Did you buy anything in this year’s Black Friday sales? Are you looking forward to buying some bargains in the New Year sales? There are many seasonal events in our annual calendars. It can be good to make use of these well known dates to promote your business.
Although the potentially quiet time over the holidays can be a great time to plan your marketing campaign for the next year, this can also be done at any time of year. This blog is going to explore some of the key calendar dates with ideas for how you can promote your business.
As well as the standard holidays that we all know about (and can use within our marketing strategies), there are also an immense number of national and international ‘days’ that you can make use of, and some of the most relevant are included here.
January
As well as the ‘January Sales’ being a fantastic opportunity to offer your customers some fantastic (limited time only) offers and deals on your services, the 4th of January is World Hypnotism Day.
This is a great time to promote how hypnotherapy can help clients achieve their goals, whatever they may be. With the 1st recognised not only as New Year’s Day, and the start of new year resolutions, it is also ‘National Hangover Day’ in the US. This could inspire a theme for marketing, whether on alcohol moderation or even how self-hypnosis can alleviate some of the symptoms.
The 24th of January is International Day of Education. This is a great opportunity to promote how hypnotherapy can help students of all ages learn more effectively.
February
Many clients will start to look at potential holidays in February. This makes it a great time of year to promote how helpful hypnotherapy is at addressing phobias that might stop people travelling.
You could add even more impact by giving some brief case history examples of how you helped ‘Michael’ overcome his flying phobia or ‘Janice’ move past her phobia of boats and how they went on to have the holiday they wished for.
You could even compare international holiday costs to the often more expensive UK holiday costs and show how people can save money by travelling abroad, meaning the hypnotherapy fee would be more than covered.
March
There are two superb International days in March. Firstly, on the 8th March it is International Women’s day. This date is promoted around the world and the United Nations also call it the Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.
Female hypnotherapists have a great opportunity to promote their hypnotherapy business. Male hypnotherapists can also make use of this day (which was first recognised in 1911) by promoting how hypnotherapy can help women specifically.
Possible themes may be on a particular female issue, such as childbirth or menopause, or perhaps career focus, such as confidence in the workplace.
Also, in March, on the 20th is the International Day of Happiness. The concept for a day of happiness is said to have originated in Bhutan, a country considered to have some of the happiest citizens in the world. A simple marketing strategy focused around the positive benefits of hypnotherapy would fit well here.
April
As the weather improves (hopefully) the shops start to display more summer clothes. This is a great time to start to promote how hypnotherapy can help with weight management and exercise motivation.
It is a superb time to start promoting a 3-month ‘beach-body’ hypnotherapy programme. The 28th April is recognised by organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations (UN) as the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. This can be a wonderful opportunity for hypnotherapists to start to explore the corporate market and to introduce yourself to local businesses and organisations.
Even the smallest companies will often have someone on staff who is responsible for health and safety and this usually now includes aspects of wellbeing. A good corporate client can provide many future opportunities for the savvy hypnotherapist.
May
With June being a popular time for weddings, many members of the wedding party may now be getting more anxious as the date rapidly approaches. This makes it an ideal time to promote how hypnotherapy can help people to move beyond performance anxiety.
This may be focused, such as on ‘wedding-dance confidence’ or ‘giving a confident best man speech’, as well as more broadly, such as being able to relax and enjoy the full wedding experience, whilst addressing individual needs, alleviating anxieties and boosting ego strength.
A key date for your marketing calendar may be 31st May. ‘World No Tobacco Day’, observed since 1989, dates back to a resolution passed in 1988, with the date selected to reflect the 40th anniversary of the World Health Organisation.
There have been a number of different themes over the years including, “tobacco costs more than you think” (1995), “tobacco-free sports” (2002), and “tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise” (2006). You might choose to align your ‘stop smoking’ marketing to a global theme, or simply create your own theme that may fit best with how you operate your smoking cessation hypnotherapy sessions.
June
The Global Day of Parents (1st June) has been observed since 2012, as a day to recognise the role of parents (and parental figures/ guardians) and their contribution to families and communities. However, this may be a date of sadness for those wishing to conceive. It can be a timely opportunity to promote how hypnotherapy can assist in alleviating stress, which can otherwise impair fertility. It can also offer great emotional support to couples undergoing fertility treatment.
Another International Day to consider is the International Day of Yoga on 21st June. This gives hypnotherapists a good opportunity to promote how hypnotherapy can work alongside and complement other holistic mind-body approaches.
July
July can be a time when the hypnotherapy office is a little quieter, as clients take themselves off on holiday, therefore it can be a good time to plan the next six months of your marketing calendar. However, there are also two key dates of interest this month.
Firstly, World Youth Skills Day is on the 15th July. It aims to promote personal success and fulfilment for youths. Certainly, this can be aligned to a marketing strategy promoting how hypnotherapy can help young people address barriers to success and develop a positive mindset.
To fit in even more closely with the ‘acquisition of skills’ theme of this World Day, you could talk about how self-hypnosis and mental rehearsal can be used to great effect to develop positive behaviours and responses.
Another interesting day is the 30th July, the International Day of Friendship. A day where the United Nations recognises the role of friendship in promoting peace in many organisations, societies and cultures, it has broad marketing opportunities for hypnotherapists.
Examples include how hypnotherapy can help alleviate guilt or jealousy and build social confidence and enhance communication skills.
August
The time of school holidays and family holidays can be a stressful time for parents, both in terms of occupying bored children at home and the potentially arduous experience of organising and travelling as a family.
Help parents (and grandparents) with marketing focused around rapid stress management approaches that they can apply for themselves and link this to a stress management programme they can join in September (when they realise your tips work).
This ties in very nicely with Respect for Parents Day (August 1st), which can tie in nicely with your school holiday marketing plan.
September
Still on the theme of parents, many will be experiencing a change of routine, whether having children attending school for the first time, or perhaps no longer going to school but entering further or higher education.
‘Empty nesters’ can experience a sense of loss or even grief. Effective marketing can show prospective clients that hypnotherapy can not only help address any negative emotions associated with these changes, but can also engage the client with mental rehearsal to help them decide how more helpfully to fill their time.
Early in the month (5th) is the International Day of Charity. This may be a good time to engage in some hypnotherapy voluntary work (e.g. a local hospice) and promote that you are doing so.
October
October is a superb time of the year to promote the use of hypnotherapy for self-care, such as by running a self-hypnosis workshop. This is a fabulous way to remind existing/past clients about you as well as attracting new clients.
This may be particularly pertinent on 5th October, with World Teachers’ Day, with one report indicating 93% of teachers have high levels of job-related stress. The Teacher Wellbeing Index 2019 makes interesting reading. 72% considered themselves as stressed (rising to 84% for senior leaders), and a staggering 74% cited the inability to switch off and relax to be a “major contributing factor to a negative work/life balance”.
Other statistics include 34% having experienced a mental health issue and 78% having experienced ‘behavioural, psychological or physical symptoms due to their work”.
Finally, the report indicated that over half (57%) have considered leaving the profession in the last two years due to health and wellbeing issues.
Also, thinking more broadly than just teachers, World Mental Health Day is every year on October 10th, and this is a fantastic opportunity to promote your hypnotherapy services across the board.
November
It may seem that the ‘fireworks season’ seems to go on for weeks. For those bothered by sudden loud noises, such as the highly anxious and those with PTSD, it can be a difficult time.
A marketing strategy promoting how hypnotherapy can desensitise anxiety can be well-timed. Also, with potentially gloomy weather and shorter days (daylight), clients with low mood may find that they are struggling to engage with their everyday lives.
A marketing approach for ‘hypno-mood-boosting’ can be really effective at this time. Two health-related dates this month may offer useful marketing themes, firstly 14th November, World Diabetes Day is a good time to promote the benefits of hypnotherapy for weight management and diet modification.
Secondly, 19th November is World Toilet Day. An interesting fact is that more people are said to have mobile phones (6 billion) than have access to proper sanitation (2.5 billion). This could be a niche opportunity to promote how hypnotherapy can support the development of good hygiene habits.
December
For people on their own, whether by choice or otherwise, December can be particularly challenging when bombarded with media images of ‘the perfect Christmas’. This can lead to or exacerbate feelings of loneliness and even isolation. Of course, such emotions can also occur for individuals within a busy family or social environment. This then can be a good time to promote how hypnotherapy helps with resilience and ego strengthening.
It can also be a superb time to promote hypnotherapy relaxation workshops. Not only do these give participants an opportunity to escape potentially hectic or empty days, it provides a superb social opportunity together with the benefits of a relaxation session.
For a whole bunch of tips on how to help people de-stress at Christmas, check out this blog on our online hypnosis courses website.
We hope that this blog about seasonal marketing for your hypnotherapy business has been helpful. If you have any questions about this topic or anything else for that matter, do please get in touch, because we’re always happy to help!
– written by Dr Kate Beaven-Marks
(HypnoTC Director)
