Once the hullabaloo of Christmas and New Year dies down, it can feel like January is a long month of waiting for something to happen. In reality, it’s a time when people’s needs and goals change, and it shouldn’t be a time for businesses to tread water.
Here are three events and trends you might want to jump on this month to help you stay topical and get social media engagement:
1. The African Cup of Nations (January 9th to February 6th)
Africa’s main international football tournament began in Cameroon yesterday, and while it may seem a long way from home, there’s plenty of interest in it here in Britain. Around 40 of the players featuring in it play in the Premier League, leaving many of the country’s top managers vexed as to how they can get through the next few weeks of the domestic season without their African stars.
If you want to talk about it, use hashtags like #CAN2021 (although it’s now 2022, it’s been postponed from last year and is keeping the name), and don’t forget the FIFA country codes of the nations involved. Prioritise the games involving high-profile stars like Liverpool’s “Egyptian King” Mo Salah, and Algeria’s captain Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City.
If you don’t like football, you could simply treat it as a coming together of 24 African countries. Tourism companies might look at popular holiday destinations like Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Cape Verde. Companies that prepare or sell food might be aware that the Ivory Coast produces more than double the amount of cocoa of any other nation on Earth, while Ethiopia was one of 2020’s top five coffee producers.
2. Australia Day (January 26th)
Despite Foster’s lager trying to market this celebration in much the same way as Guinness does with St. Patrick’s Day, it’s never quite had the same global recognition. Still, it is a national holiday Down Under and is a chance to latch onto typically Australian trends like barbecues and soap operas. Remember that if you’re trying to target Australians, they’re 8 to 11 hours ahead of us.
3. Self-assessment tax return deadline (January 31st)
Although self-employed people are being given some leeway this year as far as incurring penalties goes, it’s still in their interest to pay their tax bill by the end of the month to avoid paying interest.
It’s easy to think this is only something accountants should be bothered about, but really any business-to-business company will have followers that might appreciate tax tips, news and updates. You might well have experience of trying to meet the deadline yourself, so how did you go about it and what recommendations do you have?
Why not join our Elite Digital Marketing Community for weekly tips on the trends and events you could be joining in with? As always, feel free to speak to the Engage Web team for advice on topical and sharable content.
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