October Holidays and Newsletter Ideas — 2022

Just as fall is my favorite season, October is my favorite month.

I love October. Not just because I get to over-decorate the house, play dress-up as an adult, and buy way too much candy without judgment.

Nor do I love it because of National Pumpkin Spice Day (Oct. 1st) or National Cinnamon Roll Day (Oct. 4th) — although those are both good reasons to love October.

I love it because the first snows fall and then melt away, because of Indian Summer days and cold nights with breezes that nip at your nose, and because everyone is getting ready to hunker down for winter.

I love October because here in the Northern Hemisphere, it is nature’s last hurrah before winter sets in.

So, when you start working on your marketing for October, think about how this time of year makes you feel and how you can help your readers celebrate the end of the season while preparing for the coming winter.

If you’re not sure where to start, I’m here to help with a bushel of October holidays, newsletter ideas, and subject line starters. So slip into your favorite slippers, grab a cup of hot cocoa and let your mind warm up to some of these great ideas.

October holidays — 2022

October 1st – World Card Making Day. This is a great day for curating content on how to make homemade holiday cards.
October 4th-7th – Humphrey’s Pyjama Week. While traditionally done in the UK for school children to raise funds for children with brain injuries, there’s nothing that says the US can’t follow their lead and raise funds for a local children’s charity by “paying to wear PJ” for a day.
October 5th – National Apple Betty Day. Whether you have your own apple betty recipe or curate someone else’s, share this warm autumn treat with your readers.
October 6th – National Mad Hatter Day. Get crazy.
October 7th – National Inner Beauty Day.
October 10th – National Kick Butt Day. You got this. Today’s your day. Let your readers know it’s there’s too!
October 13th – National Train Your Brain Day. This is a great excuse to share some brain teasers, puzzles, and Alzheimer’s awareness with your readers.
October 16th – Dictionary Day. Challenge your readers to learn a new word every day. Make a game of it in your shop or offer a discount if they know the “word of the day”.
October 21st – Loud Shirt Day. I don’t care if it does come from down under. What’s not to love about this?
October 25th – International Artist Day. Support a local artist by showcasing their work in your shop, your newsletter, and on your social media.
October 26th – Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night. Umm, isn’t this every night?
October 31st – Halloween, National Caramel Apple Day, and Magic Day. Pick a holiday, any holiday.

With fall in full color, corn mazes, and kids in costumes, there’s no better time to embrace the season and your community.

Seasonal activities are everywhere this time of year. So, tap into what’s happening in your community.

Bring the fun. Purchase a few tickets to a local corn maze, haunted house, or other season-themed event and then hold a contest for your readers to win the tickets.
Create something special. Partner with a local event or a related business to combine your products or resources to create something special for the season/month.
Support your community. Partner with a local food bank, farm, grocery store, or charity to create a fundraiser that can start with paying to pick apples, to making apple deserts, all the way down to a bake sale. Better yet, partner with a school to teach children the process of farm-to-table.

Halloween dominates the month of October so join in the fun and celebrate all things Halloween-ish with your readers.

If your business isn’t directly tied to Halloween, then be a resource for your readers by:

Doing some research. Create a comprehensive list of activities and events happening in your area that you can share with your readers. Share the list on social media as well, and invite your readers to add activities that you might have missed.
Creating a checklist. Help your readers out by creating a fun checklist of things they’ll need to “survive” Halloween. This can be anything from practical suggestions on how to trick-or-treat with little ones to funny suggestions like purchasing twice as much candy as you think you’ll need, so they’ll be some left for the trick-or-treaters.
Curating content. Content curation isn’t just for social media. You can curate content from other sources and use it in your newsletters and on your website. Just make sure to follow content curation best practices and cite your sources properly.

TIP: Whatever holiday you highlight in your newsletter this month, whether you issue a challenge, offer advice, or ask your readers to share, include a branded hashtag and a custom hashtag — along with a corresponding post on social media — so you can easily find and like what they post!

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” – National Mad Hatter Day (Oct. 6th). Do you know the answer?
“Have I gone mad?” – National Mad Hatter Day (Oct. 6th). Great for announcing a sale.
“Curiouser and curiouser” – Curious Events Day (Oct. 9th). Perfect for sharing interesting or unusual information.
“It’s time to kick some butt!” – National Kick Butt Day (Oct. 10th). When you want to motivate your readers to take action.
“It’s my party” Preheader: “and you’re invited” – It’s My Party Day (Oct. 11th). Great for anything you want to celebrate, an event, a sale, whatever!
“I don’t believe it” – International Skeptics Day (Oct. 13th). Great for announcing a sale, something new, or even something controversial.
“Go beyond bold” Preheader: “Be gaudy!” – Wear Something Gaudy Day (Oct. 17th).
“It’s your kids, [name]!” – Back To The Future Day (Oct. 21st). This can come in handy if your business is related to children — at all.
“Great Scott!” – Back To The Future Day (Oct. 21st). Great for sharing what’s new and exciting.
“Go ahead, get greasy” – National Greasy Foods Day (Oct. 25th). If you run a restaurant, food truck, or tavern that serves deep-fried anything, this is the one for you.
“Knock knock” – National Knock Knock Joke Day (Oct. 31st). Hey! Why not?

For more October holidays and ideas on what you can do to share them with your customers, download the graphic below. And if you haven’t started already, it’s time. Start planning your 2022 holiday marketing now.