The Big Eclipse + You, The Marketer

Little did you know, the goings-on in our solar system for the last 14 billion years have led up to THIS BIG EVENT. The Universe or God or the Planet Maker has been planning this big solar eclipse for millennia for one reason: to sell more of those special eclipse sunglasses.

But maybe we can use this same eclipse to sell a few other things, too.

Mark Your Calendar

Here’s the deal: on Monday, August 21, a solar eclipse will plunge us into darkness for a few hours. Well, not all of us. And it won’t last hours for you unless you go eclipse chasing. But it’s still a big deal because it only happens every 18 months or so and hardly ever in the same place—so count yourself lucky if you’re in the path of totality this time around.

So if your town lies along the path from Oregon to South Carolina, let’s talk marketing strategy. And if you’re not in the path? We have a few remote marketing tips as well.

How to Market Around Events Like the Eclipse

3 tips for using the eclipse as marketing fuel, easily adaptable for similar large events.

1. Throw an eclipse party!

If you’re lucky enough to have a brick-and-mortar location in the path of totality, totally do it there. If not, find one, rent it out, and throw a party. Hand out freebies and solar eclipse sunglasses to the first 100 arrivals to drive traffic and awareness since people love free things.

2. Remote tip: hold contests and raffles for which the prize is eclipse swag.

This one’s great for pre-eclipse buzz, since you’re running your promotion before the big shebang even starts.

• Create a contest relevant to your product (if we’re selling nut milk filters, it could be a contest to see who has the best almond milk recipe)
• Hold a raffle where entries are earned by social media likes and shares. The raffle doesn’t have to be 100% relevant to the event—that’s where the prizes come in

The prizes? Solar eclipse sunglasses, of course. (Or maybe a trip to one of these eclipse parties!

3. Remote tip: host a tweetathon.

Maybe you can’t get to the path of totality this time, but you can engage in the buzz online.

Use the #solareclipse2017 and #eclipse2017 hashtags on Twitter and Facebook and post live action photos and tweets if you can. If not, encourage your followers to send in their own photos and accounts of the eclipse, perhaps even for a prize or discount code.

How will you market around the solar eclipse this year? Let us know by sharing your solar eclipse strategies and successes!