19 St. Patrick’s Day Marketing Ideas


St. Patrick's Day Marketing Ideas

“With St. Patrick’s Day quickly approaching, your business has an opportunity to capitalize on some festive holiday marketing. Delving into St. Patrick’s Day marketing ideas advertising can offer unique avenues to capture your audience’s attention. Whether it’s promoting St. Patty’s Day facts on social media, advertising special deals, or hosting an event at your bar or restaurant, there are plenty of different ways you can market your business on or around St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick’s Day Marketing Ideas

St. Patrick’s Day is more than a celebration of the Irish culture and its iconic symbols. For businesses, it presents an excellent opportunity to connect with customers in creative and festive ways. Leveraging this holiday can help businesses make lasting memories with their patrons and even drive sales.

Email Marketing for St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick's Day Marketing Ideas and advertising

Ask your Subscribers St. Patty’s Day Trivia Questions

There’s a lot of history and tradition surrounding St. Patrick’s Day. So send out some questions or challenges to your email list to encourage them to engage with you.

Share Information

Share St. Patrick’s Day traditions, recipes or other helpful or interesting tidbits. Customers love when you provide valuable tips they can use. And if you can integrate your own products or services into the information in some way, that’s all the better.

Integrate Green into your Message

Of course, the color green is a big part of St. Patty’s Day. But even if you don’t have any green products, you can at least use the word green in some way. For example, if you’re a marketing consultant, tell customers you can help them earn more “green” through one of your new services. Or if you’re a health coach, offer your clients a way to make others “green” with envy.

In Store Signs and Displays for St. Patty’s Day

St. Patrick's Day Marketing Ideas and advertising

Suggest Unique St. Patrick’s Day Gift Ideas

Use your signage to point out some unique products or services that you offer that could make great gifts for St. Patrick’s Day. Tie them to the holiday or Irish traditions in some way to explain why customers should purchase them.

Advertise your Holiday Specials or Events

If you’re hosting a special event or sale for St. Patty’s Day, put up signage leading up to it explaining when it is, what the cost is and what all is involved.

Remind Customers to be Safe

If your St. Patrick’s Day specials involve alcohol in any way, use your signage to remind people not to drink and drive. Include numbers to local cab companies, or even include a discount code for Uber or Lyft users.

Social Media Marketing for St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick's Day Marketing Ideas and advertising

Add some Green to your Social Media Profiles

Take a photo of your team wearing green. Add a shamrock. Or otherwise change up your profile and cover images for St. Patty’s Day. You can even change your name to a festive play on words that still utilizes all or part of your actual business name.

Start a Themed Hashtag Challenge

Encourage customers to share their St. Patrick’s Day experiences and traditions using a specific hashtag on platforms like Twitter and Instagram. This campaign fosters community engagement and increases your brand’s visibility.

Promote the challenge on your social media channels and website, inviting participation with enticing visuals or sample posts. Consider offering incentives like discounts or feature spots on your page for the best posts.

Create a St. Patrick’s Day Themed Pinterest Board

Pin images of holiday themed recipes, cartoons, party ideas and more leading up to and on St. Patty’s Day.

Special Events Around St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick's Day Marketing Ideas and advertising

Develop a Custom Menu for your St. Patrick’s Day Customers

For example, add green food coloring to certain foods or even add a few traditional Irish elements to your dishes. Alternatively, you could simply change the names of a few of your regular menu items to make them more festive for the holiday.

Set up a Photobooth

Customers can get their photos taken in a St. Patrick’s Day setting, such as at the end of a rainbow or in a field of four-leafed clovers. You can even have an employee dress up as a Leprechaun so people can take photos with them. Then have customers sign up for your email list to get their photos via email.

St. Patty’s Day Workshops

In the spirit of the holiday, businesses can offer workshops tailored to St. Patrick’s Day. Whether it’s about crafting shamrock decor, diving deep into Irish folklore, introducing traditional Irish recipes, teaching dance steps, or narrating enthralling leprechaun tales, these interactive sessions can be both fun and enriching for the attendees.

Themed Product Launches

Limited-time product launches can generate significant buzz, especially when they’re themed around popular occasions like St. Patrick’s Day. Consider introducing products that align with the festivities, such as a unique green beverage, apparel, or even jewelry. The limited availability often instills a sense of exclusivity and urgency, nudging customers to make prompt purchases.

Create a Festive Atmosphere with Music

Have traditional Irish musicians or even dancers visit your space on St. Patrick’s Day to get everyone even more into the holiday spirit.

A collaborative approach can lend authenticity to the St. Patrick’s Day celebration. By teaming up with Irish brands or local businesses offering Irish-centric products or services, companies can co-create exclusive deals, packages, or even co-host themed events. Such collaborations often pique the interest of customers, offering them unique value propositions.

Leprechaun’s Treasure Hunt

Hosting a Leprechaun’s Treasure Hunt can add a touch of excitement to the shopping experience. Whether you choose to set it up in-store or take it online, the idea is to have customers search for hidden ‘leprechaun gold’.

Once found, these treasures can be redeemed for exclusive discounts, complementary items, or even loyalty points. Such interactive experiences not only enhance the festive mood but also foster a more engaging relationship between the brand and the customer.

Sales, Discounts and Special Offers Ideas for St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick's Day Marketing Ideas and advertising

Offer Gift Certificates

People can purchase them from your business ahead of time. Call these gift certificates a “pot of gold” or something else festive, and make sure they look the part as well.

Lucky Hour Discounts

‘Lucky hours’ present a golden opportunity to boost sales and increase foot traffic. Inspired by the famed ‘happy hour’, ‘lucky hours’ can be a game-changer for businesses looking to create a buzz. Implementing this idea, businesses can consider:

  • Dynamic Pricing: Offering tiered discounts, where the savings percentage increases or decreases as the hour progresses.
  • Bonus Gifts: Providing a complementary product or service for purchases made during the lucky hours.
  • Loyalty Points: Doubling loyalty points or rewards during the specified timeframe.
  • Exclusive Access: Introducing new products or services only available for purchase during lucky hours.
  • Combo Offers: Bundling products or services together at a discounted rate.

Host a One-day Sale

Offer discounts on all green or St. Patty’s Day themed items, and extend deals to customers wearing festive attire. To maximize impact, promote this special sale on social media and through email marketing in advance.

Consider adding popular non-themed items to the sale to attract a wider audience. Enhance the shopping experience with festive decorations and Irish music. Introduce interactive elements like a spin-to-win discount wheel to engage customers further.

Collaborate with local influencers for broader outreach. Additionally, incentivize larger purchases by offering a raffle entry or a small gift for spending above a certain amount. This approach not only drives sales but also creates a fun, memorable shopping experience.

Host a Contest

Engage your customers with a themed contest around St. Patrick’s Day. Encourage participation by offering attractive prizes that resonate with the holiday’s spirit. Consider the following ideas:

  • Themed Prizes: Offer prizes that fit the St. Patty’s Day mood. Examples could include:
    • A “pot of gold” gift basket filled with treats or goodies.
    • A “lucky charm” bracelet or other jewelry.
  • Photo Contests: Ask customers to submit their best St. Patrick’s Day outfits or decorations.
  • Trivia Challenges: Test your customer’s knowledge of St. Patrick’s Day history and traditions.
  • Recipe Submissions: Encourage customers to share their favorite Irish dishes.
  • Story Submissions: Invite tales of the most memorable St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

St Patricks Day Marketing Ideas Advertising

CategorySt. Patrick’s Day Marketing Ideas
Email MarketingEngage subscribers with St. Patty’s Day trivia, share traditions and recipes, and integrate green-themed messages.
In-Store Signs & DisplaysShowcase unique St. Patrick’s Day gifts, advertise holiday specials and events, and provide safety reminders like "Don't drink and drive."
Social Media MarketingEnhance profiles with green elements, initiate a themed hashtag challenge, and curate a St. Patrick’s Day Pinterest board.
Special EventsOffer a custom menu, establish a themed photobooth, conduct St. Patty's Day workshops, launch themed products, introduce festive music, collaborate with Irish brands, and organize a Leprechaun's Treasure Hunt.
Sales, Discounts, Special OffersPromote "Pot of Gold" gift certificates, introduce lucky hour discounts, have a one-day sale on green items, and host themed contests.

Friends, Recipe, Window, Shamrock, Macot, Sale Images via Shutterstock


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Annie Pilon Annie Pilon is a Senior Staff Writer for Small Business Trends, covering entrepreneur profiles, interviews, feature stories, community news and in-depth, expert-based guides. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring all that her home state of Michigan has to offer.

4 Reactions
  1. This is interesting. I am personally a fan of holidays and I always love launching events for my customers when these days come. It makes it more fun and engaging as well.

  2. Annie: When is St. Patty’s Day? 😉

  3. Just a little quibble. The diminutive reference of the holiday is St. Paddy’s Day, not St. Patty’s Day.

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