Q3 2024 marketing calendar & cheat sheet: key dates & trends

With spring disappearing in the rear view mirror and the sun truly getting his hat on, it’s time to plan for July, August and September.

Following on from our Q1 and Q2 marketing cheat sheets, for Q3 marketing success, head right this way. 👇

1. Q3 2024 key dates & awareness days

Awareness days are often the quick wins — the ways for your brand to relate to things happening in the world and those events that matter to your audiences.

Of course, it’s not about shoehorning your brand into every single one, but rather looking for organic, relatable opportunities that marry with your service, product or values.

July

• National Picnic Month (#NationalPicnicMonth)

• Plastic Free July® (#PlasticFreeJuly; more info)

• 1–7 — Alcohol Awareness Week (more info)

• 1–14 — Wimbledon

• 4 — US Independence Day

• 4–7 — Formula 1 British Grand Prix, Silverstone

• 12 — National Simplicity Day

• 12 — Wireless festival

• 14 — UEFA EURO 2024 final

• 14 — Bastille Day

• 17 — World Emoji Day 🌍

• 22 — School summer holidays for school children, England and Wales

• 24 — Samaritans Awareness Day (#SamaritansAwarenessDay; more info)

• 24–2 August — Love Parks Week (more info)

• 28 — World Nature Conservation Day (#WorldNatureConservationDay)

August

• 1 — Yorkshire Day (#YorkshireDay; more info)

• 1–7 — World Breastfeeding Week (#WorldBreastfeedingWeek; more info)

• 1 — Cycle to Work Day UK (#CycletoWorkDay)

• 2–26 — Edinburgh Fringe (more info)

• 8 — International Cat Day 🐱 (#InternationalCatDay)

• 12–18 — Afternoon Tea Week (#AfternoonTeaWeek)

• 12–18 — National Allotments Week (more info)

• 13 — International Left Handers Day (#LeftHandersDay; more info)

• 15 — A-Level results day

• 21–25 — Reading and Leeds Festivals

• 25–26 — Notting Hill Carnival

• 26 — International Dog Day (#InternationalDogDay) 🐶

September

• World Alzheimer's Month (more info)

• 1–7 — Migraine Awareness Week (#MigraineAwarenessWeek; more info)

• 2 — Back To School

• 2 — Tour of Britain begins

• 8 — Great North Run

• 9–15 - UK Savings Month

• 10 — World Suicide Prevention Day (more info)

• 15 — Oktoberfest begins, Munich

• 20–29 — Great British Beach Clean (more info)

• 23 — International Day of Sign Languages (more info)

• 23–29 — National Coding Week

• 23–29 — Eye Health Week (more info)

• 23–29 — Organ Donation Week (#OrganDonationWeek; more info)

• 27 — World's Biggest Coffee Morning by Macmillan (#MacmillanCoffeeMorning; more info)

2. Time to embrace your ‘acoustic’ side?

Consumer trust in AI is already eroding — just as trust is eroding for brands who are perceived to rely on it.

The buzzword of the moment for those brands taking a stand against increased AI use, is ‘acoustic’ — it’s a great time of the year, before the festive rush, to decide how your brand feels about this.

Not all consumers will be too bothered — some may tolerate the roboticism as a compromise for speed — but consider how harnessing AI may impact any carefully-fostered relationships with your audiences.

Being human is a big winner for 2024, not just Q3. No brand wants to appear impersonal, homogeneous and AI-powered.

3. Make your list and check it twice

It’s basically Christmas at this stage, right? One quarter of UK consumers start their festive shopping in Q3, so make sure you’re ready for those consumers to get the jump on their festive spending.

If you’ve been following this quarterly series and heeding our advice, then you’ll know the critical importance of proactive, forward planning in marketing.

So, now is the perfect time to check that everything is in place for the arrival of jolly ol’ Saint Nick. Have you created all the content you need? Have you considered any Black Friday Deals for the run up to the big day? If not, now really is the time.

Remember previous advice on working within your brand values and guidelines, that not all ways of showing up for loyal customers need to hurt your bottom line — great content can be advice, education and support, not just savings and coupons.

4. Challenger brands in the spotlight

The drive of many consumers to connect with the brands they purchase from, means there is a unique opportunity for smaller, challenger brands to take on some of the big ones, with the right values, offering and engagement style.

Where possible, one in two shoppers prefer to shop with a smaller brand. The ability of these to speak more closely with their audiences — to provide tailored experiences and demonstrate agility in aligning their values — gives them an edge over larger, corporate brand behemoths.

So, we’re back to smaller brands humanising their marketing to drive greater connections with their audiences.

5. Give them some privacy

Privacy is a huge consumer concern. This opens up a big opportunity for brands — 43% say they’d switch from their preferred brand to a second-choice brand if the latter provided a good privacy experience.

A good privacy experience can mean different things, but to many consumers it’s not just the chance to have a say on how you use their cookies — it’s knowing, beyond that, what data is collected and how it will be used.

By being transparent about how data that will be fed into improvements to the user experience, it’s possible to increase trust. Brands need to give options, reasoning and insight to keep this trust and allow the consumer to feel in charge of their data and its use.

Does this all sound a little like hard work?

Then maybe we can do some of the heavy lifting for you in 2024. If you could do with a helping hand staying ahead of the curve this year, drop us a line today!

Our talented, award-winning team covers all digital marketing specialisms — social media, branding, PPC, SEO, content, PR, email, e-commerce and web development.

Oh, and don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for our Q4 cheat sheet! 👀