questions too! Even their non-PPC questions.

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2. Internalize that information

This is the information you’ll be not only including in your proposal, but applying throughout your actual execution and ongoing communication with your client. Take the time to really internalize it so that it shines through organically in everything you do.

  • Gather the information in person (or video): Body language and facial expressions tell a lot. Take note of what gets them excited (and not so excited). Also, be sure to send out a list of the questions you’ll be asking far in advance so the client can have time to think about answers and produce follow-up questions.
  • Iterate back: As you listen, iterate back to your client what you have interpreted so you can make sure you’re crystal clear on the information you’re receiving. Remember, incorporating the tiniest details into your proposal and execution is what will give your clients confidence that you truly understand their needs.
  • Templatize: Have an internal templated document where you can collect all of the information you’ve gathered in one place. This gives every team member something to continually refer back to, and the uniformity makes it easier to internalize.

3. Go above and beyond with your proposal

    From a project standpoint, your proposal shows what you’re going to do to achieve your client’s goals. From a relationship standpoint, it’s your opportunity to reinforce, once again, that you have a deep understanding of your client—both the business and its team members. Speak to both the client’s business goals as well as the more personal pain points and desires of its employees.

    To do this, think in terms of “what,” “why,” and “so that.”

    • The what refers to what you’ll be doing from a process standpoint.
    • The why ties the process to one of the business’s specific goals.
    • The “so that” speaks to the pain point it will address for the business’s team members.

    For example, we’d like to ramp up ad spending in the latter half of the month to drive more signups so that your sales team isn’t scrounging for leads. Just be sure to use the language that your clients used in the initial information-gathering process.

    This strengthens that partnership feel. You’re not just looking to achieve goals, you care about the individuals impacted by them.

    how to strengthen marketing agency client relationship with a winning proposalhow to strengthen marketing agency client relationship with a winning proposal

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    4. Have an onboarding process

    This is one of our customer retention strategies as well. Once you get started, there will be more points of contact added to the roster for both sides. A streamlined onboarding process will set the stage for the clear communication and seamless execution needed for a strong and long-lasting client relationship to form. During this process, you may want to:

    • Mail them a welcome kit: Send along some giveaways like branded swag, a greeting card, and additional goodies based on the more personal information you’ve collected.
    • Take care of housekeeping: Make sure each of you has the access needed for tools, accounts, and dashboards.
    • Have a kickoff meeting: This is to ensure everything is lined up for perfect execution. You’ve also become pretty familiar with one another at this point. This is a good time to have a more informal atmosphere.

    🛑 Free guide >>> The 6 Absolute Best Strategies to Grow Your Digital Marketing Agency

    5. Treat clients like partners

    Treating your client like a business will make your relationship purely transactional (i.e., no relationship at all). Treating them like family leaves too much room for miscommunications and unmet expectations.

    Treating your clients like partners, on the other hand, sets the stage for a healthy mix of personal, purposeful, and transactional encounters where both your and your client’s identities are preserved, and each of you supplies the essential ingredients for success.

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    • Embrace the truth: Remember that at the end of the day, both of you are businesses that want to make money. There’s no need to skirt around that. They need your service to generate revenue, and you need their continued business to generate yours.
    • Maintain structure with some fluidity: Keep deliverables clear and stick to the intended plan as much as possible, but always leave the door open for input and feedback.
    • Let them in: While some of your tools and processes may be proprietary, give them access to dashboards and data when possible. Let them in on (non-confidential) tidbits about your agency that “outsiders” wouldn’t know. Their earning your trust is just as important as you earning theirs.
    • Stay honest: This means giving pushback on your client’s desires or requests that may not be best for long-term success (wants vs needs). A good partnership is not one where both parties constantly agree; it’s one where the two parties come together with different perspectives to bring to the table, resulting in better output than either one could have achieved on their own.

    6. Be proactive rather than reactive

      Akvile DeFazio, President of AKvertise, makes this a priority with clients.

      Her team makes sure to proactively:

      • Share ideas and propose new campaign strategies.
      • Forewarn about upcoming platform changes and any action required.
      • Educate the client to empower them further.

      “This shows care and builds trust, and our clients share that they appreciate our diligent proactivity,” she says. “When we work with clients, we aim to be a seamless extension of their team and genuinely embed ourselves as so. When they win, we win, and proactive communication is the key to success for all.”

      7. Be empathetic rather than defensive

      This recommendation from Mark Irvine, Director of PPC at Search Labs Digital, ties back to the partnership mentality in tip #5. The scenario here is that your agency is doing great work. Performance metrics continue to climb. But the client is upset. They aren’t seeing new business come in.

      “A wrong response here is to dig your heels in,” Mark says. “Telling them that their business is doing fine is at best tone-deaf. Instead, let them talk it out and listen to them. This may even lead them to discover the problem is in their other marketing or sales teams.”

      If this ends up being the case, Irvine recommends that you take yourself out of the problem to prevent it from becoming an “us versus them” situation. Take the approach of teaming up together to come up with a solution. Use language like:

      • “I see what you’re talking about.”
      • “This is a valid concern.”
      • “That really is frustrating, we’re glad you brought this up with us.”
      • “Let’s make a plan to review this and report back with some solutions to remedy this.”

      Position yourself as a partner in their campaigns. Value their feedback. Even if you’re an expert, allowing them to work with you will help build a long, trusting relationship.

      “And remember,” Mark adds, “if you dismiss or fight their concerns, there’s an agency sales rep somewhere else who will be happy to listen to them vent about you all day.”

      8. Establish structure around communication

      Brett McHale, founder of Empiric Marketing, LLC, provides some great tips around communication and setting boundaries:

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      Stay away from being “always available

      Being always available, whether through Slack or other forms of direct communication, blurs the ever-important work-life balance. It can also distract you away from other clients.

      Hold regular meetings with actionable takeaways

      Instead, establish weekly or bi-weekly meetings to check in, review performance, and answer questions. “I always have some takeaway or action item from those meetings,” Brett says. “This keeps me accountable, and when I deliver on things that I say I’m going to do, it helps build trust with the client.”

      Use email and instant messaging

      Brett says, “Email can be very robotic, and I try not to be too professional or polished all the time. Communicating with clients directly via a messenger helps to build rapport and have a more laid back ‘human-to-human’ relationship.”

      He suggests designating instant messaging for urgent matters and email otherwise. This cuts out the back-and-forth emailing and also reassures your clients that while you may not always be available, you will never leave them hanging.

      how to strengthen relationships with clients the seven c's of effective communicationhow to strengthen relationships with clients the seven c's of effective communication

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      9. Share your concerns early

      This suggestion from Mark Irvine is particularly relevant to the many changes happening in the advertising realm lately. The scenario here is that your client has big plans and aspirations, and you want to say yes to everything they want. But in the back of your mind, you’re not sure if they can create that audience in Google or build that campaign on Bing. You’re unsure of how the new iOS updates will impact their Facebook targeting.

      “Don’t nod, say yes, and then stress,” Mark says. “You lose trust with your client if you say you can do something and then can’t, even if that’s not your fault.”

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      Instead, show your expertise by sharing your concerns. Practice saying:

      • “That’s a really good idea. I know that some ad policies might come into play as we explore it, so let me double-check those first.”
      • “This new change could pose some challenges to us. I’ll keep an eye on it as it changes over the coming days.”
      • “It’s tough to say what this means for us yet, but I wanted to make sure we all knew about it in advance.”

      If you really have to put your foot down, try something like:

      “We agree that this is a great idea, but we can’t in good conscience proceed with it until we know that it won’t cost you in the long run.”

      Be transparent and ask them for their trust. Most of the time, you’ll come out as the person who helped them navigate through uncertainty, and they won’t forget that.

      10. Embrace small talk

      Small talk often gets a bad rap, but Susie Marino, WordStream’s Senior Content Marketing Specialist and former Customer Success Specialist, has found that it actually helps with building strong client relationships.

      “I know it can feel cringey or uncomfortable at first, but just go for it,” she says. “You’d be surprised at how receptive clients are. Next thing you know, you’ve got a great rapport going, and the banter at the beginning of meetings becomes more meaningful.”

      “People love to talk about themselves, and clients are no different,” Susie adds. “When you ask them about how that home garden is coming along, they’ll be pleasantly surprised. These conversations reveal how much you truly care.“

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      Clients are people who like to work with real people who also have personalities and personal lives. If you don’t show a touch of personality with small talk, it will be harder to stay connected and to demonstrate your genuine care, outside of campaigns and metrics.

      11. Establish quarterly business reviews

      Francine Rodriguez, former Senior Manager of Customer Success at WordStream, believes that quarterly business reviews are essential for client retention.

      “I think all agencies get into a cycle of monthly reporting and proving that deliverables were completed,” she says. “It is important to take that step back once a quarter and have a focused conversation on high-level strategy.”

      The QBR allows the agency and the customer to reflect on new goals, the efficiency of strategies taken in the past, and what needs to pivot for the future.

      It is also a time to allow your customer to provide insight into how their business goals are changing and perhaps what strategies outside of the agency’s scope they are also planning in the near future. Having that dedicated time to talk without existing action items on the table is a great way to strengthen the relationship, create trust, and become better partners.

      It may also lead to surprising discoveries, where an agency could find opportunities to upsell its customers into new services. If your agency is doing QBRs now and your conversations don’t look any different from your regular monthly check-ins, it is time to change the format!”

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      Start cultivating strong relationships with your clients today

      Strong agency-client relationships are built on virtues like trust, reliability, transparency, and personability, and they result in greater outcomes for everyone involved. If you find that you’re lacking in productivity, loyalty, or the overall feel of harmony with your clients, see if you can adopt or improve any of these strategies for your agency:

      1. Gather “hard” and “soft” information about your client
      2. Internalize that information
      3. Go above and beyond with your proposal
      4. Have an onboarding process
      5. Treat clients like partners
      6. Be proactive rather than reactive
      7. Be empathetic rather than defensive
      8. Establish structure around communication
      9. Share your concerns early
      10. Embrace the small talk
      11. Have quarterly business reviews

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Google change the meaning of “Top Ads”

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Google change the meaning of “Top Ads”

What is Top Ads in world of Google? well it’s changed. Today Ginny Martin, Ads Product Liaison at Google shared a subtle but potential significant change of definition of Top Ads. If your deep in the detail of paid search campaigns on Google this is the kind of tweak that’s easy to miss.

Now Google’s documentation reads;

Google change the meaning of Top Ads

Top ads are adjacent to the top organic search results. Top ads are generally above the top organic results, although top ads may show below the top organic results on certain queries. Placement of top ads is dynamic and may change based on the user’s search.

Google’s official documentation

Ginny clarified on LinkedIn that this is a definitional change (as ads can appear above the organic result or below for certain queries) and doesn’t affect how performance metrics are calculated. And that the definition update clarifies that top ads may show below the organic results for certain queries. Although, for most queries, ads will continue to appear at the top of search results.

Why make the change? Anthony Higman suggested it might be due to the change in how some ads are being presented like in the screenshot below and the general shift towards more SGE on the SERPs and the consequences that change in user experience might have on ad placement. And does seem part of increased amount of experimentation on where ads appear on search engine results pages.

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1711605382 993 Google change the meaning of Top Ads1711605382 993 Google change the meaning of Top Ads



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Dynamic UTM parameters for LinkedIn ads are here!

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A simple graphical illustration of a road with a directional sign pointing to the right against a blue sky background

Praise be. For LinkedIn have just announced the arrival of Dynamic UTM parameters.

A simple graphical illustration of a road with a directional sign pointing to the right against a blue sky background

This is big news because manually configuring the campaign UTM tracking for each URL you use within a campaign can be is a cumbersome, convoluted, time-consuming process. It’s also one which can occasionally (or, let’s be honest, more than occasionally) lead to errors.

Dynamic UTMs automate the process and will mean you only have to get it right once. That’s because you’ll create your parameters once per campaign, instead of countless times.

How they say dynamic UTM parameters work

Marketers – only one time per campaign – will add a dynamic UTM parameter to their campaign and then we’ll automatically pull in the account, campaign and/or creative name into the destination URL so it can be picked up by analytics tools, allowing marketers to more easily analyze results.

If you’re not seeing dynamic UTM tracking within your LinkedIn ad campaigns already, you will soon. They’ll be rolled out globally by the end of this month.

As you’ve almost certainly been deploying dynamic UTMs across your Facebook and Google Ads campaigns for years, it is indeed about time.

But as the famous Chinese proverb goes:

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“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”



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