September Awareness Days: Storytelling Prompts For Autumn
If you struggle to know what to write about on your photography blog or on your social media channels, then have you considered using national awareness days as content prompts? If not, I highly recommend it!
There’s nothing worse than staring at a blank screen, knowing that you need to create content to promote your photography, but not having a clue what to write. Right?!
This is when awareness days can prove so valuable. There are many hundreds of awareness days happening each and every year and one hundred or more each month. So, that’s hundreds of potential topics that you could piggyback on as a content idea!
Related: A step-by-step guide to using awareness days in your photo marketing content
Awareness days are invaluable as content prompts
An awareness day based on a particular theme or topic could perhaps be all you need to come up with hundreds of photography marketing content ideas throughout the year.
Used literally as prompts, you might find that the theme of a particular awareness day, awareness week or monthly awareness campaign inspires you and sets the cogs in your brain turning. You might go on to recall a story worth sharing with your audience on that theme or topic, or you may conjure up a memory of an experience that might interest them, for example.
Simply because of the variety of awareness days that are happening each calendar month, I’m confident that if you applied yourself and open your mind to the possibilities of how awareness days might be helpful to you, you’ll be able to make them work for your photography business.
Related: A step-by-step guide to using awareness days in your photo marketing content
Awareness days are invaluable as content prompts
An awareness day based on a particular theme or topic could perhaps be all you need to come up with hundreds of photography marketing content ideas throughout the year.
Used literally as prompts, you might find that the theme of a particular awareness day, awareness week or monthly awareness campaign inspires you and sets the cogs in your brain turning. You might go on to recall a story worth sharing with your audience on that theme or topic, or you may conjure up a memory of an experience that might interest them, for example.
Simply because of the variety of awareness days that are happening each calendar month, I’m confident that if you applied yourself and open your mind to the possibilities of how awareness days might be helpful to you, you’ll be able to make them work for your photography business.
Related: How to use awareness days to inspire photography content ideas
Free calendar of September Awareness Days 2024
If you’re reading this around the time this article was originally published, now’s the time to start creating content for your photography marketing channels for September!
In September, there are many awareness days and campaigns, so I’m confident that you should be able to find some that are relevant and that could inspire content ideas you’ve not thought of yet.
Here’s a list of September awareness days that you might want to look out for in 2024:
Month-long awareness campaigns in September
There are month-long campaigns during September including:
- Read a New Book Month
- Secondhand September (Oxfam)
- Festival of Learning / Have a Go Month
- Move More Month
As an example of how some of these could be applied:
Festival of Learning
Being an independent photography business owner, you’re likely on a continual mission of self-development – there is always something to learn, right? So, why not create some content around self-development inspired by this month’s Festival of Learning?
You could share with your audience what you’re doing behind the scenes of your business to develop yourself. For example, talk about what new photography qualifications or professional accreditations you’ve recently gained and the challenges you faced achieving this. Or reveal what you’ve learnt (recently or over the years) about running a business. Perhaps share a tip or some advice which you wish you’d known before.
Or, since it’s Read a New Book Month, share in your marketing content an insight into what book(s) you’ve read this month and what you loved about them. People always love recommendations!
Awareness days and week-long campaigns in September 2024
Now, let’s focus on September awareness days and week-long campaigns. There are many key dates in September including the following:
*Please note that the dates below apply predominantly to the U.K. in the year 2024, and are subject to change year on year. Although they are correct to the best of my knowledge at the time of publication, please check the dates of any awareness campaigns you plan to use.
Awareness days in September
Week-long awareness campaigns
- Know Your Numbers Week (Blood Pressure UK) (from the 2nd)
- Sexual Health Week (from the 9th)
- UK Savings Week (from the 9th)
- Eczema Week (from the 15th)
- Balance Awareness Week (from the 15th)
- National Coding Week (from the 16th)
- Great British Beach Clean (from the 20th)
- Migraine Awareness Week (from the 23rd)
- National Eye Health Week (from the 23rd)
- World Reflexology Week (from the 23rd)
- Fire Door Safety Week (from the 23rd)
- Organ Donation Week (from the 23rd)
- Bike to School Week (from the 23rd)
- International Week of Happiness at Work (from the 23rd)
- Shetland Wool Week (from the 29th)
Awareness days in September 2024: A (non-exhaustive) list of key dates
05 International Day of Charity
06 Read a Book Day
06 Fight Procrastination Day
06 Heritage Open Days (until 15th)
08 Hug Your Hound Day
10 World Suicide Prevention Day
10 Swap Ideas Day
11 National Hot Cross Bun Day
11 No News is Good News Day
12 Day of Encouragement
13 International Chocolate Day
13 Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day
15 Online Learning Day
16 Working Parents Day
16 Grandparents Day
18 National First Love Day
21 World Gratitude Day
22 Business Women’s Day
22 Daughter’s Day
22 Dear Diary Day
22 First Day of Autumn (Northern Hemisphere)
24 National Punctuation Day
25 World Dream Day
25 Women’s Health and Fitness Day
27 National Doodle Day (Epilepsy Action)
27 World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
28 Good Neighbour Day
28 Ask a Stupid Question Day
28 Save Your Photos Day
30 National Sporting Heritage Day
30 International Podcast Day
How you could use September Awareness days
Now let’s look at some ways that you could intepret these events, days and themes to your photography marketing content:
4th September
Wildlife Day
An obvious one for wildlife photographers! Jump on this if you create and sell wildlife photography, and use it as a prompt to inspire content for your marketing channels.
You could share anything really – for example, your latest work or a story about how you came to be interested in wildlife photography. Alternatively, name-drop your favourite photographers working in this genre or even share stories about the plight of endangered animals to educate and raise awareness of a cause you’re passionate about.
6th September
Read A Book Day
Similar to the Read a New Book Month mentioned above, why not talk about a book you’re currently reading or have recently read in your content on this day? Share a particular quote, story or extract that resonated with you, perhaps in the format of a face-to-camera video or an Instagram story.
10th September
Swap Ideas Day
Do you have a photography business bestie whom you regularly brainstorm business or creative ideas with? Or, perhaps are you part of a photography community which is a supportive group of photographers who help each other out with ideas for your businesses?
If yes, then why not talk about this in your content on this day? It’s always intriguing when you lift the lid and reveal a little bit of the behind-the-scenes of your business.
Share how important this support is to you and how the relationship came about. Talk about (or show) some of the work that has resulted from the swopping of ideas, and also make the time on this day to publicly acknowledge and thank those who support you.
Hug Your Hound Day
Also on September 10th is Hug Your Hound Day – yet another chance to talk about your passion for photographing dogs, share photos of you and your own pet, or share pictures of clients with their animals.
Pet and dog photographers, you really are spoilt when it comes to awareness days! There are so many throughout the year that you could use to inspire content ideas.
13th September
International Chocolate Day
Food photographers might find this one useful. If you specialise in commercial photography and work with a confectionary brand, then don’t miss this opportunity!
You could reveal some of the photography you have created recently or talk in your marketing content about how it came to be that you work for this particular client. Is there an interesting story there worth sharing? Or, you could give a nod to your client’s latest chocolate range – presumably, you might have tried it for yourself?!
Alternatively, what are the challenges of being a food photographer and working with chocolate products in particular? Why not give an insight into the practicalities of shooting confectionaries and some of the challenges you face when working in the studio?
16th September
Grandparent’s Day
Do you photograph families including grandparents? This then could be a great prompt for you!
You could talk about the importance of capturing family memories including the extended family, and create a video or Reel showing examples from your portfolio. You might even want to create a campaign specifically targeting extended families to coincide with this day – perhaps a special offer on all grandparents’ shoots?
Equally, if you are a grandparent yourself, you could share a personal post talking about your extended family and sharing what you enjoy doing with your grandchild or grandchildren outside of work. Perhaps you go on holiday with your son or daughter and their children every year? Perhaps you’re teaching your teenage grandchild the basics of photography. If this is relevant to you, there’s probably lots you could share!
Working Parent’s Day
September 16th is also Working Parent’s Day. Are you a working parent? What does that look like for you?
A day-in-the-life Reel on Instagram could be a good way of showing what a typical day in your photography business looks like. Or, you could talk about your mission as a business owner and what drives you to succeed – no doubt your family are a key part of that.
30th September
International Podcast Day
Do you love listening to podcasts? Have you been featured on a podcast or are you perhaps even a podcast host yourself?
On International Podcast Day talk about this in your content! If you’re an avid podcast listener, why not share some of your favourite podcasts? You could talk about a number of shows you listen to regularly or particular episodes of a show that you loved. Or, repromote podcast interviews you’ve taken part in or give a plug for your own show!
September awareness days can inspire tons of content
I hope that this may have helped to show you how you can use some of the September awareness days in your marketing content this year.
Of course, these are just some ideas I’ve put together and shared just to give you some quick-fire inspiration on how to apply them to your content. Don’t overthink this!
Remember, there are many more awareness days in September than those listed above. Cherry-pick a few of the September awareness days that speak to you. Interpret them however you wish!
P.S. Keep checking back to this blog for more similar articles. This is the ninth instalment of a monthly blog series that I’m developing, focused on how to use awareness days to come up with content ideas.
Related:
August Awareness Days
July Awareness Days
June Awareness Days
Good luck with your September content planning!
Why not come over to the PR Savvy Photographers Facebook group to let me know which of the September awareness days you’re planning to use as prompts for your marketing content? Let’s bounce some ideas around!
