Juneteenth—Marketing Handbook for eCommerce

Just a heads up, this post covers:

7 Juneteenth Marketing Ideas For You To Use

Juneteenth Marketing Campaigns From Top Brands

Juneteenth Email Marketing: 6 Examples For You To Be Inspired By

Juneteenth Social Media: eCommerce Brands Doing It Right

BEWARE: 3 Case Studies For You To Steer Clear Of

It’s been 158 years but the last three years have been especially crucial.

George Floyd, #BlackLivesMatter, and Black History Month all unite for this one occasion.

It’s Juneteenth. June 19.

A significant date in American history, it marks the celebration of the end of slavery.

2023 marks 158 years of the day when Union Major General Gordon Granger informed people in Texas that slavery was abolished and that all African Americans were now free.

This was a historic day and it became even more significant in the last three years.

A symbol of freedom and a powerful reminder of the struggle, it has united Americans still facing the depths of racial inequality, social injustice, and even police brutality.

The #BlackLivesMatter gave light to the movement with higher traction since 2019.  This has led to larger observance by the people, media, and businesses.

Brands across industries are incorporating Juneteenth into their marketing and messaging—and customers are listening.

51% of US adults actively advocate brands committed to diversity and equity.

69% of Black consumers actively seek representation.

For eCommerce brands, this presents a huge opportunity.

A day of cultural relevance, it is an excellent epitome of the resilience of people who fought for a better future.

With thoughtful campaigns and meaningful messaging, you can show your support for the community and become a part of the conversation.

⭐ Fun fact: Juneteenth received greater recognition after it was acknowledged in Black-ish and the cast called attention to the fact that the day needed wider acknowledgement from other communities.

7 Juneteenth Marketing Ideas For You To Use

Use the occasion of Juneteenth to show solidarity with your customers and highlight your company’s commitment to diversity & inclusion (which is essential in today’s socially conscious market).

You can also mark this holiday as a moment to connect with new audiences and expand your existing customer base.

1. Tailor Search for the right keywords

On a day like Juneteenth, customers are most interested in “black owned beauty supply,” “black owned bookstores,” and “black owned restaurants”.

This shows two things:

1. They’re looking for Black owned businesses (which is obvious)

2. They’re looking for beauty products, books, and food (giving an insight into how they celebrate)

Here’s how you can use this information:

Make the words “black owned”, “black operated”, “black solidarity” the central theme.

You’ll likely be incorporating these keywords into your SEO content (webpage copy, alt text, meta tags, and search descriptions).

Make it a point to also use them as trust badges and add labels across the website.

This will give the copy more visibility, even appealing to those viewing it at a single glance.

Answer popular FAQs on your Google My Business posts.

When you’re updating your SEO, landing pages, and social media, pay attention to Google My Business as well.

This will help your brand appear in local search results and also show up in the Google Search Snippet, FAQ section, and other high priority areas.

A good way to do this is by creating posts on GMB with the keywords mentioned above and answering frequent queries available on resources like AlsoAsked.

BTW Check out eCommerce copywriting: 23 inspiring examples from the US

2. Display a Black-owned certificate

We all know that consumers today are politically aware and often prefer associating with socially responsible businesses.

With a Black-owned certification, you can show these customers that you align with their values and are happy to represent the community.

A good option is with ByBlack, by US Black Chamber of Commerce.

ByBlack is a certification program that gives authorized recognition to Black-owned businesses across the country.

With 140 chambers across the country, their network will help you access industry events, entrepreneurship resources, and even potential opportunities.

You’ll also want to look into getting listed on Black business directories.

Digital directories like Official Black Wall Street and Black Owned Business Network offer a comprehensive collection of Black owned and operated businesses across the US.

With a platform like theirs, you’ll be easily discoverable by customers and can access resources for funding, marketing, networking, and strategy support.

3. Create a landing page dedicated to Juneteenth

It’s best to reserve one landing page for one, or at most two, themes. Juneteenth is no different. When structuring your landing page for Juneteenth, you may want to look into this framework.

Use a video to introduce Juneteenth & its cultural significance today.

While it’s been observed for over a century, Juneteeth has only been gaining traction as an official federal holiday since 2019.

This means that customers are still getting used to it and don’t fully understand it yet. Take the time to explain it to them.

It’s best to use a video here: not only is it more consumer friendly, Google also seems to prefer video content when ranking pages.

Use numbers in the Above-the-Fold content to talk about your brand’s activity.

If you’re hosting a special event or collaborating with a partner brand, make it the focus of your landing page.

Use numbers to draw customers in (it’s a GREAT psychological trick to gather attention) and then expand upon why you’re running that campaign and how you hope the community will benefit from it.

Psst..here are 12 Above the Fold ideas for better conversions (+ amazing examples)

Get one foot in the door and leave the selling to the end.

Use the first half of the landing page to build awareness of the holiday. Be extremely specific and use one paragraph to address one point.

Once the customers understand that you know what you’re talking about, plug in relevant products that will help them.

Remember customers have a high intent for books, food, and beauty products so try and incorporate similar recommendations here.

Encourage a micro-conversion with your CTA button.

Invite customers to share information on their social media, participate in your brand’s campaign with a specific hashtag, or even use the colors Red, Black, and Green on their pages.

Such micro-conversions encourage them to believe they’re doing some work for the benefit of the community, and that in turn will help create a positive association with your brand.

4. Show your support for other Black-owned brands

Black-owned athleisure brand Actively Black is known for its work in physical and mental health, even more so with a portion of their profits regularly going to the betterment of the Black community.

Their #JuneteenthVirtualRun campaign earned them significant goodwill with all proceeds being donated to the Liberation Fund, an organization dedicated to the pro bono defense for victims of police brutality.

This gave founder Lanny Smith a platform to speak with the media, connect with new audiences, and even turn more acquaintances into paying customers.

Here’s what you can learn from this:

Run a fundraiser with other brands to highlight #BlackSupportBlack.

The Black community is a close-knit one and every player needs to have the other’s back. As Lanny Smith put it, “while we're celebrating, we're also still fighting”, and it’s important to show that you’re in the fight.

Use the occasion of Juneteenth to associate with other Black-owned brands and run a fundraiser for a relevant organization.

You can also host a joint panel discussion to show what you hope to achieve with the fundraiser.

Choose one specific cause to support.

Choose a cause that’s relevant to a problem that’s present when you’re running your campaign (such as police misconduct, above). This will show you’re aware of the current affairs and willing to help make things right.

5. Use colors Red, Green, and Black in your design & imagery

Red, Green, and Black represent the Pan-African flag and speak for unity, solidarity, and freedom for those of African descent.

Each color holds symbolic meaning in the celebration of Juneteenth.

Red represents blood.

It holds to heart all the people who have died fighting for Black liberation and freedom.

Green represents abundance.

It highlights the abundance of the African landscape and denotes hope for the future.

Black represents the community.

It showcases the resilience of the community in the fight as well as the collective willpower against struggle.

Here’s how you can use these colors:

Create a custom Instagram/Snapchat filter that customers can share.

Use Spark AR Studio to instantly create an Instagram/Snapchat filter with the colors Red, Green, and Black and encourage customers to share this with friends.

Develop a special hashtag for the campaign and offer customers an incentive to participate (maybe, a freebie or certain discount).

Change the colors of the banners on your homepage.

For this day only, let your homepage banners be in these colors. Keep the rest of the colors slightly muted so these stand out, highlighting there’s something special going on.

Towards the end of the page, redirect customers to a page dedicated to Juneteenth.

Build a special listing page for Juneteenth highlighting products that fall into these colors.

If you have Red, Green, Black products, now’s the time to highlight them. Try and create a gradient effect while displaying these products, representing the map through the page.

Remember to include urgency tactics (words like ‘selling fast’ or ‘X left in stock’) to increase sales.

6. Use the hashtags #BuyBlack #GiveBlack on social media

The two most popular hashtags on Juneteenth are #BuyBlack and #GiveBlack, indicating customer interest in sales as well as charitable work.

A quick Instagram search shows the most common posts here: business, press, content creators, and partnership opportunities.

Here’s how you can use these hashtags to promote your Juneteenth campaign:

Pay attention to the creators that rank for these hashtags.

Black spokespeople and influencers, like Mfoniso Umoren and Alexan Weir, as well as pages like Black Wealth Army enjoy good visibility on the Top section of these hashtags.

Look at running an association with such accounts - through Instagram LIVE and co-creator posts. This will help you tap into their audience and enjoy a higher presence on these hashtags.

Look at the hashtag strategy of the top content under #BuyBlack #GiveBlack #Juneteenth.

If you notice these pages using certain hashtags consistently across their posts, you know they’re working for them. Look at incorporating them into your hashtag strategy and see whether these work for you the same way.

A good tip is to mix these hashtags across several posts instead of using the same selection on every post. While this may be more work, it maintains the health of your Instagram page and brings in more views.

Hey, have you seen this? 15 Underutilized Social Media Ideas For eCommerce Brands

7. Incorporate the Black National Anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing”

Composed by James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson, "Lift Every Voice and Sing” has been communally declared as the song depicting the voice of Black people.

It was promoted by the NAACP and US Representative Jim Clyburn even sponsored a bill to have the song officially appointed as the national hymn of the United States.

Here is a rendition by Alicia Keys:

Upload a part of the song to Instagram Reels and encourage customers to use it.

Instagram Reels has a section for you to upload custom audio tracks which other people can use.

Look at either composing a 15 or 30 second version of the anthem and sharing it with customers OR simply pick up a Creative Commons license version of it. There are several available online.

Include the lyrics in your email subject line.

Did you know? Subject lines with lyrics have higher open rates, averaging 26%!

Include lyrics from the anthem’s chorus or even the name of the song in a way that customers can understand the reference. Be sure not to get too creative: you still want to be sensitive to customer sentiment.

Incorporate the audio track to a GIF on your Juneteenth page.

Create an easy loading GIF that doesn’t take up too much space and include it on your homepage. Set it to automatically play every time a customer scrolls and they’ll be listening to the song as they look at your website.

You can also create a simple video to appear on the first fold.

Juneteenth Marketing Campaigns From Top Brands

1. North Face ‘Never Stop Standing Up’

Launched in 2020 to stand up against police brutality in the George Floyd case, North Face’s Never Stop Standing Up was established to highlight the brand’s commitment to the betterment of society.

It engaged customers and encouraged them to involve themselves in movements of social justice and racial equity through actionable content around changemakers and campaigns that called out to their community. 

They also ran corporate social responsibility initiatives with donations around $100,000 as well as a public statement issuing support for the Black community.

2. Nike & Colin Kaepernick’s Commitment to the Black Community

Supporting Colin Kaepernick’s fight against racial injustice and his plight in taking a knee, Nike used their platform to express larger cooperation for the Black community and encourage their customers to join their mission.

They used their marketing channels, such as social media and email, to offer a platform to the “Black voice”, support foundations actively involved in Black activism such as NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the National Urban League, and even pledge a value of $4 million across four years.

3. The COACH Community CSR

Through its CSR initiatives, COACH has taken several steps towards Juneteenth and the betterment of the Black community at large through donations, public statements, equitable policies, and collaborations.

Their hashtag #CoachCommunity was set up with the aim of igniting conversations around social justice while also highlighting their work in diversity and inclusion.

While issuing a public statement and running collaborations with foundations and Black artists (such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring), they use this hashtag to collectively represent their awareness wing.

They also donated $100,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund as well as the Equal Justice Initiative with the aim of further supporting their work and strengthening ties with the Black consumer.

4. Amazon’s Unityfest for Juneteenth

Set up specifically to show their support for Juneteenth, Unityfest is the eCommerce giant’s foray into cause marketing.

Featuring an array of musical shows, live performances, speeches, and public statements for the Black community, Unityfest celebrates the spirit of diversity and inclusion.

The festival also offers a platform to Black Excellence bringing together books highlighting the history of Juneteenth, Amazon Originals content such as Small Aze and The Underground Railroad, and a landing page dedicated to the holiday.

This is in addition to Amazon’s donation of $1 million to 13 different POC community organizations that run programs actively working towards the betterment of these communities with youth development, cultural exhibits, and sustainability initiatives.

Juneteenth Email Marketing: 6 Examples For You To Be Inspired By

1. The Little Market: Mark The Date

An online marketplace selling handmade goods from around the world, The Little Market has a strong focus on fair trade and ethical practices.

Naturally, Juneteenth is an important day for them.

To honor the occasion, they used their emails as a channel to build awareness for the holiday and educate their customers about its relevance and importance.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: We love their timeline outlining the most important dates in Juneteenth history. What’s also nice is that they used other space in their content pipeline to highlight Black artisans and African goods.

2. Aftershokz: Highlight Key Personnel

Their email builds on the important components of Juneteenth email marketing:

- Highlights the importance of the holiday

- Stresses the ongoing fight for racial equality

- Demonstrates their commitment to diversity & inclusivity

It celebrates the holiday but also acknowledges the history of Juneteenth and the importance it holds today.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: It’s admirable to see how they highlight Juneteenth spokespeople with their ‘Black Men Run’ campaign.

3. Bridge & Burn: Pause & Reflect

Specializing in sustainably-made apparel, Bridge & Burn hosts a weekly email series: Five for Friday.

The campaign generally hosts content relevant to their brand values: stuff like sustainability, organic practices, holistic wellness, and matters of social sensitivity.

On Juneteenth, they used this space for articles and resources bringing attention to the history and significance of the occasion.

They offered an entire guide for how customers can be more sensitive of that day and how it relates to the larger #BlackLivesMatter campaign.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: First of all, how cool is the Five for Friday campaign? It gives their customers a good reason to look forward to their newsletters. eCommerce GOLD.

Secondly, we love that they actively call out the fact that they’re using the day of Juneteenth “pause and reflect” by ceasing normal business operations for the day. This really makes a move with the right customers.

4. Primary Clothing: Celebrate the Black Voice

The one thing Juneteenth is about? The Black voice.

Primary Clothing understands that and they used their email campaign to bring this to light.

As a family apparel brand, they chose to skip the brand talk and instead let customers and their families do the talking. This offered an authentic perspective into how Black families celebrate the holiday and how other customers can be mindful of their practices.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: Not only did Primary use real pictures from customers, they also linked to their social media handles giving customers the chance to benefit from the brand’s following. Cool move, eh?

5. Ashley Stewart: Collaborate & Build

On a day as favorable as Juneteenth, it’s a good idea to look beyond your brand and explore a collaboration with a partner foundation or NGO.

For Ashley Stewart, the smart move was a joint association with The Juneteenth Foundation.

Marking #JuneteenthDay, they launched a limited edition Juneteenth t-shirt with 100% profits going to the foundation.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: We appreciate that they donated 100% of proceeds. We all understand that’s rare (considering overheads and production costs) but when you’re looking at such an association, goodwill often works its way.

6. PINK Victoria’s Secret: Support the Larger Mission

Victoria’s Secret’s sister brand PINK email was in tandem with VS’ overall transition to being more politically sensitive and racially equal.

The PINK email highlighted the significance of Juneteenth in Freedom and worked in accordance with their partnership with the National Urban League.

The brand committed to donating a part of the proceeds to the foundation’s mission while also using their platform to highlight their work.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: Their Juneteenth campaign was further cemented by the parent company Victoria’s Secret’s larger mission. The brand was strongly portrayed in the media for their historic move of shifting away from the ‘Angels' and instead appointing top women leaders to stand for the brand.

Read more about it here: Inclusive Marketing: 22 eCommerce brands that do it right

Juneteenth Social Media: eCommerce Brands Doing It Right

1. ULTA Beauty: What is Juneteenth?

It’s important to remember that Juneteenth is still a relatively new holiday with growing interest since 2019 and Joe Biden signing the bill in 2021.

With conversation around Juneteenth still in its nascent phase, ULTA Beauty used their platform to talk about what Juneteenth is, why it’s relevant, and what customers can get from celebrating the occasion.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: ULTA Beauty dedicated an entire highlight on their Instagram page to Black Lives Matter. As we’ve discussed before, Instagram highlights work as an excellent representation of your brand and using them to portray your values and community goes a long way.

2. Sephora: Conversation with Equity Partners

Sephora has always been vocal about its Black community, offering support (and even getting considerable sales) from their Black beauty brands.

Naturally, their Juneteenth campaign was all about these equity partners. They brought in activists, scholars, and leaders to host a panel discussion about the relevance of Juneteenth and how it stands today.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: Panel discussions are a great way to bring in different perspectives on the same topic. Since Sephora brought in three different panelists, they broadened the scope for customers to resonate with the theme of the discussion. Big win for everyone.

3. Old Navy: Support the Blend

Blended families are beautiful, aren’t they?

This campaign by Old Navy shows us that it isn’t merely enough to support the Black community, it’s also important to build community with them.

Coming from the perspective of the mom of a blended family, Old Navy speaks for everyone (and connects with everyone) when they capture an experience as authentic as this.

💡 Convertcart Favorite: Juneteenth also celebrates solidarity, not just support. We love that Old Navy didn’t just go live with this post, they also gave room to the Black creator to host an Instagram takeover with her portraying a day in her life to their customers.

BEWARE: 3 Case Studies For You To Steer Clear Of

1. 343 Industries: Bonobo

Microsoft-owned 343 Industries runs the ever-so-popular game Halo. The Halo Infinite game’s logo is iconic and holds a great presence in the gaming community.

As a tribute to Juneteenth, 343 Industries decided to rename the emblem in the logo to Bonobo.

The fault? Bonobo is a type of great ape.

Why this happened, who thought of this, who approved this — was not disclosed — but the social media community was furious.

After considerable backlash, Microsoft took to action and changed the name to ‘Freedom’ and committed to donating $100,000 to the Juneteenth Foundation over five years.

Celebrating over 50 years, the Juneteenth Foundation has been established to avoid such instances and ensure that African-American history is acknowledged and celebrated throughout the nation in the right spirit.

2. Children’s Museum of Indianapolis: Juneteenth Watermelon Salad

Sold as a special addition to the menu, the Juneteenth Watermelon Salad was brought in for the Juneteenth Jamboree by the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

However, it received significant backlash as soon as it was promoted on Facebook.

Why? According to the community, the watermelon stereotype was racist and propagated during the Jim Crow era with white supremacists labeling Black people as very fond of watermelon in a way that they were lazy, simple, and lax.

According to the Indianapolis NAACP, “they missed the historic context of how watermelon has been used in racist ways to demean African-American people”.

3. Walmart: Juneteenth Ice Cream

While Walmart is known for issuing special collections for different holidays—such as Juneteenth—their recent addition did not receive positive feedback.

In fact, it was strongly criticized, with comedian Kevin Fredericks even knocking it in his punchline on TikTok.

Red velvet and cheesecake flavored, the Juneteenth Ice Cream left a sour taste as customers called it offensive and insensitive and accused Walmart of cashing in on Black culture and commercializing a day of emancipation.

Customers also voiced support for Black-owned Creamalicious.

CLOSING NOTES

Juneteenth is an important day in American history and one that deserves recognition and celebration.

The celebration of Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when slaves in Texas were finally freed from bondage. Since then, Juneteenth has become a day to recognize the accomplishments and struggles of African Americans.

As eCommerce brands, it's important to recognize and commemorate the importance of Juneteenth.

As outlined above, some of the most crucial ways of showing support include educating your customers, donating to the right organizations, inclusion practices for Black employees, and promoting Black-owned businesses.

Taking the time to commemorate Juneteenth is a great way to show your support for the African American community and to foster greater understanding and appreciation of their accomplishments.

BTW: We love how Black-ish runs a fun (but powerful) skit around Juneteenth: