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96 Sizzling September Content Ideas (& Examples)

Author: Rob Glover
Last Updated: August 16, 2024 | Seasonal Marketing

September is one of those amazing shoulder-season months. It starts off full of warm weather and long days, and by the end, we get the first taste of what autumn has to offer.

With transition comes excitement, and your customers feel it. They’re wringing out the last drops of summer adventure while planning for cooler temperatures and a new school session.

We’ve corralled quite a cadre of September content ideas and inspirational examples to match this metaphorical mood. Pull from it all month long to engage an audience shifting from beachy, cookout, vacation mode to the more chill vibes of fall.

Back to school September content ideas
Labor Day September content ideas
Pop culture September content ideas
Social awareness September content ideas
Food and drink September content ideas

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Back to school September content ideas

Most students are back in the classroom by the beginning of September. Your content can be less about preparing for the new semester and more about coping with the first few days of class.

Share back-to-school craft ideas

We decorate for so many special occasions, why not do it for back to school? If your target audience tends towards the crafty side, show them how to turn their creativity into fun, school-themed decorations.

Have influencers share back-to-school tips

If you want to engage a younger audience, you have to come with authenticity. That’s where influencer marketing comes in. Work with someone your audience trusts and ask them to give helpful tips for making the grade in the first crucial weeks of class.

You don’t need to push your products here, either. You can simply sponsor content that’s full of useful information. It’s a great brand awareness move.

Just remember that when choosing an influencer, engagement beats audience size. It’s better to reach a few thousand people who pay attention than ten times that many who don’t.

Labor Day September content ideas

Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer. Some of your content creation should lean into the “one last hurrah” theme. But don’t forget that Labor Day is also about celebrating workers’ contributions. A little appreciation post can go a long way to building relationships with your followers.

Recognize the hard work of parenthood

Not all jobs come with a direct paycheck. This simple Instagram post is a reminder to honor the unpaid and often under-appreciated work moms do every day.

Join the long weekend fun

Do you know the lightness you feel when you log off or clock out for a long weekend? Find a way to bottle up that feeling and express it in fun social media posts.

Create a Labor Day weekend itinerary

We all want to maximize our Labor Day weekend. Help your followers do that by putting together a list of Labor Day weekend events around town. Go the extra mile by listing restaurants and shops offering special deals. Or make it a roundup of local hiking trails and parks to get outside before the days get shorter.

Pop culture September content ideas

Meet people in cultural moments. It’s a solid marketing strategy to make your brand relevant and keep it top of mind. There are plenty of these moments in September. Let’s look at how a few businesses use content to join in the fun.

National Yoga Month

Yoga is excellent for the body and mind. It’s also really popular—300 million people regularly practice it. That’s a lot of people you can connect with for National Yoga Month in September.

And the best part is you don’t have to run a yoga studio or sell mats to take part. Check out how this cleaning business taught its followers how to clean their yoga mats.

How else can you get in the flow with people who get down dog? Here are a few ideas:

Write a blog post listing yoga events (such as free yoga in the park, popup yoga classes, etc.) in your area.
Ask followers to nominate their favorite yoga teacher, then give the teacher a branded gift (double win because the winner may share your brand with their followers).
Explain the different types of yoga classes and who each one is best for so new practitioners are more confident.
Give people some easy yoga moves they can do at home, in the office, on a plane, etc.
List the benefits of yoga for people at different stages of life, from childhood through retirement.

Video Games Day (Sept 12)

If there’s anything as popular as yoga, it’s video games. There are entire subcultures built around different types of games and gaming systems. And these people are passionate. If you can help them enjoy their gaming sessions, you’ll quickly build brand awareness in this community.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association probably isn’t the first organization that comes to mind when you think of video games. However, their team launched a series of group gaming events called “Let’s Play” featuring popular streamers on Discord and Twitch.

You can copy the MDA’s content cheat code for Video Games Day in a number of ways. Here are a few to get you started:

Curate a list of family-friendly games and create a plan for family games night.
Get people to post their favorite games in the comments or hold a bracket-style contest to find the most popular game.
Create a funny video of you and your team playing a game together.
Help people stay active with a list of movement and fitness-focused games.
Tap into the deep-rooted nostalgia of video games with screenshots of arcade and at-home classics.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept 19)

Well, shiver me timbers, me hearties! It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day—possibly the most fun day on social media.

There are so many content ideas to consider here. If it’s too much, try a simple punny pirate post. Cats are optional.

There’s a bounty of content riches on Talk Like a Pirate Day. Let these ideas put a little wind in your marketing sales:

Have a pirate dress-up day at work and share the images, or ask followers to share their best pirate getups and gather some user-generated content.
Share pirate jokes (What do you call a pirate with three eyes? A piiirate).
Hold a pirate drawing contest; the best picture wins the booty.
Show people how to make the perfect pirate party platter.
Rank the best and worst pirate movies in an Instagram Story.

Social awareness September content ideas

While most pop culture content can be cute and whimsical, you’ll want to take a different tone with social awareness messaging. Make it fit the gravity of the topic. And remember to focus on the event, not what you sell. Using important social awareness content to promote your products is a big-time marketing mistake.

Latino Heritage Month

September gives us a great reason to highlight the cultures and contributions of Latin American countries and their people. There’s enough to celebrate all month, from food to music to political figures.

One option is to promote the works of Latino artists, including painters, writers, sculptures, and movie directors.

This is a great way to expose your followers to creators they may have never heard of. Here are a few more ways to give people a peek at what Latin America has to offer this month:

Create a calendar of local celebrations throughout the month.
Write a blog post each week to highlight key moments in Latin America.
Share notable contributions Latin Americans have made around the world or in your community.
Partner with a Latin American restaurant for some fun recipes people can try at home.

National Self-Care Awareness Month

Self-care is booming as people recognize the need to cultivate their physical and mental health. In September, you can use your platforms to provide resources for those hoping to find a better balance in their lives.

Check out this handy self-care checklist. It’s a great example of a simple content concept that can provide a lot of value (for you and your followers).

How else can you bring self-care content to the people you want to connect with? Glad you asked. Here are some ideas:

Make a YouTube Short or Instagram Reel explaining what self-care is and why it’s essential.
Partner with a self-care guru to share some mini ways to practice self-care throughout the day.
Post reminders throughout the month for people to take a moment away from responsibilities to care for themselves.
Create a self-care list for specific professions like office workers, construction professionals, and teachers.

National Day of Service and Remembrance (Sept 11)

The federally recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance was created to turn a day of tragedy into a time to do good for others. One way to commemorate the day is to highlight the everyday heroes in your community.

You may have customers that deserve the recognition. Or you could ask people to nominate the heroes they know. Either way, give these deserving people the spotlight so others can become aware of their service.

That’s a great start. Here’s how to expand on the theme of remembrance and service:

Post a simple reminder with an image from 9/11.
Give people ideas of how to be of service, from mowing a neighbor’s lawn to participating in an organized event.
Help kids understand what the day means with the help of an educator or child psychologist.
Suggest a specific time during the day, often done at 9:11 a.m., for your followers to observe a moment of silence and reflection.

Food and drink May content ideas

September doesn’t have a big, food-focused holiday like Thanksgiving. But there are plenty of days dedicated to our favorite sips and snacks. From spuds to suds, make use of these September content opportunities.

National Potato Month

Potatoes get a bad rap; calling someone a couch potato isn’t a compliment. But let’s face it; potatoes are the basis for some of the best foods (hi, french fries…we love you!).

This brand tapped an influencer to present people with a chance to win a spudtacular trip and a year’s supply of baked potatoes.

Here are a few ways you can bake potato-themed content into your September marketing plans:

Tell people about festivals and events tied to National Potato Month.
Hold a chef social-media takeover and give followers some lessons on proper spud selection, slicing, and storage.
Ask followers to share their favorite, or most unusual, potato and french fry toppings.
Show ways different cultures prepare and serve potato dishes.

International Chocolate Day (Sept 13)

Chocolate has existed for over 4,000 years, and Henri Nestle made the first chocolate bar in 1876. Since then, the delectable sweet treat has become a ubiquitous part of cultures around the world.

International Chocolate Day is about sharing our love for all the things the little cocoa bean becomes. For example, you can make a healthy-ish little snack out of it by reducing the sugar and adding protein to a brownie mug cake. Then, explain how to do it on social media.

Just like the food itself, your content for International Chocolate Day can take on many forms, such as:

Take advantage of TikTok’s algorithm by optimizing a post about the health benefits of chocolate.
Publish a timeline of chocolate’s storied history.
Post interesting chocolate facts (like that there’s an official world record for running the fastest mile while chugging 48 ounces of chocolate mile 🤢).
Share some of the best chocolate desserts available in your area (make sure to tag the restaurants so they share the post, too).

International Coffee Day (Sept 29)

Java, cup ‘a joe, jittery juice, C8H10N4O2 (caffeine molecule)…whatever you call it, and however you take it, coffee gets us going. A few posts and emails around International Coffee Day will give your September marketing a little jolt, too.

Here’s a way to stir up your giveaway game. Do them in person! This brand sent a couple of ambassadors to hand out coffee gift cards in public spaces, caught it on video, and shared it on Instagram. It’s a super-sized combo of event and social media marketing.

Here are more strategies for brewing up some brand buzz on International Coffee Day:

Teach followers how to make specialty coffee drinks at home (it’s hard getting those little latte designs just right).
Taste-test a bunch of creamer brands and flavors, then rate them.
Serve up some scientific facts about caffeine (blonde roast coffee has more caffeine than dark roasts, for example).
Design an infographic illustrating common coffee and espresso-based drinks.
Write a blog post explaining where different coffee beans come from and how they’re processed.

Bring the excitement with these September content ideas

September’s mood swings from swim suites to soft sweaters, and the transition is electric. Build on that energy with content that engages people through the many stages of the month. Learn what your target audience loves about each season, and let it guide your content strategy. Then, fill their feeds and inboxes with posts, videos, and blogs that help your followers enjoy all that September has to offer.

For more September communication and marketing ideas, check out these posts:

Meet The Author

Rob Glover

Rob is a Senior Copywriter for LocaliQ and WordStream where he uses his content marketing experience to write about all manner of advertising, sales, and adtech topics. When not turning phrases, Rob loves to travel, cook, and spend time outdoors (especially hiking and mountain biking) with his wife and dog.