20 Things Artists and Writers Can Do for National Get to Know Your Customers Day
There are a lot of weird unofficial holidays that offer a chance to bring some fun and creativity to your content marketing plan. One of these holidays is especially popular with businesses: Get to Know Your Customers Day.
The exact origin of this holiday isn’t clear, but its purpose has always been to help online businesses maintain contact with their customers. Plenty of businesses with a physical location observe the holiday, too. But the idea of dedicating a day to reaching out to your customers isn’t just for traditional businesses. Artists and writers can take part in this fun tradition to build trust with your audience and stay connected to the people you create for.
When is National Get to Know Your Customers Day?
Fun fact: Get to Know Your Customers Day happens four times a year on every third Thursday in January, April, July, and October.
Once a quarter, you’ve got the perfect day on your calendar to invite feedback from your audience.
Things Artists & Writers Can do for Get to Know Your Customers Day
There are many simple activities you can do to share your gratitude and strengthen your relationship with your audience. You don’t have to save these for once a quarter, either. You can do these once a month, once a week, as often as you like. Why? Because your audience is made of people, and they like businesses and entrepreneurs who do more than just sell to them.
Creative Ways to Engage Your Followers and Supporters
Send thank-you notes to past customers
Send a special message for subscribers on your Patreon, Substack, mailing list, or wherever you offer membership
Share your gratitude for your followers on every platform (they support your work by engaging and sharing it!)
Host a giveaway or raffle with prizes like free or discounted art, commissions, stories, books, etc.
Offer a special discount on one or two of your most popular creations
Run a poll to let your audience influence an upcoming piece of creative work
Address frequently asked questions on social media or in a blog post
Host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) or mini Q&A on social media
Host a virtual event or livestream a creative work session
Send out a survey and offer a gift for completing it (also useful for conducting customer-focused research!)
Invite your audience to pitch ideas for future creations they’d like to see from you
Ask fans and customers to submit photos, videos, or stories of themselves with your work to be featured on your website and/or social media
Post sketches or draft samples and ask followers to vote on which idea to develop
Ask your audience to submit one-word prompts and use it to write a one-sentence micro story or sketch some quick custom art just for them
Invite your audience to guess the inspiration behind a piece (either visual art or a writing excerpt), then share the correct answer later
Ask for recommendations from your audience—books, podcasts, shows, movies, music, anything
Run a quiz or trivia game to ask your audience how well they know your work (with small prizes for right answers or top scorers)
Offer a special preview of a work in progress
Improve Your Creative Business with Market Research
Get to Know Your Customers Day is an opportunity to have fun with your content marketing, but you can also use it as an opportunity to do marketing research and adjust your strategy. Besides running a survey or poll for insight and feedback, you can also:
Compare your past and/or current customers to the buyer persona in your marketing strategy, looking for differences and similarities between who you thought you wanted to reach vs. who you’ve already connected with
Read reviews of your work and find areas to improve your service, content, customer experience, or craft
Use social media analytics to identify what content your audience engages with the most
Remember Why it Matters: You’re Not Just Creating for Yourself
For artists and writers who hate marketing, putting National Get to Know Your Customers Day on your calendar is an easy way to set aside time to handle some of the business side of your creative work. Remember that behind every sale or subscriber is a real person who believes in your art. Whether you engage with them through conversation, feedback, or a simple thank-you, you’re building relationships and community, not just a customer base.
What’s one way you’ve connected with your audience lately?
