Every holiday and special occasion is an excellent marketing opportunity. People love celebrations and tend to spend more money during holidays, too.

That’s why, even if your business has little or no connection to Ireland or Irish culture, it’s a good idea to plan some dedicated content for St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) is the Catholic feast day of the patron saint of Ireland. Though it was originally a religious day celebrated mostly in Ireland, it spread with the Irish diaspora and has been embraced by other cultures as an opportunity to celebrate all things Irish.

Below you’ll find 5 ideas for content to post on Instagram in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

1. Showcase (or create) Irish-themed merchandise

If you sell merchandise, chances are you’ve got something in green! Create a dedicated post that features a photo of all your Irish-themed products together. Aside from the color green, you can feature any product that reflects the other visual themes of the holiday:

• Rainbows and pots of gold
• Leprechauns
• Guinness or other Irish beverages
• Shamrocks (3-leafed or 4-leafed clover)
• Luck

You can also take this a step further and create special St. Patrick’s Day merchandise. For example, if you’re a cake decorator, make a special St. Patrick’s Day cake decorated with any or all of the symbols above. If you make jewelry, create a special pair of earrings or necklace using green stones or a shamrock charm.

2. St. Patrick’s Day-themed tutorial or recipe

Another option is to create a tutorial or recipe for a St. Patrick’s Day-themed food, craft, or activity. Here’s some inspiration from @thecountrycook:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8mLl1MBjYj/

There’s plenty of room for creativity here. If you’re a makeup artist, you might make a tutorial that features green eyeshadow. If you’re in the wellness industry, you might post a recipe for a “lucky” green shake.

You can make a quick video to post to your feed (with the help of a tool like VideoBoost), post a photo of the finished product with instructions in the caption, or make a tutorial using Stories — as explained in this post.

3. “Luck of the Irish” contest

Leverage the “luck” theme to launch a special St. Patrick’s Day contest. You can select a prize that’s connected to an Irish theme, or not — you already have the element of luck built in! Here’s a successful thematic contest run by small biz @petwantsocsouth in 2019:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuwMGlenUES/

To learn more, check out our post on how to run a giveaway contest on Instagram.

4. Post fun trivia about Ireland and Irish culture

Did you know that the first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held not in Ireland, but in Boston? How about that there are more people in the United States who claim Irish origin than there are Irish people in Ireland? Or that the odds of finding a 4-leafed clover are 1 in 10,000?

Everybody loves a fun fact, and if you can find something that connects to your brand — even better.

You can simply post an Irish-themed image and mention the fact in your caption, but if you want people to see and respond, it’s best to include it in the image post itself. You can simply post it as text over a green background, or include some Irish-themed decorative elements.

5. Dress your staff in green

This is a fun and easy one that can work as a photo or video, and might be especially good for posting as a Story. Have your whole staff dress in green (even if it’s just you) and record a St. Patrick’s Day greeting. Extra points if some of you wear a green top hat!

Action Items:

1. Go over the above list and choose 1 or 2 ideas that spark your imagination.
2. Plan your content ahead of time and have it ready to post on March 17.