Claire Pfarr, here, founder of Boister. I see a lot of questionable, if not cringeworthy, emails and holiday social media posts from businesses. I thought I’d get ahead of it this time with some helpful tips.
This Fathers’ Day (or “Father’s Day,” but not “Fathers Day”–we’ll get into that later) is June 18, 2023. Someone on your team (maybe it’s you) is probably putting together June’s social media calendar and has saved space for a post to celebrate dads everywhere. Maybe you have an email campaign going out soon with an attempt to force a link between your product and the holiday. (“Dad’s Intelligence is Real. But Artificial Intelligence HR Tools Maximize Productivity!”) Woof.
Fathers’ Day content seems easy enough, and it’ll help your team meet your “number of times eyeballs see the logo” minimum. But I’m asking you to think twice before posting, “Happy Fathers Day to all the great dad’s out there!” with a stock photo of a dude holding a baseball. Why? Because you might be doing damage to your brand’s reputation.
Years ago, I received a promotional email from a popular nationwide hardware store that shall remain nameless. The subject line read, “You got a Dad. We got gifts. Coincidence?”
Seems innocuous, right?
Unfortunately for me, my dad passed away in 2001. Opening my email to see “You got a Dad” confronting me in my inbox really hurt. (We won’t even get into the grammar problems with it.) As marketers we spend so much time and energy trying to make our messages sound personal. Well, this one felt incredibly personal. It made me feel alone, disadvantaged, and even mocked. It did not make me want to buy a socket wrench.
I’m not the only person with a deceased or otherwise absent parent. There are tons of people who have less-than-perfect relationships with their parents. While it may seem like a positive way to reach your audience, holiday posting can alienate your audience and do more harm than good. Before you launch that email campaign or schedule that social post, ask yourself these questions:
- Is my message inclusive?
While it isn’t necessary for your message to truly resonate with everyone in the world, think about all your followers and buyers. They may have a lot in common, but on the other side of every computer screen or mobile device is a human being reading your message. Could it be hurtful to some of your readers?
- Why am I posting or sending this particular message?
Are you driving people to a particular offer? Is it brand awareness you’re after? Maybe you’re looking to rack up likes and shares. If it’s an offer, there may be a more value-centric message you can use rather than tying it to a holiday. For increasing brand awareness, your message should be extra broad and inclusive. And if it’s about chasing likes and shares, what about your message is share-worthy? Is there really anything in there that will make someone think, “My friend/colleague needs to see this”? Nobody is actually going to share your corporate post with their dad to wish him a happy Fathers’ Day.
- Is this message even necessary?
If you’re having trouble pinning down what you really want your reader to do, you might not need that message at all. Do you think anyone is scouring their inboxes or social media to make sure each brand said something about Fathers’ Day? Is anyone fuming that a company didn’t publish a reminder about their free software trial with a picture of a tie rack on it? While you might be compelled to churn out “relevant” content, it’s absolutely okay to not say anything at all, particularly when it comes to holidays.
Finally, if you do decide to publish Fathers’ Day content, here’s a pro tip: There should be an apostrophe. It can either be singular possessive or plural possessive (Father’s Day or Fathers’ Day, to honor a nondescript father or multiple nondescript fathers). Personally I prefer Fathers’ Day (plural possessive), as, in the spirit of inclusive messaging, there are plenty of readers who may be honoring multiple fathers. If you’re going to say “to all the dads out there,” though, “dads” is plural, not possessive, so leave the apostrophe out.
I certainly don’t mean to discourage anyone from publishing quality content. If you truly have something of substance to say, by all means, say it. People love authenticity and vulnerability. Just always be aware of how your message might sound to someone with a different perspective or life experience.
You’ve reached the end of the post. There’s no sales pitch or call to action here besides this: Give your holiday content careful thought before posting.