While World Chocolate Day has a dedicated social media following, it doesn’t see the same marketing frenzy. Fewer people are aware of and celebrate it, but this smaller, dedicated crowd can be incredibly valuable for marketing. With a well-executed plan, targeting this niche audience might result in more loyal followers compared to larger, less engaged crowds. 

Intrigued? Why not experiment with a campaign for World Chocolate Day this year? The good news is, you don’t need an elaborate plan or a huge budget. Sometimes, even a few extra designs added to your marketing content can make a significant impact. Today, we’ll explore some simple, low-budget ideas you can implement this World Chocolate Day.

Sounds good? Let’s get started.

But first, it’s essential to understand the holiday you’re planning for. So, let’s dive into the backstory of World Chocolate Day.

World Chocolate Day: A Quick Backstory 

Did you know that chocolate was once used as currency? Imagine that today—some people would never trade it for anything! And guess what? A day dedicated to celebrating chocolate is just around the corner: World Chocolate Day. Celebrated on July 7th, it’s the perfect excuse for chocolate lovers worldwide to indulge in their favorite treat.

For marketers, World Chocolate Day is a golden opportunity to tap into the joy of chocolate enthusiasts or even create new ones with some sweet discounts.

Trivia: The scientific name of the cacao tree is Theobroma cacao. ‘Theobroma’ comes from Greek, meaning “food of the gods.” Pretty fitting, right?

As for the origins of World Chocolate Day, there’s no official record documenting its beginnings. However, some sources suggest it commemorates the introduction of chocolate to Europe in 1550, before which it was enjoyed only in a few regions. World Chocolate Day was first declared on July 7th, 2009, and since then, it has gained popularity, particularly due to social media. 

Brands now celebrate with exciting offers, customized products, and engaging posts to win the hearts of chocolate lovers.

Ready to join in? We’ve got some simple and cost-effective campaign ideas for you to explore. So, without further ado, let’s get started. 

World Chocolate Day Marketing: 8 Ideas for Brands 

1. Plan a wholesome experience

If you are a chocolate brand or chocolate has a special place in your product portfolio, then one of the best ways to celebrate World Chocolate Day will be to create a wholesome memorable experience for your customers. Data shows that experiential marketing has a success rate of about 38%. Therefore, host an offline event, pop-up shop, or a chocolate-tasting experience where customers can immerse themselves in the world of chocolate.

Here’s a campaign to draw inspiration from. A popular dessert and confectionery brand Peak Chocolate created a campaign called “Enjoy Your Way” for World Chocolate Day. this offline event consisted of a host of fun activities that invited people to whip up chocolatey treats of their own. Additionally, the brand also invited customers to share their creations from the event on social media with their official hashtags for the event. Thus effortlessly transcending online and offline boundaries. 

Events like this one attract more than chocolate lovers. They attract new leads who eventually fall in love with your brand if the idea is executed well. 

But yes, for events like these to be a hit, ensure that you understand your audience and tailor the experience to match their preferences and interests. 

KIMP Tips: 

• Craft a set of event materials, from invitations to venue signage and banners. And ensure that they are visually appealing and consistent as well. 
• Swag bags and branded memorabilia can help boost the memorability of your event. 

2. Themed-offer 

Sweetening the deal with a special discount is always a welcome move. And a timeless one too for holidays of shapes and sizes. 

So, for World Chocolate Day, create a simple offer aligned with the theme. This could be limited-time discounts on chocolate-flavored or chocolate-based items in your offerings or special product bundles offered at discounted prices. 

For example, a chocolate brand might introduce a World Chocolate Day gift box featuring a selection of exclusive flavors only available for a limited time. Or a bakery could offer limited-edition chocolate-themed pastries with irresistible discounts on classic chocolate desserts like brownies and cakes.

Special themed discounts like these help attract new customers and encourage existing ones to splurge on chocolatey delights. 

KIMP Tips: 

• Come up with exclusive World Chocolate Day themed packaging for your limited-edition bundles. 
• Use clear visuals on social media and email to clearly communicate the details of your themed offers, including the benefits and how customers can take advantage of them.
• Add special discount codes to make customers feel like insiders. 

3. Gift guides and product suggestion posts 

While World Chocolate Day is not one of those holidays where people put together extensive gift lists, there are many who buy chocolate gifts for their loved ones. Therefore, gift guides and product recommendation posts are a great fit for this holiday. 

They don’t just inspire gift-giving but also make it easier for your audience to discover new products that align with the chocolate theme. 

French luxury sports products brand Lacoste creatively leveraged World Chocolate Day by posting a set of brown-colored products on X. This way they aligned their offerings with the chocolate theme. This clever use of color coordination not only highlighted their products but also made them stand out in the context of the celebration.

Get ready to wear brown on #WorldChocolateDay! pic.twitter.com/1560Vqd2Ei

— Lacoste (@Lacoste) October 1, 2023

KIMP Tips: 

• When curating gift guides create easy and relatable categories like “gifts for her” “gifts for him”, and relationship and age-based categories. 
• Use emails with clear and organized layouts, carousel posts, and long-form content like blog posts to elaborate on the gift categories. Ensure that these designs also highlight what makes each of the recommended products special and relevant to the occasion. 

4. Informative posts 

If you are looking for ideas that can both educate and engage, then chocolate-themed informative posts are a great idea. 

Here are some ideas to try: 

• Posts that discuss the history of chocolate. 
• Or those that discuss the health benefits of some types of chocolates and tips to make healthy choices when shopping for chocolates. 
• For a creative twist, come up with a post that recommends chocolate pairings like different types of fruits and cheeses that pair well with different chocolates. 
• For brands that are focused on cause marketing and particular about sticking to content that stands for a cause, posts that talk about ethical chocolate shopping. The below Facebook Ad from a popular supermarket and convenience store Good Eggs discusses why the type of chocolate you buy matters. 

TravelAtlas, an online guide about local food around the world shared the below informative post that ranks some of the most popular chocolate desserts from different parts of the world. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by TasteAtlas (@tasteatlas)

Through informative posts like these, you establish your brand’s authority and also create something share-worthy that potentially increases your reach. 

KIMP Tips: 

• No matter what content format you choose for these informative posts, try and incorporate storytelling to make it easier for customers to understand the presented information.
• Use illustrations and other visual elements to highlight key details and communicate the message quickly. 
• Utilize interactive elements like poll stickers on Instagram to keep the conversation interesting. 

5. Chocolate personality quizzes 

Since the occasion itself is more casual, a fun and engaging post like one with a personality quiz can enhance interactions. This can be a quiz that helps customers discover which type of chocolate matches their personality, or mood.

These quizzes don’t just entertain, but they also encourage social sharing, driving more traffic to your brand’s website or social media pages.

A few ideas to explore: 

• Which type of chocolate are you based on your personality?
• Or what is your personality type based on your favorite chocolate?
• Which chocolate suits your current mood? 

The below post on the Facebook page of the popular online game Bingo Blitz is one such personality quiz curated for World Chocolate Day. In this case, they also added a contest element to boost engagement on the post. Which is a great idea to take away! 

Here’s another example from a popular finance app Freo Pay. This one builds on the chocolate personality quiz idea while optimizing it for the finance niche. Which shows that you can stay relevant to your niche and to your target audience even when creating seasonal posts like this one. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Freo Pay (@freopay)

KIMP Tips:

• Given the casual nature of the post, maintain a fun and playful tone both in your copy and overall design. 
• Add clear CTAs to encourage sharing or to direct users to the next steps. 
• Choose easily shareable formats like single-image posts or engaging GIFs for posts like personality quizzes. 

6. Chocolate-themed contests and giveaways 

The best way to tap into the excitement about chocolate during World Chocolate Day will be through contests and giveaways. 

The below post is from the popular UK-based toys and games company, John Adams Toys & Games. Rewards for the contest were chocolate-making toys and all that participants had to do was to follow their page and tag another chocoholic. This format brings a boost in the social media following along with new relevant leads as well. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by John Adams Toys & Games (@johnadams_toys)

Similar to this, here are a few ideas for contests and giveaways you can execute for your brand: 

• Come up with a chocolate-based recipe contest that invites participants to share their creations while also tagging your account. You can then feature these on your page, shortlist a few to feature in your newsletters, and even come up with a prize for a winner. 
• Host a trivia challenge with a chocolate theme. This could be about chocolate in general or about some local chocolate desserts. 

KIMP Tips: 

• Use simple designs like social media posts, website banners, or even social media ads to announce your contest. 
• Add a descriptive landing page that clearly lays down the rules of the contest and tells them where and how to participate. Ensure visual consistency between the posts/ads and this landing page. 
• Create a cohesive template that can be used to feature user-generated content. 

7. Behind-the-scenes content 

This idea is particularly suitable for chocolate brands, bakery businesses and confectioners. The idea is to share some behind-the-scenes glimpses of what happens in the process of making these chocolates or chocolate-based desserts. 

In addition to humanizing your brand, this content can also help celebrate the passion behind the process. That passion resonates with chocolate lovers. Besides it is also a great way to highlight the quality of your products and processes that make your brand unique. 

No wonder, well-known brands like KitKat are known to share their factory tour videos on World Chocolate Day. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by KITKAT (@kitkat)

KIMP Tips:

• Videos are the best format for sharing behind-the-scenes content. If a professional video shoot is not within your budget, click some good pictures of the crucial steps in the process. You can then work with a video design team to come up with an engaging video that combines text and visuals to elaborate on your processes. 
• Add your brand colors, your logo, and other signature brand elements, like a mascot if you have one, to strongly imprint your brand identity in these videos. 

8. Celebrate with chocolate-themed visuals 

This last idea we have is a truly budget-friendly option because it does not call for any new product or packaging modification. All it takes is to create chocolate-themed visuals.

Let’s talk about a few ways to execute this idea:

• Give your mascot or your social media display pictures a chocolate-themed makeover to indicate that you are celebrating. 
• Come up with simple social media posts or emails flaunting exotic chocolate themes probably even carrying chocolate-related quotes. 
• Visualize your products or services in a chocolate theme. A good example here is IKEA’s CHOKLAD MÖRK campaign. In this campaign, IKEA reimagined some of their furniture wrapped in chocolate wrappers. The visually intriguing ad created a lot of buzz. 

KIMP Tips: 

• Choose to play with the color brown to represent chocolate (similar to the Lacoste campaign we discussed a while ago) or use chocolate imagery or both to establish the theme. But the decision here depends on how you incorporate your brand colors and how these colors look when combined in the design. 
• Use chocolate-related terms that chocoholics will recognize and appreciate. 

Create Mouthwatering Designs for World Chocolate Day Campaigns With KIMP 

From low-budget takes to extravagant investments, there are plenty of ideas when it comes to celebrating World Chocolate Day from a marketing perspective. It all boils down to how relevant the campaign is to your brand and to your customers. While chocolate brands and food brands with chocolate in their repertoire, elaborate omnichannel campaigns and experiential campaigns are a great choice. 

For others who are in no way connected to chocolate but looking to grab the attention of chocolate lovers in their target audience, chocolate personality quizzes, chocolate trivia posts, and even simple chocolate-themed visuals help. 

With all these ideas to try all you need is a dedicated design team working on your designs. This way you know that your designs for both seasonal campaigns like this one and evergreen campaigns progress without hurdles. 

For these benefits and more, get KIMP! Or register now for a free 7-day trial!