5 Memorial Day Promotions to Drive Sales & Customer Engagement

Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to summer in the U.S, a season filled with barbecues, beach trips, and long lazy days by the pool. Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday in May, so this year the holiday weekend spans from Saturday, May 24th through Monday, May 26th. It kicks off what is often a lucrative shopping season for retailers, with consumers on the hunt for warm-weather merchandise and seasonal sales. 

Despite a wave of economic uncertainty created by tariffs and inflation, 45% of consumers plan to spend during Memorial Day, up from 39% last year—70% of shoppers plan to spend at least $100 during the holiday.

This time of year is a prime opportunity to connect with customers and drive sales, but it’s important to remember the day’s true meaning—honoring those who gave their lives in service to their country. The most successful Memorial Day campaigns thoughtfully blend commerce with commemoration. In this post, we’ll cover five ways brands can offer value to shoppers, while maintaining respect for the holiday’s significance.

Boost Sales This Holiday With These 5 Memorial Day Marketing Ideas

⏱️1. Launch a Limited-Time Memorial Day Sale

Time-sensitive offers create a powerful motivation to buy, especially during holiday weekends when shoppers are already primed to spend. But you need to stand out since retailers of all types and stripes will be inundating shoppers with deals. You can make your Memorial Day sale feel special by customizing offers and promotions. 

Consider offers that speak to different customer segments, like BOGO deals on summer essentials for young parents or an extra 20% off on items like flags and patriotic apparel for veterans. 

Personalizing offers and promotions helps shoppers discover relevant products quickly. Use customer data to tailor discounts based on past purchasing behavior combined with real-time browsing and search patterns. 

Add countdown timers, which dynamically track and display the remaining time until a deal is over, throughout your website to create that extra sense of urgency. 

📩2. Create a Patriotic-Themed Email Campaign

Email campaigns let you incorporate visual elements and thoughtful storytelling, both powerful approaches that help you connect with shoppers before Memorial Day weekend. 

Choose designs that honor the holiday’s significance by incorporating red, white, and blue elements subtly into your templates—think muted tones rather than bright, celebratory colors. Memorial Day is a travel holiday, with nearly 44 million people traveling 50 miles or more in 2024, the lion’s share (38.4 million) traveling by car. 

It also tends to be a last-minute affair, with people buying supplies for barbeques and events about a week before the weekend hits. Email is an excellent way to capture both early planners and last minute celebrants by creating a series of messages that change (and increase in urgency) as the holiday approaches. Subject lines can be customized based on time frame, audience, or both. For example:

• Plan the day with our essential memorial day checklist
• Road trip ready? Stock up for Memorial Day weekend
• Last chance for Memorial Day delivery + Free shipping
• Hosting this weekend? Same-day pickup available

Test different send times and personalization variables to see what resonates with your customers and audiences—some people are traveling, some are hosting, and others are attending public celebrations.

🏖️3. Promote Early Summer Products Bundles or Services

Memorial Day, while a revered holiday, also marks the official start of summer. It’s the perfect opportunity to transition your promotional messaging from a focus on spring to summer events and themes. 

Help shoppers transition into summer mode by bundling products that complement outdoor activities and travel plans. Millions of Americans take drivable day trips and vacations in the summer. Make purchasing easy for them by bundling travel supplies like car chargers, roadside emergency kits, and nonperishable snacks. 

You can also create themed collections around summer’s biggest moments—beach trips, birthday parties, backyard gatherings, and weekend getaways. Pair seasonal apparel with accessories, outdoor furniture with entertaining essentials, gardening tools with sun hats and bug repellant—the sky’s the limit.

📲4. Run a Memorial Day Social Media Campaign

Social media loves summer. Platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok were practically built around holidays like Memorial Day because they’re visual and consumer driven. 

For Memorial Day, in particular, social media gives brands an authentic way to link commemoration with commerce. Create a thoughtful content mix that respects the holiday’s significance by:

• Sharing customer stories about what Memorial Day means to them
• Highlighting veteran-owned businesses and suppliers you partner with
• Showcasing products “in the wild” like outdoor furniture and grills that enhance Memorial Day gatherings

When posting on social platforms like Instagram and TikTok, use popular hashtags like #MemorialDaySale, #HonorAndRemember, and #MemorialDayWeekend to expand your reach. 

#️⃣5. Pull Social Elements onto Your Website 

Social media isn’t just reserved for external platforms like TikTok. You can add social proof elements to your website with tools like Monetate’s social proof feature, which displays real-time customer engagement activity (e.g., 50 people have this in their cart), customer reviews, and star ratings on product and category pages.

Showcase user generated content (UGC) from your customers by encouraging shoppers to share their finds on their social platform of choice. You can even create a unique Memorial Day hashtag associated with your brand, then invite shoppers to include it with their post. This is an authentic (and effective) way for shoppers to endorse or recommend an item they purchased from you.

And endorsements from real people boost sales. Over 90% of consumers trust recommendations from other shoppers over traditional advertising. Encourage customers to post photos of their backyard BBQs, poolside setups, patriotic decorations, and road trip adventures using your branded hashtag.