Lucky 7: eCommerce Marketing Tips for St. Patrick’s Day

Although it started as a religious holiday, St. Patrick’s Day is now mostly known as a celebration of Irish culture around the world. And like many other holidays, it’s turned into a shopping event and is an ample opportunity to increase sales for eCommerce businesses. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year on March 17th. And before we dive into our list of 7 Great St. Patrick’s Day Marketing Ideas for eCommerce, we recommend putting on this specially curated playlist to accompany your reading.

Understandably, there was a big difference between people’s St. Patrick’s Day plans for 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, interestingly, people never gave up on wearing green for the big day. According to the National Retail Foundation, people intending to spend money on green apparel for St. Patrick’s Day did not change from 2020 to 2021 and stayed at 79%.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 7 great tips we’ve gathered for an effective eCommerce marketing strategy for St. Patrick’s Day:

1. Paint the town green

Green is the primary colour of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. People wear green t-shirts, hats, dresses, etc., to celebrate the day. And as for beverages, some pubs go as far as to offer green beers. 

But why do people wear green on St. Patrick’s Day? Ireland is sometimes referred to as “The Emerald Isle” due to its breathtaking and lush nature. That’s why green is heavily associated with the country. But there’s also a myth that says wearing green will make you invisible to leprechauns. If you are not wearing any green, the leprechauns will pinch you. So wear green on St. Paddy’s Day or get pinched! There’re also said to be political reasons behind the heavy usage of green in relation to Ireland. Whatever the reason, the colour green is one of the most significant symbols for both Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day.

Using specific colours or colour schemes to get people in a festive mood is one of the oldest tricks in the marketing book. So the first thing on the agenda is pretty simple: Use the colour green wherever you can. However, be careful not to overdo it. You don’t need your customers to think they’re out frolicking at a meadow. So here are a few examples of what you can do with the colour green for St. Patrick’s Day:

• Create a landing page for your St. Patrick’s Day promotions and use green as the primary colour.
• Use green alongside imagery related to St. Patrick’s Day, such as shamrocks, leprechaun hats, etc., to let people know about your promotions and offers specific to this day.
• Make sure to use St. Patrick’s-related keywords like “lucky” in banners and on landing pages.

2. Promote St. Patrick’s Day-related products

We’ve already mentioned the colour green being one of the most significant symbols for St. Patrick’s Day. There are, of course, other visuals and items related to St. Patrick’s Day, such as the shamrock, leprechauns, gold pots, etc. 

You don’t necessarily have to be selling t-shirts that say “Kiss me, I’m Irish.” or leprechaun hats. That being said, if you have such items, do promote them. But get creative with what you have. For example, you can use this holiday to promote:

• Products that are green 
• Green products (as in sustainable and/or plant-based products)
• Products or brands with an Irish origin (For example, if you’re selling sports fashion, you can promote an Irish Football Club’s merchandise.)

3. Make customers feel lucky with special St. Patrick’s Day discounts

Ever heard of the phrase “the luck of the Irish”? It’s not directly related to Ireland, as you might think. During the California Gold Rush, the majority of the miners to strike gold more than the others were Irish or of Irish-descendant. Hence, the phrase “the luck of the Irish” was coined, if you pardon the pun.

So why not make your customers feel like they’ve struck gold with you? Declare everyone a winner by giving discount coupons for the special day. Since this is about St. Patrick’s Day, offer special discounts for the day, using codes like “LUCKY17” or “SHAMROCK17”.

Make it even more festive with titles like “It’s your lucky day!”. 

4. Send push notification reminders for St. Patrick’s Day 

St. Patrick’s Day may not be as well known as Valentine’s Day. Not everyone will know that St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th, let alone such a holiday exists. Therefore, in the end, your push notification reminders will not just be about reminding customers that St. Patrick’s Day is approaching. But they will also be about letting people know that it exists. 

5. Save the green and promote sustainability

We’ve already discussed going green for St. Patrick’s Day at the very beginning of this guide. However, there’s another way to go green. That is to promote sustainability.

Consumers, especially younger generations, have been examining the effects their actions have on the environment. Younger generations, such as Gen Z, are having heated discussions about climate change and what can be done to prevent it from causing more damage.

However, promoting sustainability is not for only one day in the year, and you shouldn’t be going green for the sake of appearances. Greenwashing will damage you and your brand’s integrity heavily in the end. That being said, if you genuinely want to promote sustainability, here’s what you can:

• Send multiple items in one order in a single package;
• Opt for nature-friendly packaging materials to promote recycling;
• Run regular campaigns to help reduce the carbon footprint of your customers by planting trees;
• Promote vegetarianism or veganism;
• Promote plant-based products, etc.

Again, we’d like to underline this: Promoting and announcing these actions as part of your St. Patrick’s Day campaign only makes sense if sustainability is already a part of your brand’s core values. Because if your other actions for the rest of the year are not in line with sustainability and saving the green, your brand’s reputation will be damaged. And you will lose your customers’ trust. Therefore, proceed with caution and think twice before you jump. 

6. Prepare St. Patrick’s Day party guides

St. Patrick’s Day is not exactly a holiday where people give presents to one another. So, for example, you can’t prepare gift guides as you’d do with Valentine’s Day. Nevertheless, it’s still a holiday that people love to celebrate.

So what are the most popular shopping categories for St. Patrick’s Day? It’s safe to say that most of the shopping for St. Patrick’s Day is to gear up for the celebrations on March 17th. 

• Green clothing items are the most obvious choice of apparel for the big day. The same goes for clothing items with shamrocks, Irish flags, pots of gold, or leprechauns on them.

• It’s not a real party unless you have big flamboyant hats. In this case, we’re talking of leprechaun hats. Novelty items are a big part of any holiday, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception. 

• Food and beverages are the third major category for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations because what’s a party without booze and snacks? Boring, right? Green snacks and beverages are pretty popular, such as green candies, beer, or cocktails. 

Based on this information, the best way to prepare for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations is to prepare party guides. For example, you can prepare different party guides for different categories we’ve mentioned above:

• Get dressed for the St. Patrick’s Day Party!
• Wear green on St. Patrick’s Day or get pinched!
• Got your snacks and drinks ready for the St. Patrick’s Day Party?

7. Be culturally sensitive

St. Patrick’s Day is a great excuse to party a little and drink a few pints of Guinness and make some puns along the way. However, St. Patrick’s Day is still a cultural holiday. Therefore, pay extra attention to avoiding cultural stereotypes about Ireland and Irish culture. For example, not everything Ireland-related is about alcohol. Do avoid posting offensive content and be socially conscious. Otherwise, you might alienate your customers and maybe even your own employees. And we know you don’t want that.